Class JSONTokener

java.lang.Object
com.github.openjson.JSONTokener

public class JSONTokener extends Object
Parses a JSON (RFC 4627) encoded string into the corresponding object. Most clients of this class will use only need the constructor and nextValue() method. Example usage:
 String json = "{"
         + "  \"query\": \"Pizza\", "
         + "  \"locations\": [ 94043, 90210 ] "
         + "}";

 JSONObject object = (JSONObject) new JSONTokener(json).nextValue();
 String query = object.getString("query");
 JSONArray locations = object.getJSONArray("locations");

For the best interoperability and performance use JSON that complies with RFC 4627, such as that generated by JSONStringer. For legacy reasons, this parser is lenient, so a successful parse does not indicate that the input string was valid JSON. All of the following syntax errors will be ignored:

  • 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.
  • Strings that are unquoted or 'single quoted'.
  • Hexadecimal integers prefixed with 0x or 0X.
  • Octal integers prefixed with 0.
  • Array elements separated by ;.
  • Unnecessary array separators. These are interpreted as if null was the omitted value.
  • Key-value pairs separated by = or =>.
  • Key-value pairs separated by ;.

Each tokener may be used to parse a single JSON string. Instances of this class are not thread safe. Although this class is non-final, it was not designed for inheritance and should not be subclassed. In particular, self-use by overrideable methods is not specified. See Effective Java Item 17, "Design and Document or inheritance or else prohibit it" for further information.

  • Field Summary

    Fields
    Modifier and Type
    Field
    Description
    private final String
    The input JSON.
    static final int
    Maximum allowed JSON nesting level supported by the parser.
    private int
    The index of the next character to be returned by next().
  • Constructor Summary

    Constructors
    Constructor
    Description
     
     
  • Method Summary

    Modifier and Type
    Method
    Description
    void
    Unreads the most recent character of input.
    static int
    dehexchar(char hex)
    Returns the integer [0..15] value for the given hex character, or -1 for non-hex input.
    boolean
    Returns true until the input has been exhausted.
    char
    Returns the next available character, or the null character '\0' if all inputs have been exhausted.
    char
    next(char c)
    Returns the next available character if it equals c.
    next(int length)
    Returns the next length characters of the input.
    char
    Returns the next character that is not whitespace and does not belong to a comment.
    private int
     
    nextString(char quote)
    Returns the string up to but not including quote, unescaping any character escape sequences encountered along the way.
    nextTo(char excluded)
    Equivalent to nextTo(String.valueOf(excluded)).
    nextTo(String excluded)
    Returns the trimmed string holding the characters up to but not including the first of: any character in excluded a newline character '\n' a carriage return '\r'
    private String
    Returns the string up to but not including any of the given characters or a newline character.
    Returns the next value from the input.
    private Object
    nextValue(int nestingLevel)
     
    private JSONArray
    readArray(int nestingLevel)
    Reads a sequence of values and the trailing closing brace ']' of an array.
    private char
    Unescapes the character identified by the character or characters that immediately follow a backslash.
    private Object
    Reads a null, boolean, numeric or unquoted string literal value.
    private JSONObject
    readObject(int nestingLevel)
    Reads a sequence of key/value pairs and the trailing closing brace '}' of an object.
    void
    Advances past all input up to and including the next occurrence of thru.
    char
    skipTo(char to)
    Advances past all inputs up to but not including the next occurrence of to.
    private void
    Advances the position until after the next newline character.
    Returns an exception containing the given message plus the current position and the entire input string.
    Returns the current position and the entire input string.

    Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

    clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait
  • Field Details

    • MAX_NESTING_LEVEL

      public static final int MAX_NESTING_LEVEL
      Maximum allowed JSON nesting level supported by the parser. Used to avoid StackOverflow errors. For backward compatibility, the value can be changed (globally) using a system property.
    • in

      private final String in
      The input JSON.
    • pos

      private int pos
      The index of the next character to be returned by next(). When the input is exhausted, this equals the input's length.
  • Constructor Details

    • JSONTokener

      public JSONTokener(String in)
      Parameters:
      in - JSON encoded string. Null is not permitted and will yield a tokener that throws NullPointerExceptions when methods are called.
    • JSONTokener

      public JSONTokener(Reader input) throws IOException
      Throws:
      IOException
  • Method Details

    • nextValue

      public Object nextValue() throws JSONException
      Returns the next value from the input.
      Returns:
      a JSONObject, JSONArray, String, Boolean, Integer, Long, Double or JSONObject.NULL.
      Throws:
      JSONException - if the input is malformed.
    • nextValue

      private Object nextValue(int nestingLevel) throws JSONException
      Throws:
      JSONException
    • nextCleanInternal

      private int nextCleanInternal() throws JSONException
      Throws:
      JSONException
    • skipToEndOfLine

      private void skipToEndOfLine()
      Advances the position until after the next newline character. If the line is terminated by "\r\n", the '\n' must be consumed as whitespace by the caller.
    • nextString

      public String nextString(char quote) throws JSONException
      Returns the string up to but not including quote, unescaping any character escape sequences encountered along the way. The opening quote should have already been read. This consumes the closing quote, but does not include it in the returned string.
      Parameters:
      quote - either ' or ".
      Returns:
      The unescaped string.
      Throws:
      JSONException - if the string isn't terminated by a closing quote correctly.
    • readEscapeCharacter

      private char readEscapeCharacter() throws JSONException
      Unescapes the character identified by the character or characters that immediately follow a backslash. The backslash '\' should have already been read. This supports both unicode escapes "u000A" and two-character escapes "\n".
      Throws:
      JSONException
    • readLiteral

      private Object readLiteral() throws JSONException
      Reads a null, boolean, numeric or unquoted string literal value. Numeric values will be returned as an Integer, Long, or Double, in that order of preference.
      Throws:
      JSONException
    • nextToInternal

      private String nextToInternal(String excluded)
      Returns the string up to but not including any of the given characters or a newline character. This does not consume the excluded character.
    • readObject

      private JSONObject readObject(int nestingLevel) throws JSONException
      Reads a sequence of key/value pairs and the trailing closing brace '}' of an object. The opening brace '{' should have already been read.
      Throws:
      JSONException
    • readArray

      private JSONArray readArray(int nestingLevel) throws JSONException
      Reads a sequence of values and the trailing closing brace ']' of an array. The opening brace '[' should have already been read. Note that "[]" yields an empty array, but "[,]" returns a two-element array equivalent to "[null,null]".
      Throws:
      JSONException
    • syntaxError

      public JSONException syntaxError(String message)
      Returns an exception containing the given message plus the current position and the entire input string.
      Parameters:
      message - The message we want to include.
      Returns:
      An exception that we can throw.
    • toString

      public String toString()
      Returns the current position and the entire input string.
      Overrides:
      toString in class Object
    • more

      public boolean more()
      Returns true until the input has been exhausted.
      Returns:
      true if more input exists.
    • next

      public char next()
      Returns the next available character, or the null character '\0' if all inputs have been exhausted. The return value of this method is ambiguous for JSON strings that contain the character '\0'.
      Returns:
      the next character.
    • next

      public char next(char c) throws JSONException
      Returns the next available character if it equals c. Otherwise, an exception is thrown.
      Parameters:
      c - The character we are looking for.
      Returns:
      the next character.
      Throws:
      JSONException - If the next character isn't c
    • nextClean

      public char nextClean() throws JSONException
      Returns the next character that is not whitespace and does not belong to a comment. If the input is exhausted before such a character can be found, the null character '\0' is returned. The return value of this method is ambiguous for JSON strings that contain the character '\0'.
      Returns:
      The next non-whitespace character.
      Throws:
      JSONException - Should not be possible.
    • next

      public String next(int length) throws JSONException
      Returns the next length characters of the input.

      The returned string shares its backing character array with this tokener's input string. If a reference to the returned string may be held indefinitely, you should use new String(result) to copy it first to avoid memory leaks.

      Parameters:
      length - The desired number of characters to return.
      Returns:
      The next few characters.
      Throws:
      JSONException - if the remaining input is not long enough to satisfy this request.
    • nextTo

      public String nextTo(String excluded)
      Returns the trimmed string holding the characters up to but not including the first of:
      • any character in excluded
      • a newline character '\n'
      • a carriage return '\r'

      The returned string shares its backing character array with this tokener's input string. If a reference to the returned string may be held indefinitely, you should use new String(result) to copy it first to avoid memory leaks.

      Parameters:
      excluded - The limiting string where the search should stop.
      Returns:
      a possibly-empty string
    • nextTo

      public String nextTo(char excluded)
      Equivalent to nextTo(String.valueOf(excluded)).
      Parameters:
      excluded - The limiting character.
      Returns:
      a possibly-empty string
    • skipPast

      public void skipPast(String thru)
      Advances past all input up to and including the next occurrence of thru. If the remaining input doesn't contain thru, the input is exhausted.
      Parameters:
      thru - The string to skip over.
    • skipTo

      public char skipTo(char to)
      Advances past all inputs up to but not including the next occurrence of to. If the remaining input doesn't contain to, the input is unchanged.
      Parameters:
      to - The character we want to skip to.
      Returns:
      The value of to or null.
    • back

      public void back()
      Unreads the most recent character of input. If no input characters have been read, the input is unchanged.
    • dehexchar

      public static int dehexchar(char hex)
      Returns the integer [0..15] value for the given hex character, or -1 for non-hex input.
      Parameters:
      hex - a character in the ranges [0-9], [A-F] or [a-f]. Any other character will yield a -1 result.
      Returns:
      The decoded integer.