Rails spinoffs - Sep 2005 - Converting text into a javascript array

Hey Guys,

I know this isn''t specific to scriptaculous libraries but it''s
something
that I''m exploring as I use the ajax functions in prototype.  My 
application server is not rails but java and I was thinking of returning 
a javascript array in the ajax response.  When I get back my response is 
it, of course, text and I''m not sure how best to convert it into a 
javascript object.  Is there some neat trick to this or do I need to 
parse the string and create the array manually?

I appreciate any feedback or links to possible answers you might have.

Cheers,
Marty

Have you looked into JSON?  Basically, your server sends a string like
"[''a'', ''b'',
''c'']" and you do:

var letters = eval(response_from_server);

http://www.crockford.com/JSON/index.html


On 9/30/05, Marty Haught <marty@razorstream.com>
wrote:
> Hey Guys,
>
> I know this isn''t specific to scriptaculous libraries but
it''s something
> that I''m exploring as I use the ajax functions in prototype.  My
> application server is not rails but java and I was thinking of returning
> a javascript array in the ajax response.  When I get back my response is
> it, of course, text and I''m not sure how best to convert it into a
> javascript object.  Is there some neat trick to this or do I need to
> parse the string and create the array manually?
>
> I appreciate any feedback or links to possible answers you might have.
>
> Cheers,
> Marty
> _______________________________________________
> Rails-spinoffs mailing list
> Rails-spinoffs@lists.rubyonrails.org
> http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails-spinoffs
>

--
rick
http://techno-weenie.net

Is JSON what you want?

http://www.crockford.com/JSON/index.html

On 9/30/05, Marty Haught <marty@razorstream.com>
wrote:
> Hey Guys,
>
> I know this isn''t specific to scriptaculous libraries but
it''s something
> that I''m exploring as I use the ajax functions in prototype.  My
> application server is not rails but java and I was thinking of returning
> a javascript array in the ajax response.  When I get back my response is
> it, of course, text and I''m not sure how best to convert it into a
> javascript object.  Is there some neat trick to this or do I need to
> parse the string and create the array manually?
>
> I appreciate any feedback or links to possible answers you might have.
>
> Cheers,
> Marty
> _______________________________________________
> Rails-spinoffs mailing list
> Rails-spinoffs@lists.rubyonrails.org
> http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails-spinoffs
>

Andrew Kaspick wrote:
>Is JSON what you want?
>
>http://www.crockford.com/JSON/index.html
>
You know what''s funny?  After I sent the email I started looking at 
json.  It most likely is since it appears that javascript doesn''t have
a
way to cast a string into another object (that I can tell).  But it 
seems json is my answer as it should also make the java conversion into 
the array easier.  Thanks for the quick responses.

Cheers,
Marty

Or you could just use the native String.split ?

<http://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Core_JavaScript_1.5_Reference:Global_O
bjects:String:split>

<http://bclary.com/2004/09/26/boot-camp-javascript>

Matt
> -----Original Message-----
> From: rails-spinoffs-bounces@lists.rubyonrails.org 
> [mailto:rails-spinoffs-bounces@lists.rubyonrails.org] On 
> Behalf Of Marty Haught
> Sent: 30 September 2005 18:32
> To: rails-spinoffs@lists.rubyonrails.org
> Subject: [Rails-spinoffs] Converting text into a javascript array
> 
> 
> Hey Guys,
> 
> I know this isn''t specific to scriptaculous libraries but 
> it''s something 
> that I''m exploring as I use the ajax functions in prototype.  My 
> application server is not rails but java and I was thinking 
> of returning 
> a javascript array in the ajax response.  When I get back my 
> response is 
> it, of course, text and I''m not sure how best to convert it into a
> javascript object.  Is there some neat trick to this or do I need to 
> parse the string and create the array manually?
> 
> I appreciate any feedback or links to possible answers you might have.
> 
> Cheers,
> Marty
> _______________________________________________
> Rails-spinoffs mailing list Rails-spinoffs@lists.rubyonrails.org
> http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails-spinoffs
> 

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You could also try JSON - JavaScript Object Notation.

http://www.json.org.

-Mandy.