Why is my dot notation to access 5 layer json object returning null?

Question

This might be a simple answer - but forgive me as I'm a noobie.

I'm trying to use dot notation to access nested json objects in results from a Google Custom Search engine (in Google Apps Script)

I have a variable result with my JSON file

var result = JSON.parse(response.getContentText());

and here is the relevant part of the JSON file :

"items": [
    {
      "kind": "customsearch#result",
      "title": "Nicole Hartvig - Vice President Product Marketing - Zynga | LinkedIn",
      "htmlTitle": "Nicole Hartvig - Vice President Product \u003cb\u003eMarketing\u003c/b\u003e - \u003cb\u003eZynga\u003c/b\u003e | LinkedIn",
      "link": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-hartvig-77607ab",
      "displayLink": "www.linkedin.com",
      "snippet": "Nicole Hartvig. VP Product Marketing. ZyngaBar-Ilan University. San Francisco \nBay Area500+ connections.",
      "htmlSnippet": "Nicole Hartvig. VP Product \u003cb\u003eMarketing\u003c/b\u003e. \u003cb\u003eZynga\u003c/b\u003eBar-Ilan University. San Francisco \u003cbr\u003e\nBay Area500+ connections.",
      "formattedUrl": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-hartvig-77607ab",
      "htmlFormattedUrl": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-hartvig-77607ab",
      "pagemap": {
        "metatags": [
          {
            "og:image": "https://static-exp1.licdn.com/sc/p/com.linkedin.public-profile-frontend%3Apublic-profile-frontend-static-content%2B1.0.796/f/%2Fpublic-profile-frontend%2Fartdeco-icons%2Fstatic%2Fimages%2Fghost-images%2Fperson.svg",
            "og:type": "profile",
            "twitter:card": "summary",
            "twitter:title": "Nicole Hartvig - Vice President Product Marketing - Zynga | LinkedIn",
            "al:ios:app_name": "LinkedIn",
            "platform-worker": "https://static-exp1.licdn.com/sc/h/f1rrg2iyfxtin8sa39nl5yphl",
            "og:title": "Nicole Hartvig - Vice President Product Marketing - Zynga | LinkedIn",
            "al:android:package": "com.linkedin.android",
            "pagekey": "public_profile_v3_mobile",
            "locale": "en_US",
            "al:ios:url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-hartvig-77607ab",
            "og:description": "View Nicole Hartvig’s profile on LinkedIn, the world's largest professional community. Nicole has 4 jobs listed on their profile. See the complete profile on LinkedIn and discover Nicole’s connections and jobs at similar companies.",
            "al:ios:app_store_id": "288429040",
            "platform": "https://static-exp1.licdn.com/sc/h/9jz7j4nt804mq3yk6akvsioxt,3wo0d340gqtz9xlexnrcz1as9",
            "twitter:image": "https://static-exp1.licdn.com/sc/p/com.linkedin.public-profile-frontend%3Apublic-profile-frontend-static-content%2B1.0.796/f/%2Fpublic-profile-frontend%2Fartdeco-icons%2Fstatic%2Fimages%2Fghost-images%2Fperson.svg",
            "al:android:url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-hartvig-77607ab",
            "profile:last_name": "Hartvig",
            "twitter:site": "@Linkedin",
            "viewport": "width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0",
            "litmsprofilename": "public-profile-frontend",
            "twitter:description": "View Nicole Hartvig’s profile on LinkedIn, the world's largest professional community. Nicole has 4 jobs listed on their profile. See the complete profile on LinkedIn and discover Nicole’s connections and jobs at similar companies.",
            "profile:first_name": "Nicole",
            "og:url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-hartvig-77607ab",
            "al:android:app_name": "LinkedIn"
          }
        ],
        "cse_image": [
          {
            "src": "https://static-exp1.licdn.com/sc/p/com.linkedin.public-profile-frontend%3Apublic-profile-frontend-static-content%2B1.0.796/f/%2Fpublic-profile-frontend%2Fartdeco-icons%2Fstatic%2Fimages%2Fghost-images%2Fperson.svg"
          }
        ]
      }
    },

I'm trying to access certain values and put them into variables. Shorter dot notations work ok, but when I try and access data that is more deeply nested, I return null:

var linkedinURL = result.items[0].link; 
Logger.log(linkedinURL); // returns linkedin URL perfectly

var fName = result.items[0].pagemap.metatags.profile:first_name;
Logger.log(fName); // returns null

Where am I going wrong?

Thank you so much

because `.profile:first_name` is bad. There should be the error `Uncaught SyntaxError: Unexpected token ':'` — epascarello, Oct 14 '20 at 17:45

epascarello · Answer 1 · 2020-10-14T21:55:33.810

You should have the error Uncaught SyntaxError: Unexpected token ':' since the : is not going to be valid. You need to use bracket notation.

result.items[0].pagemap.metatags[0]['profile:first_name'];

const response = {
  "items": [{
    "kind": "customsearch#result",
    "title": "Nicole Hartvig - Vice President Product Marketing - Zynga | LinkedIn",
    "htmlTitle": "Nicole Hartvig - Vice President Product \u003cb\u003eMarketing\u003c/b\u003e - \u003cb\u003eZynga\u003c/b\u003e | LinkedIn",
    "link": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-hartvig-77607ab",
    "displayLink": "www.linkedin.com",
    "snippet": "Nicole Hartvig. VP Product Marketing. ZyngaBar-Ilan University. San Francisco \nBay Area500+ connections.",
    "htmlSnippet": "Nicole Hartvig. VP Product \u003cb\u003eMarketing\u003c/b\u003e. \u003cb\u003eZynga\u003c/b\u003eBar-Ilan University. San Francisco \u003cbr\u003e\nBay Area500+ connections.",
    "formattedUrl": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-hartvig-77607ab",
    "htmlFormattedUrl": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-hartvig-77607ab",
    "pagemap": {
      "metatags": [{
        "og:image": "https://static-exp1.licdn.com/sc/p/com.linkedin.public-profile-frontend%3Apublic-profile-frontend-static-content%2B1.0.796/f/%2Fpublic-profile-frontend%2Fartdeco-icons%2Fstatic%2Fimages%2Fghost-images%2Fperson.svg",
        "og:type": "profile",
        "twitter:card": "summary",
        "twitter:title": "Nicole Hartvig - Vice President Product Marketing - Zynga | LinkedIn",
        "al:ios:app_name": "LinkedIn",
        "platform-worker": "https://static-exp1.licdn.com/sc/h/f1rrg2iyfxtin8sa39nl5yphl",
        "og:title": "Nicole Hartvig - Vice President Product Marketing - Zynga | LinkedIn",
        "al:android:package": "com.linkedin.android",
        "pagekey": "public_profile_v3_mobile",
        "locale": "en_US",
        "al:ios:url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-hartvig-77607ab",
        "og:description": "View Nicole Hartvig’s profile on LinkedIn, the world's largest professional community. Nicole has 4 jobs listed on their profile. See the complete profile on LinkedIn and discover Nicole’s connections and jobs at similar companies.",
        "al:ios:app_store_id": "288429040",
        "platform": "https://static-exp1.licdn.com/sc/h/9jz7j4nt804mq3yk6akvsioxt,3wo0d340gqtz9xlexnrcz1as9",
        "twitter:image": "https://static-exp1.licdn.com/sc/p/com.linkedin.public-profile-frontend%3Apublic-profile-frontend-static-content%2B1.0.796/f/%2Fpublic-profile-frontend%2Fartdeco-icons%2Fstatic%2Fimages%2Fghost-images%2Fperson.svg",
        "al:android:url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-hartvig-77607ab",
        "profile:last_name": "Hartvig",
        "twitter:site": "@Linkedin",
        "viewport": "width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0",
        "litmsprofilename": "public-profile-frontend",
        "twitter:description": "View Nicole Hartvig’s profile on LinkedIn, the world's largest professional community. Nicole has 4 jobs listed on their profile. See the complete profile on LinkedIn and discover Nicole’s connections and jobs at similar companies.",
        "profile:first_name": "Nicole",
        "og:url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-hartvig-77607ab",
        "al:android:app_name": "LinkedIn"
      }],
      "cse_image": [{
        "src": "https://static-exp1.licdn.com/sc/p/com.linkedin.public-profile-frontend%3Apublic-profile-frontend-static-content%2B1.0.796/f/%2Fpublic-profile-frontend%2Fartdeco-icons%2Fstatic%2Fimages%2Fghost-images%2Fperson.svg"
      }]
    }
  }]
}

console.log(response.items[0].pagemap.metatags[0]["profile:first_name"])

Thanks. Unfortunately, it still comes back with null. I tried even using the one object without the : and still have the same issue with it coming back null ``` result.items[0].pagemap.metatags.locale; ``` — BrownridgeFromStourbridge, Oct 14 '20 at 21:42
Sorry I totally misread the original reply. I missed the [] array after metatags. Once I added it, it worked. Thank you so much! — BrownridgeFromStourbridge, Oct 16 '20 at 17:00

Why is my dot notation to access 5 layer json object returning null?

1 Answers1