# Custom JSON Encoder
A JSON encoder that allows customizing the indentation based on the content and the width of the line.
See [the command-line tool](custom_json_encoder/__main__.py) to understand how to use the [CustomJSONEncoder class](custom_json_encoder/__init__.py). This tool is a patch from [json/tool.py](https://github.com/python/cpython/blob/3.10/Lib/json/tool.py), so follow the `#region` and `#endregion` comments to understand the differences.
## Command Line Interface
Instead of using the standard [JSON tool](https://docs.python.org/3/library/json.html#module-json.tool)
```bash
$ python -m json.tool demo.json --indent 4
{
"menu": {
"id": "file",
"value": "File",
"popup": {
"menuitem": [
{
"value": "New",
"onclick": "CreateNewDoc()"
},
{
"value": "Open",
"onclick": "OpenDoc()"
},
{
"value": "Close",
"onclick": "CloseDoc()"
}
]
}
}
}
```
you can use the [custom JSON encoder](custom_json_encoder/__main__.py) instead with the same flags
```bash
$ python -m custom_json_encoder demo.json --indent 4
{
"menu": {
"id": "file",
"value": "File",
"popup": {
"menuitem": [
{
"value": "New",
"onclick": "CreateNewDoc()"
},
{
"value": "Open",
"onclick": "OpenDoc()"
},
{
"value": "Close",
"onclick": "CloseDoc()"
}
]
}
}
}
```
This tool provides the same functionality as the standard JSON tool
```bash
$ python -m custom_json_encoder -h
usage: custom_json_encoder [-h] [--sort-keys] [--no-ensure-ascii] [--json-lines] [--indent INDENT | --indent-after KEY | --tab | --compact] [--indent-after-width AMOUNT]
[--indent-after-indentation AMOUNT]
[infile] [outfile]
A simple command line interface for json module to validate and pretty-print JSON objects.
positional arguments:
infile a JSON file to be validated or pretty-printed
outfile write the output of infile to outfile
options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
--sort-keys sort the output of dictionaries alphabetically by key
--no-ensure-ascii disable escaping of non-ASCII characters
--json-lines parse input using the JSON Lines format. Use with --no-indent or --compact to produce valid JSON Lines output.
--indent INDENT separate items with newlines and use this number of spaces for indentation
--indent-after KEY indent after the given key using --indent-after-indentation spaces
--tab separate items with newlines and use tabs for indentation
--compact suppress all whitespace separation (most compact)
--indent-after-width AMOUNT
set the width of the output line when --indent-after is active
--indent-after-indentation AMOUNT
use this number of spaces for indentation when --indent-after is active
```
except for the `--indent-after`, `--indent-after-width` and `--indent-after-indentation` flags, which allow indenting ONLY after the given key or after reaching the given width.
```bash
$ python -m custom_json_encoder demo.json --indent-after menuitem --indent-after-width 50 --indent-after-indentation 4
{
"menu": {"id": "file", "value": "File",
"popup": {"menuitem": [
{"value": "New", "onclick":
"CreateNewDoc()"},
{"value": "Open", "onclick":
"OpenDoc()"},
{"value": "Close", "onclick":
"CloseDoc()"}
]}}
}
```
