simple JSON Parse error, not sure what went wrong

Question

I have this mock JSON data that I prepared in javascript that I was planning to use later but it seems when I run the project I get an error in the console as stated below.

PS: the page is empty and currently there is only the script tag. I want to get the JSON object ready before I do anything with it

Javascript:

var text = '{cinemaList: [{cinemaName: "Causeway Point",locationLat: 0,locationLong: 0,dateList: [{showDate: "Sep26, 1995",timeSlotList: [{showTime: "4.00 PM"},{showTime: "5.00 PM"}]}]},{cinemaName: "JEM"}]}';
var response = JSON.parse(text);
console.log(response);

Error:

SyntaxError: JSON Parse error: Expected '}'
parseTestTimeSlot.jsp:19
(anonymous function)TestTimeSlot.jsp:19

I don't see anything wrong with what I did. If anyone is kind enough to shine some light to my situation, it would be greatly appreciated ! Thanks !

Answer 1

Well, your json has an invalid format. Use a tool like jsonlint to debug your json.

Json has a very strict format. In your case you don't have quotes around the keys, which is not valid. Your correct json would be:

{
    "cinemaList": [
        {
            "cinemaName": "Causeway Point",
            "locationLat": 0,
            "locationLong": 0,
            "dateList": [
                {
                    "showDate": "Sep26, 1995",
                    "timeSlotList": [
                        {
                            "showTime": "4.00 PM"
                        },
                        {
                            "showTime": "5.00 PM"
                        }
                    ]
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "cinemaName": "JEM"
        }
    ]
}

---

See json.org for some excellent graphs on how json is expected to be. The rules that are relevant here are:

object  -> {} | { members }
members -> pair | pair , members
pair    -> string : value
string  -> "" | " chars "