Tool (javascript) to convert a XML string to JSON

Question

What is the best javascript function/plugin/library to convert a XML string to JSON.

I found that tool : http://www.thomasfrank.se/xml_to_json.html, but it does not like strings starting with 0. i.e.: 005321 get converted to 2769 (not cool :( )

My question, what is the best javascript function/plugin/library to convert a XML to JSON?

EDIT : Someone tried one that works fine?

Solution 1

This function has worked pretty well for me:

xmlToJson = function(xml) {
    var obj = {};
    if (xml.nodeType == 1) {                
        if (xml.attributes.length > 0) {
            obj["@attributes"] = {};
            for (var j = 0; j < xml.attributes.length; j++) {
                var attribute = xml.attributes.item(j);
                obj["@attributes"][attribute.nodeName] = attribute.nodeValue;
            }
        }
    } else if (xml.nodeType == 3) { 
        obj = xml.nodeValue;
    }            
    if (xml.hasChildNodes()) {
        for (var i = 0; i < xml.childNodes.length; i++) {
            var item = xml.childNodes.item(i);
            var nodeName = item.nodeName;
            if (typeof (obj[nodeName]) == "undefined") {
                obj[nodeName] = xmlToJson(item);
            } else {
                if (typeof (obj[nodeName].push) == "undefined") {
                    var old = obj[nodeName];
                    obj[nodeName] = [];
                    obj[nodeName].push(old);
                }
                obj[nodeName].push(xmlToJson(item));
            }
        }
    }
    return obj;
}

Implementation:

var jsonText = JSON.stringify(xmlToJson(xmlDoc)); // xmlDoc = xml dom document

Solution 2

Another small library for XML <=> JSON is https://github.com/abdmob/x2js

Solution 3

If you're willing to use jQuery, there is:

http://www.fyneworks.com/jquery/xml-to-json/

$.get("http://jfcoder.com/test.xml.php", function(xml){
    var json = $.xml2json(xml);
    $('pre').html(JSON.stringify(json)); // To show result in the browser
});

Using:

<nums>
 <num>00597</num>
 <num>0059</num>
 <num>5978</num>
 <num>5.978</num>
</nums>

Outputs:

{"num":["00597","0059","5978","5.978"]}

http://jfcoder.com/test.php

Comments

[stivlo]

why don't you try to write to the author about that?

[Jared Farrish]

@stivlo - There's a big note at the top of the page that says the author wants people to use something else "due to numerous problems reported".

[Pointy]

That script doesn't even generate valid JSON, as it stands.

[stivlo]

oops, right Jared, so David did you try the one suggested?

[David Laberge]

Great Solution !! Thanks

[lambshaanxy]

This library loses tags embedded in text: <p>Hello <strong>bold</strong> and <em>italic</em></p> becomes {"p":"Helloand"}.

[lambshaanxy]

One handy improvement: if you change typeof (obj[nodeName].length) == "undefined" to typeof (obj[nodeName].push) == "undefined", it stops blowing on whitespace and text elements between tags.

[Claude]

I've been using Object.prototype.toString.call( obj[nodeName] ) !== '[object Array]' to avoid the same problem.

[James Johnson]

@Claude: Just updated my answer with the fix suggested by jpatokal: if (typeof (obj[nodeName].push) == "undefined")

[Anand Jha]

@james it returns object({}) in case of single child node could it returns like ([{}]) please?

[Nikola Radosavljević]

It'd be nice to reference source

[froggythefrog]

One thing that really lost me on this answer is the "xml" parameter is not just a string. It's supposed to be a Titanium.XML.DOMDocument. Otherwise, how could you possibly call xml.hasChildNodes(), for example? If this was mentioned somewhere, I missed it.

[Yene Mulatu]

who has committed plagiarism? davidwalsh.name/convert-xml-json

[James Johnson]

@YeneMulatu: Plagiarism? Show me where I claimed to have created this code. I claimed that it worked well for me, and probably because it was used within a project that I contributed on. This site is about helping other developers by sharing code and solutions to solve problems. Dude, get your rep up before you start lobbing BS accusations at people who have established themselves over years as trusted community members and contributors.