Nested JSON objects - do I have to use arrays for everything?

Question

Is there any way to have nested objects in JSON so I don't have to make arrays out of everything? For my object to be parsed without error I seem to need a structure like this:

{"data":[{"stuff":[
    {"onetype":[
        {"id":1,"name":"John Doe"},
        {"id":2,"name":"Don Joeh"}
    ]},
    {"othertype":[
        {"id":2,"company":"ACME"}
    ]}]
},{"otherstuff":[
    {"thing":
        [[1,42],[2,2]]
    }]
}]}

If I fetch this object into a variable called "result" I have to access the nested objects like this:

result.data[0].stuff[0].onetype[0]

and

result.data[1].otherstuff[0].thing[0]

This seems clumsy and redundant to me, if possible I would prefer:

result.stuff.onetype[0]

and

result.otherstuff.thing

But how can I use the object keys directly when everything is an array? To my confused and uneducated mind something like this would seem more appropriate:

{"data":
    {"stuff":
        {"onetype":[
            {"id":1,"name": ""},
            {"id":2,"name": ""}
        ]}
        {"othertype":[
            {"id":2,"xyz": [-2,0,2],"n":"Crab Nebula","t":0,"c":0,"d":5}
        ]}
    }
    {"otherstuff":
        {"thing":
            [[1,42],[2,2]]
        }
    }
}

I've probably misunderstood something fundamental here, but I cannot get the jQuery parser (nor the native FF parser used by jQuery 1.4) to accept the second style object. If anyone can enlighten me it would be gratefully appreciated!

The syntax for an object with more than one property is like this: {"stuff": ..., "otherstuff": ...} — Jason Orendorff
– Jason Orendorff, Commented Jan 20, 2010 at 0:34
@Jason: He appears to already know that; he himself wrote {"id":2,"name": ""}. However, that is more or less what he's asking, so I'm not sure. — SLaks
– SLaks, Commented Jan 20, 2010 at 0:48

np_6 · Accepted Answer · 2021-05-12 02:52:08Z

239

You don't need to use arrays.

JSON values can be arrays, objects, or primitives (numbers or strings).

You can write JSON like this:

{ 
    "stuff": {
        "onetype": [
            {"id":1,"name":"John Doe"},
            {"id":2,"name":"Don Joeh"}
        ],
        "othertype": {"id":2,"company":"ACME"}
    }, 
    "otherstuff": {
        "thing": [[1,42],[2,2]]
     }
}

You can use it like this:

obj.stuff.onetype[0].id
obj.stuff.othertype.id
obj.otherstuff.thing[0][1]  //thing is a nested array or a 2-by-2 matrix.
                            //I'm not sure whether you intended to do that.

edited May 12, 2021 at 2:52

np_6

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answered Jan 20, 2010 at 0:37

SLaks

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1 Comment

davea0511 Over a year ago

This is the proper solution, but the comment at the top of it, "You don't need to use arrays", wasn't the problem. It wasn't that he was using arrays (note that this solution uses the same arrays). The problem was that he was nesting his arrays inside objects which he placed side by side where JSON expects a name:value pair. You can only place objects within the value part of a name:value pair. The solution is to just not nest those arrays inside objects, which is what this solution did. Although this solution is more elegant the next solution at least understood what the OP was doing wrong.

np_6 · Accepted Answer · 2021-05-12 12:12:53Z

16

Every object has to be named inside the parent object:

{ "data": {
    "stuff": {
        "onetype": [
            { "id": 1, "name": "" },
            { "id": 2, "name": "" }
        ],
        "othertype": [
            { "id": 2, "xyz": [-2, 0, 2], "n": "Crab Nebula", "t": 0, "c": 0, "d": 5 }
        ]
    },
    "otherstuff": {
        "thing":
            [[1, 42], [2, 2]]
    }
  }
}

So you cant declare an object like this:

var obj = {property1, property2};

It has to be

var obj = {property1: 'value', property2: 'value'};

edited May 12, 2021 at 12:12

np_6

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answered Jan 20, 2010 at 0:32

Igor Zevaka

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1 Comment

davea0511 Over a year ago

This solution correctly understood what the OP did wrong. The top solution was a more elegant way to solve the problem (get rid of unnecessary objects), even though they misunderstood what it was that the OP did wrong.

np_6 · Accepted Answer · 2021-05-12 13:13:05Z

9

You have too many redundant nested arrays inside your jSON data, but it is possible to retrieve the information. Though like others have said you might want to clean it up.

use each() wrap within another each() until the last array.

for result.data[0].stuff[0].onetype[0] in jQuery you could do the following:

$.each(data.result.data, function(index0, v) {
    $.each(v, function (index1, w) {
        $.each(w, function (index2, x) {
            alert(x.id);
        });
    });

});

edited May 12, 2021 at 13:13

np_6

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answered Oct 19, 2012 at 8:18

syarul

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