Description
The resultant JSON differs depending if there is a single object or multiple of the same object.When there is only a single object (e.g. there is only 1 entry from a data-source), the result is a single object. However, when there is more than object of the same element (more than just 1 result from a data-source) the resultant JSON is an array.
Steps to reproduce
- Create a simple XML output with just a single entry
- Observe the JSON output
- Add another entry to the same output
- Observe the JSON again
Actual output
From XML like this:
<data>
<entries>
<entry>
<id>2</id>
<title>Another Entry</title>
<handle>another-entry</handle>
<body>Blah Blah</body>
<publish-date>
<date>2016-04-25</date>
<time>19:03</time>
</publish-date>
</entry>
<entry>
<id>1</id>
<title>An Entry</title>
<handle>an-entry</handle>
<body>This is a dummy entry</body>
<publish-date>
<date>2016-04-25</date>
<time>16:53</time>
</publish-date>
</entry>
</entries>
</data>
We get JSON like this:
{
"entries": {
"entry": [
{
"id": "2",
"title": "Another Entry",
"handle": "another-entry",
"body": "Blah Blah",
"publish-date": {
"date": "2016-04-25",
"time": "19:03"
}
},
{
"id": "1",
"title": "An Entry",
"handle": "an-entry",
"body": "This is a dummy entry",
"publish-date": {
"date": "2016-04-25",
"time": "16:53"
}
}
]
}
}
However, remove 1 entry (so only 1 remains) and the output looks like this:
{
"entries": {
"entry": {
"id": "1",
"title": "An Entry",
"handle": "an-entry",
"body": "This is a dummy entry",
"publish-date": {
"date": "2016-04-25",
"time": "16:53"
}
}
}
}
Notice that the second example is not a JSON array.
Expected output
In both examples, it should be an array.
Possible solutions
It is possible the first behaviour is desirable since there will only ever be a single entry, this an array is unnecessary. One solution might be to have attributes on the XML e.g. forceArray="true" or similar which tells the JSON handler to behave in a certain way.
A stop-gap solution is to always include an empty element which tricks the parser into thinking it's an array. e.g.
<data>
<entries>
<entry>
<id>2</id>
<title>Another Entry</title>
<handle>another-entry</handle>
<body>Blah Blah</body>
<publish-date>
<date>2016-04-25</date>
<time>19:03</time>
</publish-date>
</entry>
<entry></entry>
</entries>
</data>
"entries": {
"entry": [
{},
{
"id": "1",
"title": "An Entry",
"handle": "an-entry",
"body": "This is a dummy entry",
"publish-date": {
"date": "2016-04-25",
"time": "16:53"
}
}
]
},
However, this is not ideal.