Class JsonReader
- All Implemented Interfaces:
Closeable
,AutoCloseable
Parsing JSON
To create a recursive descent parser for your own JSON streams, first create an entry point method that creates aJsonReader
.
Next, create handler methods for each structure in your JSON text. You'll need a method for each object type and for each array type.
- Within array handling methods, first call
beginArray()
to consume the array's opening bracket. Then create a while loop that accumulates values, terminating whenhasNext()
is false. Finally, read the array's closing bracket by callingendArray()
. - Within object handling methods, first call
beginObject()
to consume the object's opening brace. Then create a while loop that assigns values to local variables based on their name. This loop should terminate whenhasNext()
is false. Finally, read the object's closing brace by callingendObject()
.
When a nested object or array is encountered, delegate to the corresponding handler method.
When an unknown name is encountered, strict parsers should fail with an
exception. Lenient parsers should call skipValue()
to recursively
skip the value's nested tokens, which may otherwise conflict.
If a value may be null, you should first check using peek()
.
Null literals can be consumed using either nextNull()
or skipValue()
.
Example
Suppose we'd like to parse a stream of messages such as the following:
[
{
"id": 912345678901,
"text": "How do I read a JSON stream in Java?",
"geo": null,
"user": {
"name": "json_newb",
"followers_count": 41
}
},
{
"id": 912345678902,
"text": "@json_newb just use JsonReader!",
"geo": [50.454722, -104.606667],
"user": {
"name": "jesse",
"followers_count": 2
}
}
]
This code implements the parser for the above structure:
public List<Message> readJsonStream(InputStream in) throws IOException {
JsonReader reader = new JsonReader(new InputStreamReader(in, "UTF-8"));
try {
return readMessagesArray(reader);
} finally {
reader.close();
}
}
public List<Message> readMessagesArray(JsonReader reader) throws IOException {
List<Message> messages = new ArrayList<Message>();
reader.beginArray();
while (reader.hasNext()) {
messages.add(readMessage(reader));
}
reader.endArray();
return messages;
}
public Message readMessage(JsonReader reader) throws IOException {
long id = -1;
String text = null;
User user = null;
List<Double> geo = null;
reader.beginObject();
while (reader.hasNext()) {
String name = reader.nextName();
if (name.equals("id")) {
id = reader.nextLong();
} else if (name.equals("text")) {
text = reader.nextString();
} else if (name.equals("geo") && reader.peek() != JsonToken.NULL) {
geo = readDoublesArray(reader);
} else if (name.equals("user")) {
user = readUser(reader);
} else {
reader.skipValue();
}
}
reader.endObject();
return new Message(id, text, user, geo);
}
public List<Double> readDoublesArray(JsonReader reader) throws IOException {
List<Double> doubles = new ArrayList<Double>();
reader.beginArray();
while (reader.hasNext()) {
doubles.add(reader.nextDouble());
}
reader.endArray();
return doubles;
}
public User readUser(JsonReader reader) throws IOException {
String username = null;
int followersCount = -1;
reader.beginObject();
while (reader.hasNext()) {
String name = reader.nextName();
if (name.equals("name")) {
username = reader.nextString();
} else if (name.equals("followers_count")) {
followersCount = reader.nextInt();
} else {
reader.skipValue();
}
}
reader.endObject();
return new User(username, followersCount);
}
Number Handling
This reader permits numeric values to be read as strings and string values to be read as numbers. For example, both elements of the JSON array
[1, "1"]
may be read using either nextInt()
or nextString()
.
This behavior is intended to prevent lossy numeric conversions: double is
JavaScript's only numeric type and very large values like
9007199254740993
cannot be represented exactly on that platform. To minimize
precision loss, extremely large values should be written and read as strings
in JSON.
Non-Execute Prefix
Web servers that serve private data using JSON may be vulnerable to Cross-site request forgery attacks. In such an attack, a malicious site gains access to a private JSON file by executing it with an HTML<script>
tag.
Prefixing JSON files with ")]}'\n"
makes them non-executable
by <script>
tags, disarming the attack. Since the prefix is malformed
JSON, strict parsing fails when it is encountered. This class permits the
non-execute prefix when lenient parsing
is
enabled.
Each JsonReader
may be used to read a single JSON stream. Instances
of this class are not thread safe.
- Since:
- 1.6
-
Constructor Summary
ConstructorDescriptionJsonReader
(Reader in) Creates a new instance that reads a JSON-encoded stream fromin
. -
Method Summary
Modifier and TypeMethodDescriptionvoid
Consumes the next token from the JSON stream and asserts that it is the beginning of a new array.void
Consumes the next token from the JSON stream and asserts that it is the beginning of a new object.void
close()
Closes this JSON reader and the underlyingReader
.void
endArray()
Consumes the next token from the JSON stream and asserts that it is the end of the current array.void
Consumes the next token from the JSON stream and asserts that it is the end of the current object.getPath()
Returns a JsonPath to the current location in the JSON value.boolean
hasNext()
Returns true if the current array or object has another element.final boolean
Returns true if this parser is liberal in what it accepts.boolean
Returns theboolean
value of the next token, consuming it.double
Returns thedouble
value of the next token, consuming it.int
nextInt()
Returns theint
value of the next token, consuming it.long
nextLong()
Returns thelong
value of the next token, consuming it.nextName()
Returns the next token, aproperty name
, and consumes it.void
nextNull()
Consumes the next token from the JSON stream and asserts that it is a literal null.Returns thestring
value of the next token, consuming it.peek()
Returns the type of the next token without consuming it.final void
setLenient
(boolean lenient) Configure this parser to be liberal in what it accepts.void
Skips the next value recursively.toString()
-
Constructor Details
-
JsonReader
Creates a new instance that reads a JSON-encoded stream fromin
.
-
-
Method Details
-
setLenient
public final void setLenient(boolean lenient) Configure this parser to be liberal in what it accepts. By default, this parser is strict and only accepts JSON as specified by RFC 4627. Setting the parser to lenient causes it to ignore the following syntax errors:- Streams that start with the non-execute
prefix,
")]}'\n"
. - Streams that include multiple top-level values. With strict parsing, each stream must contain exactly one top-level value.
- Top-level values of any type. With strict parsing, the top-level value must be an object or an array.
- Numbers may be
NaNs
orinfinities
. - End of line comments starting with
//
or#
and ending with a newline character. - C-style comments starting with
/*
and ending with*
/
. Such comments may not be nested. - Names that are unquoted or
'single quoted'
. - Strings that are unquoted or
'single quoted'
. - Array elements separated by
;
instead of,
. - Unnecessary array separators. These are interpreted as if null was the omitted value.
- Names and values separated by
=
or=>
instead of:
. - Name/value pairs separated by
;
instead of,
.
- Streams that start with the non-execute
prefix,
-
isLenient
public final boolean isLenient()Returns true if this parser is liberal in what it accepts. -
beginArray
Consumes the next token from the JSON stream and asserts that it is the beginning of a new array.- Throws:
IOException
-
endArray
Consumes the next token from the JSON stream and asserts that it is the end of the current array.- Throws:
IOException
-
beginObject
Consumes the next token from the JSON stream and asserts that it is the beginning of a new object.- Throws:
IOException
-
endObject
Consumes the next token from the JSON stream and asserts that it is the end of the current object.- Throws:
IOException
-
hasNext
Returns true if the current array or object has another element.- Throws:
IOException
-
peek
Returns the type of the next token without consuming it.- Throws:
IOException
-
nextName
Returns the next token, aproperty name
, and consumes it.- Throws:
IOException
- if the next token in the stream is not a property name.
-
nextString
Returns thestring
value of the next token, consuming it. If the next token is a number, this method will return its string form.- Throws:
IllegalStateException
- if the next token is not a string or if this reader is closed.IOException
-
nextBoolean
Returns theboolean
value of the next token, consuming it.- Throws:
IllegalStateException
- if the next token is not a boolean or if this reader is closed.IOException
-
nextNull
Consumes the next token from the JSON stream and asserts that it is a literal null.- Throws:
IllegalStateException
- if the next token is not null or if this reader is closed.IOException
-
nextDouble
Returns thedouble
value of the next token, consuming it. If the next token is a string, this method will attempt to parse it as a double usingDouble.parseDouble(String)
.- Throws:
IllegalStateException
- if the next token is not a literal value.NumberFormatException
- if the next literal value cannot be parsed as a double, or is non-finite.IOException
-
nextLong
Returns thelong
value of the next token, consuming it. If the next token is a string, this method will attempt to parse it as a long. If the next token's numeric value cannot be exactly represented by a Javalong
, this method throws.- Throws:
IllegalStateException
- if the next token is not a literal value.NumberFormatException
- if the next literal value cannot be parsed as a number, or exactly represented as a long.IOException
-
nextInt
Returns theint
value of the next token, consuming it. If the next token is a string, this method will attempt to parse it as an int. If the next token's numeric value cannot be exactly represented by a Javaint
, this method throws.- Throws:
IllegalStateException
- if the next token is not a literal value.NumberFormatException
- if the next literal value cannot be parsed as a number, or exactly represented as an int.IOException
-
close
Closes this JSON reader and the underlyingReader
.- Specified by:
close
in interfaceAutoCloseable
- Specified by:
close
in interfaceCloseable
- Throws:
IOException
-
skipValue
Skips the next value recursively. If it is an object or array, all nested elements are skipped. This method is intended for use when the JSON token stream contains unrecognized or unhandled values.- Throws:
IOException
-
toString
-
getPath
Returns a JsonPath to the current location in the JSON value.
-