The syntax for JSON dot notation, a Vantage ARRAY type element reference, and a fully or partially qualified column reference is similar. This creates potential ambiguity in the following cases:
- Ambiguity between a Vantage ARRAY type element reference and a JSON type array reference
- Ambiguity between a fully or partially qualified column reference and a JSON type dot notation reference
When there is ambiguity, the default interpretation of the syntax is as follows:
- For case 1: The syntax is interpreted as a Vantage ARRAY type element reference.
- For case 2: The syntax is interpreted as a fully or partially qualified column reference.
Handling of these potential ambiguities is described in more detail in the following sections.
To make sure that a JSON dot notation reference is not ambiguous, fully qualify a JSON column being referenced. Alternatively, you can use the JSONExtract, JSONExtractValue, or JSONExtractLargeValue methods to retrieve entities of a JSON instance.