How to force SQL Server to return empty JSON array

sql-server json sql-server-2016

You can always check this with ISNULL, e.g.:

select ISNULL( (SELECT * FROM sys.tables where 1=2 FOR JSON PATH), '[]')

If you need this in app layer, maybe it would be better to check is there some results set in data access code, and if not just return [] or {}.

sql-server json sql-server-2016

This works, and can be composed within another for json query:

select json_query('[]') arr     for json path, without_array_wrapper

sql-server json sql-server-2016

A little manual, but if you need a quick hack, here you go:

DECLARE @JSON NVARCHAR(MAX) = (SELECT NULL AS testFOR JSON PATH,ROOT('arr'))SELECT REPLACE(@json, '{}', '')

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