How do I use jq to convert number to string?

Question

Given the following jq command and Json:

jq '.[]|[.string,.number]|join(": ")' <<< ' [   {     "number": 3,     "string": "threee"   },   {     "number": 7,     "string": "seven"   } ] ' 

I'm trying to format the output as:

three: 3 seven: 7 

Unfortunately, my attempt is resulting in the following error:

jq: error: string and number cannot be added

How do I convert the number to string so both can be joined?

Answer 1

The jq command has the tostring function. It took me a while to learn to use it by trial and error. Here is how to use it:

jq -r '.[] | [ .string, .number|tostring ] | join(": ")' <<< ' [{ "number": 9, "string": "nine"},  { "number": 4, "string": "four"}] ' nine: 9 four: 4