In MySQL, JSON_MERGE()
is a deprecated function that merges two or more JSON documents and returns the result.
It was deprecated in MySQL 8.0.3 and is subject to removal in a future release.
Fortunately, the JSON_MERGE_PRESERVE()
function was added in MySQL 8.0.3 as a synonym for JSON_MERGE()
, and it therefore does the same thing that JSON_MERGE()
does/did.
Therefore, instead of using JSON_MERGE()
, use JSON_MERGE_PRESERVE()
instead.
Alternatively, you can use JSON_MERGE_PATCH()
, which performs an RFC 7396 compliant merge of two or more JSON documents, without preserving members having duplicate keys.
Syntax
The syntax goes like this:
JSON_MERGE(json_doc, json_doc[, json_doc] ...)
Where json_doc
are the JSON documents to merge.
Example
Here’s an example to demonstrate.
SELECT JSON_MERGE(
'{"name":"Wag"}',
'{"type":"Dog"}'
) AS Result;
Result:
+--------------------------------+ | Result | +--------------------------------+ | {"name": "Wag", "type": "Dog"} | +--------------------------------+
We can see that the two documents have been merged into one.
As mentioned, JSON_MERGE()
is deprecated and we should use JSON_MERGE_PRESERVE()
instead. To do this, all we need to do is add _PRESERVE
to the function name:
SELECT JSON_MERGE_PRESERVE(
'{"name":"Wag"}',
'{"type":"Dog"}'
) AS Result;
Result:
+--------------------------------+ | Result | +--------------------------------+ | {"name": "Wag", "type": "Dog"} | +--------------------------------+
We can see that the two documents have been merged into one.
Merge More than Two Documents
Here’s an example that merges three documents:
SELECT JSON_MERGE(
'{ "name" : "Wag" }',
'{ "type" : "Dog" }',
'{ "score" : [ 9, 7, 8 ] }'
) AS Result;
Result:
+----------------------------------------------------+ | Result | +----------------------------------------------------+ | {"name": "Wag", "type": "Dog", "score": [9, 7, 8]} | +----------------------------------------------------+
Arrays
Here’s an example of merging arrays:
SELECT JSON_MERGE(
'[1,2,3]',
'[4,5,6]'
) AS Result;
Result:
+--------------------+ | Result | +--------------------+ | [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6] | +--------------------+
We can do the same thing with JSON_MERGE_PRESERVE()
, but not with JSON_MERGE_PATCH()
. Attempting to merge arrays with JSON_MERGE_PATCH()
results in only the second array being returned.
Null Argument
If any argument is NULL
, the result is NULL
:
SELECT
JSON_MERGE('{"a":1}', null) AS a,
JSON_MERGE(null, '{"a":1}') AS b,
JSON_MERGE(null, null) AS c;
Result:
+------+------+------+ | a | b | c | +------+------+------+ | NULL | NULL | NULL | +------+------+------+
Incorrect Parameter Count
Calling the function without any arguments results in an error:
SELECT JSON_MERGE();
Result:
ERROR 1582 (42000): Incorrect parameter count in the call to native function 'JSON_MERGE'
It’s the same when you provide just one argument:
SELECT JSON_MERGE('{"a":1}');
Result:
ERROR 1582 (42000): Incorrect parameter count in the call to native function 'JSON_MERGE'