#!/bin/bash
# part of my "universal" json encoder
# i don't trust it, and neither should you!

function json_sanitize() {
        sed -E 's/"/\\"/g;s/$/\\n/g' <<< "$@" | tr -d '\n' | sed -E 's/\\n//'
}

function json_object() {
	local -n ref=$1
	local out=''
	out+='{'
	for key in ${!ref[@]}; do
		out+='"'"$(json_sanitize "$key")"'":"'"$(json_sanitize "${ref[$key]}")"'",'
	done
	out="${out::-1}"
	out+='}'
	echo "$out" | jq > /dev/null
	if [[ $? == 0 ]]; then
		echo "$out"
	else
		echo "Failure validating JSON: $out" > /dev/stderr
	fi
}