I'm creating an index file in JSON, which I'm using as a sort-of-database index for a javascript application I'm working on.
My index will look like this:
{
"_id": "acomplex_indices.json",
"indexAB": {
"title": {
"Shawshank Redemption": [
"0"
],
"Godfather": [
"1"
],
"Godfather 2": [
"2"
],
"Pulp Fiction": [
"3"
],
"The Good, The Bad and The Ugly": [
"4"
],
"12 Angry Men": [
"5"
],
"The Dark Knight": [
"6"
],
"Schindlers List": [
"7"
],
"Lord of the Rings - Return of the King": [
"8"
],
"Fight Club": [
"9"
],
"Star Wars Episode V": [
"10"
],
"Lord Of the Rings - Fellowship of the Ring": [
"11"
],
"One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest": [
"12"
],
"Inception": [
"13"
],
"Godfellas": [
"14"
]
},
"year": {
"1994": [
"0",
"3"
],
"1972": [
"1"
],
"1974": [
"2"
],
"1966": [
"4"
],
"1957": [
"5"
],
"2008": [
"6"
],
"1993": [
"7"
],
"2003": [
"8"
],
"1999": [
"9"
],
"1980": [
"10"
],
"2001": [
"11"
],
"1975": [
"12"
],
"2010": [
"13"
],
"1990": [
"14"
]
}
}
}
So for every keyword
(like Pulp Fiction), I'm storing the matching document-id(s)
.
My problem is with integers/numbers/non-string data, like the release year in the above example. This is stored as a string, while I had hoped it would be stored as a number.
I'm creating the index entries like this:
// indices = the current index file
// doc = the document to update the index with
// priv.indices = all indices defined for this application instance
// priv.indices.fields = index fields e.g. "year", "director", "title"
// priv.indices.name = name of this index
priv.updateIndices = function (indices, doc) {
var i, j, index, value, label, key, l = priv.indices.length;
// loop all indices to add document
for (i = 0; i < l; i += 1) {
index = {};
index.reference = priv.indices[i];
index.reference_size = index.reference.fields.length;
index.current = indices[index.reference.name];
for (j = 0; j < index.reference_size; j += 1) {
label = index.reference.fields[j]; // like "year"
value = doc[label]; // like 1985
// if document has a label field (e.g. doc.year = 1985)
if (value !== undefined) {
// check if the index file already contains an entry for 1985
index.current_size = priv.getObjectSize(index.current[label]);
if (index.current_size > 0) {
// check if the document id is already in the index
// in case the data is updated (e.g. change 1982 to 1985)
key = priv.searchIndexByValue(
index.current[label],
doc._id,
"key"
);
if (!!key) {
delete index.current[label][key];
}
}
// create a new array if 1985 is not in the index yet
if (index.current[label][value] === undefined) {
index.current[label][value] = [];
}
// add the document id to an existing entry
index.current[label][value].push(doc._id);
}
}
}
return indices;
};
This works fine, except that fields I want to store as non-strings (integers, numbers or datetime), like the year in the above example end up as strings in my index.
Question:
Is it at all possible to store "non-string" types in a JSON document? If so, can I also store the key of a key/value pair as a "non-string" element.
If not, would I have to add a parameter to my index definitions declaring the type of each key in order to modify the key-string when I run into it or is there a better way to do it?
Thanks!