When a JSON object is handled as a string

The JSON returned from my Ajax call looks like this:

returnedData = "[ 
    { id: 1, firstName: 'John', lastName: 'Smith', address: '123 Spa Road', city: 'London', 
        orders: 
        [ 
            { product: 'TV', price: 599.99, quantity: 2, orderTotal: 1199.98 } 
        ]
    }
]";

var customers = JSON.parse (returnedData);
console.log(customers.length); // This prints the length of the string data

When assigning the result directly, it treats it as a string.

var customers = [ 
    { id: 1, firstName: 'John', lastName: 'Smith', address: '123 Spa Road', city: 'London', 
        orders: 
        [ 
            { product: 'TV', price: 599.99, quantity: 2, orderTotal: 1199.98 } 
        ]
    }
];

console.log(customers.length); // This now prints 1, which is the number of objects

Why does this happen? Is there a way to dynamically assign it?

Answer №1

Make sure to use the JSON validator tool at http://jsonlint.com/ to check your code for errors.

When you input your object literal into the validator, you will see

Parse error on line 2:
[    {        id: 1,        first
--------------^
Expecting 'STRING', '}'

To fix this issue, remember to always place double quotes around the keys and string values in your code.

Answer №2

your string appears to have some issues...

below is a properly structured json for you

var returnedData =`[
    {
        "id": 1,
        "firstName": "John",
        "lastName": "Smith",
        "address": "123 Spa Road",
        "city": "London",
        "orders": [
            {
                "product": "TV",
                "price": 599.99,
                "quantity": 2,
                "orderTotal": 1199.98
            }
        ]
    }
]`;

ensure that single quotes are properly escaped or consider using backticks instead for improved structure (edited based on insight from @Victor Canova)

Answer №3

Remember to always enclose attributes in double quotes:

let dataReceived = '[{ "id": 1, "name": "Alice"}]';

Answer №4

The data you are receiving is not valid JSON. It's important to distinguish between JSON and JavaScript. Here's an example:

var receivedData = '[ { "id": 1, "name": "Alice", "age": 30, "city": "New York" } ]';

var users = JSON.parse(receivedData);
console.log(users.length); // now the length is correctly displayed.

Notice that the only difference is in how the keys are enclosed in quotes within the dictionary.

Answer №5

returnedData appears to be an invalid JSON message since attributes are not wrapped with double quotes. However, you can still use it in JavaScript by doing:

var customers = eval(returnedData);

If you prefer using JSON.parse, make sure to correct the format of returnedData.

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