[comment]: # ({c19f94bc-c19f94bc})
# Escaping special characters from LLD macro values in JSONPath

When low-level discovery macros are used in JSONPath preprocessing and
their values are resolved, the following rules of escaping special
characters are applied:

-   only backslash (\\) and double quote (") characters are considered
    for escaping;
-   if the resolved macro value contains these characters, each of them
    is escaped with a backslash;
-   if they are already escaped with a backslash, it is not considered
    as escaping and both the backslash and the following special
    characters are escaped once again.

For example:

|JSONPath|LLD macro value|After substitution|
|--------|---------------|------------------|
|$.\[?(@.value == "{\#MACRO}")\]|special "value"|$.\[?(@.value == "special \\"value\\"")\]|
|^|c:\\temp|$.\[?(@.value == "c:\\\\temp")\]|
|^|a\\\\b|$.\[?(@.value == "a\\\\\\\\b")\]|

When used in the expression the macro that may have special characters
should be enclosed in double quotes:

|JSONPath|LLD macro value|After substitution|Result|
|--------|---------------|------------------|------|
|$.\[?(@.value == "{\#MACRO}")\]|special "value"|$.\[?(@.value == "special \\"value\\"")\]|OK|
|$.\[?(@.value == {\#MACRO})\]|^|$.\[?(@.value == special \\"value\\")\]|**Bad JSONPath expression**|

When used in the path the macro that may have special characters should
be enclosed in square brackets **and** double quotes:

|JSONPath|LLD macro value|After substitution|Result|
|--------|---------------|------------------|------|
|$.\["{\#MACRO}"\].value|c:\\temp|$.\["c:\\\\temp"\].value|OK|
|$.{\#MACRO}.value|^|$.c:\\\\temp.value|**Bad JSONPath expression**|

[comment]: # ({/c19f94bc-c19f94bc})