Similar to the Global Entity File Formats, there are four different JSON file formats supported in the brainCloud portal.
Raw JSON Object format - highly recommended for backups and data migration.
Raw JSON Line format - useful for integration with external tools that support JSON line format. With metadata included.
Simplified JSON Object format - very good for integration with external tools.
Simplified JSON Line format - useful for integration with external tools that support JSON line format. Limited to a single entity type per file.
Each of the file formats is described in more detail below.
Raw JSON Object Format:
Below is a raw JSON object file.
{
"dynamicChannel": [
{
"entityId": "d02137df-06de-413e-9ef7-34216de06454",
"version": 1,
"acl": {
"other": 2
},
"ownerId": null,
"expiresAt": null,
"timeToLive": null,
"createdAt": 1687874382272,
"updatedAt": 1687874382272,
"appId": "13229",
"data": {
"id": "13229:dy:dynamic_1",
"type": "dy",
"code": "dynamic_1",
"name": "dynamic_1",
"desc": "dynamic_1 channel"
}
},
{
"entityId": "1075946e-6cea-4390-921d-6b43a6c8f636",
"version": 1,
"acl": {
"other": 2
},
"ownerId": null,
"expiresAt": null,
"timeToLive": null,
"createdAt": 1687904590872,
"updatedAt": 1687904590872,
"appId": "13229",
"data": {
"id": "13229:dy:dynamic_1",
"type": "dy",
"code": "dynamic_1",
"name": "dynamic_1",
"desc": "dynamic_1 channel"
}
},
{
"entityId": "ccb3cd5f-08f9-4c7b-9915-87a2c330bde0",
"version": 1,
"acl": {
"other": 2
},
"ownerId": null,
"expiresAt": null,
"timeToLive": null,
"createdAt": 1710255034434,
"updatedAt": 1710255034434,
"appId": "13229",
"data": {
"id": "13229:dy:dynamic_1",
"type": "dy",
"code": "dynamic_1",
"name": "dynamic_1",
"desc": "dynamic_1 channel"
}
}
]
}
File format specifics:
EntityTypes are enclosed in a JSON arrays - and thus multiple entityTypes are supported.
brainCloud meta-data is preserved
entityId
version
acl
ownerId
expiresAt
timeToLive
createdAt
updatedAt
appId
Note that although the example below only shows a single entity type -- "dynamicChannel", the file structure does allow multiple types of entities to be present in a single file.
Raw JSON Lines Format:
Raw JSON Lines files are a bit simpler in structure than raw JSON object files - in that they don't require the enclosing object array structure.
{"entityId":"d02137df-06de-413e-9ef7-34216de06454","version":1,"acl":{"other":2},"ownerId":null,"expiresAt":null,"timeToLive":null,"createdAt":1687874382272,"updatedAt":1687874382272,"data":{"id":"13229:dy:dynamic_1","type":"dy","code":"dynamic_1","name":"dynamic_1","desc":"dynamic_1 channel"}}
{"entityId":"1075946e-6cea-4390-921d-6b43a6c8f636","version":1,"acl":{"other":2},"ownerId":null,"expiresAt":null,"timeToLive":null,"createdAt":1687904590872,"updatedAt":1687904590872,"data":{"id":"13229:dy:dynamic_1","type":"dy","code":"dynamic_1","name":"dynamic_1","desc":"dynamic_1 channel"}}
{"entityId":"ccb3cd5f-08f9-4c7b-9915-87a2c330bde0","version":1,"acl":{"other":2},"ownerId":null,"expiresAt":null,"timeToLive":null,"createdAt":1710255034434,"updatedAt":1710255034434,"data":{"id":"13229:dy:dynamic_1","type":"dy","code":"dynamic_1","name":"dynamic_1","desc":"dynamic_1 channel"}}Each line of the file is considered a separate JSON object.
Because of this, JSON Lines files can only support a single _entityType_ per file.
Note that we are using a simpler example for better readability. Also, note that the file above contains just 3 lines (it looks like more due to word-wrapping - notice the line numbers).
Simplified JSON Object Format:
Simplified JSON is very readable and suitable for round-trip importing and exporting with tools like Google Sheets.
It minimizes the structure and overheads that brainCloud imposes - though that comes with limitations (record-level ACL, ownership, and entityIds are not preserved).
File format specifics:
EntityTypes are enclosed in JSON arrays - and thus multiple entityTypes are supported. ← Same as RAW
brainCloud meta-data is NOT preserved.
The lack of a "data" section makes the object easier to view and understand
{
"dynamicChannel": [
{
"id": "13229:dy:dynamic_1",
"type": "dy",
"code": "dynamic_1",
"name": "dynamic_1",
"desc": "dynamic_1 channel"
},
{
"id": "13229:dy:dynamic_1",
"type": "dy",
"code": "dynamic_1",
"name": "dynamic_1",
"desc": "dynamic_1 channel"
},
{
"id": "13229:dy:dynamic_1",
"type": "dy",
"code": "dynamic_1",
"name": "dynamic_1",
"desc": "dynamic_1 channel"
}
]
}Note that although the example below only shows a single entity type -- "dynamicChannel", the file structure does allow multiple types of entities to be present in a single file.
Simplified JSON Lines Format:
JSON Lines files are a bit simpler in structure than JSON object files - in that they don't require the enclosing object array structure.
{"id":"13229:dy:dynamic_1","type":"dy","code":"dynamic_1","name":"dynamic_1","desc":"dynamic_1 channel"}
{"id":"13229:dy:dynamic_1","type":"dy","code":"dynamic_1","name":"dynamic_1","desc":"dynamic_1 channel"}
{"id":"13229:dy:dynamic_1","type":"dy","code":"dynamic_1","name":"dynamic_1","desc":"dynamic_1 channel"}
Each line of the file is considered a separate JSON object.
Because of this, JSON Lines files can only support a single _entityType_ per file.
Note that we are using a simpler example for better readability. Also, note that the file below contains just 3 lines (it looks like more due to word-wrapping - notice the line numbers).