JSON.parse on array of JSON strings not doing as expected

Question

I'm new to javascript so learning how some of this stuff works.

I have a string that looks like: ["{\"name\":\"name\"}","{\"name\":\"Rick\"}"]

If I JSON.parse() that shouldn't it return an array of objects that have a property of name?

What I get is 2 elements in an array but they are just the JSON strings. They are not objects with property name. What am I missing?

[EDIT] I was calling stringify() on the object and then passing it to the array instead of just passing the object as is to the array. Then I stringify() the array. I was stringifying a stringify which caused it to put the escape characters :)

Tip, alternate ' and " characters. You don't have to escape ' or " if it is inside a string of "" or '' respectively. I.e. '[{"name":"name"},{"name":"Rick"}]' — Neil
– Neil, Commented Nov 28, 2012 at 13:55

T.J. Crowder · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-28 13:58:13Z

6

If I JSON.parse() that shouldn't it return an array of objects that have a property of name?

No, it looks like the JSON defines an array with two strings in it.

This is the JSON for an array with two strings in it:

[
    "{\"name\":\"name\"}",
    "{\"name\":\"Rick\"}"
]

In JavaScript string literal form, that's '["{\"name\":\"name\"}","{\"name\":\"Rick\"}"]'.

This is the JSON for an array with two objects in it:

[
    {
        "name": "name"
    },
    {
        "name": "Rick"
    }
]

In JavaScript string literal form, that would be '[{"name":"name"},{"name":"Rick"}]'.

edited Nov 28, 2012 at 13:58

answered Nov 28, 2012 at 13:53

T.J. Crowder

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5 Comments

user441521 Over a year ago

That's strange because I'm not manually adding those escape characters. When I stringify() an array they seem to be getting added automatically. Testing with IE 10 on Win 8.

user441521 Over a year ago

tmp.push(JSON.stringify(data)); where the data is an object. tmp looks normal. It holds 1 element of the JSON string and visually in VS it looks normal. After calling localStorage.setItem(tbl.name, JSON.stringify(tmp)); and looking in localStorage it now has the escape chars in it.

T.J. Crowder Over a year ago

@user441521: I expect it's to do with however you're looking at the string. For instance, in Chrome's console, JSON.stringify([{"foo":"bar"}]) outputs "[{"foo":"bar"}]" (note how it's putting quotes around the string, but not escaping quotes within the string, which would be wrong if you copy-and-pasted it). JSON.stringify works correctly on IE9 (example), I don't see any reason to believe it doesn't work correctly on IE10. Hope this helps,

user441521 Over a year ago

I found the problem. I stringify() the object when I add it to the array and then I stringify() the array. I just changed it to push the object as is to the array and keep the stringify() on the array and it works! Thanks!

T.J. Crowder Over a year ago

@user441521: Ah, that makes sense. Glad you figured it out!

Neil · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-28 13:59:09Z

2

I guess its sholuld come as:

"[{\"name\":\"name\"},{\"name\":\"Rick\"}]"

edited Nov 28, 2012 at 13:59

Neil

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answered Nov 28, 2012 at 13:57

Akhil Sekharan

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Comments

Jim Blackler · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-28 13:54:51Z

0

If you lose the (escaped) quotes around the root elements you might get what you want.

E.g. something like

"[{"name":"name"},{"name":"Rick"}]"

answered Nov 28, 2012 at 13:54

Jim Blackler

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