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api/basic_json_document/save.md

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+# <small>nlohmann::basic_json_document::</small>save
+
+```cpp
+std::vector<std::uint8_t> save() const;
+```
+
+Writes the document as an *image*: a byte buffer that [`load`](load.md) reads back without parsing. The image holds
+the node index, the source text (plus, for an edited document, the number tokens edits wrote), and the decoded
+strings (plus the strings edits wrote) -- everything [`root()`](root.md) needs, with nothing left to parse.
+
+An edited document is written in its *current* state, with its values in document order, the way the library's own
+parser would have produced them for that JSON text: a member [`set`](set.md) added goes at the end, an
+[`erase`](erase.md)d member leaves no trace, and a float that is not finite (NaN or positive/negative infinity)
+becomes null, the same substitution [`dump()`](../basic_json_view/dump.md) makes. The same document always saves to
+the same bytes -- also across `BasicJsonType` and `#!cpp Editable`, since the image reflects document order and
+values only, not which specialization produced them.
+
+## Return value
+
+The image, as a `#!cpp std::vector<std::uint8_t>`. Pass it, or a pointer to its data together with its size, to
+[`load`](load.md) to read the document back.
+
+## Exception safety
+
+Strong guarantee: `save()` does not modify `#!cpp *this` (it is `#!cpp const`), so if it throws, the document is left
+exactly as it was, and the partially built image is discarded with the exception.
+
+## Exceptions
+
+Throws [`type_error.320`](../../home/exceptions.md#jsonexceptiontype_error320) if the document is
+[discarded](is_discarded.md) -- a default-constructed document, or one a failed [`parse()`](parse.md)/
+[`read()`](read.md) with `allow_exceptions == false` left discarded.
+
+On a big-endian target, throws `type_error.320` with a different message instead: the image format is little-endian
+only (see [Notes](#notes)).
+
+Throws [`out_of_range.416`](../../home/exceptions.md#jsonexceptionout_of_range416) if the node count, the text, or
+the decoded strings of the image would individually reach 4 GiB -- the same 32-bit offsets
+[`parse()`](parse.md#exceptions) and, for edits, [`set`](set.md)/[`push_back`](push_back.md) are already limited to.
+
+!!! failure "Example messages"
+
+    ```
+    [json.exception.type_error.320] cannot save a discarded json_document
+    ```
+    ```
+    [json.exception.type_error.320] json_document images need a little-endian target
+    ```
+    ```
+    [json.exception.out_of_range.416] images of 4 GiB or more are not supported by json_document
+    ```
+
+## Complexity
+
+Linear in the size of the document: the number of nodes, plus the length of the text and the decoded strings that end
+up in the image.
+
+## Notes
+
+**Format.** The image begins with a 64-byte header (the magic bytes `#!cpp "NJVI"`, a version number, the node count,
+and the sizes of the text and the decoded strings, all little-endian), followed by the nodes
+([16 bytes each](../../home/architecture.md#node-index-of-json-views)), the text and a `#!cpp '\0'`, and the decoded
+strings and a `#!cpp '\0'`. [`load`](load.md) checks the header, and the sizes it describes, before reading anything
+else -- see [`load`'s Exceptions](load.md#exceptions).
+
+!!! warning "Experimental"
+
+    The image format is versioned but not yet stable: it may change in an incompatible way before it is declared
+    stable. Use images to cache a document within one build of the library, or to hand one to another process running
+    the *same* build on the *same* (little-endian) machine -- not as a long-term storage format. Keep the original
+    JSON text if you need to read a saved document back with a future library version.
+
+**Little-endian only.** The image is written as raw little-endian bytes, with no byte-swapping. `save()` (and
+[`load`](load.md)) throw `type_error.320` on a big-endian target rather than silently produce bytes a big-endian
+reader could not interpret correctly.
+
+## Examples
+
+??? example "Caching a parsed document as an image"
+
+    The example below saves a parsed configuration as an image -- the way a service might cache one to answer later
+    requests without parsing the text again -- and confirms that loading it back gives exactly the same result as
+    parsing did, and that saving is deterministic.
+
+    ```cpp
+    #include <cstdint>
+    #include <iostream>
+    #include <string>
+    #include <vector>
+    #include <nlohmann/json_view.hpp>
+    
+    using json_document = nlohmann::json_document;
+    
+    int main()
+    {
+        std::cout << std::boolalpha;
+    
+        // a configuration a service parses once and then caches as an image, so
+        // that later requests can load() it instead of parsing the text again
+        const std::string text = R"({"name": "cache", "host": "db1", "port": 6379, "replicas": ["db2", "db3"]})";
+        const json_document config = json_document::parse(text);
+    
+        // save() turns the parsed document into a byte buffer: a 64-byte header,
+        // the node index, the source text, and the decoded strings
+        const std::vector<std::uint8_t> image = config.save();
+        std::cout << image.size() << '\n';
+    
+        // the same document always saves to the same bytes
+        std::cout << (image == json_document::parse(text).save()) << '\n';
+    
+        // loading the image back needs no parsing, yet dumps exactly what
+        // parsing the text produced
+        const json_document reloaded = json_document::load(image);
+        std::cout << (reloaded.root().dump() == config.root().dump()) << '\n';
+    }
+    
+    ```
+
+    Output:
+
+    ```json
+    316
+    true
+    true
+    
+    ```
+
+## See also
+
+- [load](load.md) - read an image written by `save()`
+- [owns_source](owns_source.md) - return whether the document holds its own copy of the text
+- [`basic_json_view::dump`](../basic_json_view/dump.md) - serialize the document to JSON text instead of an image
+- [Images](../../features/json_view.md#images) - why and when to use images
+
+## Version history
+
+- Added in version 3.13.0.