How to create JSON array in java with non-string key names?

Question

I am using this bootstrap transfer plugin at UI which i have to populate with the help of data sent from java application. This plugin requires the data to be an array of objects with 'value' and 'content' properties. I can easily create a list in java and convert it to JSON array, but the problem here is that this plugin requires key names as non string names. I tried using string key names but that just didn't worked. I looked up for ways to create non-string key names in JSON and the only way i could find was to write my own parser, and that was also not recommended. So how can i prepare my data in java for this plugin ??

Edit: As mentioned in the plugin documentation, here is a sample data to populate it.

$(function() {
...
var t = $('#test').bootstrapTransfer();
t.populate([
    {value:"1", content:"Apple"},
    {value:"2", content:"Orange"},
    {value:"3", content:"Banana"},
    {value:"4", content:"Peach"},
    {value:"5", content:"Grapes"}
]);
...

});

When i prepare a JSON array, it is like {"value":"1", "content":"Apple"} which doesn't work for this plugin.

Answer 1

You might check how it runs again when you use a quoted string. When accessing a JSON object, the quotes for keys are not needed. Take for example this code (in Nodejs):

var console = require("console");
var data = { "value1" : 13,
    "value2" : "hello",
    value3: 15,
    value4 : "hello again" };

console.log("Value 1 = " + data.value1 );
console.log("Value 2 = " + data.value2 );
console.log("Value 3 = " + data.value3 );
console.log("Value 4 = " + data.value4 );

Some of the object is declared with quoted strings, and some are not. All are accessed without the quotes, and my console shows:

Value 1 = 13
Value 2 = hello
Value 3 = 15
Value 4 = hello again

So it really shouldn't matter how your keys are defined in java. I know that isn't an exact answer to your question of how to do it, but you really shouldn't need to.