Remove an object from JSON using RegEx

Question

I have JSON objects in this format:

 {
     "1f626": {
         "name": "frowning face with open mouth",
         "ascii": [],
         "code_points": {
             "base": "1f626",
             "default_matches": [
                 "1f626"
             ],
             "greedy_matches": [
                 "1f626"
             ],
             "decimal": ""
         }
     }
 }

I have to remove the code_points object using Regular Expressions.

I have tried using this RegEx:

(("code\w+)(.*)(}))

But it is only selecting the first line. I have to select until end of curly brackets in order to fully get rid of the code_points object.

How can I do that?

Note: I have to remove it using Regular Expressions and not JavaScript. Please don't post any JavaScript answers or mark this as a possible duplicate of a JavaScript-based question.

Yes. Just try delete obj["1f626"]["code_points"], with obj being the object in your code. — KaiserKatze
– KaiserKatze, Commented Aug 26, 2018 at 4:09
JSON isn't a regular language; it is actually awful to use regex on JSON and it is why we have JSON parsers. I dread to think who is forcing you to use regex :-( — Chris Cousins
– Chris Cousins, Commented Aug 26, 2018 at 4:18

Tom Blodget · Accepted Answer · 2018-08-27 22:51:33Z

3

Alternatively, at the command-line, if you can use jq

jq "del(.[].code_points)" <monster.json >smaller_monster.json

This deletes the code_points key inside each 2nd-level object.

It took my machine about 5 seconds on a 60MB document.

It's not a regular expression but it's not JavaScript, either. So, it meets half of your non-functional requirements.

edited Aug 27, 2018 at 22:51

answered Aug 26, 2018 at 23:12

Tom Blodget

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3 Comments

Mina Over a year ago

thanks for your answer, this code also removing object key & comma: prntscr.com/knh22y here is code snippet: jqplay.org/s/ohqeX8OnG_

Mina Over a year ago

can you please help me about this?

Tom Blodget Over a year ago

@Mina. Weird. I fixed the query.

CrafterKolyan · Accepted Answer · 2018-08-26 08:38:44Z

2

("code_points")([\s\S]*?)(})

The problem you had is that . is actually any character except \n, so in this case I usually use [\s\S] which means any whitespace and non-whitespace character (so it's actually any character). Also you should make * quantifier to be lazy by adding ?.

Remember that this Regular Expression won't work properly in case you have inner object (other {}) in code_points

answered Aug 26, 2018 at 8:38

CrafterKolyan

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