Why is this Javascript JSON String not valid?

Question

This is the string in question:

var string = "{\"CMD\":\"<a href=\"someurl.com\">link</a>\"}";

When I un-escape the quotes (except the url) and validate, it appears to be valid:

{
    "CMD": "<a href=\"someurl.com\">link</a>"
}

But it breaks my Javascript program.

edit: Have also tried double escaping. The first double quote seems to get escaped, but not the second:

{
        "CMD": "<a href=\\"someurl.com\\">link</a>"
}

Offending code:

webSocket.send("{\"CMD\":\"<a href=\\\"link.com\\\">link</a>\"}");

Convert double quotes to single inside the string { "CMD": "<a href=\'someurl.com\'>link</a>" } — Vaibhav J
– Vaibhav J, Commented Jul 31, 2015 at 11:58
Wouldn't the \"someurl.com\" be unescaped as well? So you need to double escape them? Maybe? — Astrogat
– Astrogat, Commented Jul 31, 2015 at 11:58
try : var string = "{\"CMD\":\"<a href=\\\"someurl.com\\\">link</a>\"}"; — Michael Laffargue
– Michael Laffargue, Commented Jul 31, 2015 at 11:58
Why is this an issue? You shouldn't be creating JSON strings by hand, you should use a library function for it, and it will almost surely get it right. — Barmar
– Barmar, Commented Jul 31, 2015 at 12:01

sertsedat · Accepted Answer · 2018-07-27 11:31:50Z

4

Why not use single ' as below

{
    "CMD": "<a href='someurl.com'>link</a>"
}

' is equivalent to " for quoting HTML attribute values. This way JSONLint validates it.

These two HTMLs are equivalent/same.

<a href='someurl.com'>link</a>

<a href="someurl.com">link</a>

edited Jul 27, 2018 at 11:31

answered Jul 31, 2015 at 11:59

sertsedat

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4 Comments

ralh Over a year ago

The question is about the string, not the object.

T.J. Crowder Over a year ago

"' is equivalent to " in javascript" While true (well, almost), it's irrelevant in the above. The relevant thing to the above is that ' is valid for quoting HTML attribute values.

crmepham Over a year ago

This is the only thing that worked - double escaping and triple escaping double quotes didn't work.

T.J. Crowder Over a year ago

@crm: This would also work: "{\"CMD\":\"<a href=\\\"someurl.com\\\">link</a>\"}" (proof), but the above is much simpler.

ralh · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-31 11:59:19Z

0

The href attribute has additional ". You need to double escape it:

"{\"CMD\":\"<a href=\\\"someurl.com\\\">link</a>\"}"

answered Jul 31, 2015 at 11:59

ralh

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7 Comments

crmepham Over a year ago

This nor double escaping works in Javascript for me.

ralh Over a year ago

Well, post your code. JSON.parse("{\"CMD\":\"<a href=\\\"someurl.com\\\">link</a>\"}"); works for me.

crmepham Over a year ago

webSocket.send("{\"CMD\":\"<a href=\\\"link.com\\\">link</a>\"}");

ralh Over a year ago

What do you do with the string after that? JSON.parse on it will work, sending it should work as well, because it is simply a string.

crmepham Over a year ago

It is sent to a Java server where it is parsed as a JSONObject: JSONObject json = new JSONObject(stringJson);

|

mehmetakifalp · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-31 12:00:32Z

0

Change like this :

{ "CMD": "<a href=\"someurl.com\">link</a>" }

answered Jul 31, 2015 at 12:00

mehmetakifalp

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1 Comment

Mr. Polywhirl Over a year ago

Could you be more descriptive?

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