Valid JSON file format in js

Question

I want to control whether given data is in JSON format. For this control, I use JSON.parse with try catch. As;

var str= {
  "employees":[
    {"firstName":"John", "lastName":"Doe"},
    {"firstName":"Anna", "lastName":"Smith"},
    {"firstName":"Peter", "lastName":"Jones"}
  ]
}
try {
  parsed = JSON.parse(str);
} catch (err) {
    return "It is not valid JSON file";
}

But I want to stretch the rules. I want to accept the following file format where fields does not have to be written inside "" as;

{
 employees:[
  {firstName:"John", lastName:"Doe"},
  {firstName:"Anna", lastName:"Smith"},
  {firstName:"Peter", lastName:"Jones"}
 ]
}

How can I do this? JSON.parse does not accept this format.

You could use `eval()` but you have to consider the security implications of this approach. — Erich Kitzmueller, Jun 06 '16 at 12:01
`{"name": "alex" , "age": "33"}` - this is not a json, it is a javascript object. Json is a string - `"{"name": "alex" , "age": "33"}"` — Dmitry Zaets, Jun 06 '16 at 12:01
In your case str is already an object you don't need to parse it. — jcubic, Jun 06 '16 at 12:03
JSON.parse doesn't accept that format because it isn't valid. Keys _must_ be in quotes — Turnip, Jun 06 '16 at 12:03
Yes. But I want to make file format where keys are not in quotes acceptable. @ammoQ how can I use eval()? — Yigit Can, Jun 06 '16 at 12:06
Simply by writing `parsed = eval("("+str+")");` instead of `parsed = JSON.parse(str);`. — Erich Kitzmueller, Jun 06 '16 at 12:07
Using eval is not good practice. refer http://stackoverflow.com/questions/86513/why-is-using-the-javascript-eval-function-a-bad-idea before using — Rajesh, Jun 06 '16 at 12:15
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10269469/how-to-convert-json-to-string — Prikkeldraad, Jun 06 '16 at 12:26

Rajesh · Answer 1 · 2016-06-06T12:39:48.473

You can try cleaning your string and adding " manually.

var str = '{name: "alex" , age: "33"}';
var d= '{employees:[{firstName:"John",lastName:"Doe"},{firstName:"Anna",lastName:"Smith"},{firstName:"Peter",lastName:"Jones"}]}';

function processObject(str){
  var spaceReg = /\s/g;
  var _str = str.replace(spaceReg, "");
  
  var quoteReg = /\"/g;
  _str = _str.replace(quoteReg, "");
  
  var startBrace = /{/g;
  _str = _str.replace(startBrace,"{\"");
  
  var endBrace = /}/g;
  _str = _str.replace(endBrace,"\"}");
  
  var colon = /:/g
  _str = _str.replace(colon,"\":\"");
  
  var comma = /,/g
  _str = _str.replace(comma,"\",\"");
  
  var endBraceStr = /}\"/g
  _str = _str.replace(endBraceStr,"}");
  
  var startBraceStr = /\"{/g
  _str = _str.replace(startBraceStr,"{");
  
  var endBraceArrStr = /\]\"/g
  _str = _str.replace(endBraceArrStr,"]");
  
  var startBraceArrStr = /\"\[/g
  _str = _str.replace(startBraceArrStr,"[");
  
  console.log(_str)
  
  return JSON.parse(_str);
}

console.log(processObject(str))
console.log(processObject(d))

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 06 '16 at 12:14

0

JSON.parse has to be applied to a JSON string, not to a JSON object.

answered Jun 06 '16 at 12:14

Pavel Gatnar

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Valid JSON file format in js

2 Answers2