I am creating a graph (GANTT graph) and I need to pass to the plugin a JSON file with all the values to build the graph. The example json for the plugin is this:

source: [{
    name: "Example",
    desc: "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.",
    values: [{
        to: "/Date(1328832000000)/",
        from: "/Date(1333411200000)/",
        desc: "Something",
        label: "Example Value",
        customClass: "ganttRed",
        dataObj: foo.bar[i]
    }]
},
{
    name: "Example1",
    desc: "Stackoverflow rulez.",
    values: [{
        to: "/Date(1328832000000)/",
        from: "/Date(1333411200000)/",
        desc: "Something else",
        label: "Example Value 1",
        customClass: "ganttGreen",
        dataObj: foo.bar[i]
    }]
}]

I added the Example1 element and then tried to validate with JSONLint to be sure I am building the Array in the right way. To my surprise the validator came out saying that the syntax is invalid after the first [{ (obviously I didn't pass source: to the validator). The error message I get says:

Error: Parse error on line 1:
[{    name: "Example",    de
--^
Expecting 'STRING', '}', got 'undefined'

What am I doing wrong? Why is the validator raising this error? The Json was written in plain txt format with notepad++ so I cannot think of hidden text in the white spaces

I am creating a graph (GANTT graph) and I need to pass to the plugin a JSON file with all the values to build the graph. The example json for the plugin is this:

source: [{
    name: "Example",
    desc: "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.",
    values: [{
        to: "/Date(1328832000000)/",
        from: "/Date(1333411200000)/",
        desc: "Something",
        label: "Example Value",
        customClass: "ganttRed",
        dataObj: foo.bar[i]
    }]
},
{
    name: "Example1",
    desc: "Stackoverflow rulez.",
    values: [{
        to: "/Date(1328832000000)/",
        from: "/Date(1333411200000)/",
        desc: "Something else",
        label: "Example Value 1",
        customClass: "ganttGreen",
        dataObj: foo.bar[i]
    }]
}]

I added the Example1 element and then tried to validate with JSONLint to be sure I am building the Array in the right way. To my surprise the validator came out saying that the syntax is invalid after the first [{ (obviously I didn't pass source: to the validator). The error message I get says:

Error: Parse error on line 1:
[{    name: "Example",    de
--^
Expecting 'STRING', '}', got 'undefined'

What am I doing wrong? Why is the validator raising this error? The Json was written in plain txt format with notepad++ so I cannot think of hidden text in the white spaces

• javascript
• json

Share Improve this question Follow asked Oct 22, 2018 at 13:17 Lelio FaietaLelio Faieta 6,69699 gold badges4848 silver badges8484 bronze badges 4

• 2 Because that's not valid JSON, it's the JS code for a array of objects. You need to double-quote the property names too to get it to parse properly in JSONLint. – Andy Commented Oct 22, 2018 at 13:20
• you are right! Obvious but didn't notice it. The plugin author was referring to a json and I didn't notice it was not form the beginning – Lelio Faieta Commented Oct 22, 2018 at 13:22
• Note: jsonlint. – Code Spirit Commented Oct 22, 2018 at 13:25
• @CodeSpirit yes, there is where I am validating it – Lelio Faieta Commented Oct 22, 2018 at 13:29

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2 Answers 2

Sorted by: Reset to default 2

To pass the data to be a valid JSONLint wrap all the keys in json object as string.

valid json for your input is

"source": [{
    "name": "Example",
    "desc": "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.",
    "values": [{
        "to": "/Date(1328832000000)/",
        "from": "/Date(1333411200000)/",
        "desc": "Something",
        "label": "Example Value",
        "customClass": "ganttRed",
        "dataObj": foo.bar[i]
    }]
},
{
    "name": "Example1",
    "desc": "Stackoverflow rulez.",
    "values": [{
        "to": "/Date(1328832000000)/",
        "from": "/Date(1333411200000)/",
        "desc": "Something else",
        "label": "Example Value 1",
        "customClass": "ganttGreen",
        "dataObj": foo.bar[i]
    }]
}]

wrap you keys in to double quotes. it will work

"source":[
    {
        "name": "Example",
        "desc": "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.",
        "values": [{
            "to": "/Date(1328832000000)/",
            "from": "/Date(1333411200000)/",
            "desc": "Something",
            "label": "Example Value",
            "customClass": "ganttRed",
            "dataObj": foo.bar[i]
        }]
    },
    {
        "name": "Example1",
        "desc": "Stackoverflow rulez.",
        "values": [{
            "to": "/Date(1328832000000)/",
            "from": "/Date(1333411200000)/",
            "desc": "Something else",
            "label": "Example Value 1",
            "customClass": "ganttGreen",
            "dataObj": foo.bar[i]
        }]
    }
]

see the below screenshot for valid json