How to control the format of associations in a JSON response
- Last Updated: October 26, 2026
- 1 minute read
- Corticon
- Version 7.3
- Documentation
Associations in JSON responses are, by default, expressed as a JSONArray. You can control the format of 1-1 associations in JSON responses by setting the property:
com.corticon.server.execution.json.association.singleton=JSONObject
in the brms.properties on the machine where the JSON requests are processed. When this property is set, and when a Rule alters a 1-1 association through an = (equals) operator, the entity being assigned to the association will be expressed as a JSONObject, rather than an entity inside a JSONArray in the JSON response.
For example, here Order is represented as an array, even though there is only one order, a singleton. Note the square brackets:
{
"Order":[
{
"OrderID":1,
"OrderName":"XYZ"
}
]
}
Here the same Order is represented as a nested object:
{
"Order":{
"OrderID":1,
"OrderName":"XYZ"
}
}
This property will not unconditionally change 1-1 Associations from a JSONArray to a JSONObject in the JSON response. Changing from a JSONArray to a JSONObject will only occur when a Rule fires to alter the contents of an Association.