Using JSON in the Google Data Protocol
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Warning: This page is about Google's older APIs, the Google Data APIs; it's relevant only to the APIs that are listed in the Google Data APIs directory, many of which have been replaced with newer APIs. For information about a specific new API, see the new API's documentation. For information about authorizing requests with a newer API, see Google Accounts Authentication and Authorization.
This article covers JSON as it is used within the Google Data Protocol. For more
information about the protocol, view the Developer's Guide.
You can use JSON with any programming language, but the examples in this document are in JavaScript.
About JSON feeds and XML feeds
A Google Data service creates a JSON-format feed by converting the XML feed using the following rules:
Basic
- The feed is represented as a JSON object; each nested element
or attribute is represented as a name/value property of the object.
- Attributes are converted to String properties.
- Child elements are converted to Object properties.
- Elements that may appear more than once are converted to Array properties.
- Text values of tags are converted to
$t properties.
Namespace
- If an element has a namespace alias, the alias and element are concatenated
using "$". For example,
ns:element becomes ns$element.
XML
- XML version and encoding attributes are converted to version and encoding attributes of the root element, respectively.
The following example shows XML and JSON versions of the same feed. They are tabbed to provide easy comparison.
XML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
xmlns:openSearch="http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/"
xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005"
xmlns:gCal="http://schemas.google.com/gCal/2005">
<id>...</id>
<updated>2006-11-12T21:25:30.000Z</updated>
<title type="text">Google Developer Events</title>
<subtitle type="text">The calendar contains information about upcoming
developer conferences at which Google will be speaking, along with
other developer-related events.</subtitle>
<link rel="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed"
type="application/atom+xml" href="..." />
<link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="..." />
<author>
<name>Google Developer Calendar</name>
<email>developer-calendar@google.com</email>
</author>
<generator version="1.0"
uri="http://www.google.com/calendar">Google Calendar</generator>
<openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex>
<openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage>
<gCal:timezone value="America/Los_Angeles" />
<entry>
<id>...</id>
<published>2006-11-12T21:25:30.000Z</published>
<updated>2006-11-12T21:25:30.000Z</updated>
<category scheme="..." term="..." />
<title type="text">WebmasterWorld PubCon 2006:
Google Developer Tools in General</title>
<content type="text">Google is sponsoring at
<a href="http://www.pubcon.com/">WebmasterWorld PubCon 2006</a>. Come and
visit us at the booth or join us for an evening demo reception where we
will be talking "5 ways to enhance your website with Google Code".
After all, it is Vegas, baby! See you soon.</content>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="..." title="alternate" />
<link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="..." />
<author>
<name>Google Developer Calendar</name>
<email>developer-calendar@google.com</email>
</author>
<gCal:sendEventNotifications value="true" />
<gd:comments>
<gd:feedLink href="..." />
</gd:comments>
<gd:transparency value="..." />
<gd:eventStatus value="..." />
<gd:where valueString="3150 Paradise Road, Las Vegas, NV 89109" />
<gd:when startTime="2006-11-15" endTime="2006-11-17">
<gd:reminder minutes="10" />
</gd:when>
</entry>
...
</feed>
JSON
{
"version": "1.0",
"encoding": "UTF-8",
"feed": {
"xmlns": "http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom",
"xmlns$openSearch": "http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/",
"xmlns$gd": "http://schemas.google.com/g/2005",
"xmlns$gCal": "http://schemas.google.com/gCal/2005",
"id": {"$t": "..."},
"updated": {"$t": "2006-11-12T21:25:30.000Z"},
"title": {
"type": "text",
"$t": "Google Developer Events"
},
"subtitle": {
"type": "text",
"$t": "The calendar contains information about upcoming developer
conferences at which Google will be speaking, along with other
developer-related events."
},
"link": [{
"rel": "...",
"type": "application/atom+xml",
"href": "..."
},{
"rel": "self",
"type": "application/atom+xml",
"href": "..."
}],
"author": [{
"name": {"$t": "Google Developer Calendar"},
"email": {"$t": "developer-calendar@google.com"}
}],
"generator":{
"version": "1.0",
"uri": "http://www.google.com/calendar",
"$t": "Google Calendar"
},
"openSearch$startIndex": {"$t": "1"},
"openSearch$itemsPerPage": {"$t": "25"},
"gCal$timezone": {"value": "America/Los_Angeles"},
"entry": [{
"id": {"$t": "..."},
"published": {"$t": "2006-11-12T21:25:30.000Z"},
"updated": {"$t": "2006-11-12T21:25:30.000Z"},
"category": [{
"scheme": "...",
"term": "..."
}],
"title":{
"type": "text",
"$t": "WebmasterWorld PubCon 2006: Google Developer Tools in General"
},
"content": {
"type": "text",
"$t": "Google is sponsoring at
<a href="http://www.pubcon.com/">WebmasterWorld PubCon 2006</a>.
\nCome and visit us at the booth or join us for an evening demo
reception where we will be talking "5 ways to enhance your website
with Google Code".\nAfter all,\nit is Vegas, baby! See you soon."
},
"link": [{
"rel": "alternate",
"type": "text/html",
"href": "...",
"title": "alternate"
},{
"rel": "self",
"type": "application/atom+xml",
"href": "..."
}],
"author": [{
"name": {"$t": "Google Developer Calendar"},
"email": {"$t": "developer-calendar@google.com"}
}],
"gd$transparency": {"value": "http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#event.opaque"},
"gd$eventStatus": {"value": "http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#event.confirmed"},
"gd$comments": {"gd$feedLink": {"href": "..."}},
"gCal$sendEventNotifications": {"value": "true"},
"gd$when": [{
"startTime": "2006-11-15",
"endTime": "2006-11-17",
"gd$reminder": [{"minutes": "10"}]
}],
"gd$where": [{"valueString": "3150 Paradise Road,Las Vegas,NV 89109"}]},
}]
}
}
Requesting and using JSON feeds
Atom is Google Data's default format. If you don't specify an alt parameter in
your request, then you receive an Atom feed.
Note: The Google Data client libraries don't currently support JSON.
JSON output
To request a response in JSON format, use the alt=json parameter.
For example, to request Google's developer calendar feed in JSON format, send the following query:
http://www.google.com/calendar/feeds/developer-calendar@google.com/public/full?alt=json
JSON-in-script output
To request a response that wraps JSON in a script tag, use the alt=json-in-script
parameter and add a callback function by adding the callback=functionName parameter.
http://www.google.com/calendar/feeds/developer-calendar@google.com/public/full?alt=json-in-script&callback=myFunction
Using callback functions allows you get around some of the cross-domain
security issues you might encounter in typical client side JavaScript. Usually
browsers prevent you from loading files across domains because of potential
security holes and the cross domain attacks that could result.
The JSON-in-script format allows you to get around these restrictions by
loading the response in a script tag on the client. This means that you
can use the response in other places in your JavaScript code on that page.
The JSON output is loaded when the page is loaded; no other tricks are needed.
The simple working application below demonstrates this technique:
<h3>Upcoming Google Developer Events</h3>
<div id="agenda"></div>
<script>
function listEvents(root) {
var feed = root.feed;
var entries = feed.entry || [];
var html = ['<ul>'];
for (var i = 0; i < entries.length; ++i) {
var entry = entries[i];
var title = (entry.title.type == 'html') ? entry.title.$t : escape(entry.title.$t);
var start = (entry['gd$when']) ? entry['gd$when'][0].startTime : "";
html.push('<li>', start, ' ', title, '</li>');
}
html.push('</ul>');
document.getElementById("agenda").innerHTML = html.join("");
}
</script>
<script src="http://www.google.com/calendar/feeds/developer-calendar@google.com/public/full?alt=json-in-script&callback=listEvents">
</script>
Samples
For working examples of how to use JSON with the Google Data APIs, see the samples page.
Additional resources
There are several external resources that you may want to check out to learn more about JSON and using JSON in web applications.
Back to top
Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, and code samples are licensed under the Apache 2.0 License. For details, see the Google Developers Site Policies. Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
Last updated 2024-08-08 UTC.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2024-08-08 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eThis document explains how to use JSON with the older Google Data APIs to request and utilize data feeds.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eGoogle Data services can provide data in JSON format by converting XML feeds using specific rules for elements, attributes, and namespaces.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eTo request JSON output, use the \u003ccode\u003ealt=json\u003c/code\u003e parameter in your API request URL.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFor JSON wrapped in a script tag (useful for cross-domain requests), use \u003ccode\u003ealt=json-in-script\u003c/code\u003e and a callback function with \u003ccode\u003ecallback=*functionName*\u003c/code\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe provided JavaScript example demonstrates fetching and displaying Google Calendar event data using JSON-in-script.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["**Warning** : This page is about Google's older APIs, the Google Data APIs; it's relevant only to the APIs that are listed in the [Google Data APIs directory](/gdata/docs/directory), many of which have been replaced with newer APIs. For information about a specific new API, see the new API's documentation. For information about authorizing requests with a newer API, see [Google Accounts Authentication and Authorization](/accounts).\n\nThis article covers JSON as it is used within the Google Data Protocol. For more\ninformation about the protocol, view the [Developer's Guide](/gdata/docs/developers-guide).\n\nYou can use JSON with any programming language, but the examples in this document are in JavaScript.\n\nAbout JSON feeds and XML feeds\n\nA Google Data service creates a JSON-format feed by converting the XML feed using the following rules:\n\n**Basic**\n\n- The feed is represented as a JSON object; each nested element or attribute is represented as a name/value property of the object.\n- Attributes are converted to String properties.\n- Child elements are converted to Object properties.\n- Elements that may appear more than once are converted to Array properties.\n- Text values of tags are converted to `$t` properties.\n\n**Namespace**\n\n- If an element has a namespace alias, the alias and element are concatenated using \"$\". For example, `ns:element` becomes `ns$element`.\n\n**XML**\n\n- XML version and encoding attributes are converted to version and encoding attributes of the root element, respectively.\n\nThe following example shows XML and JSON versions of the same feed. They are tabbed to provide easy comparison. \n\nXML \n\n```\n\u003c?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\" ?\u003e\n\u003cfeed xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom\"\n xmlns:openSearch=\"http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/\"\n xmlns:gd=\"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005\"\n xmlns:gCal=\"http://schemas.google.com/gCal/2005\"\u003e\n \u003cid\u003e...\u003c/id\u003e\n \u003cupdated\u003e2006-11-12T21:25:30.000Z\u003c/updated\u003e\n \u003ctitle type=\"text\"\u003eGoogle Developer Events\u003c/title\u003e\n \u003csubtitle type=\"text\"\u003eThe calendar contains information about upcoming\n developer conferences at which Google will be speaking, along with\n other developer-related events.\u003c/subtitle\u003e\n \u003clink rel=\"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed\"\n type=\"application/atom+xml\" href=\"...\" /\u003e\n \u003clink rel=\"self\" type=\"application/atom+xml\" href=\"...\" /\u003e\n \u003cauthor\u003e\n \u003cname\u003eGoogle Developer Calendar\u003c/name\u003e\n \u003cemail\u003edeveloper-calendar@google.com\u003c/email\u003e\n \u003c/author\u003e\n \u003cgenerator version=\"1.0\"\n uri=\"http://www.google.com/calendar\"\u003eGoogle Calendar\u003c/generator\u003e\n \u003copenSearch:startIndex\u003e1\u003c/openSearch:startIndex\u003e\n \u003copenSearch:itemsPerPage\u003e25\u003c/openSearch:itemsPerPage\u003e\n \u003cgCal:timezone value=\"America/Los_Angeles\" /\u003e\n \n \u003centry\u003e\n \u003cid\u003e...\u003c/id\u003e\n \u003cpublished\u003e2006-11-12T21:25:30.000Z\u003c/published\u003e\n \u003cupdated\u003e2006-11-12T21:25:30.000Z\u003c/updated\u003e\n \u003ccategory scheme=\"...\" term=\"...\" /\u003e\n \u003ctitle type=\"text\"\u003eWebmasterWorld PubCon 2006:\n Google Developer Tools in General\u003c/title\u003e\n \u003ccontent type=\"text\"\u003eGoogle is sponsoring at \n \u003ca href=\"http://www.pubcon.com/\"\u003eWebmasterWorld PubCon 2006\u003c/a\u003e. Come and\n visit us at the booth or join us for an evening demo reception where we\n will be talking \"5 ways to enhance your website with Google Code\". \n After all, it is Vegas, baby! See you soon.\u003c/content\u003e\n \u003clink rel=\"alternate\" type=\"text/html\" href=\"...\" title=\"alternate\" /\u003e\n \u003clink rel=\"self\" type=\"application/atom+xml\" href=\"...\" /\u003e\n \u003cauthor\u003e\n \u003cname\u003eGoogle Developer Calendar\u003c/name\u003e\n \u003cemail\u003edeveloper-calendar@google.com\u003c/email\u003e\n \u003c/author\u003e\n \u003cgCal:sendEventNotifications value=\"true\" /\u003e\n \u003cgd:comments\u003e\n \u003cgd:feedLink href=\"...\" /\u003e\n \u003c/gd:comments\u003e\n \u003cgd:transparency value=\"...\" /\u003e\n \u003cgd:eventStatus value=\"...\" /\u003e\n \u003cgd:where valueString=\"3150 Paradise Road, Las Vegas, NV 89109\" /\u003e\n \u003cgd:when startTime=\"2006-11-15\" endTime=\"2006-11-17\"\u003e\n \u003cgd:reminder minutes=\"10\" /\u003e\n \u003c/gd:when\u003e\n \u003c/entry\u003e\n ...\n\u003c/feed\u003e\n \n```\n\nJSON \n\n```\n{\n \"version\": \"1.0\",\n \"encoding\": \"UTF-8\",\n \"feed\": {\n \"xmlns\": \"http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom\",\n \"xmlns$openSearch\": \"http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/\",\n \"xmlns$gd\": \"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005\",\n \"xmlns$gCal\": \"http://schemas.google.com/gCal/2005\",\n \"id\": {\"$t\": \"...\"},\n \"updated\": {\"$t\": \"2006-11-12T21:25:30.000Z\"},\n \"title\": {\n \"type\": \"text\",\n \"$t\": \"Google Developer Events\"\n },\n \"subtitle\": {\n \"type\": \"text\",\n \"$t\": \"The calendar contains information about upcoming developer \n conferences at which Google will be speaking, along with other \n developer-related events.\"\n },\n \"link\": [{\n \"rel\": \"...\",\n \"type\": \"application/atom+xml\",\n \"href\": \"...\"\n },{\n \"rel\": \"self\",\n \"type\": \"application/atom+xml\",\n \"href\": \"...\"\n }],\n \"author\": [{\n \"name\": {\"$t\": \"Google Developer Calendar\"},\n \"email\": {\"$t\": \"developer-calendar@google.com\"}\n }],\n \"generator\":{\n \"version\": \"1.0\",\n \"uri\": \"http://www.google.com/calendar\",\n \"$t\": \"Google Calendar\"\n },\n \"openSearch$startIndex\": {\"$t\": \"1\"},\n \"openSearch$itemsPerPage\": {\"$t\": \"25\"},\n \"gCal$timezone\": {\"value\": \"America/Los_Angeles\"},\n\n \"entry\": [{\n \"id\": {\"$t\": \"...\"},\n \"published\": {\"$t\": \"2006-11-12T21:25:30.000Z\"},\n \"updated\": {\"$t\": \"2006-11-12T21:25:30.000Z\"},\n \"category\": [{\n \"scheme\": \"...\",\n \"term\": \"...\"\n }],\n \"title\":{\n \"type\": \"text\",\n \"$t\": \"WebmasterWorld PubCon 2006: Google Developer Tools in General\"\n },\n \"content\": {\n \"type\": \"text\",\n \"$t\": \"Google is sponsoring at\n \u003ca href=\"http://www.pubcon.com/\"\u003eWebmasterWorld PubCon 2006\u003c/a\u003e.\n \\nCome and visit us at the booth or join us for an evening demo\n reception where we will be talking \"5 ways to enhance your website\n with Google Code\".\\nAfter all,\\nit is Vegas, baby! See you soon.\"\n },\n \"link\": [{\n \"rel\": \"alternate\",\n \"type\": \"text/html\",\n \"href\": \"...\",\n \"title\": \"alternate\"\n },{\n \"rel\": \"self\",\n \"type\": \"application/atom+xml\",\n\t \"href\": \"...\"\n }],\n \"author\": [{\n \"name\": {\"$t\": \"Google Developer Calendar\"},\n \"email\": {\"$t\": \"developer-calendar@google.com\"}\n }],\n \"gd$transparency\": {\"value\": \"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#event.opaque\"},\n \"gd$eventStatus\": {\"value\": \"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#event.confirmed\"},\n \"gd$comments\": {\"gd$feedLink\": {\"href\": \"...\"}},\n \"gCal$sendEventNotifications\": {\"value\": \"true\"},\n \"gd$when\": [{\n \"startTime\": \"2006-11-15\",\n \"endTime\": \"2006-11-17\",\n \"gd$reminder\": [{\"minutes\": \"10\"}]\n }],\n \"gd$where\": [{\"valueString\": \"3150 Paradise Road,Las Vegas,NV 89109\"}]},\n }]\n }\n}\n```\n\nRequesting and using JSON feeds\n\nAtom is Google Data's default format. If you don't specify an `alt` parameter in\nyour request, then you receive an Atom feed.\n\n**Note**: The Google Data client libraries don't currently support JSON.\n\nJSON output\n\nTo request a response in JSON format, use the `alt=json` parameter.\n\nFor example, to request Google's developer calendar feed in JSON format, send the following query: \n\n```\nhttp://www.google.com/calendar/feeds/developer-calendar@google.com/public/full?alt=json\n```\n\nJSON-in-script output\n\nTo request a response that wraps JSON in a script tag, use the `alt=json-in-script`\nparameter and add a callback function by adding the `callback=`*functionName* parameter. \n\n```\nhttp://www.google.com/calendar/feeds/developer-calendar@google.com/public/full?alt=json-in-script&callback=myFunction\n```\n\nUsing callback functions allows you get around some of the cross-domain\nsecurity issues you might encounter in typical client side JavaScript. Usually\nbrowsers prevent you from loading files across domains because of potential\nsecurity holes and the cross domain attacks that could result.\n\nThe JSON-in-script format allows you to get around these restrictions by\nloading the response in a script tag on the client. This means that you\ncan use the response in other places in your JavaScript code on that page.\nThe JSON output is loaded when the page is loaded; no other tricks are needed.\n\nThe simple working application below demonstrates this technique: \n\n```\n\u003ch3\u003eUpcoming Google Developer Events\u003c/h3\u003e\n\n\u003cdiv id=\"agenda\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\u003cscript\u003e\n function listEvents(root) {\n var feed = root.feed;\n var entries = feed.entry || [];\n var html = ['\u003cul\u003e'];\n\n for (var i = 0; i \u003c entries.length; ++i) {\n var entry = entries[i];\n var title = (entry.title.type == 'html') ? entry.title.$t : escape(entry.title.$t);\n var start = (entry['gd$when']) ? entry['gd$when'][0].startTime : \"\";\t\n\n html.push('\u003cli\u003e', start, ' ', title, '\u003c/li\u003e');\n }\n\n html.push('\u003c/ul\u003e');\n document.getElementById(\"agenda\").innerHTML = html.join(\"\");\n }\n\u003c/script\u003e\n\n\u003cscript src=\"http://www.google.com/calendar/feeds/developer-calendar@google.com/public/full?alt=json-in-script&callback=listEvents\"\u003e\n\u003c/script\u003e\n```\n\nSamples\n\nFor working examples of how to use JSON with the Google Data APIs, see the [samples](/gdata/samples) page.\n\nAdditional resources\n\nThere are several external resources that you may want to check out to learn more about JSON and using JSON in web applications.\n\n- [JSON.org](http://www.json.org/)\n- [Wikipedia entry on JSON](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JSON)\n- [JSON: The Fat Free Alternative\n to XML](http://www.json.org/xml.html)\n\n[Back to top](#top)"]]
