format json

In most of the cases, you will receive a JSON string in a flat format from the server. A continous flat JSON string is hard to read and debug. The following code is developed in JavaScript to format a JSON string. This same code can be also used to create an indent JSON function in coldfusion using CFSCRIPT.

If you have an input JSON string like this:

JSON code

{"user":{"id":{"type":"integer","default":"","key":"primary","required":true,"unique":false,"mapping":"id","value":""},"created_date":{"type":"timestamp","default":"current_timestamp","required":true,"unique":false,"mapping":"created_date","value":""},"updated_date":{"type":"timestamp","default":"current_timestamp","required":true,"unique":false,"mapping":"updated_date","value":""},"is_active":{"type":"bit","default":"undefined","required":true,"unique":false,"mapping":"is_active","value":""},"username":{"type":"varchar","maxlength":255,"default":"","required":true,"unique":false,"mapping":"username","value":""}}}

The indent JSON function will convert it like this:

Formatted JSON code

{
    "user":{
        "id":{
            "type":"integer",
            "default":"",
            "key":"primary",
            "required":true,
            "unique":false,
            "mapping":"id",
            "value":""
        },
        "created_date":{
            "type":"timestamp",
            "default":"current_timestamp",
            "required":true,
            "unique":false,
            "mapping":"created_date",
            "value":""
        },
        "updated_date":{
            "type":"timestamp",
            "default":"current_timestamp",
            "required":true,
            "unique":false,
            "mapping":"updated_date",
            "value":""
        },
        "is_active":{
            "type":"bit",
            "default":"undefined",
            "required":true,
            "unique":false,
            "mapping":"is_active",
            "value":""
        },
        "username":{
            "type":"varchar",
            "maxlength":255,
            "default":"",
            "required":true,
            "unique":false,
            "mapping":"username",
            "value":""
        }
    }
}

formatJson()

// formatJson() :: formats and indents JSON string
function formatJson(val) {
	var retval = '';
	var str = val;
    var pos = 0;
    var strLen = str.length;
	var indentStr = '&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;';
    var newLine = '<br />';
	var char = '';
	
	for (var i=0; i<strLen; i++) {
		char = str.substring(i,i+1);
		
		if (char == '}' || char == ']') {
			retval = retval + newLine;
			pos = pos - 1;
			
			for (var j=0; j<pos; j++) {
				retval = retval + indentStr;
			}
		}
		
		retval = retval + char;	
		
		if (char == '{' || char == '[' || char == ',') {
			retval = retval + newLine;
			
			if (char == '{' || char == '[') {
				pos = pos + 1;
			}
			
			for (var k=0; k<pos; k++) {
				retval = retval + indentStr;
			}
		}
	}
	
	return retval;
}

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