I'm doing some extensive testing to learn how PHP and JS variables, objects, arrays etc can be passed to one another successfully. There's a lot of confusing questions / answers on this subject.
As far as my testing has shown, I can create a variety of PHP objects:
$testarray = ["this", "is", "me"];
$testobject = (object) array("this"=>"that", "is"=>"was", "me"=>"him");
$teststring = "this is me";
$testint = 9758.25;
and then I can pass them through json_encode() (still in PHP)
echo '<script>
var testarray = '.json_encode($testarray).';
var testobject = '.json_encode($testobject).';
var teststring = '.json_encode($teststring).';
var testint = '.json_encode($testint).';
</script>';
and when run, this results in:
<script>
var testarray = ["this","is","me"];
var testobject = {"this":"that","is":"was","me":"him"};
var teststring = "this is me";
var testint = 9758.25;
<script>
I just want to confirm that this result is, and always will be, perfectly valid JavaScript? I can't see anything wrong with it, yet some sources recommend the use of JSON.parse(). Is this needed in this context?
I know that if an array or object in JS was passed through JSON.stringify(), I'd have to parse it.
I also know that to send objects or arrays from JS to PHP, I'd have to use JSON.stringify() and json_decode() to make them valid, but it seems that json_encode() results in valid JS without having to use JSON.parse()?
Yes it is valid, because JSON syntax is a subset of JavaScript object literal syntax. Therefore if you inject JSON-encoded text into generated JS code in the way you've shown then it behaves as an object literal, just as if you'd written it there by hand.
JSON.parse would be required if you were receiving a string containing JSON-encoded text into a JavaScript variable (e.g. as the result of an AJAX request) and needed to convert it from a string into a usable object.
Related
This question already has answers here:
Safely turning a JSON string into an object
(28 answers)
Closed 7 years ago.
I want to parse a JSON string in JavaScript. The response is something like
var response = '{"result":true,"count":1}';
How can I get the values result and count from this?
The standard way to parse JSON in JavaScript is JSON.parse()
The JSON API was introduced with ES5 (2011) and has since been implemented in >99% of browsers by market share, and Node.js. Its usage is simple:
const json = '{ "fruit": "pineapple", "fingers": 10 }';
const obj = JSON.parse(json);
console.log(obj.fruit, obj.fingers);
The only time you won't be able to use JSON.parse() is if you are programming for an ancient browser, such as IE 7 (2006), IE 6 (2001), Firefox 3 (2008), Safari 3.x (2009), etc. Alternatively, you may be in an esoteric JavaScript environment that doesn't include the standard APIs. In these cases, use json2.js, the reference implementation of JSON written by Douglas Crockford, the inventor of JSON. That library will provide an implementation of JSON.parse().
When processing extremely large JSON files, JSON.parse() may choke because of its synchronous nature and design. To resolve this, the JSON website recommends third-party libraries such as Oboe.js and clarinet, which provide streaming JSON parsing.
jQuery once had a $.parseJSON() function, but it was deprecated with jQuery 3.0. In any case, for a long time, it was nothing more than a wrapper around JSON.parse().
WARNING!
This answer stems from an ancient era of JavaScript programming during which there was no builtin way to parse JSON. The advice given here is no longer applicable and probably dangerous. From a modern perspective, parsing JSON by involving jQuery or calling eval() is nonsense. Unless you need to support IE 7 or Firefox 3.0, the correct way to parse JSON is JSON.parse().
First of all, you have to make sure that the JSON code is valid.
After that, I would recommend using a JavaScript library such as jQuery or Prototype if you can because these things are handled well in those libraries.
On the other hand, if you don't want to use a library and you can vouch for the validity of the JSON object, I would simply wrap the string in an anonymous function and use the eval function.
This is not recommended if you are getting the JSON object from another source that isn't absolutely trusted because the eval function allows for renegade code if you will.
Here is an example of using the eval function:
var strJSON = '{"result":true,"count":1}';
var objJSON = eval("(function(){return " + strJSON + ";})()");
alert(objJSON.result);
alert(objJSON.count);
If you control what browser is being used or you are not worried people with an older browser, you can always use the JSON.parse method.
This is really the ideal solution for the future.
If you are getting this from an outside site it might be helpful to use jQuery's getJSON. If it's a list you can iterate through it with $.each
$.getJSON(url, function (json) {
alert(json.result);
$.each(json.list, function (i, fb) {
alert(fb.result);
});
});
If you want to use JSON 3 for older browsers, you can load it conditionally with:
<script>
window.JSON ||
document.write('<script src="//cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/json3/3.2.4/json3.min.js"><\/scr'+'ipt>');
</script>
Now the standard window.JSON object is available to you no matter what browser a client is running.
The following example will make it clear:
let contactJSON = '{"name":"John Doe","age":"11"}';
let contact = JSON.parse(contactJSON);
console.log(contact.name + ", " + contact.age);
// Output: John Doe, 11
If you pass a string variable (a well-formed JSON string) to JSON.parse from MVC #Viewbag that has doublequote, '"', as quotes, you need to process it before JSON.parse (jsonstring)
var jsonstring = '#ViewBag.jsonstring';
jsonstring = jsonstring.replace(/"/g, '"');
You can either use the eval function as in some other answers. (Don't forget the extra braces.) You will know why when you dig deeper), or simply use the jQuery function parseJSON:
var response = '{"result":true , "count":1}';
var parsedJSON = $.parseJSON(response);
OR
You can use this below code.
var response = '{"result":true , "count":1}';
var jsonObject = JSON.parse(response);
And you can access the fields using jsonObject.result and jsonObject.count.
Update:
If your output is undefined then you need to follow THIS answer. Maybe your json string has an array format. You need to access the json object properties like this
var response = '[{"result":true , "count":1}]'; // <~ Array with [] tag
var jsonObject = JSON.parse(response);
console.log(jsonObject[0].result); //Output true
console.log(jsonObject[0].count); //Output 1
The easiest way using parse() method:
var response = '{"a":true,"b":1}';
var JsonObject= JSON.parse(response);
this is an example of how to get values:
var myResponseResult = JsonObject.a;
var myResponseCount = JsonObject.b;
JSON.parse() converts any JSON String passed into the function, to a JSON object.
For better understanding, press F12 to open the Inspect Element of your browser, and go to the console to write the following commands:
var response = '{"result":true,"count":1}'; // Sample JSON object (string form)
JSON.parse(response); // Converts passed string to a JSON object.
Now run the command:
console.log(JSON.parse(response));
You'll get output as Object {result: true, count: 1}.
In order to use that object, you can assign it to the variable, let's say obj:
var obj = JSON.parse(response);
Now by using obj and the dot(.) operator you can access properties of the JSON Object.
Try to run the command
console.log(obj.result);
Without using a library you can use eval - the only time you should use. It's safer to use a library though.
eg...
var response = '{"result":true , "count":1}';
var parsedJSON = eval('('+response+')');
var result=parsedJSON.result;
var count=parsedJSON.count;
alert('result:'+result+' count:'+count);
If you like
var response = '{"result":true,"count":1}';
var JsonObject= JSON.parse(response);
you can access the JSON elements by JsonObject with (.) dot:
JsonObject.result;
JsonObject.count;
I thought JSON.parse(myObject) would work. But depending on the browsers, it might be worth using eval('('+myObject+')'). The only issue I can recommend watching out for is the multi-level list in JSON.
An easy way to do it:
var data = '{"result":true,"count":1}';
var json = eval("[" +data+ "]")[0]; // ;)
If you use Dojo Toolkit:
require(["dojo/json"], function(JSON){
JSON.parse('{"hello":"world"}', true);
});
As mentioned by numerous others, most browsers support JSON.parse and JSON.stringify.
Now, I'd also like to add that if you are using AngularJS (which I highly recommend), then it also provides the functionality that you require:
var myJson = '{"result": true, "count": 1}';
var obj = angular.fromJson(myJson);//equivalent to JSON.parse(myJson)
var backToJson = angular.toJson(obj);//equivalent to JSON.stringify(obj)
I just wanted to add the stuff about AngularJS to provide another option. NOTE that AngularJS doesn't officially support Internet Explorer 8 (and older versions, for that matter), though through experience most of the stuff seems to work pretty well.
If you use jQuery, it is simple:
var response = '{"result":true,"count":1}';
var obj = $.parseJSON(response);
alert(obj.result); //true
alert(obj.count); //1
Could you please help me find what I am doing wrong?
My model has a string[] field called AllKnownColors. I am trying to use it in my javascript code like this:
var clrs = JSON.parse('#Html.Raw(Model.AllKnownColors)');
But it doesn't work. The debugger shows me this:
var clrs = JSON.parse('System.String[]');
and the following error: Uncaught SyntaxError: Unexpected token S
And I cannot figure out what is wrong.
Thanks.
The code
var clrs = JSON.parse('#Html.Raw(Model.AllKnownColors)');
is similar to
var clrs = JSON.parse('#Html.Raw(Model.AllKnownColors.ToString())');
You need to convert Model.AllKnownColors to json. You can use Newtonsoft JSON for this purpose.
var clrs = JSON.parse('#Html.Raw(JsonConvert.SerializeObject(Model.AllKnownColors))');
Or you can write you own method for converting. Newtonsoft JSON is easy and good choice. Your own methods could be more fast.
Model.AllKnownColors is a string array. Html.Raw accepts a single string as an argument. Since Model.AllKnownColors is not a string, C# framework calls the object's ToString method. By default, ToString returns the name of the object type.
If you are attempting to use a pure string of colors, you can do something like this instead:
var clrs = '#string.Join(", ", Model.AllKnownColors)';
If you actually want to turn Model.AllKnownColors into a JavaScript array, you can do this:
var clrs = #Html.Raw(Json.Encode(Model.AllKnownColors));
Note that in both cases, JSON.parse is unnecessary.
This question already has answers here:
Safely turning a JSON string into an object
(28 answers)
Closed 7 years ago.
I want to parse a JSON string in JavaScript. The response is something like
var response = '{"result":true,"count":1}';
How can I get the values result and count from this?
The standard way to parse JSON in JavaScript is JSON.parse()
The JSON API was introduced with ES5 (2011) and has since been implemented in >99% of browsers by market share, and Node.js. Its usage is simple:
const json = '{ "fruit": "pineapple", "fingers": 10 }';
const obj = JSON.parse(json);
console.log(obj.fruit, obj.fingers);
The only time you won't be able to use JSON.parse() is if you are programming for an ancient browser, such as IE 7 (2006), IE 6 (2001), Firefox 3 (2008), Safari 3.x (2009), etc. Alternatively, you may be in an esoteric JavaScript environment that doesn't include the standard APIs. In these cases, use json2.js, the reference implementation of JSON written by Douglas Crockford, the inventor of JSON. That library will provide an implementation of JSON.parse().
When processing extremely large JSON files, JSON.parse() may choke because of its synchronous nature and design. To resolve this, the JSON website recommends third-party libraries such as Oboe.js and clarinet, which provide streaming JSON parsing.
jQuery once had a $.parseJSON() function, but it was deprecated with jQuery 3.0. In any case, for a long time, it was nothing more than a wrapper around JSON.parse().
WARNING!
This answer stems from an ancient era of JavaScript programming during which there was no builtin way to parse JSON. The advice given here is no longer applicable and probably dangerous. From a modern perspective, parsing JSON by involving jQuery or calling eval() is nonsense. Unless you need to support IE 7 or Firefox 3.0, the correct way to parse JSON is JSON.parse().
First of all, you have to make sure that the JSON code is valid.
After that, I would recommend using a JavaScript library such as jQuery or Prototype if you can because these things are handled well in those libraries.
On the other hand, if you don't want to use a library and you can vouch for the validity of the JSON object, I would simply wrap the string in an anonymous function and use the eval function.
This is not recommended if you are getting the JSON object from another source that isn't absolutely trusted because the eval function allows for renegade code if you will.
Here is an example of using the eval function:
var strJSON = '{"result":true,"count":1}';
var objJSON = eval("(function(){return " + strJSON + ";})()");
alert(objJSON.result);
alert(objJSON.count);
If you control what browser is being used or you are not worried people with an older browser, you can always use the JSON.parse method.
This is really the ideal solution for the future.
If you are getting this from an outside site it might be helpful to use jQuery's getJSON. If it's a list you can iterate through it with $.each
$.getJSON(url, function (json) {
alert(json.result);
$.each(json.list, function (i, fb) {
alert(fb.result);
});
});
If you want to use JSON 3 for older browsers, you can load it conditionally with:
<script>
window.JSON ||
document.write('<script src="//cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/json3/3.2.4/json3.min.js"><\/scr'+'ipt>');
</script>
Now the standard window.JSON object is available to you no matter what browser a client is running.
The following example will make it clear:
let contactJSON = '{"name":"John Doe","age":"11"}';
let contact = JSON.parse(contactJSON);
console.log(contact.name + ", " + contact.age);
// Output: John Doe, 11
If you pass a string variable (a well-formed JSON string) to JSON.parse from MVC #Viewbag that has doublequote, '"', as quotes, you need to process it before JSON.parse (jsonstring)
var jsonstring = '#ViewBag.jsonstring';
jsonstring = jsonstring.replace(/"/g, '"');
You can either use the eval function as in some other answers. (Don't forget the extra braces.) You will know why when you dig deeper), or simply use the jQuery function parseJSON:
var response = '{"result":true , "count":1}';
var parsedJSON = $.parseJSON(response);
OR
You can use this below code.
var response = '{"result":true , "count":1}';
var jsonObject = JSON.parse(response);
And you can access the fields using jsonObject.result and jsonObject.count.
Update:
If your output is undefined then you need to follow THIS answer. Maybe your json string has an array format. You need to access the json object properties like this
var response = '[{"result":true , "count":1}]'; // <~ Array with [] tag
var jsonObject = JSON.parse(response);
console.log(jsonObject[0].result); //Output true
console.log(jsonObject[0].count); //Output 1
The easiest way using parse() method:
var response = '{"a":true,"b":1}';
var JsonObject= JSON.parse(response);
this is an example of how to get values:
var myResponseResult = JsonObject.a;
var myResponseCount = JsonObject.b;
JSON.parse() converts any JSON String passed into the function, to a JSON object.
For better understanding, press F12 to open the Inspect Element of your browser, and go to the console to write the following commands:
var response = '{"result":true,"count":1}'; // Sample JSON object (string form)
JSON.parse(response); // Converts passed string to a JSON object.
Now run the command:
console.log(JSON.parse(response));
You'll get output as Object {result: true, count: 1}.
In order to use that object, you can assign it to the variable, let's say obj:
var obj = JSON.parse(response);
Now by using obj and the dot(.) operator you can access properties of the JSON Object.
Try to run the command
console.log(obj.result);
Without using a library you can use eval - the only time you should use. It's safer to use a library though.
eg...
var response = '{"result":true , "count":1}';
var parsedJSON = eval('('+response+')');
var result=parsedJSON.result;
var count=parsedJSON.count;
alert('result:'+result+' count:'+count);
If you like
var response = '{"result":true,"count":1}';
var JsonObject= JSON.parse(response);
you can access the JSON elements by JsonObject with (.) dot:
JsonObject.result;
JsonObject.count;
I thought JSON.parse(myObject) would work. But depending on the browsers, it might be worth using eval('('+myObject+')'). The only issue I can recommend watching out for is the multi-level list in JSON.
An easy way to do it:
var data = '{"result":true,"count":1}';
var json = eval("[" +data+ "]")[0]; // ;)
If you use Dojo Toolkit:
require(["dojo/json"], function(JSON){
JSON.parse('{"hello":"world"}', true);
});
As mentioned by numerous others, most browsers support JSON.parse and JSON.stringify.
Now, I'd also like to add that if you are using AngularJS (which I highly recommend), then it also provides the functionality that you require:
var myJson = '{"result": true, "count": 1}';
var obj = angular.fromJson(myJson);//equivalent to JSON.parse(myJson)
var backToJson = angular.toJson(obj);//equivalent to JSON.stringify(obj)
I just wanted to add the stuff about AngularJS to provide another option. NOTE that AngularJS doesn't officially support Internet Explorer 8 (and older versions, for that matter), though through experience most of the stuff seems to work pretty well.
If you use jQuery, it is simple:
var response = '{"result":true,"count":1}';
var obj = $.parseJSON(response);
alert(obj.result); //true
alert(obj.count); //1
Here is my question:
in java script:
we hav an object:
var someObject={"name":"somename"};
Now we want to get the name ,we ll do
alert(someObject.name); //it will print somename Right?
Same object i get from a source which sends a JSON object as
someJSONObject={"name":"someName"};
Now in my javascript code ,without parsing this someJSONObject ,i can get name as
alert(someJSONObject.name);
If it is so ,why we need to convert JSON Object to a javaScript Object by parsing it ,when we can use it as an object without parsing or using eval()?
Thanks !
Because it's not a JSON Object. The syntax {"name":"someName"}, with quoted keys, does not make it JSON, the same syntax is supported by Javascript object literals.
JSON can be embedded in Javascript strings. Like:
var json = '{"key": "value"}';
Then you can parse it into Javascript data types:
var obj = JSON.parse( json );
Note that eval may cause syntax errors because the syntaxes of JSON and Javascript are not ultimately compatible. The above would have caused a syntax error if evaled.
JSON is a string, so it's something like var jsonObject = '{"name":"someName"}'; an object is an object.
I'm using the tag-it library for jquery to make a tagging system (a bit like the stackoverflow one).
After the user types his tags the library returns a javascript array that I want to save in a MySQL database. I didn't find a serialize and unserialize function in javascript.
Before coding my own function I'd like to make sure I'm not reinventing the wheel here. It seems crazy that there is no native way to save an array to a database and then use it again.
tl;dr => how can I save a javascript array in a MySQL database to reuse it later ?
You can use JSON.stringify() (MDN docu) and JSON.parse() (MDN docu) for converting a JavaScript object into a string representation to store it inside a database.
var arr = [ 1, 2, 3 ];
var serializedArr = JSON.stringify( arr );
// "[1, 2, 3]"
var unpackArr = JSON.parse( serializedArr );
// identical array to arr
If your backend is written in PHP, there are similar methods to work with JSON strings there: json_encode() (PHP docu) and json_decode() (PHP docu).
Most other languages offer similar functionalities for JSON strings.
You can use JavaScript Object Notation(JSON) format.
Javascript supports these methods:
JSON.stringify -> serializes object to string
JSON.parse -> deserializes object from string
How about just JSONing it?
var arr = [1,2,3];
var arrSerialized = JSON.stringify(arr);
...
var arrExtracted = JSON.parse(arrSerialized);
By the way, JSON is often used for serializing in some other languages, even though they have their own serializing functions. )