Java convert XML to JSON and determine if array or object

Question

I need to convert XML into JSON and I have the following code which works fine. The problem, however, arises when an XML element should actually be converted into an array. My question is in two parts:

1) What is the proper way to represent an array in xml?

Here is the xml I'm currently using. The contents of elements should actually be an array. So elements[0] should be the element within.

<project id="200">
    <name>test</name>
    <elements>
        <element>
            <id>body</id>
            <width>200</width>
            <height>400</height>
            <children/>
        </element>
    </elements>
</project>

2) How can I convert the xml into JSON containing JSON arrays as well as objects?

private String xmlToJson(String xml) throws IOException {

    JSONObject jsonObject = XML.toJSONObject(xml);

    return jsonObject.toString(4);

} // End of XML to JSON

Many thanks

Please go through the previous answers on SO stackoverflow.com/a/1823328/1759128 — ItachiUchiha
– ItachiUchiha, Commented Feb 25, 2014 at 17:20
unfortunately that solution doesn't answer my question as it doesn't single out arrays — Tom Hadkiss
– Tom Hadkiss, Commented Feb 25, 2014 at 17:30
Your best bet is to use an XML tool to create the array as a List, then a JSON tool to convert the List to JSON. — Hot Licks
– Hot Licks, Commented Feb 25, 2014 at 17:31
@msangel - How to do what? There are multiple tools for both -- just lash two of them together. — Hot Licks
– Hot Licks, Commented Feb 25, 2014 at 17:35

Valentyn Kolesnikov · Accepted Answer · 2021-03-16 04:54:48Z

1

There is an underscore-java library with static method U.xmlToJson(xml). It supports a special attribute array="true" which forces the element to be an array.

<project id="200">
    <name>test</name>
    <elements>
        <element array="true">
            <id>body</id>
            <width>200</width>
            <height>400</height>
            <children/>
        </element>
    </elements>
</project>

Output:

{
  "project": {
    "-id": "200",
    "name": "test",
    "elements": [
      {
        "id": "body",
        "width": "200",
        "height": "400",
        "children": {
          "-self-closing": "true"
        }
      }
    ]
  },
  "#omit-xml-declaration": "yes"
}

edited Mar 16, 2021 at 4:54

answered Jan 15, 2020 at 8:11

Valentyn Kolesnikov

2,1251 gold badge24 silver badges33 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

5 Comments

Nagendra Busam Over a year ago

I know we have MODE to replace self-closing portion value as null, do we have any MODE to replace with EMPTY

Valentyn Kolesnikov Over a year ago

I can add a new mode REPLACE_SELF_CLOSING_WITH_EMPTY.

Valentyn Kolesnikov Over a year ago

It will be available in nearest release.

Nagendra Busam Over a year ago

Is there a config/a way to discard "#omit-xml-declaration" key from response?

Valentyn Kolesnikov Over a year ago

We may exclude keys with help of method U.remove(map, key). As alternative you may add xml header.

andilabs · Accepted Answer · 2014-02-25 17:36:05Z

0

Answering your 1st question: What is the proper way to represent an array in xml?

Please refere to: http://www.w3.org/2005/07/xml-schema-patterns.html#Vector

answered Feb 25, 2014 at 17:36

andilabs

23.5k14 gold badges126 silver badges159 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Java convert XML to JSON and determine if array or object

2 Answers 2

5 Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

5 Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related