todynamic

This page explains how to use the todynamic function in APL.

Use the todynamic function to parse a string as a dynamic value, such as a JSON object or array. This function is especially useful when your dataset contains structured data in string format and you want to access nested elements, iterate over arrays, or use dynamic-aware functions.

You often find todynamic helpful when working with logs, telemetry, or security events that encode rich metadata or nested attributes in stringified JSON. By converting these strings into dynamic values, you can query, filter, and transform the nested fields using APL’s built-in support for dynamic types.

For users of other query languages

If you come from other query languages, this section explains how to adjust your existing queries to achieve the same results in APL.

Splunk SPL users

Splunk automatically interprets structured JSON data and allows you to use dot notation directly on fields, without explicit conversion. In APL, you need to explicitly cast a JSON string into a dynamic value using todynamic.

Splunk example

... | eval json_field = json_extract(raw_field, "$.key")

ANSI SQL users

In standard SQL, you typically use JSON_VALUE, JSON_QUERY, or CAST(... AS JSON) to access structured content in string format. In APL, use todynamic to convert a string to a dynamic value that supports dot notation and further manipulation.

SQL example

SELECT JSON_VALUE(raw_column, '$.key') AS value FROM logs;

Usage

Syntax

todynamic(value)

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
value	string	A string representing a JSON-encoded object or array.

Returns

A dynamic value. If the input is not a valid JSON string, the function returns null.

Example

You want to find events that match certain criteria such as URI and status code. The criteria are stored in a stringified dictionary.

Query

['sample-http-logs']
| extend criteria = '{"uri": "/api/v1/customer/services", "status": "200"}'
| extend metadata = todynamic(criteria)
| where uri == metadata.uri and status == metadata.status
| project _time, id

Run in Playground

Output

_time	id
Jun 24, 09:28:10	2f2e5c40-1094-4237-a124-ec50fab7e726
Jun 24, 09:28:10	0f9724cb-fa9a-4a2f-bdf6-5c32b2f22efd
Jun 24, 09:28:10	a516c4e9-2ed9-4fb9-a191-94e2844e9b2a

List of related functions

• pack_array: Use this to combine scalar values into an array. Use pack_array when you don’t need named keys and want positional data instead.
• bag_keys: Returns the list of keys in a dynamic dictionary. Use this to inspect or filter contents created by pack_dictionary.
• bag_pack: Expands a dictionary into multiple columns. Use it to revert the packing performed by pack_dictionary.