Add dump() and comparisons to json_view

Add basic_json_view::dump() and the comparison operators, and read
floats from the parser's digit layout instead of rescanning the
token.

dump(indent, indent_char, ensure_ascii, number_format) writes a
value the way ordered_json::parse(text).dump() writes it for the
same arguments: members in document order, all of them should a
key occur more than once; strings escaped by the same rules, using
the library's scanning kernels; floats written with the library's
to_chars conversion, so the output equals basic_json's byte for
byte; integers copied from the source, where they are already
canonical, except -0, which parse() reads as 0. There is no
error_handler argument, because the view only holds valid UTF-8.
number_format::source copies numbers exactly as they appear in the
source (e.g. "1.50", "1E2", "-0"), which basic_json cannot provide.
operator<< takes the indentation from the stream width, as for
basic_json. The writer walks iteratively, so nesting depth is
limited by memory only.

operator== and operator!= compare two views, or a view and a
basic_json value in either order, by the rules basic_json's
operator== uses: numbers compare by value across their types,
objects compare by their members with duplicate keys resolved as
parse() resolves them, member order matters only where the object
type keeps one, and discarded views compare as discarded basic_json
values do, including under JSON_USE_LEGACY_DISCARDED_VALUE_COMPARISON.
Nothing is materialized except single scalars.

While parsing, the view now records where the integer digits, the
fraction digits, and the exponent of a float token are, so floats
and doubles with at most 19 digits are read from that layout with
the library's decimal_to_float() instead of rescanning the token.
Both round correctly, so the values are those of parse(). get<double>(),
materialize(), dump(), and the comparisons all use it.

Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>
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Niels Lohmann committed 2026-10-07 16:42:29 +02:00
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# <small>nlohmann::basic_json_view::</small>dump
```cpp
string_t dump(const int indent = -1,
const char indent_char = ' ',
const bool ensure_ascii = false,
const number_format numbers = number_format::shortest) const;
```
Serializes this value (and its subtree) directly from the flat index, without ever building a `BasicJsonType` value
first. With the default `#!cpp numbers == number_format::shortest`, the result is the same string
[`BasicJsonType::dump`](../basic_json/dump.md) would produce for the value
[`BasicJsonType::parse()`](../basic_json/parse.md) builds from the same source text, called with the same `indent`,
`indent_char`, and `ensure_ascii` -- except that members of an object appear in document order rather than sorted by
key, and *every* occurrence of a repeated key is written rather than only the last one (see
[Notes on duplicate keys](operator[].md#notes)). For a `json_view` (whose `BasicJsonType` is not ordered), this means
`dump()` can print an object's members in a different order than [`materialize()`](materialize.md)`.dump()` of the
same subtree.
## Parameters
`indent` (in)
: If `indent` is nonnegative, array elements and object members are pretty-printed with that indent level. An
indent level of `0` only inserts newlines. `-1` (the default) selects the most compact representation.
`indent_char` (in)
: The character used for indentation if `indent` is greater than `0`. The default is ` ` (space).
`ensure_ascii` (in)
: If `ensure_ascii` is `#!cpp true`, all non-ASCII characters in the output are escaped with `\uXXXX` sequences, and
the result consists of ASCII characters only.
`numbers` (in)
: how to write numbers, see [`number_format`](number_format.md): `shortest` (the default) writes them the way
[`BasicJsonType::dump`](../basic_json/dump.md) would; `source` copies every number exactly as it appears in the
source text.
## Return value
string containing the serialization of this value, or `#!cpp "<discarded>"` if the view is
[discarded](is_discarded.md).
## Exception safety
Strong exception safety: if an exception is thrown, there are no changes to the view or the document it refers to.
## Exceptions
May throw `#!cpp std::bad_alloc` if allocating the output string fails. Unlike
[`BasicJsonType::dump`](../basic_json/dump.md), there is no `error_handler` parameter and no
[`type_error.316`](../../home/exceptions.md#jsonexceptiontype_error316): the view only ever holds text the parser
already validated as UTF-8, so there is nothing to replace or ignore.
## Complexity
Linear in the size of the output text.
## Notes
The walk over the subtree is iterative, so the nesting depth it can write is limited by available memory only, not by
the call stack -- as for [`materialize()`](materialize.md).
Strings are escaped by the same rules as [`BasicJsonType::dump`](../basic_json/dump.md). With
`#!cpp numbers == number_format::shortest`, floats are written with the library's shortest round-trip conversion,
exactly as [`BasicJsonType::dump`](../basic_json/dump.md) would (e.g. `#!cpp 1.5`, `#!cpp 100.0`, `#!cpp 1e+100`), and
integers are copied from the source text -- already canonical in JSON, so this matches their shortest form too --
except that `#!cpp -0` is written as `#!cpp 0`, the way [`BasicJsonType::parse()`](../basic_json/parse.md) reads it.
`#!cpp number_format::source` copies every number exactly as written in the source text instead, with no exception
for `#!cpp -0` -- `#!cpp 1.50`, `#!cpp 1E2`, `#!cpp -0.0`, `#!cpp -0`, or all digits of an integer literal with more
digits than any number type holds (such a literal is itself classified as a float, see
[What is different](../../features/json_view.md#what-is-different)) -- something `BasicJsonType` cannot do, since
parsing already reduces every number to its parsed value.
## Examples
??? example
The example below forwards a single record out of a larger batch, and re-serializes a configuration file, both
without ever building a `BasicJsonType` value for the surrounding array or for the parts of it that were not
needed. It also shows that [`materialize()`](materialize.md)`.dump()` of the configuration sorts its keys, where
`dump()` on the view keeps the order they appear in the source text.
```cpp
--8<-- "examples/basic_json_view__dump.cpp"
```
Output:
```json
--8<-- "examples/basic_json_view__dump.output"
```
## See also
- [`number_format`](number_format.md) - how `dump()` writes numbers
- [operator<<](operator_ltlt.md) - serialize this value to a stream
- [materialize](materialize.md) - build a `BasicJsonType` value, e.g. to use `BasicJsonType::dump`'s `error_handler`
- [`BasicJsonType::dump`](../basic_json/dump.md) - the corresponding function of `basic_json`
## Version history
- Added in version 3.13.0.