Sort JSON - A Dart CLI Tool for Sorting JSON Files

Overview

Sort JSON is a simple yet powerful Dart package that helps developers organize and maintain localization JSON files by sorting keys alphabetically while keeping prioritized keys at the top. It ensures consistency across multiple language files, making it easier to manage translations in Flutter and other projects.

Why Use Sort JSON?

When working with localization files across different languages, maintaining consistency can be challenging. Contributions from multiple developers often lead to disorganized JSON keys, making it difficult to spot duplicates or inconsistencies. This tool helps solve that problem by:

• Structuring JSON files for better readability.
• Preventing duplicate values with different keys.
• Keeping prioritized keys at the top for better organization.

Features

✅ Alphabetically sorts JSON keys for better structure.
✅ Prioritizes specific keys (defined in a configuration file).
✅ Prevents duplicate or inconsistent key usage.
✅ Works as a CLI tool – simple and easy to use within Flutter projects.

Get Started

Check out the full documentation and source code:
🔗 GitHub Repository
🔗 Pub.dev Package

Installation

1. Add to Your Dev Dependencies

If using locally, add this to pubspec.yaml:

dart pub add --dev sort_json

Or, if published:

dev_dependencies:
  sort_json: ^1.0.0

2. Configure Prioritized Keys

Create a file for prioritized keys in anywhere of your project, and put the prioritized keys in it:

[
  "important_key",
  "alpha"
]

Specify the prioritized keys file path in pubspec.yaml:

sort_json:
  prioritized_keys: config/prioritized_keys.json

This ensures "important_key" and "alpha" appear first in sorted JSON.

Usage

Run the CLI tool to sort a JSON file:

dart run sort_json path/to/json_file.json

Example:

dart run sort_json assets/data.json

Example Input (data.json):

{
  "zeta": "last",
  "alpha": "first",
  "beta": "middle",
  "important_key": "should be prioritized"
}

Output (data.json after sorting):

{
  "important_key": "should be prioritized",
  "alpha": "first",
  "beta": "middle",
  "zeta": "last"
}

Using Programmatically

You can also use sort_json in your Dart code:

import 'dart:io';
import 'dart:convert';
import 'package:sort_json/json_sorter.dart';
import 'package:sort_json/config_loader.dart';

void main() async {
  final filePath = 'example.json';
  final jsonFile = File(filePath);

  final jsonContent = await jsonFile.readAsString();
  final decodedJson = jsonDecode(jsonContent);

  final loader = ConfigLoader('config/prioritized_keys.json');
  final prioritizedKeys = await loader.load() as List<dynamic>;

  final sortedJson = JsonSorter.sortJson(decodedJson, prioritizedKeys.whereType<String>().toList());

  await jsonFile.writeAsString(JsonEncoder.withIndent('  ').convert(sortedJson));
  print('Sorted JSON written to $filePath');
}

License

This package is licensed under the MIT License.

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