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json/docs/mkdocs/docs/api/basic_json/to_ubjson.md
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Niels Lohmann 526b6d3fd6 Review and extend the documentation, and check it in CI
A review of all documentation pages found factual errors, dead links,
missing cross-references, and gaps in examples. This fixes them and adds
checks so the same problems are caught automatically.

Fixes:
- wrong signatures and version histories (operator!= C++20 member,
  binary() subtype type, get<PointerType>(), JSON_NO_THREAD_LOCAL, ...)
- stale descriptions (number parsing since #5283, UBJSON table, SAX
  example that no longer compiled, tsl::ordered_map advice)
- dead internal and external links; repology.org badges (the domain is
  suspended) replaced by badges that query the registries directly
- deprecation notes link the migration guide; the guide itself fixed

Additions:
- "See also" sections, cross-references, 25 runnable examples, 12
  Mermaid diagrams, new API pages for json_pointer::operator<=> and
  byte_container_with_subtype::operator==/!=
- landing page, guides for untrusted input and performance
- "unreleased" badge after versions newer than the latest release

Checks:
- strict documentation build (broken links/anchors fail it); CI and
  the publish workflow fetch the full history the build needs
- weekly external link check, Mermaid syntax check in CI
- check_structure.py: example titles, heading levels, alt texts,
  header links, docset index coverage; its unused-example check works
  again
- all examples produce the same output on every platform

Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>
2026-09-29 17:05:35 +02:00

3.0 KiB

nlohmann::basic_json::to_ubjson

// (1)
static std::vector<std::uint8_t> to_ubjson(const basic_json& j,
                                           const bool use_size = false,
                                           const bool use_type = false);

// (2)
static void to_ubjson(const basic_json& j, detail::output_adapter<std::uint8_t> o,
                      const bool use_size = false, const bool use_type = false);
static void to_ubjson(const basic_json& j, detail::output_adapter<char> o,
                      const bool use_size = false, const bool use_type = false);

Serializes a given JSON value j to a byte vector using the UBJSON (Universal Binary JSON) serialization format. UBJSON aims to be more compact than JSON itself, yet more efficient to parse.

  1. Returns a byte vector containing the UBJSON serialization.
  2. Writes the UBJSON serialization to an output adapter.

The exact mapping and its limitations are described on a dedicated page.

Parameters

j (in)
JSON value to serialize
o (in)
output adapter to write serialization to
use_size (in)
whether to add size annotations to container types; optional, #!cpp false by default.
use_type (in)
whether to add type annotations to container types (must be combined with #!cpp use_size = true); optional, #!cpp false by default.

Return value

  1. UBJSON serialization as a byte vector
  2. (none)

Exception safety

Strong guarantee: if an exception is thrown, there are no changes in the JSON value.

Exceptions

  • Throws other_error.502 if use_type is true and use_size is false, and j contains a non-empty array, object, or binary value.

Complexity

Linear in the size of the JSON value j.

Examples

??? example "Example: serialize a JSON value to UBJSON"

The example shows the serialization of a JSON value to a byte vector in UBJSON format.
 
```cpp
--8<-- "examples/to_ubjson.cpp"
```

Output:

```json
--8<-- "examples/to_ubjson.output"
```

??? example "Example: other_error.502 exception"

The example shows how requesting type annotations (`use_type`) without size annotations (`use_size`) throws an
exception, because type-optimized containers can only be read back with a preceding size.

```cpp
--8<-- "examples/to_ubjson__exception.cpp"
```

Output:

```json
--8<-- "examples/to_ubjson__exception.output"
```

See also

  • from_ubjson create a JSON value from an input in UBJSON format
  • to_cbor create a CBOR serialization of a JSON value
  • to_msgpack create a MessagePack serialization of a JSON value
  • to_bson create a BSON serialization of a JSON value
  • to_bjdata create a BJData serialization of a JSON value
  • to_bon8 create a BON8 serialization of a JSON value

Version history

  • Added in version 3.1.0.