Get json object by calling a URL with parameters

Question

This seems like a simple problem but I have a coder's mental block:

The concept:

I type a URL, i.e - www.mysite.com/getStuff?name=Jerry&occupation=Engineer&Id=12345

and instead of getting back a webpage or something I want to get back a json object so that I can parse on a different page.

The catch:

I can certainly accomplish this by calling a MVC controller with those parameters and returning a json object. However, Let's say I need to create this json object inside a js file that takes those parameters' values from the URL and I get my json back as the result.

The questions

Can I pass parameters to a js file and return a json object? Or Can I call a js file from a controller and pass it these parameters to and retrieve a json object?
Do I even need to call a controller via a URL, or can I just call a js file giving it parameters from a URL and then returning the json?

What is the proper/best way of handling this scenario, with MVC, js, jquery...anything??

Thanks a lot guys!

As long as you can return a JSON objet, you can call the file you want. The only problem with Javascript is to get your values from the URL. You'll need to write a GET function to get them where PHP just needs a $_GET. — Thomas Menga
– Thomas Menga, Commented Mar 14, 2011 at 6:38
It's difficult to understand what you are trying to acheive.. — Jishnu A P
– Jishnu A P, Commented Mar 14, 2011 at 6:39
@LekisS, thanks I do see what you're saying. @TheSuperTramp, it is difficult to understand what you don't understand because you didn't explain what does not make sense and why....because legibly, what I'm trying to achieve is clearly stated in the title and the body. Perhaps the "how" and "why" is unclear but I'll need more than "I don't understand" to help you. — EKet
– EKet, Commented Mar 14, 2011 at 7:15
@EKet: are you ok with my answer ? Or do you need extra informations ? — Thomas Menga
– Thomas Menga, Commented Mar 14, 2011 at 7:16
@LekisS: Yes I understand the concept of what you're saying, js doesn't have a get method so I'll have to parse url's for my parameters. But I'm not sure how I will actually call the file I want in practice to get my json object. Do I just call it in the url? An example would be appreciated or some elaboration. Thanks a lot! — EKet
– EKet, Commented Mar 14, 2011 at 7:19

jordancpaul · Accepted Answer · 2011-03-14 07:34:14Z

You have a couple of options

1) Generate the json in javascript

To do this you will need to create a simple page which includes a javascript JSON encoder (such as https://github.com/douglascrockford/JSON-js). This would be hosted at "/getStuff/index.html" and would be called by typing "www.mysite.com/getStuff/?arg=val..." For example:

<html>
    <head>
        <script src="json.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
        <script type="text/javascript">
                    //this function will take the window.location.search string of ?name=val and
                    //create an object like {'name':'val'}
            var parseUrl = function(urlParams) {
                var retObj = {};
                var urlParameters = null;

                if (!urlParams || urlParams.length == 0) {return retObj}
                if (urlParams.charAt(0) == '?') {
                    urlParameters = urlParams.substring(1);
                }else {
                    urlParameters = urlParams;
                }
                if (urlParameters.length == 0) {return retObj}
                var parameterPairs = urlParameters.split('&');
                var x;
                for (x in parameterPairs) {
                    var parameterPair = parameterPairs[x];
                    parameterPair = parameterPair.split('=');
                    retObj[parameterPair[0]] = parameterPair[1];
                }
                return retObj;
            };
            var createJson = function(){
                var params = parseUrl(window.location.search);
                //do work here
                var retObj = {}; //suppose this is the result of the work
                document.print(JSON.stringify(retObj)); //use the included JSON encoder
            };
        </script>
    </head>
    <body onload="createJson();">
    </body>
</html>

2) Use an MVC framework

Every MVC framework in existance will give you access to the search params used in the page request. Some will require you to provide them in /function/arg1/arg2 style (so /getStuff/jerry/engineer/12345, in your case). Others use a more traditional /function/?argName=argVal... approach. Once you have the arguments, it is a trivial matter to write them to the page in JSON format (http://php.net/manual/en/book.json.php).

Decisions, Decisions

Personally, I would use the MVC method, as it requires the least running around to get the JSON you want. However, unless you are familiar with an MVC framework (such as cake) you will probably find the process of getting up and running to be a bit arduous - these frameworks are designed for serving page content and getting them to serve up JSON is not always clearly documented.

Thanks so much for the organized explanation, we rarely have this anymore. I have to say I liked the jquery parser for url parameters more as mentioned in the comments by LekisS and I used that. It's a lot cleaner. But your approach with a script and url parsing is great. I prefer it personally over using MVC since everything is done on client side, I had no need to go to the server at all, it's not important data. But LekisS commented this approach prior, waiting to see if he posts as answer just to be fair. Thanks a lot.

EKet · Accepted Answer · 2011-03-18 15:07:30Z

Use jquery to parse the URL by inserting this into a <script> tag before creating the json object. from link from LekisS

$.extend({
  getUrlVars: function(){
    var vars = [], hash;
    var hashes = window.location.href.slice(window.location.href.indexOf('?') + 1).split('&');
    for(var i = 0; i < hashes.length; i++)
    {
      hash = hashes[i].split('=');
      vars.push(hash[0]);
      vars[hash[0]] = hash[1];
    }
    return vars;
  },
  getUrlVar: function(name){
    return $.getUrlVars()[name];
  }
});

// Get object of URL parameters
var allVars = $.getUrlVars();

// Getting URL var by its nam
var byName = $.getUrlVar('name');

In a separate script tag create your json object. You will need to include the Json2.js plugin to convert objects to JSON. So include this script also before the JSON object creation.

Once you have the appropriate scripts and variables you can create a json object using those parameters as needed by calling them as shown at the bottom of the example using jquery. You can also look up which JSON conversion (i.e, to string or object) you want from the Json2.js script file.

Now we have everything inside a bunch of scripts but where do we get json object through URL calling?

So the answer is simple:

Create a simple html page with these scripts where the last script finally creates and returns the json. Upload to server and use URL parameters like

www.mysite.com/getStuff?para1=value&para2=value2 to get the json object.

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