$.parseJSON on $.ajax - problem on parsing response

Question

I don't know why, but there is a problem I'm encountering with $.parseJSON when making an ajax call, I need to check whether the response contains JSON then continue to parse it with $.parseJSON, if it does not contain any JSON then it will print out the response in an element (which the response will contain some HTML).

I then tested if eval would do anything, which of course it did, but I don't want to use eval for this.

The code I've got:

$.ajax({ 
    url: 'ajax.php',
    success: function(response)
    {
        var msg = $.parseJSON(response);

            //alert(typeof(response)); <-- returns 'string'

            //alert(typeof(msg)); <-- returns 'object'

            //alert(msg.error); <-- this doesn't work at all.

            //eval(response) <-- returns [object Object]

        if(msg.error !== '')
        {
            ajaxWindow.html(msg.error);
        }
        else
        {
            ajaxWindow.html(response).hide().slideDown('slow');
        }
    }
});

So how come it's not able to parse the JSON string? jQuery.parseJSON clearly says:

Takes a well-formed JSON string and returns the resulting JavaScript object.

But nothing is being able to be parsed, is this some kind of error, or perhaps a bug?

EDIT: The JSON:

[{"error":"Error loading template"}]

I've had some weird issues like that before, this worked for me in that scenario msg = jQuery.parseJSON(response); — Peter
– Peter, Commented Feb 27, 2011 at 1:35
Are you sure ajax.php is in the same directory as the URL from which the request is made? — user142019
– user142019, Commented Feb 27, 2011 at 1:35
Please post the JSON you're trying to parse. Also what do you get when you try alert(msg)? The typeof gives "object" for a lot of different types. — user113716
– user113716, Commented Feb 27, 2011 at 1:36

user113716 · Accepted Answer · 2011-02-27 01:39:54Z

7

You have an Array, so you need to access it by the first index.

Instead of:

alert( msg.error );

do:

alert( msg[0].error );

answered Feb 27, 2011 at 1:39

user113716

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2 Comments

MacMac Over a year ago

Ah yes, now I've noticed just right after your answer was posted, [{}] - array object, {} - object. jQuery API docs should have included that in the docs! :P

Pratik Butani Over a year ago

I have tried to parse {"result":"success","msg":"Success"} in javascript but i got value is undefined when i am printing data.result any solution???

JJJollyjim · Accepted Answer · 2011-02-27 01:42:51Z

1

Use $.post if possible. It sets the Content-Type to HTML automagicly.

answered Feb 27, 2011 at 1:42

JJJollyjim

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