HTML/Javascript: how to access JSON data loaded in a script tag with src set

You can't load JSON like that, sorry.

I know you're thinking "why I can't I just use src here? I've seen stuff like this...":

<script id="myJson" type="application/json">
 { 
   name: 'Foo' 
 }
</script>

<script type="text/javascript">
    $(function() {
        var x = JSON.parse($('#myJson').html());
        alert(x.name); //Foo
     });
</script>

... well to put it simply, that was just the script tag being "abused" as a data holder. You can do that with all sorts of data. For example, a lot of templating engines leverage script tags to hold templates.

You have a short list of options to load your JSON from a remote file:

1. Use $.get('your.json') or some other such AJAX method.
2. Write a file that sets a global variable to your json. (seems hokey).
3. Pull it into an invisible iframe, then scrape the contents of that after it's loaded (I call this "1997 mode")
4. Consult a voodoo priest.

Final point:

Remote JSON Request after page loads is also not an option, in case you want to suggest that.

... that doesn't make sense. The difference between an AJAX request and a request sent by the browser while processing your <script src=""> is essentially nothing. They'll both be doing a GET on the resource. HTTP doesn't care if it's done because of a script tag or an AJAX call, and neither will your server.

Another solution would be to make use of a server-side scripting language and to simply include json-data inline. Here's an example that uses PHP:

<script id="data" type="application/json"><?php include('stuff.json'); ?></script>
<script>
var jsonData = JSON.parse(document.getElementById('data').textContent)
</script>

The above example uses an extra script tag with type application/json. An even simpler solution is to include the JSON directly into the JavaScript:

<script>var jsonData = <?php include('stuff.json');?>;</script>

The advantage of the solution with the extra tag is that JavaScript code and JSON data are kept separated from each other.

It would appear this is not possible, or at least not supported.

From the HTML5 specification:

When used to include data blocks (as opposed to scripts), the data must be embedded inline, the format of the data must be given using the type attribute, the src attribute must not be specified, and the contents of the script element must conform to the requirements defined for the format used.

While it's not currently possible with the script tag, it is possible with an iframe if it's from the same domain.

<iframe
id="mySpecialId"
src="/my/link/to/some.json"
onload="(()=>{if(!window.jsonData){window.jsonData={}}try{window.jsonData[this.id]=JSON.parse(this.contentWindow.document.body.textContent.trim())}catch(e){console.warn(e)}this.remove();})();"
onerror="((err)=>console.warn(err))();"
style="display: none;"
></iframe>

To use the above, simply replace the id and src attribute with what you need. The id (which we'll assume in this situation is equal to mySpecialId) will be used to store the data in window.jsonData["mySpecialId"].

In other words, for every iframe that has an id and uses the onload script will have that data synchronously loaded into the window.jsonData object under the id specified.

I did this for fun and to show that it's "possible' but I do not recommend that it be used.

Here is an alternative that uses a callback instead.

<script>
    function someCallback(data){
        /** do something with data */
        console.log(data);

    }
    function jsonOnLoad(callback){
        const raw = this.contentWindow.document.body.textContent.trim();
        try {
          const data = JSON.parse(raw);
          /** do something with data */
          callback(data);
        }catch(e){
          console.warn(e.message);
        }
        this.remove();
    }
</script>
<!-- I frame with src pointing to json file on server, onload we apply "this" to have the iframe context, display none as we don't want to show the iframe -->
<iframe src="your/link/to/some.json" onload="jsonOnLoad.apply(this, someCallback)" style="display: none;"></iframe>

Tested in chrome and should work in firefox. Unsure about IE or Safari.

I agree with Ben. You cannot load/import the simple JSON file.

But if you absolutely want to do that and have flexibility to update json file, you can

my-json.js

   var myJSON = {
      id: "12ws",
      name: "smith"
    }

index.html

<head>
  <script src="my-json.js"></script>
</head>
<body onload="document.getElementById('json-holder').innerHTML = JSON.stringify(myJSON);">
  <div id="json-holder"></div>
</body>