[FIXED] JsonPath is not throwing exception when path not present after an array with asterisk is used

Issue

Problem: I have noticed that once [*] is in the path if the succeeding path key is present, it prints the value, but if the key is not present, it doesn't throw any exception.

JsonPath.read(json, "$.store.book[*].anyRandomKey") should throw error when anyRandomKey is not present. But it returns an empty list.

Below is code to replicate this scenario

pom.xml dependency:

<dependency>
    <groupId>com.jayway.jsonpath</groupId>
    <artifactId>json-path</artifactId>
    <version>2.4.0</version>
</dependency>

Java main class:

package main.java;

import com.jayway.jsonpath.JsonPath;

public class CheckValidPath {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        String json = "{\n" +
                "    \"store\": {\n" +
                "        \"book\": [\n" +
                "            {\n" +
                "                \"category\": \"reference\",\n" +
                "                \"author\": \"Nigel Rees\",\n" +
                "                \"title\": \"Sayings of the Century\",\n" +
                "                \"price\": 8.95\n" +
                "            },\n" +
                "            {\n" +
                "                \"category\": \"fiction\",\n" +
                "                \"author\": \"Evelyn Waugh\",\n" +
                "                \"title\": \"Sword of Honour\",\n" +
                "                \"price\": 12.99\n" +
                "            },\n" +
                "            {\n" +
                "                \"category\": \"fiction\",\n" +
                "                \"author\": \"Herman Melville\",\n" +
                "                \"title\": \"Moby Dick\",\n" +
                "                \"isbn\": \"0-553-21311-3\",\n" +
                "                \"price\": 8.99\n" +
                "            },\n" +
                "            {\n" +
                "                \"category\": \"fiction\",\n" +
                "                \"author\": \"J. R. R. Tolkien\",\n" +
                "                \"title\": \"The Lord of the Rings\",\n" +
                "                \"isbn\": \"0-395-19395-8\",\n" +
                "                \"price\": 22.99\n" +
                "            }\n" +
                "        ],\n" +
                "        \"bicycle\": {\n" +
                "            \"color\": \"red\",\n" +
                "            \"price\": 19.95\n" +
                "        }\n" +
                "    },\n" +
                "    \"expensive\": 10\n" +
                "}";

        //Correct path is evaluated correctly
        System.out.println(JsonPath.read(json, "$.store.book[*].author").toString());
        //Wrong path doesn't throw a PathNotFoundException exception and returns an empty list
        System.out.println(JsonPath.read(json, "$.store.book[*].anyRandomKey").toString());
    }
}

Solution

Actually, it looks overcomplicated but it works as you need (throws PathNotFoundException for non existant path).

Just use this configuration:

Configuration configuration = Configuration.builder()
                                           .options(Option.REQUIRE_PROPERTIES)
                                           .build();
//Correct path is evaluated correctly
LOG.info(JsonPath.using(configuration)
                 .parse(json)
                 .read( "$.store.book[*].author").toString());
//Wrong path throws PathNotFoundException exception
LOG.info(JsonPath.using(configuration)
                 .parse(json)
                 .read("$.store.book[*].anyRandomKey").toString());

Answered By - Stargazer
Answer Checked By - Clifford M. (JavaFixing Volunteer)