How to parse a javascript file that contains json data stored in a variable?

Question

I was wondering how can I extract the JSON data from a javascript file. The javascript is intended to be used as a config file and contains one variable with JSON data in it. This is similar to the require-config.js file used in Magento 2, just for reference. It looks something like this:

var config = {
    fieldsets : [
        {
            title :  'Quote Essentials',
            description : 'Some',
            fields : [
                {
                    label : 'What type of project is this for?',
                    required : true,
                    class : '',
                    type : 'input',
                    inputType : 'text',
                    hint : 'For example: company uniforms, clothing line, school events, etc.',
                    id : ''
                },
                {
                    label : 'How many total items do you need?',
                    required : true,
                    class : '',
                    type : 'input',
                    inputType : 'text',
                    hint : 'Please note: the minimum order size is 24 pieces.',
                    id : ''
                },
...

I know , it is a javascript file that has a variable that contains json data. — faniva
– faniva, Commented Aug 24, 2017 at 13:34
@Andy yes, true. My bad for saying is json. and I have a client side script that would read this file and parse the javascript object — faniva
– faniva, Commented Aug 24, 2017 at 13:37

Andy · Accepted Answer · 2017-08-26 13:16:47Z

If you're accessing this server-side you can export the config

module.exports = {
  fieldset: [ ... ]
}

and require it

const config = require('./config.js');

If you're trying to access it on the client-side, just place the config script before the scripts that access it and you'll be able to access it like you would any other object:

config.fieldset...

One problem with this is that you're adding the config variable directly to window and by doing this you might be over-writing an existing config variable. Probably unlikely, but a way to mitigate this is to provide a namespace for your code so you don't pollute the global namespace and the code becomes more modularised. WRT to your config file, your namespace technique might work like this:

// Semi-colon to prevent minify issues
// Pass `window` into the immediately-invoked function expression
// as an argument
;(function (window) {

   // config is local to this function and can't leak    
   var config = { ... };

   // If the `app` variable isn't available, create it
   window.app = window.app || {};

   // Add config to the app namespace
   window.app.config = config;

})();

And you can do something similar to the rest of your code.

You would access the config with app.config.fieldset....

Hope that helps.

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