[SOLVED] Get value if object or string if string in jq array

Issue

I have a JSON object that looks like this:

[{"name":"NAME_1"},"NAME_2"]

I would like an output of

["NAME_1", "NAME_2"]

Some of the entries in the array are an object with a key "name" and some are just a string of the name. I am trying to extract an array of the names. Using

jq -cr '.[].name // []'

throws an error as it is trying to index .name of the string object. Is there a way to check if it is a string, and if so just use its value instead of .name?

Solution

echo '[{"name":"NAME_1"},"NAME_2"]' \
| jq '[ .[] | if (.|type) == "object" then .name else . end ]'

[
  "NAME_1"
  "NAME_2"
]

Ref:

• https://stedolan.github.io/jq/manual/#ConditionalsandComparisons
• https://stedolan.github.io/jq/manual/#type

---

As @LéaGris comments, a simpler version

jq '[ .[] | .name? // . ]' file

• https://stedolan.github.io/jq/manual/#ErrorSuppression/OptionalOperator:%3f
• https://stedolan.github.io/jq/manual/#Alternativeoperator://

Answered By - glenn jackman

Answer Checked By - Willingham (WPSolving Volunteer)