Javascript unexpected token error on string

Question

I am creating a webpage and want to use information from one view in another view. I'm generating javascript code via python but am having trouble with one of the strings I create causing a unexpected token illegal syntax error.

I'm creating the string in python like this:

sep = max([len(k) for k in self.keys()])
infoString = "\n".join([("(%s)%s %s" % (k," "*(sep-len(k)),v)) for k,v in self.iteritems()])
GANTTBlock.setInfo("SIMPL-Task block representation:%s" % infoString)

Which ends up looking like this in js:

var SAT_2B = [
{label: "COMMRequest", times: [{"color":"Red", "label":"Task ID: 1", "starting_time":1420228800000, "ending_time":1420257600000, "TASKID":"1", "TASKCLASS":"COMM", "info":"SIMPL-Task block representation:(SCI_STORED_RAW)    0
(SEQUENCE_OVERRIDE) 
(REQ_FILENAME)      /Users/kerrywahl/Desktop/PlanningPersonelInterface/SIMPLCode/Input/Test/CYGNSS_MOC_COMM_Req_2015_001.txt
(RETRANSMIT)        
(SCI_STORED_DDM)    0
(NOTES)             Auto Generated NOMINAL COMM Request<req TASK_ID:1>
(ENG_STORED_NOM)    0
(IS_SIMPL_TASK)     True
(RATE)              HIGH_RATE
(DURATION)          500.0
(WINDOW_END)        2015-01-03 04:00:00.000000
(WINDOW_START)      2015-01-02 20:00:00.000000
(TASK_ID)           1
(TaskClass)         COMM
(PASS_SETUP)        AUTO
(PRIORITY)          5
(TASK_NAME)         SAT_2B_COMM_NOMINAL_1_req
(PHASE)             REQUEST
(ENG_STORED_DIAG)   0
(TYPE)              NOMINAL
(SAT)               2B"}, {"color":"Red", "label":"Task ID: 6", "starting_time":1421092800000, "ending_time":1421121600000, "TASKID":"6", "TASKCLASS":"COMM", "info":"SIMPL-Task block representation:(SCI_STORED_RAW)    0
(SEQUENCE_OVERRIDE) 
(REQ_FILENAME)      /Users/kerrywahl/Desktop/PlanningPersonelInterface/SIMPLCode/Input/Test/CYGNSS_MOC_COMM_Req_2015_001.txt
(RETRANSMIT)        
(SCI_STORED_DDM)    0
(NOTES)             Auto Generated NOMINAL COMM Request<req TASK_ID:6>
(ENG_STORED_NOM)    0
(IS_SIMPL_TASK)     True
(RATE)              HIGH_RATE
(DURATION)          500.0
(WINDOW_END)        2015-01-13 04:00:00.000000
(WINDOW_START)      2015-01-12 20:00:00.000000
(TASK_ID)           6
(TaskClass)         COMM
(PASS_SETUP)        AUTO
(PRIORITY)          5
(TASK_NAME)         SAT_2B_COMM_NOMINAL_6_req
(PHASE)             REQUEST
(ENG_STORED_DIAG)   0
(TYPE)              NOMINAL
(SAT)               2B"}]},
    {label: "COMMPlan", times: []},
    {label: "COMMOperation", times: []},
];

Based on the console, the error is occurring on the first line ({label: "COMMRequest", times: [{"color"...). I tried changing the info part of the string (everything that comes after "info":) to just a regular "foo" string and then it worked fine. I tried removing the \n but still got the error. I can't figure out what is causing the problem.

EDIT

It works fine if I only have one {} inside the times: part of the label, but breaks on the "TASKID" part of the second {}.

Your code has an extra comma after the last object in the array. — Jonathan M, Sep 09 '15 at 20:11
It appears that the newlines are a cause of unhappiness. If I take the code above and plop it into javascript without the line breaks, it works: https://jsfiddle.net/bLmnsvma/ — william.taylor.09, Sep 09 '15 at 20:13
@william.taylor.09 it doesn't work. Check the console. You have a syntax error. — Jonathan M, Sep 09 '15 at 20:17
@JonathanM That's allowed, unless you're using an ancient browser. — Barmar, Sep 09 '15 at 20:20

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 09 '15 at 20:15

0

You can't have such newlines in the console. For multiline strings you need each line to end with \:

var SAT_2B = [
{label: "COMMRequest", times: [{"color":"Red", "label":"Task ID: 1", "starting_time":1420228800000, "ending_time":1420257600000, "TASKID":"1", "TASKCLASS":"COMM", "info":"SIMPL-Task block representation:(SCI_STORED_RAW)    0/n
(SEQUENCE_OVERRIDE) \
(REQ_FILENAME)      /Users/kerrywahl/Desktop/PlanningPersonelInterface/SIMPLCode/Input/Test/CYGNSS_MOC_COMM_Req_2015_001.txt\
(RETRANSMIT)        \
(SCI_STORED_DDM)    0\
(NOTES)             Auto Generated NOMINAL COMM Request<req TASK_ID:1>\
(ENG_STORED_NOM)    0\
(IS_SIMPL_TASK)     True\
(RATE)              HIGH_RATE\
(DURATION)          500.0\
(WINDOW_END)        2015-01-03 04:00:00.000000\
(WINDOW_START)      2015-01-02 20:00:00.000000\
(TASK_ID)           1\
(TaskClass)         COMM\
(PASS_SETUP)        AUTO\
(PRIORITY)          5\
(TASK_NAME)         SAT_2B_COMM_NOMINAL_1_req\
(PHASE)             REQUEST\
(ENG_STORED_DIAG)   0\
(TYPE)              NOMINAL\
(SAT)               2B"}]},
    {label: "COMMPlan", times: []},
    {label: "COMMOperation", times: []},
];

answered Sep 09 '15 at 20:15

slomek

4,873
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Did you try this? The comma after the last `}` is not legal. – Jonathan M Sep 09 '15 at 20:20
@JonathanM http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7246618/trailing-commas-in-javascript – Barmar Sep 09 '15 at 20:21
if I replace the long string with `"foo"` then it doesn't seem to have a problem, comma and all. How would you go about ending with ` \ `? When I try to use it in front of .join I get a syntax error in python. – kdubs Sep 09 '15 at 20:26
@kdubs you may need to escape it. – william.taylor.09 Sep 09 '15 at 20:32
Ok, I got it to generate with ` \ ` instead but same error. See the edits I've made to the question. – kdubs Sep 09 '15 at 20:45

Javascript unexpected token error on string

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