Document the contract of object keys passed to json_sax::key and key callbacks

Describe what the name passed to json_sax::key and to a parser callback
for parse_event_t::key holds when parsing JSON text: escapes are decoded
to UTF-8, different spellings of a name yield identical strings, the name
is validated before the call (invalid escapes or UTF-8 give a parse error
and no key event), no normalization or case conversion is applied, the
event precedes the ':' check, and duplicate names are reported once per
occurrence. Also note that sax_parse passes binary-format keys unchanged.

See discussion #5955.

Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>
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Niels Lohmann committed 2026-10-28 20:29:43 +01:00
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@@ -63,6 +63,15 @@ called:
Whether the JSON value which called the function during parsing should be kept (`#!cpp true`) or not (`#!cpp false`). In
the latter case, it is skipped completely, or replaced by `null` if it is the top-level value.
## Notes
For a `parse_event_t::key` event, `parsed` holds the decoded object name, with the same guarantees as the `val`
parameter of [`json_sax::key`](../json_sax/key.md#notes): all escape sequences are decoded and `\uXXXX` escapes are
stored as UTF-8, so different spellings of the same name yield identical strings; the name is validated completely
before the callback is called, so a name with an invalid escape sequence or ill-formed UTF-8 causes a parse error and
no `key` event; no Unicode normalization or case conversion is applied; and a name that occurs several times in the
same object yields one `key` event per occurrence.
## Examples
??? example "Example: skip an object key while parsing"
+16
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@@ -19,6 +19,22 @@ Whether parsing should proceed.
It is safe to move the passed object key value.
When parsing JSON text, `val` is the decoded object name, not its spelling in the input:
- All escape sequences (`\"`, `\\`, `\/`, `\b`, `\f`, `\n`, `\r`, `\t`, `\uXXXX`, and surrogate pairs) are
decoded, and `\uXXXX` escapes are stored as UTF-8. Different spellings of the same name, such as `#!json "/"`
and `#!json "\/"`, or `#!json "\u00e9"` and `#!json "\u00E9"`, yield identical strings. An escaped `\u0000` yields
an embedded NUL byte.
- The name is scanned and validated completely before `key` is called. If it contains an invalid escape sequence, an
unpaired surrogate, a control character, or ill-formed UTF-8, the parse fails with a
[`parse_error`](../../home/exceptions.md#parse-errors), and `key` is not called for it.
- No Unicode normalization or case conversion is applied: names that differ in any byte are different strings.
- `key` is called before the following `:` is read, so a parse error may still follow for the same member.
- A name that occurs several times in the same object is passed once per occurrence.
For the binary formats, object keys contain no escape sequences: `val` holds the bytes stored in the input.
[`sax_parse`](../basic_json/sax_parse.md) passes them unchanged, without checking them for valid UTF-8.
## Examples
??? example
@@ -64,6 +64,9 @@ bool parse_error(std::size_t position, const std::string& last_token, const json
The return value of each function determines whether parsing should proceed.
Object keys are passed to `key` decoded and validated: escape sequences are already resolved, so different spellings of
the same name yield the same string. See [`key`](../../api/json_sax/key.md#notes) for the exact guarantees.
## Stepping through the events
The events for a small input, step by step, and what two different handlers do with them. Press *Play* or step with *Next*: