JsonML "No object allowed at this stage"

Bridger Dyson-Smith via BaseX-Talk <basex-talk at mailman.uni-konstanz.de> schrieb am Freitag, 2. Oktober 2026 um 17:23: > Dear Christian, et al, > > Is this a bug or the usual user/operator error? > > While trying to add some parsed JSON to a database, I'm getting an > error with BaseX 12.3 and json:parse($json, map {'format':'jsonml'}). > I'm working on sample data from the COUNTER organization[1] - I've > attached one of the sample files - and all of the format options work > except for 'jsonml', which throws a 'No object allowed at this stage.' > with the data. > > Is this an error on the BaseX side or a quirk with the JSON from the > COUNTER org (or... most likely, I'm misunderstanding something!?)? > > Thanks for your helpful advice! > Best, > Bridger > > Code: > ``` > file:read-text("/home/bridger/Downloads/Sample-TR_J1.json") => > json:parse(map{ "format": "jsonml" }), > (: returns 'No object allowed at this stage." :) > > json:doc("/home/bridger/Downloads/Sample-TR_J1.json", map { "format": > "jsonml" }) > (: returns 'No object allowed at this stage." :) > ``` > The BaseX GUI new database dialog throws the same error. > I'll try to update my local BaseX, in case this has been addressed at > some point. >

On Fri, Oct 2, 2026 at 5:58 PM Christian Grün <cg at basex.org> wrote: > > Hi Bridger, > > thanks for the report. It's not a bug, and not a problem with the COUNTER data either. The jsonml format is meant for a different kind of input. > > JsonML is a way of writing XML documents as JSON arrays. Every element is an array: the element name comes first, then an optional object with the attributes, then the children: > > ["person", {"id": "1"}, "John"] > > …becomes: > > <person id="1">John</person> > > So jsonml only accepts input in exactly this shape. Your COUNTER file is a regular JSON object, and the JsonML parser rejects an object at that position. That's what "No object allowed at this stage" is trying to say (admittedly not very clearly). > > For ordinary JSON like yours, any of the other formats will do. The default (direct) usually gives the most readable XML: > > json:doc("/home/bridger/Downloads/Sample-TR_J1.json") > > You can also use attributes, basic, or the standard json-to-xml function, whichever structure suits your queries best. > > Updating BaseX won't change the behavior, but we'll consider a clearer error message for this case. > > Best, > Christian > > > Bridger Dyson-Smith via BaseX-Talk <basex-talk at mailman.uni-konstanz.de> schrieb am Freitag, 2. Oktober 2026 um 17:23: > > > Dear Christian, et al, > > > > Is this a bug or the usual user/operator error? > > > > While trying to add some parsed JSON to a database, I'm getting an > > error with BaseX 12.3 and json:parse($json, map {'format':'jsonml'}). > > I'm working on sample data from the COUNTER organization[1] - I've > > attached one of the sample files - and all of the format options work > > except for 'jsonml', which throws a 'No object allowed at this stage.' > > with the data. > > > > Is this an error on the BaseX side or a quirk with the JSON from the > > COUNTER org (or... most likely, I'm misunderstanding something!?)? > > > > Thanks for your helpful advice! > > Best, > > Bridger > > > > Code: > > ``` > > file:read-text("/home/bridger/Downloads/Sample-TR_J1.json") => > > json:parse(map{ "format": "jsonml" }), > > (: returns 'No object allowed at this stage." :) > > > > json:doc("/home/bridger/Downloads/Sample-TR_J1.json", map { "format": > > "jsonml" }) > > (: returns 'No object allowed at this stage." :) > > ``` > > The BaseX GUI new database dialog throws the same error. > > I'll try to update my local BaseX, in case this has been addressed at > > some point. > >