How do I create a complex json object in java?

Question

I'm trying to create this json object in java and struggling:

{
    "notification": {
        "message": "test",
        "sound": "sounds/alarmsound.wav",
        "target": {
            "apps": [
                {
                    "id": "app_id",
                    "platforms": [
                        "ios"
                    ]
                }
            ]
        }
    },
    "access_token": "access_token"
}

Any assistance in how someone would create that in java would be appreciated!

Short answer: use Jackson. GSON is good, but navigation wise, Jackson is miles ahead. — fge
– fge, Commented Jan 8, 2013 at 4:23
I've tried using the Jackson Tree Model which looks something like this - ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper(); JsonNode rootNode = mapper.createObjectNode(); ((ObjectNode) rootNode).put("name", "Tatu"); - I haven't been able to figure out how to nest other objects and arrays however. — pixelworlds
– pixelworlds, Commented Jan 8, 2013 at 4:30

fge · Accepted Answer · 2017-11-08 11:17:11Z

47

If you really are looking into creating JSON objects, Jackson has all you want:

final JsonNodeFactory factory = JsonNodeFactory.instance;

final ObjectNode node = factory.objectNode();

final ObjectNode child = factory.objectNode(); // the child

child.put("message", "test");

// etc etc

// and then:

node.set("notification", child); // node.put(String, ObjectNode) has been deprecated

The resulting node is an ObjectNode, which inherits JsonNode, which means you get all of JsonNode's niceties:

a sensible .toString() representation;
navigation capabilities (.get(), .path() -- GSON has no equivalent for that, in particular not .path(), since it cannot model a node that is missing);
MissingNode to represent a node that isn't there, and NullNode to represent JSON null, all of which inherit JsonNode (GSON has no equivalent for that -- and all of JsonNode's navigation methods are also available on such nodes);
and of course .equals()/.hashCode().

edited Nov 8, 2017 at 11:17

answered Jan 8, 2013 at 4:27

fge

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6 Comments

pixelworlds Over a year ago

This is very helpful! I will try to implement this and see how it goes! Thank you again for your time and help!

fge Over a year ago

Glad it helped! Note that an ObjectMapper is not really meant for node creation, its main purpose is really serialization and deserialization. And internally, it uses a JsonNodeFactory.

pixelworlds Over a year ago

I'm typically a javascript/PHP developer - so this java project has been very frustrating for me! I really appreciate the kindness!

fge Over a year ago

Yeah, unlike JavaScript and PHP, Java has no native type for maps -- but unlike both of these languages, it can actually represent them in more powerful ways, and with type safety to boost! A different world...

pixelworlds Over a year ago

your solution worked perfectly! I posted my implementation for others! Thanks again fge!

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Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 12:03:02Z

24

For those who try to use the answers of this thread, note that

JsonNodeFactory nodeFactory = new JsonNodeFactory();

Is not working anymore with the package jackson-databind. Instead you should do

final JsonNodeFactory nodeFactory = JsonNodeFactory.instance;

See this answer: https://stackoverflow.com/a/16974850/3824918

edited May 23, 2017 at 12:03

CommunityBot

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answered Jun 29, 2015 at 9:59

Cithel

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Comments

Soumya · Accepted Answer · 2013-12-02 18:03:55Z

11

JSONObject jsonComplex = new JSONObject();
    JSONObject notification = new JSONObject();
    notification.put("message", "test");
    notification.put("sound", "sounds_alarmsound.wav");
    JSONObject targetJsonObject= new JSONObject();
    JSONArray targetJsonArray= new JSONArray();
    JSONObject appsJsonObject= new JSONObject();
    appsJsonObject.put("id","app_id");
    JSONArray platformArray = new JSONArray();
    platformArray.add("ios");
    appsJsonObject.put("platforms",platformArray);
    targetJsonArray.add(appsJsonObject);
    targetJsonObject.put("apps", targetJsonArray);
    notification.put("target", targetJsonObject);
    jsonComplex.put("notification", notification);
    jsonComplex.put("access_token", "access_token");
    System.out.println(jsonComplex);

answered Dec 2, 2013 at 18:03

Soumya

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4 Comments

Cthulhu Over a year ago

Next time it would be good to add some explanation, and not just dump code.

Dexter Over a year ago

IMHO when the code is clear, self-explanatory and ituitive, there is no need of verbose extra lines of text in name of explantion. Let the ans be short and simple.

Rishi Prakash Over a year ago

@Dexter Code won't be self intuitive to every one.

Dexter Over a year ago

You are right @Rishi, but at this instance, one coder asked a question related to code. Another coder answered with some code. Have you gone through above code- Its very simple and intuitive. So here I do not think extra explanation is expected.

pixelworlds · Accepted Answer · 2013-01-08 08:24:26Z

Thanks go to @fge who provided the necessary information for me to solve this.

Here's what I did to solve this problem!

JsonNodeFactory nodeFactory = new JsonNodeFactory();

        ObjectNode pushContent = nodeFactory.objectNode();
        ObjectNode notification = nodeFactory.objectNode();
        ObjectNode appsObj = nodeFactory.objectNode();
        ObjectNode target = nodeFactory.objectNode();

        ArrayNode apps = nodeFactory.arrayNode();
        ArrayNode platforms = nodeFactory.arrayNode();

        platforms.add("ios");

        appsObj.put("id","app_id");
        appsObj.put("platforms",platforms);

        apps.add(appsObj);

        notification.put("message",filledForm.field("text").value());
        notification.put("sound","sounds/alarmsound.wav");
        notification.put("target", target);

        target.put("apps",apps);

        pushContent.put("notification", notification);
        pushContent.put("access_token","access_token");

        if(!filledForm.field("usage").value().isEmpty()) {
            target.put("usage",filledForm.field("usage").value());
        }

        if(!filledForm.field("latitude").value().isEmpty() && !filledForm.field("longitude").value().isEmpty() && !filledForm.field("radius").value().isEmpty()) {
            target.put("latitude",filledForm.field("latitude").value());
            target.put("longitude",filledForm.field("longitude").value());
            target.put("radius",filledForm.field("radius").value());
        }

Printing pushContent than outputs the exact json object I needed to create!

Hope this helps someone else out there too!

Rich

Hikari · Accepted Answer · 2013-01-08 05:37:21Z

2

I'd rather create classes representing that object, and convert it into JSON. I presume you got that JSON interface elsewhere and is lot on how to create it from Java.

class ToJson{
    private Notification notification;
    private String access_token;
}

public class Notification{
    private String message;
    private String sound;
    private Target target;
}

public class Target{
    private Apps apps[];
}

public class Apps{
    private String id;
    private Plataform plataforms[];
}

public class Plataform{
    privte String ios;
}

Then you convert a filled ToJson object to JSON using any lib/framework you like.

answered Jan 8, 2013 at 5:37

Hikari

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Comments

Jeff Storey · Accepted Answer · 2013-01-08 04:21:53Z

0

There are a variety of libraries that can help you here.

Google GSON - http://code.google.com/p/google-gson/
Jackson - http://jackson.codehaus.org/
Groovy's JsonSlurper - http://groovy.codehaus.org/gapi/groovy/json/JsonSlurper.html

If you run into more specific problems with these libraries, you should post them.

answered Jan 8, 2013 at 4:21

Jeff Storey

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7 Comments

Ian Stapleton Cordasco Over a year ago

As someone looking to get back into Java, I found this by accident: <github.com/douglascrockford/JSON-java> should I assume it isn't worth my time? (I haven't started working with JSON in Java, just considering it in the future.)

pixelworlds Over a year ago

Jeff, thanks for your response. I had looked into Jackson already and tried to implement it. I'm not normally a java developer, however, and wasn't able to figure out the process.

Jeff Storey Over a year ago

@sigmavirus24 I haven't used the crockford library.

Jeff Storey Over a year ago

@pixelworlds What did you have trouble with? "I wasn't able to figure out the process" doesn't help people help you.

Jeff Storey Over a year ago

@Srinivas A google search will help you there. Just search for jackson vs json or whatever you want to compare.

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