include-null-values-in-json-include-null-values-option.md

title	Include Null Values in JSON - INCLUDE_NULL_VALUES Option | Microsoft Docs
ms.custom	SQL2016_New_Updated
ms.date	06/02/2016
ms.prod	sql-server-2016
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Include Null Values in JSON - INCLUDE_NULL_VALUES Option

[!INCLUDEtsql-appliesto-ss2016-asdb-xxxx-xxx_md]

To include null values in the JSON output of the FOR JSON clause, specify the INCLUDE_NULL_VALUES option.

If you don't specify the INCLUDE_NULL_VALUES option, the JSON output doesn't include properties for values that are null in the query results.

Examples

The following example shows the output of the FOR JSON clause with and without the INCLUDE_NULL_VALUES option.

Without the INCLUDE_NULL_VALUES option	With the INCLUDE_NULL_VALUES option
{ "name": "John", "surname": "Doe" }	{ "name": "John", "surname": "Doe", "age": null, "phone": null }

Here's another example of a FOR JSON clause with the INCLUDE_NULL_VALUES option.

Query

SELECT name, surname  
FROM emp  
FOR JSON AUTO, INCLUDE_NULL_VALUES    

Result

[{
	"name": "John",
	"surname": null
}, {
	"name": "Jane",
	"surname": "Doe"
}] 

See Also

FOR Clause (Transact-SQL)