Convert a Json String into JSONArray

Question

I'm trying to create test data with a JSON String, however when I try to convert the string into a JSONArray, the test fails.

    String JSONString = "{\"Info\":[{\"area\":301336,\"nativeName\":\"Italia\",\"capital\":\"Rome\",\"demonym\":\"Italian\",\"flag\":\"https://restcountries.eu/data/ita.svg\",\"alpha2Code\":\"IT\",\"languages\":[{\"nativeName\":\"Italiano\",\"iso639_2\":\"ita\",\"name\":\"Italian\",\"iso639_1\":\"it\"}],\"borders\":[\"AUT\",\"FRA\",\"SMR\",\"SVN\",\"CHE\",\"VAT\"],\"subregion\":\"Southern Europe\",\"callingCodes\":[\"39\"],\"regionalBlocs\":[{\"otherNames\":[],\"acronym\":\"EU\",\"name\":\"European Union\",\"otherAcronyms\":[]}],\"gini\":36,\"population\":60665551,\"numericCode\":\"380\",\"alpha3Code\":\"ITA\",\"topLevelDomain\":[\".it\"],\"timezones\":[\"UTC+01:00\"],\"cioc\":\"ITA\",\"translations\":{\"br\":\"Itália\",\"de\":\"Italien\",\"pt\":\"Itália\",\"ja\":\"イタリア\",\"hr\":\"Italija\",\"it\":\"Italia\",\"fa\":\"ایتالیا\",\"fr\":\"Italie\",\"es\":\"Italia\",\"nl\":\"Italië\"},\"name\":\"Italy\",\"altSpellings\":[\"IT\",\"Italian Republic\",\"Repubblica italiana\"],\"region\":\"Europe\",\"latlng\":[42.83333333,12.83333333],\"currencies\":[{\"symbol\":\"\\u20ac\",\"code\":\"EUR\",\"name\":\"Euro\"}]}]}";
    JSONArray JSON = new JSONArray(JSONString);     

The error is org.json.JSONException: A JSONArray text must start with '[' at 1 [character 2 line 1]

Answer 1

A JSONArray must starts always with [

You must to change your JSONString variable as follow:

Solution 1:

[Info... and so on

Solution 2:

Remove Info because it is typized element of your JSON array

Answer 2

Your string represents a JSON Object, starting with "{". A JSONArray would begin with a "[".

If you parse the string into a JSONObject first, you should then be able to parse out your JSONArray from the "Info" key.

Just to elaborate on this in your case, something like this:

    String JSONString = "{\"Info\":[{\"area\":301336,\"nativeName\":\"Italia\",\"capital\":\"Rome\",\"demonym\":\"Italian\",\"flag\":\"https://restcountries.eu/data/ita.svg\",\"alpha2Code\":\"IT\",\"languages\":[{\"nativeName\":\"Italiano\",\"iso639_2\":\"ita\",\"name\":\"Italian\",\"iso639_1\":\"it\"}],\"borders\":[\"AUT\",\"FRA\",\"SMR\",\"SVN\",\"CHE\",\"VAT\"],\"subregion\":\"Southern Europe\",\"callingCodes\":[\"39\"],\"regionalBlocs\":[{\"otherNames\":[],\"acronym\":\"EU\",\"name\":\"European Union\",\"otherAcronyms\":[]}],\"gini\":36,\"population\":60665551,\"numericCode\":\"380\",\"alpha3Code\":\"ITA\",\"topLevelDomain\":[\".it\"],\"timezones\":[\"UTC+01:00\"],\"cioc\":\"ITA\",\"translations\":{\"br\":\"Itália\",\"de\":\"Italien\",\"pt\":\"Itália\",\"ja\":\"イタリア\",\"hr\":\"Italija\",\"it\":\"Italia\",\"fa\":\"ایتالیا\",\"fr\":\"Italie\",\"es\":\"Italia\",\"nl\":\"Italië\"},\"name\":\"Italy\",\"altSpellings\":[\"IT\",\"Italian Republic\",\"Repubblica italiana\"],\"region\":\"Europe\",\"latlng\":[42.83333333,12.83333333],\"currencies\":[{\"symbol\":\"\\u20ac\",\"code\":\"EUR\",\"name\":\"Euro\"}]}]}";

    JSONObject jsonObject = new JSONObject(JSONString);
    JSONArray jsonArray = jsonObject.getJSONArray("Info");