PostgreSQL jsonb_populate_recordset() Function

Summary: in this tutorial, you will learn how to use the PostgreSQL jsonb_popuplate_recordset() function to populate the fields of a record type from a JSON array of objects.

Introduction to the PostgreSQL jsonb_popuplate_recordset() function

The jsonb_populate_recordset() function allows you to populate the fields of a record type from a JSON array of objects.

In other words, the jsonb_popuplate_recordset() function converts a JSON array of objects with the JSONB type into a set of records of a specified type.

Here’s the syntax of the jsonb_populate_recordset() function:

jsonb_populate_recordset(
   target anyelement,
   json_array jsonb
) RETURNS SETOF anyelement

In this syntax:

target represents the target record type to which the JSONB data will be mapped.
json_object is a JSON array of objects from which the records will be populated. The jsonb_array has the type of JSONB.

The jsonb_populate_recordset() function returns a set of records of a specified type, with each record’s fields populated using the corresponding key-value pairs from the JSONB objects in the array.

PostgreSQL jsonb_popuplate_recordset() function examples

Let’s explore some examples of using the jsonb_populate_recordset() function.

1) Basic jsonb_populate_recordset() function example

First, create a new type called address:

CREATE TYPE address_type AS (
    street VARCHAR(100),
    city VARCHAR(50),
    zipcode VARCHAR(5)
);

Second, use the jsonb_populate_recordset() function to populate the address custom type from a JSON array of objects:

SELECT
  *
FROM
  jsonb_populate_recordset(
    null :: address_type, '[{"street": "123 Main St", "city": "New York", "zipcode": "10001"}, {"street": "456 Elm St", "city": "Los Angeles", "zipcode": "90001"}]' :: jsonb
  ) AS address;

Output:

street    |    city     | zipcode
-------------+-------------+---------
 123 Main St | New York    | 10001
 456 Elm St  | Los Angeles | 90001
(2 rows)

2) Using the jsonb_populate_recordset() function with table data

First, create a new table called employees:

CREATE TABLE employees (
    id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
    name VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
    age INT NOT NULL,
    salary NUMERIC NOT NULL
);

Second, insert some rows into the employees table:

INSERT INTO employees (name, age, salary)
VALUES
  ('John Doe', 25, 70000),
  ('Jane Smith', 22, 80000);

Third, use jsonb_populate_recordset() to query the data from the employees table in a structured format:

SELECT
  jsonb_populate_recordset(
    null :: employees,
    json_agg(jsonb_build_object(
      'id', id, 'name', name, 'age', age, 'salary',
      salary
    ))
  ) AS employees
FROM
  employees;