# Convert string to object?

**URL:** <https://discourse.nodered.org/t/convert-string-to-object/36209>\
**Category:** General\
**Created:** [19 November 2020 18:35 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/convert-string-to-object/36209 "2020-11-19T18:35:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 9\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![invinciberry](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/invinciberry/32/32263_2.png) [@invinciberry](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/invinciberry)\
**Post date:** [19 November 2020 18:35 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/convert-string-to-object/36209/1 "2020-11-19T18:35:01Z")

</div>

So I am trying to scrape some data from a [website](https://www.jellycat.com/us/bartholomew-bear-barm3br/). And I am trying to get it's availability date which is in a section starting with //#835635. Currently, I have the HTML content of this section stripped out from the website and have a string payload like this.

```auto
//#835635
var chn_capture_status = "OFF";
var qSVariables = "";
var siteSubDirectory = "/us";
var siteUseCase = "jellycat-us";
var groupUseCase = "DEFAULT";
var currencyUseCase = "USD";
var cc_module = false;
var startTime = new Date().getTime();

var prodzoom_control = 'on';
var globalPageCookieName = 'PageJellycat2';
var siteid = 'jellycat-us'
    //alert('jellycat-us')

    var google_recaptcha_site_key = '6Ldj1SAUAAAAACV-v_0I26uqFnr8Az2jrC2GEYw_';
var stock_notify_status = '0';
var stock_notify_threshold = 0;
$(document).ready(function () {

    $('#zoomArea').fancybox();

    saveRecentlyViewed('BARM3BR', 'Bartholomew Bear', '/bartholomew-bear-barm3br/', 'BARM3BR.jpg');
    saveLastProductToCookie('BARM3BR')
});
var buy_button_hidden_instock = 'In stock - Contact us to order this item.';
var buy_button_hidden_outstock = 'OUT OF STOCK <br />Contact us to find out when this item will be next available.';
$(document).ready(function () {
    var myVariantGridEM = new variantGrid('myVariantGridEM'); // Load the variant grid class
    variants = {
        "barh2br": {
            'sequence': '27',
            'wasprice': '$40.00 USD',
            'wasprice_net': '$40.00 USD',
            'price': '$40.00 USD',
            'price_net': '$40.00 USD',
            'sale_item': 'false',
            'manufacturer_sku': '',
            'manufacturer_name': 'JELLYCAT',
            'sell': 'false',
            'stock_level': -1,
            'lead_text': '2020-12-16',
            'lead_text_summary': 'Returning to stock 3-4 weeks',
            'show_certificate': 'N',
            'cc_available': 'true',
            'option1': 'BROWN',
            'option2': 'HUGE - H19\"',
            'option3': '',
            'pf_id': 'BARM3BR',
            'monogram_code': '',
            'tailoring_code': '',
            'promo_flag': '',
            'swatch': 'BARM3BR.jpg',
            'swatchhex': '',
            'attributes': {
                "animal": ["Bear"],
                "style": ["Bartholomew"]
            },
            'downloads': {},
            'name': 'Bartholomew Bear',
            'branddesc': '',
            'pers_max_length': 0,
            'pers_colors': '',
            'pers_fonts': '',
            'pers_positions': '',
            'pers_help': '',
            'pers_cost': 0,
            'pers_cost_to_show': '$0.00 USD',
            'images': ['BARH2BR.jpg'],
            'sku': 'BARH2BR'
        },
        "barl2br": {
            'sequence': '35',
            'wasprice': '$30.00 USD',
            'wasprice_net': '$30.00 USD',
            'price': '$30.00 USD',
            'price_net': '$30.00 USD',
            'sale_item': 'false',
            'manufacturer_sku': '',
            'manufacturer_name': 'JELLYCAT',
            'sell': 'false',
            'stock_level': -2,
            'lead_text': '2020-12-11',
            'lead_text_summary': 'Returning to stock 3-4 weeks',
            'show_certificate': 'N',
            'cc_available': 'true',
            'option1': 'BROWN',
            'option2': 'LARGE - H14\"',
            'option3': '',
            'pf_id': 'BARM3BR',
            'monogram_code': '',
            'tailoring_code': '',
            'promo_flag': '',
            'swatch': 'BARM3BR.jpg',
            'swatchhex': '',
            'attributes': {
                "animal": ["Bear"],
                "style": ["Bartholomew"]
            },
            'downloads': {},
            'name': 'Bartholomew Bear',
            'branddesc': '',
            'pers_max_length': 0,
            'pers_colors': '',
            'pers_fonts': '',
            'pers_positions': '',
            'pers_help': '',
            'pers_cost': 0,
            'pers_cost_to_show': '$0.00 USD',
            'images': ['BARL2BR.jpg'],
            'sku': 'BARL2BR'
        },
        "barm3br": {
            'sequence': '50',
            'wasprice': '$22.50 USD',
            'wasprice_net': '$22.50 USD',
            'price': '$22.50 USD',
            'price_net': '$22.50 USD',
            'sale_item': 'false',
            'manufacturer_sku': '',
            'manufacturer_name': 'JELLYCAT',
            'sell': 'false',
            'stock_level': -6,
            'lead_text': '2021-02-09',
            'lead_text_summary': 'Returning to stock 2-3 months',
            'show_certificate': 'N',
            'cc_available': 'true',
            'option1': 'BROWN',
            'option2': 'MEDIUM - H11\"',
            'option3': '',
            'pf_id': 'BARM3BR',
            'monogram_code': '',
            'tailoring_code': '',
            'promo_flag': '',
            'swatch': 'BARM3BR.jpg',
            'swatchhex': '',
            'attributes': {
                "animal": ["Bear"],
                "style": ["Bartholomew"]
            },
            'downloads': {},
            'name': 'Bartholomew Bear',
            'branddesc': '',
            'pers_max_length': 0,
            'pers_colors': '',
            'pers_fonts': '',
            'pers_positions': '',
            'pers_help': '',
            'pers_cost': 0,
            'pers_cost_to_show': '$0.00 USD',
            'images': [],
            'sku': 'BARM3BR'
        }
    }

    settings = {
        "option1": "Please select an option.",
        "option1_alert": "Please select an option from the dropdown",
        "option2": "Please select an option.",
        "option2_alert": "Please select an option from the dropdown",
        "vat_text": "Inc VAT",
        "includes_vat": "1",
        "hidebasketbutton": "0",
        "variantarea": "variant-grid-area",
        "image": "mainImage",
        "spinseturl": "SPINSET_URL_HTTPS",
        "defaultsku": "barm3br",
        "pagetype": "",
        "alternatives": {
            "BARM3BR": {
                "image": ["BARM3BR.jpg", "BARM3BR_1.jpg", "BARM3BR_2.jpg", "BARM3BR_3.jpg"]
            }
        },
        mappings: {
            "price": "Price (Inc VAT)",
            "animal": "Animal",
            "author": "Authors",
            "blog_categories": "Categories (Blog)",
            "brand": "Brand",
            "category_list": "Categories",
            "date": "Archive",
            "rss": "RSS",
            "size": "Size",
            "style": "Style",
            "tags": "Tags"
        },
        show_price: "true",
        option1: "Please select an option."
    }
    myVariantGridEM.loadVariants(variants);
    myVariantGridEM.loadSettings(settings);
    myVariantGridEM.renderGrid();
});
var level2cat = 'COLLECTIONS';
var level3cat = '';
$(document).ready(function () {
    cdnPull_Function();
});
function cdnPull_Function() {
    cdnPull('CurrentCustomerJellycat2', true);
    cdnPullPage('PageJellycat2', 'product');
}
 < / script >
 < script type = "text/javascript" >
    var renderCallBack = function () {
    var recaptcha1;
    if ($('#recaptcha1').length == 1) {
        recaptcha1 = grecaptcha.render('recaptcha1', {
                'sitekey': google_recaptcha_site_key, //Replace this with your Site key
                'theme': 'light'
            });
    }
};

```

And I would like to somehow format the string into an object so I can extract more detailed data from it.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Trying\_to\_learn](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/trying_to_learn/32/28400_2.png) [@Trying\_to\_learn](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Trying_to_learn)\
**Post date:** [19 November 2020 20:24 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/convert-string-to-object/36209/2 "2020-11-19T20:24:59Z")

</div>

I think it would help if you formatted the post correctly.

Use the `</>` button to paste the HTML code.

I would like to try and help you, but my machine is kind of dead just now and I am using a different one and don't have the usual set of tools to help you.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![invinciberry](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/invinciberry/32/32263_2.png) [@invinciberry](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/invinciberry)\
**Post date:** [19 November 2020 21:03 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/convert-string-to-object/36209/4 "2020-11-19T21:03:05Z")

</div>

Just edited the format.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![E1cid](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/e1cid/32/77971_2.png) [@E1cid](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/E1cid)\
**Post date:** [19 November 2020 21:17 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/convert-string-to-object/36209/5 "2020-11-19T21:17:09Z")

</div>

Try this

```auto
[{"id":"a9e8204.95171e","type":"inject","z":"a1dea2b.76223e","name":"","props":[{"p":"payload"},{"p":"topic","vt":"str"}],"repeat":"","crontab":"","once":false,"onceDelay":0.1,"topic":"","payload":"","payloadType":"date","x":110,"y":60,"wires":[["496d3d5d.0502ec"]]},{"id":"496d3d5d.0502ec","type":"http request","z":"a1dea2b.76223e","name":"","method":"GET","ret":"txt","paytoqs":"ignore","url":"https://www.jellycat.com/us/edward-bear-eb3br/","tls":"","persist":false,"proxy":"","authType":"","x":330,"y":80,"wires":[["687f1de1.4f3ff4"]]},{"id":"687f1de1.4f3ff4","type":"function","z":"a1dea2b.76223e","name":"","func":"msg.payload = msg.payload.split(\"settings =\",1)[0].split(\"variants =\")[1].replace(/'/g,'\"');\nreturn msg;","outputs":1,"noerr":0,"initialize":"","finalize":"","x":430,"y":140,"wires":[["74de736f.8651bc","90e09665.2d0b98"]]},{"id":"74de736f.8651bc","type":"json","z":"a1dea2b.76223e","name":"","property":"payload","action":"","pretty":false,"x":510,"y":220,"wires":[["90e09665.2d0b98"]]},{"id":"90e09665.2d0b98","type":"debug","z":"a1dea2b.76223e","name":"","active":true,"tosidebar":true,"console":false,"tostatus":false,"complete":"false","statusVal":"","statusType":"auto","x":680,"y":160,"wires":[]}]

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![invinciberry](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/invinciberry/32/32263_2.png) [@invinciberry](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/invinciberry)\
**Post date:** [19 November 2020 21:38 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/convert-string-to-object/36209/6 "2020-11-19T21:38:32Z")

</div>

WOW! It works! Please give me a bit more explanation.  
From what I understand, by replacing ' with ", the build-in JSON parser will be able to understand the script? How? Is it because it was JavaScript not JSON? Sorry my terminology and understanding of JavaScript and JSON are very limited.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![E1cid](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/e1cid/32/77971_2.png) [@E1cid](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/E1cid)\
**Post date:** [19 November 2020 21:42 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/convert-string-to-object/36209/7 "2020-11-19T21:42:29Z")

</div>

first i split the returned http request text on "settings =" and retuned the first value.  
then i split that returned value on "varients =" and returned the last value.  
As ' are not valid json , i then replaced them all with ", making it a valid json string.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![invinciberry](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/invinciberry/32/32263_2.png) [@invinciberry](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/invinciberry)\
**Post date:** [19 November 2020 21:55 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/convert-string-to-object/36209/8 "2020-11-19T21:55:22Z")

</div>

> [@E1cid](#):
>
> "settings ="

Why do you put .split("settings =",1)? So it only split once incase there are other "settings ="?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![E1cid](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/e1cid/32/77971_2.png) [@E1cid](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/E1cid)\
**Post date:** [19 November 2020 22:23 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/convert-string-to-object/36209/9 "2020-11-19T22:23:13Z")

</div>

yes only the first is needed, waste of time letting it continue, it could be omitted, just a preference.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/1X/d073cd938eafa2e558d7c2cd59003b3ef4963033.png) [@system](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/system)\
**Post date:** [18 January 2021 22:23 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/convert-string-to-object/36209/10 "2021-01-18T22:23:23Z")

</div>

Closed on 18 January 2021 22:23 UTC

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