Deserialize string value by JSON-lib (net.sf.json) - json

I have discovered problem in JSON-Lib with deserialization of JSON string data in nested objects. Following code in Groovy demonstrates problem, you can test it in Groovy Console:
#Grab('net.sf.json-lib:json-lib:2.3:jdk15')
import net.sf.json.*
def s = '''\
{
"attributes": "'{test:1}'",
"nested": { "attributes": "'{test:1}'" }
}'''
def j = JSONSerializer.toJSON(s)
println j
assert j.attributes == "{test:1}" // OK
assert j.nested.attributes == "{test:1}" // Failed
In the example above both attributes in JSON have the same string value "{test:1}". JSONSerializer deserialize the first one into String value but second one into (maybe) JSONObject. I'm not sure because class of that object returns null.
For different string value (which doesn't look like JSON data, e.g. "blah") it works.
How can I change this behavior?
UPDATE
I have tried to quote string values based on JSON-Lib documentation here (thanks to #GemK for pointing there), but with same result. Quoting string values doesn't work in nested objects :-(

Related

Grails: Easy and efficient way to parse JSON from a Request

Please pardon me if this is a repeat question. I have been through some of the questions/answers with a similar requirement but somehow got a bit overwhelmed and confused at the same time. My requirement is:
I get a JSON string/object as a request parameter. ( eg: params.timesheetJSON )
I then have to parse/iterate through it.
Here is the JSON that my grails controller will be receiving:
{
"loginName":"user1",
"timesheetList":
[
{
"periodBegin":"2014/10/12",
"periodEnd":"2014/10/18",
"timesheetRows":[
{
"task":"Cleaning",
"description":"cleaning description",
"paycode":"payCode1"
},
{
"task":"painting",
"activityDescription":"painting description",
"paycode":"payCode2"
}
]
}
],
"overallStatus":"SUCCESS"
}
Questions:
How can I retrieve the whole JSON string from the request? Does request.JSON be fine here? If so, will request.JSON.timesheetJSON yield me the actual JSON that I want as a JSONObject?
What is the best way to parse through the JSON object that I got from the request? Is it grails.converters.JSON? Or is there any other easy way of parsing through? Like some API which will return the JSON as a collection of objects by automatically taking care of parsing. Or is programatically parsing through the JSON object the only way?
Like I said, please pardon me if the question is sounding vague. Any good references JSON parsing with grails might also be helpful here.
Edit: There's a change in the way I get the JSON string now. I get the JSON string as a request paramter.
String saveJSON // This holds the above JSON string.
def jsonObject = grails.converters.JSON.parse(saveJSON) // No problem here. Returns a JSONObject. I checked the class type.
def jsonArray = jsonArray.timesheetList // No problem here. Returns a JSONArray. I checked the class type.
println "*** Size of jsonArray1: " + jsonArray1.size() // Returns size 1. It seemed fine as the above JSON string had only one timesheet in timesheetList
def object1 = jsonArray[1] // This throws the JSONException, JSONArray[1] not found. I tried jsonArray.getJSONObject(1) and that throws the same exception.
Basically, I am looking to seamlessly iterate through the JSON string now.
I have wrote some code that explains how this can be done, that you can see below, but to be clear, first the answers to your questions:
Your JSON String as you wrote above will be the contents of your POST payload to the rest controller. Grails will use its data binding mechanism to bind the incomming data to a Command object that your should prepare. It has to have fields corresponding to the parameters in your JSON String (see below). After you bind your command object to your actual domain object, you can get all the data you want, by simply operating on fields and lists
The way to parse thru the JSON object is shown in my example below. The incomming request is esentially a nested map, with can be simply accessed with a dot
Now some code that illustrates how to do it.
In your controller create a method that accepts "YourCommand" object as input parameter:
def yourRestServiceMethod (YourCommand comm){
YourClass yourClass = new YourClass()
comm.bindTo(yourClass)
// do something with yourClass
// println yourClass.timeSheetList
}
The command looks like this:
class YourCommand {
String loginName
List<Map> timesheetList = []
String overallStatus
void bindTo(YourClass yourClass){
yourClass.loginName=loginName
yourClass.overallStatus=overallStatus
timesheetList.each { sheet ->
TimeSheet timeSheet = new TimeSheet()
timeSheet.periodBegin = sheet.periodBegin
timeSheet.periodEnd = sheet.periodEnd
sheet.timesheetRows.each { row ->
TimeSheetRow timeSheetRow = new TimeSheetRow()
timeSheetRow.task = row.task
timeSheetRow.description = row.description
timeSheetRow.paycode = row.paycode
timeSheet.timesheetRows.add(timeSheetRow)
}
yourClass.timeSheetList.add(timeSheet)
}
}
}
Its "bindTo" method is the key piece of logic that understands how to get parameters from the incomming request and map it to a regular object. That object is of type "YourClass" and it looks like this:
class YourClass {
String loginName
Collection<TimeSheet> timeSheetList = []
String overallStatus
}
all other classes that are part of that class:
class TimeSheet {
String periodBegin
String periodEnd
Collection<TimeSheetRow> timesheetRows = []
}
and the last one:
class TimeSheetRow {
String task
String description
String paycode
}
Hope this example is clear enough for you and answers your question
Edit: Extending the answer according to the new requirements
Looking at your new code, I see that you probably did some typos when writting that post
def jsonArray = jsonArray.timesheetList
should be:
def jsonArray = jsonObject.timesheetList
but you obviously have it properly in your code since otherwise it would not work, then the same with that line with "println":
jsonArray1.size()
shuold be:
jsonArray.size()
and the essential fix:
def object1 = jsonArray[1]
shuold be
def object1 = jsonArray[0]
your array is of size==1, the indexing starts with 0. // Can it be that easy? ;)
Then "object1" is again a JSONObject, so you can access the fields with a "." or as a map, for example like this:
object1.get('periodEnd')
I see your example contains errors, which lead you to implement more complex JSON parsing solutions.
I rewrite your sample to the working version. (At least now for Grails 3.x)
String saveJSON // This holds the above JSON string.
def jsonObject = grails.converters.JSON.parse(saveJSON)
println jsonObject.timesheetList // output timesheetList structure
println jsonObject.timesheetList[0].timesheetRows[1] // output second element of timesheetRows array: [paycode:payCode2, task:painting, activityDescription:painting description]

Grails: Parsing through JSON String using JSONArray/JSONObject

I have the below JSON string coming in as a request parameter into my grails controller.
{
"loginName":"user1",
"timesheetList":
[
{
"periodBegin":"2014/10/12",
"periodEnd":"2014/10/18",
"timesheetRows":[
{
"task":"Cleaning",
"description":"cleaning description",
"paycode":"payCode1"
},
{
"task":"painting",
"activityDescription":"painting description",
"paycode":"payCode2"
}
]
}
],
"overallStatus":"SUCCESS"
}
As you can see, the timesheetList might have multiple elements in it. In this ( above ) case, we have only one. So, I expect it to behave like an Array/List.
Then I had the below code to parse through it:
String saveJSON // This holds the above JSON string.
def jsonObject = grails.converters.JSON.parse(saveJSON) // No problem here. Returns a JSONObject. I checked the class type.
def jsonArray = jsonArray.timesheetList // No problem here. Returns a JSONArray. I checked the class type.
println "*** Size of jsonArray1: " + jsonArray1.size() // Returns size 1. It seemed fine as the above JSON string had only one timesheet in timesheetList
def timesheet1 = jsonArray[1] // This throws the JSONException, JSONArray[1] not found. I tried jsonArray.getJSONObject(1) and that throws the same exception.
Basically, I am looking to seamlessly iterate through the JSON string now. Any help?
1st off to simplify your code, use request.JSON. Then request.JSON.list[ 0 ] should be working

Map to String/String to Map conversion in Groovy

I have a json object that gets passed into a save function as
{
"markings": {
"headMarkings": "Brindle",
"leftForeMarkings": "",
"rightForeMarkings": "sock",
"leftHindMarkings": "sock",
"rightHindMarkings": "",
"otherMarkings": ""
}
** EDIT **
The system parses it and passes it to my function as a mapping. I don't actually have the JSON, although it wouldn't be difficult to build up the JSON myself, it just seems like overkill
* END EDIT **
The toString() function ends up putting the results into the database as
"[rightForeMarkings:, otherMarkings:, leftForeMarkings:sock, leftHindMarkings:sock, rightHindMarkings:, headMarkings:brindle]"
I then want to save that as a string (fairly easy) by calling
params.markings.toString()
From here, I save the info and return the updated information.
My issue is that since I am storing the object in the DB as a string, I can't seem to get the markings back out as a map (to then be converted to JSON).
I have tried a few different things to no avail, although it is completely possible that I went about something incorrectlywith these...
Eval.me(Item.markings)
evaluate(Item.markings)
Item.markings.toList()
Thanks in advance for the help!
Throwing my tests.
Using JSON converters in Grails, I think this should be the approach: (synonymous to #JamesKleeh and #GrailsGuy)
def json = '''{
"markings": {
"headMarkings": "Brindle",
"leftForeMarkings": "",
"rightForeMarkings": "sock",
"leftHindMarkings": "sock",
"rightHindMarkings": "",
"otherMarkings": ""
}
}'''
def jsonObj = grails.converters.JSON.parse(json)
//This is your JSON object that should be passed in to the method
print jsonObj //[markings:[rightForeMarkings:sock, otherMarkings:, leftForeMarkings:, leftHindMarkings:sock, rightHindMarkings:, headMarkings:Brindle]]
def jsonStr = jsonObj.toString()
//This is the string which should be persisted in db
assert jsonStr == '{"markings":{"rightForeMarkings":"sock","otherMarkings":"","leftForeMarkings":"","leftHindMarkings":"sock","rightHindMarkings":"","headMarkings":"Brindle"}}'
//Get back json obj from json str
def getBackJsobObj = grails.converters.JSON.parse(jsonStr)
assert getBackJsobObj.markings.leftHindMarkings == 'sock'
If I understand correctly, you want to convert a String to a JSON object? You can actually bypass converting it to a map, and parse it directly as a JSON object:
import grails.converters.JSON
def json = JSON.parse(Item.markings)
This will give you your entire JSON object, and then you can just reference the values as you would a map.
Edit #2:
So apparently there is no "safe" way to convert that string back to a map without something custom. I would recommend saving the structure in the database as it originally comes in. If you can do that, then all you would need is JSON.parse()

JSON accepted format according to Newtonsoft Json

I am trying to parse some JSON objects which is made just of (string,string) pairs, in order to emulate Resjson behaviour. The file I am parsing contains this.
{
"greeting":"Hello world",
"_greeting.comment":"Hello comment.",
"_greeting.source":"Original Hello",
}
Please note the last comma is incorrect, and I also used http://jsonlint.com/ to test JSON syntax. It tells me it is incorrect, as I expected. My - slightly modified - code is :
string path = #"d:\resjson\example.resjson";
string jsonText = File.ReadAllText(path);
IDictionary<string, string> dict;
try
{
dict = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<IDictionary<string, string>>(jsonText);
}
catch(Exception ex)
{
// code never reaches here
}
My above code returns the IDictionary with the 3 keys as if the formatting was correct. If I serialize back, the string obtained is without the last comma.
My questions are :
Is Newtonsoft.Json so permissive that it allows users slight errors ?
If so, can I set the permissiveness so that it is more strict ?
Is there a way to check if a string is valid JSON format, using
Newtonsoft.Json with and/or without the permissiveness?

JSON to Groovy with JsonSlurper and unknown "string"

I am writing a Grails/Groovy app and I have a JSON object with a "string" name (grommet and widget) inside the params member that can change. That is, next time it might be acme and zoom. Here is the JSON:
def jx = """{
"job": "42",
"params": {
"grommet": {"name": "x", "data": "y"},
"widget": { "name": "a", "data": "b"}
}
}"""
I am trying to figure out how to get the string grommet . Code so far:
def dalist = new JsonSlurper().parseText(jx)
println dalist.job // Gives: 42
println dalist.params // Gives: [grommet:[name:x, data:y], widget:[name:a, data:b]]
println dalist.params[0] // Gives: null
Any idea how to get the string grommet? Iama going to keep hitting my head against a wall.
The params key on the JSON object is associated with a JSON object, not an array, so you cannot access it by index. JsonSlurper maps JSON objects to Groovy Maps, so you can access params by its keys, which are strings, e.g. dalist.params.grommet, which will give you the map [name: 'x', data: 'y'].
To access the keys on the params you can do dalist.params.keySet(), which will give you the list ['grommet', 'widget']. If you are interested in just knowing params keys, that should do the trick. If you need to get the 'grommet' string for some reason, you can do it by accessing the first element on that list, i.e. dalist.params.keySet()[0], but i don't know why you would want to know that. And i'm not sure if it is guaranteed that the first key of that map will always be 'grommet', as JSON objects are unordered by the spec (from json.org: An object is an unordered set of name/value pairs), but, in turn, Groovy maps are ordered (the default implementation is LinkedHashMap)... so i would assume that the order is preserved when parsing JSON to the Groovy world, but i'd try not to rely on that particular behavior hehe.
It's Map instance, try:
def params = dalist.params.entrySet() as List // entrySet() returns Set, but it's easier to use it as a List
println params
println params.size()
println params[0]
println params[0].key
println params[0].value
This might help you.
import groovy.json.JsonSlurper;
def jx='{"job":"42","params":{"grommet":{"name":"x","data":"y"},"widget":{"name":"a","data":"b"}}}'
def dalist = new JsonSlurper().parseText( jx )
assert dalist.params.getClass().name == "java.util.HashMap";
assert dalist.params.size() == 2;
def keys = dalist.params.collect{ a, b -> a}; // returns "[grommet, widget]"
assert !!dalist.params.get( "grommet" ) == true