Simple and clean way to convert JSON string to Object in Swift

I have been searching for days to convert a fairly simple JSON string to an object type in Swift but with no avail.

Here is the code for web service call:

func GetAllBusiness() {

        Alamofire.request(.GET, "http://MyWebService/").responseString { (request, response, string, error) in

                println(string)

        }
}

I have a swift struct Business.swift:

struct Business {
    var Id : Int = 0
    var Name = ""
    var Latitude = ""
    var Longitude = ""
    var Address = ""
}

Here is my test service deployed:

[
  {
    "Id": 1,
    "Name": "A",
    "Latitude": "-35.243256",
    "Longitude": "149.110701",
    "Address": null
  },
  {
    "Id": 2,
    "Name": "B",
    "Latitude": "-35.240592",
    "Longitude": "149.104843",
    "Address": null
  }
  ...
]

It would be a delight if someone guide me through this.

Thanks.

Solution 1:

for swift 3/4

extension String {
    func toJSON() -> Any? {
        guard let data = self.data(using: .utf8, allowLossyConversion: false) else { return nil }
        return try? JSONSerialization.jsonObject(with: data, options: .mutableContainers)
    }
}

Example Usage:

 let dict = myString.toJSON() as? [String:AnyObject] // can be any type here

Solution 2:

Here are some tips how to begin with simple example.

Consider you have following JSON Array String (similar to yours) like:

 var list:Array<Business> = []

  // left only 2 fields for demo
  struct Business {
    var id : Int = 0
    var name = ""               
 }

 var jsonStringAsArray = "[\n" +
        "{\n" +
        "\"id\":72,\n" +
        "\"name\":\"Batata Cremosa\",\n" +            
        "},\n" +
        "{\n" +
        "\"id\":183,\n" +
        "\"name\":\"Caldeirada de Peixes\",\n" +            
        "},\n" +
        "{\n" +
        "\"id\":76,\n" +
        "\"name\":\"Batata com Cebola e Ervas\",\n" +            
        "},\n" +
        "{\n" +
        "\"id\":56,\n" +
        "\"name\":\"Arroz de forma\",\n" +            
    "}]"


        // convert String to NSData
        var data: NSData = jsonStringAsArray.dataUsingEncoding(NSUTF8StringEncoding)!
        var error: NSError?

        // convert NSData to 'AnyObject'
        let anyObj: AnyObject? = NSJSONSerialization.JSONObjectWithData(data, options: NSJSONReadingOptions(0),
            error: &error)
        println("Error: \(error)")

     // convert 'AnyObject' to Array<Business>
     list = self.parseJson(anyObj!)

     //===============

    func parseJson(anyObj:AnyObject) -> Array<Business>{

        var list:Array<Business> = []

         if  anyObj is Array<AnyObject> {

            var b:Business = Business()

            for json in anyObj as Array<AnyObject>{
             b.name = (json["name"] as AnyObject? as? String) ?? "" // to get rid of null
             b.id  =  (json["id"]  as AnyObject? as? Int) ?? 0                 

               list.append(b)
            }// for

        } // if

      return list

    }//func    

[EDIT]

To get rid of null changed to:

b.name = (json["name"] as AnyObject? as? String) ?? ""
b.id  =  (json["id"]  as AnyObject? as? Int) ?? 0 

See also Reference of Coalescing Operator (aka ??)

Hope it will help you to sort things out,

Solution 3:

As simple String extension should suffice:

extension String {

    var parseJSONString: AnyObject? {

        let data = self.dataUsingEncoding(NSUTF8StringEncoding, allowLossyConversion: false)

        if let jsonData = data {
            // Will return an object or nil if JSON decoding fails
            return NSJSONSerialization.JSONObjectWithData(jsonData, options: NSJSONReadingOptions.MutableContainers, error: nil)
        } else {
            // Lossless conversion of the string was not possible
            return nil
        }
    }
}

Then:

var jsonString = "[\n" +
    "{\n" +
    "\"id\":72,\n" +
    "\"name\":\"Batata Cremosa\",\n" +            
    "},\n" +
    "{\n" +
    "\"id\":183,\n" +
    "\"name\":\"Caldeirada de Peixes\",\n" +            
    "},\n" +
    "{\n" +
    "\"id\":76,\n" +
    "\"name\":\"Batata com Cebola e Ervas\",\n" +            
    "},\n" +
    "{\n" +
    "\"id\":56,\n" +
    "\"name\":\"Arroz de forma\",\n" +            
"}]"

let json: AnyObject? = jsonString.parseJSONString
println("Parsed JSON: \(json!)")
println("json[3]: \(json![3])")

/* Output:

Parsed JSON: (
    {
    id = 72;
    name = "Batata Cremosa";
    },
    {
    id = 183;
    name = "Caldeirada de Peixes";
    },
    {
    id = 76;
    name = "Batata com Cebola e Ervas";
    },
    {
    id = 56;
    name = "Arroz de forma";
    }
)

json[3]: {
    id = 56;
    name = "Arroz de forma";
}
*/

Solution 4:

Swift 4 parses JSON much more elegantly. Just adopt the codable protocol for your structure as per this simplified example:

struct Business: Codable {
    let id: Int
    let name: String
}

To parse the JSON array, you tell the decoder what the objects of the data array are

let parsedData = decoder.decode([Business].self, from: data)

Here's a full working example:

import Foundation

struct Business: Codable {
    let id: Int
    let name: String
}

// Generating the example JSON data: 
let originalObjects = [Business(id: 0, name: "A"), Business(id: 1, name: "B")]
let encoder = JSONEncoder()
let data = try! encoder.encode(originalObjects)

// Parsing the data: 
let decoder = JSONDecoder()
let parsedData = try! decoder.decode([Business].self, from: data)

For more background, check out this excellent guide.

Solution 5:

For Swift 4

I used @Passkit's logic but i had to update as per Swift 4

Step.1 Created extension for String Class

import UIKit


extension String
    {
        var parseJSONString: AnyObject?
        {
            let data = self.data(using: String.Encoding.utf8, allowLossyConversion: false)

            if let jsonData = data
            {
                // Will return an object or nil if JSON decoding fails
                do
                {
                    let message = try JSONSerialization.jsonObject(with: jsonData, options:.mutableContainers)
                    if let jsonResult = message as? NSMutableArray
                    {
                        print(jsonResult)

                        return jsonResult //Will return the json array output
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        return nil
                    }
                }
                catch let error as NSError
                {
                    print("An error occurred: \(error)")
                    return nil
                }
            }
            else
            {
                // Lossless conversion of the string was not possible
                return nil
            }
        }
    }

Step.2 This is how I used in my view controller

var jsonString = "[\n" +
    "{\n" +
    "\"id\":72,\n" +
    "\"name\":\"Batata Cremosa\",\n" +            
    "},\n" +
    "{\n" +
    "\"id\":183,\n" +
    "\"name\":\"Caldeirada de Peixes\",\n" +            
    "},\n" +
    "{\n" +
    "\"id\":76,\n" +
    "\"name\":\"Batata com Cebola e Ervas\",\n" +            
    "},\n" +
    "{\n" +
    "\"id\":56,\n" +
    "\"name\":\"Arroz de forma\",\n" +            
"}]"

 //Convert jsonString to jsonArray

let json: AnyObject? = jsonString.parseJSONString
print("Parsed JSON: \(json!)")
print("json[2]: \(json![2])")

All credit goes to original user, I just updated for latest swift version