👀 Views: 360 💬 Answers: 1 📅 Created: 2025-06-11

mysql json sql-query SQL

I'm working on a project and hit a roadblock. I'm working with an scenario where my MySQL query doesn't return the expected results when using `JSON_UNQUOTE` in combination with `JSON_ARRAY`. I'm working with MySQL 8.0 and trying to pull data from a table that stores user settings in a JSON format. My goal is to retrieve a user's preferences as a plain text string. Here’s the relevant table structure: ```sql CREATE TABLE user_settings ( user_id INT PRIMARY KEY, preferences JSON ); ``` I have inserted a record like this: ```sql INSERT INTO user_settings (user_id, preferences) VALUES (1, JSON_OBJECT('theme', 'dark', 'notifications', JSON_ARRAY('email', 'sms'))); ``` Now, when I attempt to run the following SELECT statement: ```sql SELECT JSON_UNQUOTE(preferences->'$.theme') AS theme, JSON_UNQUOTE(preferences->'$.notifications') AS notifications FROM user_settings WHERE user_id = 1; ``` I get the output: ``` theme | notifications ------------------------ "dark" | ["email", "sms"] ``` I expected the `notifications` column to return a plain string instead of a JSON array. I've tried various combinations, but each time it seems to return the JSON-formatted array. I even attempted to use `JSON_UNQUOTE` directly on `preferences->'$.notifications'`, but it still returns the JSON array format. Is there a way to extract the array elements as separate rows or as a concatenated string? Any insights into how I can achieve this would be greatly appreciated! My development environment is macOS. Any help would be greatly appreciated! I'm working in a CentOS environment. I appreciate any insights!