json_decode proc

Format

• json_decode(JSON)
• json_decode(JSON, flags)

Returns

A value interpreted from a JSON-formatted text string.

Args

• JSON: The JSON-formatted text to decode.
• flags: A set of flags that tell the decoder how to act.

Arrays like [1,2,3] will be converted to regular lists like list(1,2,3).

Object literals like {"a":1} will be converted to associative lists such as list("a"=1). Each item in the list is also decoded. Except in strict mode, non-string values are allowed as the “keys” in an associaitve list, even though that’s not valid JSON, and strings used as keys can be left unquoted. BYOND doesn’t care, as long as it can understand the formatted text it’s given. The only exception is that a number isn’t allowed to be an associative list key, and will be converted to a string instead, so {1:2} becomes list("1"=2).

Special numbers NaN and Infinity are recognized correctly (these are case-sensitive). All other numbers are parsed and stored in the regular BYOND format (32-bit floating point).

Since BYOND doesn’t have dedicated boolean values, true and false are interpreted as 1 and 0, respectively.

The JSON_STRICT flag uses stricter JSON parsing rules and will not allow some things. In strict mode:

• All strings must be double-quoted.
• Special numbers NaN and Infinity are not allowed, but the {__number__:"NaN"} format used by json_encode() is recognized as a number.
• Keys in an associative list must always be strings, and must be double-quoted.

The JSON_ALLOW_COMMENTS flag allows you to include // single-line comments and /* ... */ long-form comments in the text to be decoded. This can be mixed with the strict flag. This flag is now used by default.

See also