Javascript in your JSON

Anonymous Monk has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Hi there monks,
I'm looking for a module on CPAN that can convert Javascript code snippets to JSON, apart from also doing the more common data-structure to JSON conversion. I've tried JSON::XS, ::Syck, ::PP and neither seem to be able to do this:

my $data = { 
    age=>18, 
    handler=>\"function(){ alert('hello, worldly') }" 
};
my $json = encode_json( $data )
[download]

And the output should look like this:

{ age: 18, 
 handler: function(){ ... }
}
[download]

But it usually converts it to: ...handler: "function(...)"

I know I've seen something that can do that somewhere. I think the usual implementation would use scalar references (ie \"function(){ }") to achieve this. But none of the regular JSON modules seem to accept it.

Any clues?
Thanks,
miguel

Comment on Javascript in your JSON Select or Download Code

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Javascript in your JSON by derby (Abbot) on Apr 08, 2009 at 12:09 UTC
lmgtfy. -derby	[reply]
Re^2: Javascript in your JSON by Anonymous Monk on Apr 08, 2009 at 19:08 UTC
I agree that putting scripts in a JSON structure is definitely not in the JSON standard. Even though JSON, before being a data-exchange standard, was just the run-of-the-mill javascript object notation in which script coderefs are perfectly acceptable. The thing is that most ajax based frameworks, such as ExtJS, accept, or even recommend putting scripts in a JSON structure. So I guess I'll keep looking for a module that can dump that... or write my own. cheers, -- miguel	[reply]
Re^3: Javascript in your JSON by ikegami (Patriarch) on Apr 08, 2009 at 19:14 UTC
A JSON file that includes arbitrary JavaScript code is not a JSON file, it's a JavaScript file. You should be looking for tools to help you generate JavaScript, not JSON.	[reply]
Re^3: Javascript in your JSON by derby (Abbot) on Apr 08, 2009 at 19:30 UTC
I think it's really easy to confuse/conflate Javascript object literal notation with JSON - they're not the same thing. -derby Update: hmmm ... well that was vague. JSON is a subset of Javascript object literal notation that's used for DATA exchange. That's why if want to pass around function definitions in JSON, you'll need to de-stringify them - basically subverting the concept of JSON being just for DATA exchange.	[reply]
Re: Javascript in your JSON by Anonymous Monk on Apr 08, 2009 at 10:02 UTC
Any clues? You're out of luck because thats not JSON, that is javascript	[reply]
Re: Javascript in your JSON by Anonymous Monk on Apr 09, 2009 at 09:46 UTC
As I said, I totally agree that is not JSON, as JSON is a standard per json.org which does not include scripting. But I never implied that scripting was part of the JSON standard. I was just looking for a way to augment my JSON structure with scripting. For the record, I've just found this simple but effective module, JavaScript::Dumper. It's based on JSON::PP and that does the trick. cheers -miguel	[reply]

Back to Seekers of Perl Wisdom