Javascript convert stringified array of objects into array of objects

Question

I have the following variable (given to me through a HTTP response, hence the string):

var result = '[{name: "John"}, {name: "Alice"}, {name: "Lily"}]'

In reality there are more objects and each object has more properties, but you get the idea.

When trying JSON.parse(result) I get the following error:

[{name: "John"}, {name: "Alice"}, {name: "Lily"}]
  ^

SyntaxError: Unexpected token n

How can I parse this string into an array of javascript objects?

Answer 1

This is not valid JSON. In order for it to be valid JSON, you would need to have quotes around the keys ("name")

[{"name": "John"}, {"name": "Alice"}, {"name": "Lily"}]

The error occurs because the parser does not hit a " and instead hits the n .

Answer 2

Since your string is not valid JSON (it lacks quotes around property keys), you cannot parse it using JSON.parse . If you can control the response, you should change it to return:

[{"name": "John"}, {"name": "Alice"}, {"name": "Lily"}]

---

Working Demo:

 var result = '[{"name": "John"}, {"name": "Alice"}, {"name": "Lily"}]' console.log(JSON.parse(result)) 

 .as-console-wrapper { min-height: 100%; } 

Answer 3

Since your input format is rigid, parsing is trivial.

function cutSides(s) { return s.substring(1, s.length - 1); }
var pairs = cutSides(result).split(', ');
var list_of_objects = pairs.map(function(s) { 
    var pair = cutSides(s).split(': ');
    var result = {};
    result[pair[0]] = cutSides(pair[1]); 
    return result;
});