My code snippet:

function receive(mag)
{
    var text = eval(mag);
    alert(text);
}

receive('["magnolia,", ["Magnolia (Flower)"], [], [], [], [], [], [[3, 19019, "INV_MAG_39 ", 5]]]');

When I pass the string in the example (shown above), the eval(mag) doesn't work. But if I do it directly like this:

function receive(mag)
{
    var text = eval('["magnolia,", ["Magnolia (Flower)"], [], [], [], [], [], [[3, 19019, "INV_MAG_39 ", 5]]]');
    alert(text);
}

It does work. Does anyone have an idea whats wrong / how can I get it working with passed variable?

My code snippet:

function receive(mag)
{
    var text = eval(mag);
    alert(text);
}

receive('["magnolia,", ["Magnolia (Flower)"], [], [], [], [], [], [[3, 19019, "INV_MAG_39 ", 5]]]');

When I pass the string in the example (shown above), the eval(mag) doesn't work. But if I do it directly like this:

function receive(mag)
{
    var text = eval('["magnolia,", ["Magnolia (Flower)"], [], [], [], [], [], [[3, 19019, "INV_MAG_39 ", 5]]]');
    alert(text);
}

It does work. Does anyone have an idea whats wrong / how can I get it working with passed variable?

• javascript
• eval

Share Improve this question Follow edited Sep 11, 2012 at 23:03 BadFeelingAboutThis 14.4k22 gold badges3434 silver badges4040 bronze badges asked Sep 11, 2012 at 22:41 xtraxtra 6911 gold badge33 silver badges99 bronze badges 8

• 3 What does "won't work" mean? What actually happens with the first version? (Do you get any errors in the console?) – nnnnnn Commented Sep 11, 2012 at 22:43
• 1 No really, stop using eval(). – SeanCannon Commented Sep 11, 2012 at 22:46
• 5 Try using JSON.parse instead of eval. – gen_Eric Commented Sep 11, 2012 at 22:46
• 1 Because eval will execute anything inside the string, and since it only makes sense to eval external data, it is potentially very dangerous. – Aesthete Commented Sep 11, 2012 at 22:49
• 2 Your code works here: jsfiddle/HvrzK – nnnnnn Commented Sep 11, 2012 at 22:49

 |  Show 3 more ments

1 Answer 1

Sorted by: Reset to default 4

I think you're missing the parenthesis:

eval('(' + mag + ')')

But why not use JSON.parse??

var text = JSON.parse(mag);