Comprehensive Guide on Using jsondiffpatch for JSON Data Manipulation

Welcome to our comprehensive guide on jsondiffpatch. This powerful tool allows you to find and apply differences between JSON objects, making it an indispensable utility for developers working with JSON data.

Introduction to jsondiffpatch

jsondiffpatch is a JavaScript library that provides an easy way to compute the difference between two JSON objects, and subsequently apply those changes back. It’s particularly useful for synchronization purposes, complex data comparisons, and working with hierarchical data structures.

Key Features and APIs

Creating a Diff

 const jsondiffpatch = require('jsondiffpatch').create();
const left = {
  a: 3,
  b: 4
}; const right = {
  a: 5,
  c: 6
};
const delta = jsondiffpatch.diff(left, right); console.log(delta); 

This code will generate a diff from two JSON objects, left and right.

Applying a Diff

 const left = {
  a: 3,
  b: 4
};
jsondiffpatch.patch(left, delta); console.log(left); 

This will apply the previously calculated delta to the left object, making it identical to the right object.

Reversing a Diff

 jsondiffpatch.unpatch(right, delta); console.log(right); 

This will revert the right object to its original state by reversing the delta.

Cloning objects with Deltas

 const newRight = jsondiffpatch.clone(left, delta); console.log(newRight); 

This will create a new object (equivalent to right) by applying the delta to the left object.

Text Diff Patching

 const leftText = 'The quick brown fox'; const rightText = 'The fast brown fox';
const textDelta = jsondiffpatch.diff(leftText, rightText); console.log(textDelta);
const newText = jsondiffpatch.patch(leftText, textDelta); console.log(newText); 

This demonstrates diffing text strings and applying patches between them.

App Example

Let’s build a simple app that tracks changes to a JSON document.

 // index.html 
  
    
  
  
    
  
 

In this example, we load a simple HTML file that includes the jsondiffpatch library. We then create two JSON objects, compute the difference (delta), and apply that delta to the original object.

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