The util.JSONObject class

The util.JSONObject class provides methods to handle an structured data object following the JSON string syntax.

The util.JSONObject class is provided in the util C-Extension library. To use the util.JSONObject class, you must import the util package in your program:

IMPORT util

A JSONObject is an unordered collection of name/value pairs. The format of a JSON object string is a coma-separated "name":value pairs, wrapped in curly brackets. The value can be simple numeric or string value, but it can also be an array of values enclosed in square brackets, or a sub-element enclosed in curly brackets:

{ 
  "cust_num":2735,
  "cust_name":"McCarlson",
  "order_ids":[234,3456,24656,34561],
  "address": {
          "street":"34, Sunset Bld",
          "city":"Los Angeles",
          "state":"CA"
        }
}

A JSONObject object must be created before usage with one of the class methods like util.JSONObject.create().

The JSONObject class provides methods for accessing, adding/replacing or deleting the values by name with the get(), put() and remove() methods.

The get() method can return a simple value, a util.JSONObject or a util.JSONArray object reference.

The put() method can take a simple value, a RECORD, or an ARRAY as parameter.

If the structure of the JSON object is not known at compile time, you can introspect the elements of the object with the getLength(), getType() and name() methods.