jQuery and JSON: getting an element by name

Question

I have the following JSON:

var json = { "system" : { "world" : { "actions" : { "hello" : { "src" : "hello world/hello world.js", "command" : "helloWorld" } } } } }

I have the following javascript:

var x = "system";
// get the contents of system by doing something like json.getElementByName(x)

How do I get the contents of system using json and x in jQuery?

score 12 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 10 '10 at 22:06

12

Just use:

var x = "system";
json[x];

It is a key/value system of retrieval, and doesn't need a function call to use it.

answered Feb 10 '10 at 22:06

Doug Neiner

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Yes that works unless the label corresponding to the value of "x" is buried deep in the jungle of substructure dangling off the "json" object. – Pointy Feb 10 '10 at 22:07
Perhaps a better example of what you need is `x = "hello"` ? You might want to update your question to reflect that. – Doug Neiner Feb 10 '10 at 22:08

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 10 '10 at 22:05

Well to my knowledge jQuery doesn't navigate arbitrary objects like that - just the DOM. You could write a little function to do it:

function findSomething(object, name) {
  if (name in object) return object[name];
  for (key in object) {
    if ((typeof (object[key])) == 'object') {
      var t = findSomething(object[key], name);
      if (t) return t;
    }
  }
  return null;
}

It should be obvious that I haven't put that function through an elaborate QA process.

Should check for null on 'object' ... `if (object[key] && (typeof (object[key])) == 'object' )` ... — lyolikaa, Aug 20 '20 at 15:23

score 1 · Answer 3 · edited Aug 23 '13 at 17:24

1

Try using JSON Path, it is like XPath expression.

edited Aug 23 '13 at 17:24

Simon Arnold

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answered Jun 16 '12 at 19:18

Muhammad Soliman

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jQuery and JSON: getting an element by name

3 Answers3