Add editable json_documents: set, push_back, insert, and erase

basic_json_document gets a second template parameter, Editable
(false by default), plus the aliases json_editable_document,
json_editable_view, ordered_json_editable_document and
ordered_json_editable_view.

Editable documents can change values and structure without
rewriting the source text: set()/push_back() on values, keys,
array indices and JSON pointers; insert() before an array
element; erase() of an object key, array index or JSON pointer.

New values and element sequences go into edit storage that the
document owns and never moves, so views keep referring to their
value across edits and a parsed node never moves. Read-only
documents walk the plain node array and are unaffected.

Strings are checked for UTF-8 on entry, so dump() of an editable
document never throws type_error.316. Binary values cannot be
stored (type_error.319).

A seeded differential test applies random edits to an editable
document and to the equivalent ordered_json and compares both
after every step.

Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>
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Niels Lohmann committed 2026-10-07 16:42:38 +02:00
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# <small>nlohmann::basic_json_document::</small>erase
```cpp
// (1)
std::size_t erase(view_type object, string_view_t key);
// (2)
template<typename I>
void erase(view_type array, I idx);
// (3)
std::size_t erase(const json_pointer& ptr);
```
Only an **editable** document (`#!cpp Editable == true`, e.g. [`json_editable_document`](../json_editable_document.md))
has `erase`; calling it on a read-only `basic_json_document` fails to compile (`#!cpp static_assert`).
1. Removes every member of `object` whose key is `key` (see [Notes](#notes) on duplicate keys) and returns how many
were removed; `#!cpp 0` if `object` has no member with this key.
2. Removes the element at index `idx` of `array`, which must already exist (`#!cpp idx < array.size()`).
3. Removes the value the JSON pointer `ptr` refers to, relative to [`root()`](root.md), and returns how many values
were removed: the *parent* of the target must already exist, and the target itself is removed as in 1. (an object
member; `#!cpp 0` or more) or 2. (an array element; always `#!cpp 1`). `ptr` must not be empty -- [`root()`](root.md)
itself cannot be erased.
## Template parameters
`I`
: an integral type other than `#!cpp bool`, deduced (overloads taking a `#!cpp bool` or a non-integral type for
`idx` do not participate in overload resolution).
## Parameters
`object` (in)
: the object to remove a member of
`array` (in)
: the array to remove an element of
`key` (in)
: the key of the member(s) to remove
`idx` (in)
: the index of the element to remove; a negative value throws (see [Exceptions](#exceptions))
`ptr` (in)
: a JSON pointer to the value to remove, relative to `root()`
## Return value
1. the number of removed members (`#!cpp 0` if `object` had none with this `key`)
2. (nothing)
3. the number of removed values (`#!cpp 0` or more for an object member, always `#!cpp 1` for an array element)
## Exceptions
1. Throws [`type_error.307`](../../home/exceptions.md#jsonexceptiontype_error307) if `object` is not an object -- the
same message [`BasicJsonType::erase`](../basic_json/erase.md) throws for the same type.
2. Throws `type_error.307` if `array` is not an array. Throws
[`out_of_range.401`](../../home/exceptions.md#jsonexceptionout_of_range401) if `idx` is negative, or if
`#!cpp idx >= array.size()`.
3. Throws [`out_of_range.405`](../../home/exceptions.md#jsonexceptionout_of_range405) ("JSON pointer has no parent")
if `ptr` is empty. Throws what [`at`](../basic_json_view/at.md) throws (overload 3) for resolving `ptr`'s parent.
For the last reference token itself: if the parent is an array, throws what 2. throws for an index that is out of
range, or, for a token that is not a valid array index,
[`parse_error.106`](../../home/exceptions.md#jsonexceptionparse_error106) (a leading `#!cpp '0'`),
[`parse_error.109`](../../home/exceptions.md#jsonexceptionparse_error109) (not a number),
[`out_of_range.410`](../../home/exceptions.md#jsonexceptionout_of_range410) (too large for `size_type`), or
[`out_of_range.404`](../../home/exceptions.md#jsonexceptionout_of_range404) (an empty token); otherwise (an
object, or a primitive value the pointer's parent resolves to) throws what 1. throws.
Every overload also throws [`invalid_iterator.202`](../../home/exceptions.md#jsonexceptioninvalid_iterator202) ("view
does not belong to this document") if `object`/`array` is a [discarded](../basic_json_view/is_discarded.md) view or a
view of a *different* document (overloads 1-2 only; overload 3 always starts from this document's own
[`root()`](root.md)).
## Complexity
1. Linear in the number of members of `object`.
2. Linear in the number of elements of `array` at or after `idx` (they move one slot over).
3. Linear in the number of reference tokens of `ptr` and, for each token, in the number of members of the object at
that level or the index into the array (as [`at`](../basic_json_view/at.md)), plus the complexity of 1. or 2. for
the last token.
## Notes
!!! info "Duplicate keys"
Overload 1. removes *every* member with `key`, not just the first -- unlike [`set`](set.md), which assigns the
first occurrence and drops the rest. This is why it returns a count rather than a single view: there may be
more than one member removed, or none.
Like [`set`](set.md) and [`push_back`](push_back.md), `erase` never moves an element's *value*: a view still
referring to a removed member or element keeps showing what it last held (see [Edits](index.md#edits)) -- it just no
longer appears when `array`/`object` is read, dumped, or iterated. Removing an element of `array` (2.) does shift the
*links* to the elements after it, the same way `insert`, `set`, or `push_back` on the same array would; any iterator
already taken over `array`/`object` is invalidated by an erase, since it was walking the old layout.
## Examples
??? example
The example below drops a deprecated field and a decommissioned entry from a configuration document -- using all
three overloads -- and shows what stays intact that would not with a plain `json`/`ordered_json` value: the order
of the fields around the ones removed, and the exact spelling of a number that was never touched.
```cpp
--8<-- "examples/basic_json_document__erase.cpp"
```
Output:
```json
--8<-- "examples/basic_json_document__erase.output"
```
## See also
- [insert](insert.md) - insert an element into an array
- [set](set.md) - replace a value, or set an object member, an array element, or the value a JSON pointer refers to
- [push_back](push_back.md) - append to an array
- [root](root.md) - the view of the root value, the starting point of overload 3
- [`BasicJsonType::erase`](../basic_json/erase.md) - the corresponding function of `basic_json`
- [Edits](index.md#edits) - what an edit guarantees, for every overload
## Version history
- Added in version 3.13.0.