CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javaandroidjson
paradox37
paradox37

Reputation: 435

Expected BEGIN_OBJECT but was STRING - json without key

I'm generally a beginner in Android and json, and I'm stuck on one part and need some help. I'm trying to use Rotten Tomatoes json. I managed read almost everything, except the part where there isn't key in json. Here is the json:

{
  "movies": [{
    "id": "771359313",
    "title": "Dumb and Dumber To",
    "year": 2014,
    "mpaa_rating": "PG-13",
    "runtime": 109,
    "critics_consensus": "",
    "release_dates": {
      "theater": "2014-11-14"
    },
    "ratings": {
      "critics_rating": "Rotten",
      "critics_score": 25,
      "audience_rating": "Spilled",
      "audience_score": 54
    },
    "synopsis": "Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels reprise their signature roles as Lloyd and Harry in the sequel to the smash hit that took the physical comedy and kicked it in the nuts: Dumb and Dumber To. The original film's directors, Peter and Bobby Farrelly, take Lloyd and Harry on a road trip to find a child Harry never knew he had and the responsibility neither should ever, ever be given. The Farrelly brothers produce Dumb and Dumber To alongside Riza Aziz and Joey McFarland of Red Granite Pictures. They are joined by fellow producers Charles B. Wessler and Bradley Thomas. Universal Pictures will distribute the film in the United States, Canada and select international territories.(C) Universal",
    "posters": {
      "thumbnail": "http://content6.flixster.com/movie/11/17/88/11178864_tmb.jpg",
      "profile": "http://content6.flixster.com/movie/11/17/88/11178864_tmb.jpg",
      "detailed": "http://content6.flixster.com/movie/11/17/88/11178864_tmb.jpg",
      "original": "http://content6.flixster.com/movie/11/17/88/11178864_tmb.jpg"
    },
    "abridged_cast": [{
      "name": "Jim Carrey",
      "id": "162659418",
      "characters": ["Lloyd Christmas"]
    }, {
      "name": "Jeff Daniels",
      "id": "162654392",
      "characters": ["Harry Dunne"]
    }, {
      "name": "Kathleen Turner",
      "id": "162658757",
      "characters": ["Fraida Felcher"]
    }, {
      "name": "Rob Riggle",
      "id": "770750133",
      "characters": ["Travis/Captain Lippincott"]
    }, {
      "name": "Jennifer Lawrence",
      "id": "770800260",
      "characters": ["Young Fraida Felcher"]
    }],
    "alternate_ids": {
      "imdb": "2096672"
    },
    "links": {
      "self": "http://api.rottentomatoes.com/api/public/v1.0/movies/771359313.json",
      "alternate": "http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dumb_and_dumber_to/",
      "cast": "http://api.rottentomatoes.com/api/public/v1.0/movies/771359313/cast.json",
      "reviews": "http://api.rottentomatoes.com/api/public/v1.0/movies/771359313/reviews.json",
      "similar": "http://api.rottentomatoes.com/api/public/v1.0/movies/771359313/similar.json"
    }
  }, {
    "id": "771355766",
    "title": "Big Hero 6",
    "year": 2014,
    "mpaa_rating": "PG",
    "runtime": 93,
    "critics_consensus": "",
    "release_dates": {
      "theater": "2014-11-07"
    },
    "ratings": {
      "critics_rating": "Certified Fresh",
      "critics_score": 89,
      "audience_rating": "Upright",
      "audience_score": 94
    },
    "synopsis": "With all the heart and humor audiences expect from Walt Disney Animation Studios, \"Big Hero 6\" is an action-packed comedy-adventure about robotics prodigy Hiro Hamada, who learns to harness his genius-thanks to his brilliant brother Tadashi and their like-minded friends: adrenaline junkie Go Go Tamago, neatnik Wasabi, chemistry whiz Honey Lemon and fanboy Fred. When a devastating turn of events catapults them into the midst of a dangerous plot unfolding in the streets of San Fransokyo, Hiro turns to his closest companion-a robot named Baymax-and transforms the group into a band of high-tech heroes determined to solve the mystery. (C) Disney",
    "posters": {
      "thumbnail": "http://content7.flixster.com/movie/11/17/85/11178581_tmb.jpg",
      "profile": "http://content7.flixster.com/movie/11/17/85/11178581_tmb.jpg",
      "detailed": "http://content7.flixster.com/movie/11/17/85/11178581_tmb.jpg",
      "original": "http://content7.flixster.com/movie/11/17/85/11178581_tmb.jpg"
    },
    "abridged_cast": [{
      "name": "Ryan Potter",
      "id": "771360315",
      "characters": ["Hiro Hamada"]
    }, {
      "name": "Scott Adsit",
      "id": "406975480",
      "characters": ["Baymax"]
    }, {
      "name": "T.J. Miller",
      "id": "770690115",
      "characters": ["Fred"]
    }, {
      "name": "Jamie Chung",
      "id": "770694653",
      "characters": ["Go Go Tomago"]
    }, {
      "name": "Damon Wayans Jr.",
      "id": "770822247",
      "characters": ["Wasabi"]
    }],
    "alternate_ids": {
      "imdb": "2245084"
    },
    "links": {
      "self": "http://api.rottentomatoes.com/api/public/v1.0/movies/771355766.json",
      "alternate": "http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/big_hero_6/",
      "cast": "http://api.rottentomatoes.com/api/public/v1.0/movies/771355766/cast.json",
      "reviews": "http://api.rottentomatoes.com/api/public/v1.0/movies/771355766/reviews.json",
      "similar": "http://api.rottentomatoes.com/api/public/v1.0/movies/771355766/similar.json"
    }
  }],
  "links": {
    "self": "http://api.rottentomatoes.com/api/public/v1.0/lists/movies/box_office.json?limit=2&country=us",
    "alternate": "http://www.rottentomatoes.com/movie/box-office/"
  },
  "link_template": "http://api.rottentomatoes.com/api/public/v1.0/lists/movies/box_office.json?limit={num-results}&country={country-code}"
}

Now, I managed to get name, id, but not the characters. Here are some parts of the code how I got it to work:

public class Movie {
  String actor_name;
  public Movie(String response, int index) {
    Gson gson = new Gson();
    MoviesContainer movie = gson.fromJson(response.trim(), MoviesContainer.class);
    List < MovieData > movies = movie.movie
    AbridgedCastData[] aCast = gson.fromJson(gson.toJson(movies.get(index).abridged_cast), AbridgedCastData[].class);
    actor_name = aCast[0].name;
  }
}

class MovieData {
  Object abridged_cast;
}

class MoviesContainer {
  public List < MovieData > movies;
}

class AbridgedCastData {
  String name;
  String id;
  Object characters;
}

I'm using directly index for testing purposes, so actor_name works perfectly.

I tried like this :

CharactersData[] character = gson.fromJson(gson.toJson(aCast[0].characters), CharactersData[].class);

But I'm getting error:

Expected BEGIN_OBJECT but was STRING

I searched everywhere but I can't find how to access characters. How to get for example character Lloyd Christmas? Thanks in advance.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 230

Answers (2)

Alexis C.
Alexis C.

Reputation: 93892

First of all your JSON file is not valid. It should begin with { and end with }. You can check with an online validator such as JSONLint. That's why you get this error.

Secondly if you look at the structure of the file, you see that there is an an array called abridged_cast which contains some objects (which you defined fine in your AbridgedCastData class).

So the final structure could be:

class A {
   //contains a list of objects B or an array of objects B
}

class B {
  //name
  //id
  //characters (list of Strings or String array)
}

We are almost done!

When you don't specify a SerializedName annotation, the parser requires that the field name of the attribute you want to serialize must be the same as in the JSON file (otherwise you will end up with a non-initialized value). Since that's not the case you need to add a @SerializedName("abridged_cast") annotation.

Finally you end up with:

public class Test {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws FileNotFoundException {
        BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new FileReader("myJson.json"));
        Gson gson = new Gson();
        MoviesContainer movie = gson.fromJson(br, MoviesContainer.class);
        List<AbridgedCastData> movies = movie.movies;
        System.out.println(movies);
    }
}

class MoviesContainer {
    @SerializedName("abridged_cast")
    public List<AbridgedCastData> movies;
}

class AbridgedCastData {
    String name;
    String id;
    List<String> characters;
    @Override
    public String toString() {
        return "AbridgedCastData [name=" + name + ", id=" + id
                + ", characters=" + characters + "]";
    }    
}

Which outputs:

[AbridgedCastData [name=Jim Carrey, id=162659418, characters=[Lloyd Christmas]], AbridgedCastData [name=Jeff Daniels, id=162654392, characters=[Harry Dunne]], AbridgedCastData [name=Kathleen Turner, id=162658757, characters=[Fraida Felcher]], AbridgedCastData [name=Rob Riggle, id=770750133, characters=[Travis/Captain Lippincott]], AbridgedCastData [name=Jennifer Lawrence, id=770800260, characters=[Young Fraida Felcher]]]

Upvotes: 1

Mohammad Rahchamani
Mohammad Rahchamani

Reputation: 5220

you could change your response and then parse it.

response = "{" + response + "}" ;
// now parse json

Upvotes: 0

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