How do I modify fields inside the new PostgreSQL JSON datatype?

Question

With postgresql 9.3 I can SELECT specific fields of a JSON data type, but how do you modify them using UPDATE? I can\'t find any examples of this in the postgresql documenta

Answer 1

I wrote small function for myself that works recursively in Postgres 9.4. Here is the function (I hope it works well for you):

CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION jsonb_update(val1 JSONB,val2 JSONB)
RETURNS JSONB AS $$
DECLARE
    result JSONB;
    v RECORD;
BEGIN
    IF jsonb_typeof(val2) = 'null'
    THEN 
        RETURN val1;
    END IF;

    result = val1;

    FOR v IN SELECT key, value FROM jsonb_each(val2) LOOP

        IF jsonb_typeof(val2->v.key) = 'object'
            THEN
                result = result || jsonb_build_object(v.key, jsonb_update(val1->v.key, val2->v.key));
            ELSE
                result = result || jsonb_build_object(v.key, v.value);
        END IF;
    END LOOP;

    RETURN result;
END;
$$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;

Here is sample use:

select jsonb_update('{"a":{"b":{"c":{"d":5,"dd":6},"cc":1}},"aaa":5}'::jsonb, '{"a":{"b":{"c":{"d":15}}},"aa":9}'::jsonb);
                            jsonb_update                             
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 {"a": {"b": {"c": {"d": 15, "dd": 6}, "cc": 1}}, "aa": 9, "aaa": 5}
(1 row)

As you can see it analyze deep down and update/add values where needed.