api/basic_json_document/erase/index.md

# nlohmann::basic_json_document::erase

```
// (1)
std::size_t erase(view_type object, string_view_t key);

// (2)
template<typename I>
void erase(view_type array, I idx);

// (3)
std::size_t erase(const json_pointer& ptr);
```

Only an **editable** document (`view_mode::editable`, e.g. [`json_editable_document`](https://json.nlohmann.me/api/json_editable_document/index.md)) has `erase`; calling it on a read-only `basic_json_document` fails to compile (`static_assert`).

1. Removes every member of `object` whose key is `key` (see [Notes](#notes) on duplicate keys) and returns how many were removed; `0` if `object` has no member with this key.
1. Removes the element at index `idx` of `array`, which must already exist (`idx < array.size()`).
1. Removes the value the JSON pointer `ptr` refers to, relative to [`root()`](https://json.nlohmann.me/api/basic_json_document/root/index.md). `ptr` must not be empty ([`root()`](https://json.nlohmann.me/api/basic_json_document/root/index.md) itself cannot be erased), and the *parent* of the target must already exist. The target is removed as in 1. if the parent is an object (returns the number of removed members, `0` or more) and as in 2. if it is an array (always returns `1`).

## Template parameters

`I` : an integral type other than `bool`, deduced (overloads taking a `bool` or a non-integral type for `idx` do not participate in overload resolution).

## Parameters

`object` (in) : the object to remove a member of

`array` (in) : the array to remove an element of

`key` (in) : the key of the member(s) to remove

`idx` (in) : the index of the element to remove; a negative value throws (see [Exceptions](#exceptions))

`ptr` (in) : a JSON pointer to the value to remove, relative to `root()`

## Return value

1. the number of removed members (`0` if `object` had none with this `key`)
1. (nothing)
1. the number of removed values (`0` or more for an object member, always `1` for an array element)

## Exceptions

1. Throws [`type_error.307`](https://json.nlohmann.me/home/exceptions/#jsonexceptiontype_error307) if `object` is not an object — the same message [`BasicJsonType::erase`](https://json.nlohmann.me/api/basic_json/erase/index.md) throws for the same type.
1. Throws `type_error.307` if `array` is not an array. Throws [`out_of_range.401`](https://json.nlohmann.me/home/exceptions/#jsonexceptionout_of_range401) if `idx` is negative, or if `idx >= array.size()`.
1. Throws [`out_of_range.405`](https://json.nlohmann.me/home/exceptions/#jsonexceptionout_of_range405) ("JSON pointer has no parent") if `ptr` is empty. Throws what [`at`](https://json.nlohmann.me/api/basic_json_view/at/index.md) throws (overload 3) for resolving `ptr`'s parent. For the last reference token itself: if the parent is an array, throws what 2. throws for an index that is out of range, or, for a token that is not a valid array index, [`parse_error.106`](https://json.nlohmann.me/home/exceptions/#jsonexceptionparse_error106) (a leading `'0'`), [`parse_error.109`](https://json.nlohmann.me/home/exceptions/#jsonexceptionparse_error109) (not a number), [`out_of_range.410`](https://json.nlohmann.me/home/exceptions/#jsonexceptionout_of_range410) (too large for `size_type`), or [`out_of_range.404`](https://json.nlohmann.me/home/exceptions/#jsonexceptionout_of_range404) (an empty token); otherwise (an object, or a primitive value the pointer's parent resolves to) throws what 1. throws.

Overloads 1. and 2. also throw [`invalid_iterator.202`](https://json.nlohmann.me/home/exceptions/#jsonexceptioninvalid_iterator202) ("view does not belong to this document") if `object`/`array` is a [discarded](https://json.nlohmann.me/api/basic_json_view/is_discarded/index.md) view or a view of a *different* document. Overload 3. never throws `invalid_iterator.202`: it takes no view, and it always starts from this document's own [`root()`](https://json.nlohmann.me/api/basic_json_document/root/index.md).

## Complexity

1. Linear in the number of members of `object`.
1. Linear in the number of elements of `array` at or after `idx` (they move one slot over).
1. Linear in the number of reference tokens of `ptr` and, for each token, in the number of members of the object at that level or the index into the array (as [`at`](https://json.nlohmann.me/api/basic_json_view/at/index.md)), plus the complexity of 1. or 2. for the last token.

## Notes

Duplicate keys

Overload 1. removes *every* member with `key`, not just the first — unlike [`set`](https://json.nlohmann.me/api/basic_json_document/set/index.md), which assigns the first occurrence and drops the rest. This is why it returns a count rather than a single view: there may be more than one member removed, or none.

Like [`set`](https://json.nlohmann.me/api/basic_json_document/set/index.md) and [`push_back`](https://json.nlohmann.me/api/basic_json_document/push_back/index.md), `erase` never moves an element's *value*: a view still referring to a removed member or element keeps showing what it last held (see [Edits](https://json.nlohmann.me/api/basic_json_document/#edits)) — it just no longer appears when `array`/`object` is read, dumped, or iterated. What does change is the container's sequence of *links* to its elements: removing an element of `array` (2.) shifts the links to the elements after it by one, as [`insert`](https://json.nlohmann.me/api/basic_json_document/insert/index.md) does in the other direction. *Every* iterator already taken over `array`/`object` is invalidated by an erase, not only those at or after the removed element, since the container may now use a different sequence.

## Examples

Example

The example below drops a deprecated field and a decommissioned entry from a configuration document — using all three overloads — and shows what stays intact that would not with a plain `json`/`ordered_json` value: the order of the fields around the ones removed, and the exact spelling of a number that was never touched.

```
#include <iostream>
#include <nlohmann/json_view.hpp>

using nlohmann::json;
using nlohmann::json_editable_document;
using nlohmann::json_editable_view;

int main()
{
    // a deprecated field is dropped from a configuration file, and a
    // decommissioned replica is removed from the list -- "price" keeps its
    // trailing zero, and the fields around the removed ones keep their order
    const std::string text = R"({
  "name": "cache",
  "legacy_host": "db0",
  "host": "db1",
  "price": 19.90,
  "replicas": ["db2", "db3", "db4"]
})";

    json_editable_document doc = json_editable_document::parse(text);

    doc.erase(doc.root(), "legacy_host");                                      // (1) an object member
    doc.erase(doc.root()["replicas"], 1);                                      // (2) an array element ("db3")
    const std::size_t removed = doc.erase(json::json_pointer("/replicas/0"));  // (3) via a JSON pointer

    std::cout << removed << '\n';
    std::cout << doc.root().dump(2, ' ', false, json_editable_view::number_format::source) << "\n\n";

    // the same edits on a plain json value: object_t is a std::map, so
    // parsing already sorted the keys, and dump() rewrites every number to
    // its shortest form, even "price", which was never touched
    json plain = json::parse(text);
    plain.erase("legacy_host");
    plain["replicas"].erase(1);
    plain["replicas"].erase(0);
    std::cout << plain.dump(2) << '\n';
}
```

Output:

```
1
{
  "name": "cache",
  "host": "db1",
  "price": 19.90,
  "replicas": [
    "db4"
  ]
}

{
  "host": "db1",
  "name": "cache",
  "price": 19.9,
  "replicas": [
    "db4"
  ]
}
```

## See also

- [`insert`](https://json.nlohmann.me/api/basic_json_document/insert/index.md) - insert an element into an array
- [`set`](https://json.nlohmann.me/api/basic_json_document/set/index.md) - replace a value, or set an object member, an array element, or the value a JSON pointer refers to
- [`push_back`](https://json.nlohmann.me/api/basic_json_document/push_back/index.md) - append to an array
- [`root`](https://json.nlohmann.me/api/basic_json_document/root/index.md) - the view of the root value, the starting point of overload 3
- [`BasicJsonType::erase`](https://json.nlohmann.me/api/basic_json/erase/index.md) - the corresponding function of `basic_json`
- [Edits](https://json.nlohmann.me/api/basic_json_document/#edits) - what an edit guarantees, for every overload
- [Zero-copy JSON views](https://json.nlohmann.me/features/json_view/#editing-a-document) - what an edit guarantees and costs

## Version history

- Added in version 3.13.0 unreleased.