Getting 'argument "json.column" is missing' error, with no explanation why, cannot find troubleshooting documentation

[ajsnyder]

Code I have entered:
result <- jsonlite::fromJSON("testdata.json", simplifyDataFrame = TRUE) result %>% spread_all

Error I receive:

Error in eval(assertion, env) :
argument "json.column" is missing, with no default

The only semi relevant issue I've found through Google is here, but is dated as of 2017. Is dplyr compatibility still an issue?

[colearendt]

Hello! Thanks for sharing!! Can you share:

• what version of the tidyjson package are you using?
• Do you have a simple example of what testdata.json is?

It's hard to say what issue you're running into without that sort of information. The reprex can help create a "reproducible example." This article will help explain how to do so, if you haven't before:

https://www.jessemaegan.com/post/so-you-ve-been-asked-to-make-a-reprex/

That said, I believe you need to as.tbl_json() before you try using the tidyjson package. That may be your issue. i.e. result %>% as.tbl_json() %>% spread_all()

[ajsnyder]

Version: tidyjson v0.2.4
Sample of testdata.json
[ { "teams": ["West Virginia Mountaineers", "Texas Longhorns"], "commenceTime": 1582588800, "homeTeam": "Texas Longhorns", "lastUpdate": 1582518362, "spread": "5.5", "kenPom": [ { "team": "West Virginia Mountaineers", "match": { "target": "West Virginia", "rating": 0.6470588235294118, "data": { "rank": "7", "team": "West Virginia", "conference": "B12", "record": "19-8", "adjustedEfficiency": "+6.14", "adjustedOffense": "107.1", "adjustedDefence": "84.4", "adjustedTempo": "69.6", "luck": "-.032", "opponentOffense": "106.5", "opponentDefense": "95.7" } } }, { "team": "Texas Longhorns", "match": { "target": "Texas", "rating": 0.47058823529411764, "data": { "rank": "68", "team": "Texas", "conference": "B12", "record": "16-11", "adjustedEfficiency": "-0.09", "adjustedOffense": "103.1", "adjustedDefence": "92.4", "adjustedTempo": "66.1", "luck": "+.066", "opponentOffense": "106.0", "opponentDefense": "97.1" } } } ], "inpredictable": [ { "team": "West Virginia Mountaineers", "match": { "target": "West Virginia", "rating": 0.6470588235294118, "data": { "rank": "9", "team": "West Virginia", "conference": "B12", "record": "18-8", "genericPointsFavored": "15.5", "adjustedOffense": "6.1", "adjustedDefence": "9.4", "projectedWins": "20.726", "pastStrengthOfSchedule": "8.16153846153846", "futureStrengthOfSchedule": "10.75" } } }, { "team": "Texas Longhorns", "match": { "target": "Texas", "rating": 0.47058823529411764, "data": { "rank": "69", "team": "Texas", "conference": "B12", "record": "16-11", "genericPointsFavored": "7.4", "adjustedOffense": "-0.7", "adjustedDefence": "8.1", "projectedWins": "17.2528", "pastStrengthOfSchedule": "5.52086122266845", "futureStrengthOfSchedule": "12.85" } } } ] } ]

Reprex:

library(tidyjson)
#> 
#> Attaching package: 'tidyjson'
#> The following object is masked from 'package:stats':
#> 
#>     filter
workingDirectory <- "~/Desktop/R/LumpySportsPrincess"
setwd(workingDirectory)
result <- jsonlite::fromJSON("testdata.json")
colnames(result)
#> [1] "teams"         "commenceTime"  "homeTeam"      "lastUpdate"   
#> [5] "spread"        "kenPom"        "inpredictable"

result_flat <- result %>%
  gather_array %>%                                     # stack the users 
  spread_all %>%  
  select(teams) # select only what is needed
#> Error in eval(assertion, env): argument "json.column" is missing, with no default

^{Created on 2020-03-07 by the reprex package (v0.3.0)}

[ajsnyder]

Reprex of result %>% as.tbl_json() %>% spread_all():

result_flat <- result %>% as.tbl_json() %>% spread_all()
#> Error in result %>% as.tbl_json() %>% spread_all(): could not find function "%>%"

^{Created on 2020-03-07 by the reprex package (v0.3.0)}

[colearendt]

Thanks for sharing! Please note that could not find function "%>%" is an error message that means you have not loaded a package that uses the "pipe" operator. Please try the later reprex's after library(dplyr) or library(tidyjson). You have to load packages into the reprex before you can use functions provided by them 😄

i.e.

library(tidyjson)
#> 
#> Attaching package: 'tidyjson'
#> The following object is masked from 'package:stats':
#> 
#>     filter
workingDirectory <- "~/Desktop/R/LumpySportsPrincess"
setwd(workingDirectory)
result <- jsonlite::fromJSON("testdata.json")
colnames(result)
#> [1] "teams"         "commenceTime"  "homeTeam"      "lastUpdate"   
#> [5] "spread"        "kenPom"        "inpredictable"

result_flat <- result %>%
  as.tbl_json() %>%
  gather_array %>%                                     # stack the users 
  spread_all %>%  
  select(teams)

[ajsnyder]

Reprex (this time with the libraries loaded):

library(dplyr)
#> 
#> Attaching package: 'dplyr'
#> The following objects are masked from 'package:stats':
#> 
#>     filter, lag
#> The following objects are masked from 'package:base':
#> 
#>     intersect, setdiff, setequal, union
library(tidyjson)
#> 
#> Attaching package: 'tidyjson'
#> The following object is masked from 'package:dplyr':
#> 
#>     bind_rows
#> The following object is masked from 'package:stats':
#> 
#>     filter
workingDirectory <- "~/Desktop/R/LumpySportsPrincess"
setwd(workingDirectory)
result <- jsonlite::fromJSON("testdata.json")
result_flat <- result %>% as.tbl_json() %>% spread_all()
#> Error in eval(assertion, env): argument "json.column" is missing, with no default

^{Created on 2020-03-07 by the reprex package (v0.3.0)}

[colearendt]

Oops. Yeah, it looks like this error messaging could probably be cleaned up a bit. Try reading the file with as.tbl_json() instead of using jsonlite::fromJSON().

library(tidyjson)
#> 
#> Attaching package: 'tidyjson'
#> The following object is masked from 'package:stats':
#> 
#>     filter

packageVersion("tidyjson")
#> [1] '0.2.4'

json_str <- '[ { "teams": ["West Virginia Mountaineers", "Texas Longhorns"], "commenceTime": 1582588800, "homeTeam": "Texas Longhorns", "lastUpdate": 1582518362, "spread": "5.5", "kenPom": [ { "team": "West Virginia Mountaineers", "match": { "target": "West Virginia", "rating": 0.6470588235294118, "data": { "rank": "7", "team": "West Virginia", "conference": "B12", "record": "19-8", "adjustedEfficiency": "+6.14", "adjustedOffense": "107.1", "adjustedDefence": "84.4", "adjustedTempo": "69.6", "luck": "-.032", "opponentOffense": "106.5", "opponentDefense": "95.7" } } }, { "team": "Texas Longhorns", "match": { "target": "Texas", "rating": 0.47058823529411764, "data": { "rank": "68", "team": "Texas", "conference": "B12", "record": "16-11", "adjustedEfficiency": "-0.09", "adjustedOffense": "103.1", "adjustedDefence": "92.4", "adjustedTempo": "66.1", "luck": "+.066", "opponentOffense": "106.0", "opponentDefense": "97.1" } } } ], "inpredictable": [ { "team": "West Virginia Mountaineers", "match": { "target": "West Virginia", "rating": 0.6470588235294118, "data": { "rank": "9", "team": "West Virginia", "conference": "B12", "record": "18-8", "genericPointsFavored": "15.5", "adjustedOffense": "6.1", "adjustedDefence": "9.4", "projectedWins": "20.726", "pastStrengthOfSchedule": "8.16153846153846", "futureStrengthOfSchedule": "10.75" } } }, { "team": "Texas Longhorns", "match": { "target": "Texas", "rating": 0.47058823529411764, "data": { "rank": "69", "team": "Texas", "conference": "B12", "record": "16-11", "genericPointsFavored": "7.4", "adjustedOffense": "-0.7", "adjustedDefence": "8.1", "projectedWins": "17.2528", "pastStrengthOfSchedule": "5.52086122266845", "futureStrengthOfSchedule": "12.85" } } } ] } ]'

writeLines(json_str, "testdata.json")
read_from_file <- as.tbl_json("testdata.json")


read_from_file %>% 
  gather_array() %>%
  spread_all()
#> # A tbl_json: 1 x 6 tibble with a "JSON" attribute
#>   `attr(., "JSON"… document.id array.index commenceTime homeTeam lastUpdate
#>   <chr>                  <int>       <int>        <dbl> <chr>         <dbl>
#> 1 "{\"teams\":[\"…           1           1   1582588800 Texas L… 1582518362
#> # … with 1 more variable: spread <chr>

^{Created on 2020-03-08 by the reprex package (v0.3.0)}