a!fromJson() Function

Converts a JSON string into an Appian value.

Syntax

a!fromJson( jsonText )

  • jsonText (Text): The text to convert from a JSON string to an Appian value.

Returns

One of: Dictionary, List of Integer, List of Decimal, List of Text, List of Dictionary, List of Boolean, List of Variant

Automatic casting

Certain JSON formats will be converted to Appian Data Types. See the following table for a list of the JSON formats and their associated data types.

JSON Format Appian Date Type
String Date (when supported date format is found)
Date and Time (when supported datetime format is found)
Text (when no supported date or datetime format is found)
Number Decimal (when number is a decimal)
Integer (when number is an integer that fits in a signed 32-bit integer)
Text (when number is an integer that doesn’t fit in a signed 32-bit integer, such as 64-bit integers)
Object Dictionary
Array List of Variant
Boolean Boolean
Null null (Text)

See the example below for an example of how these values are converted.

Date and datetime formats

If the JSON text includes fields that match the following date and datetime formats, they will be automatically detected and converted to the appropriate Date or Date and Time data type. The following table lists the supported date and datetime formats that will be converted to Appian data types.

Supported Format Example
ISO Date 2019-03-25
Date with UTC Timezone 2019-03-25Z
Datetime without Timezone 2019-03-25T20:17:46
UTC Datetime 2019-03-25T20:17:46Z
UTC Datetime without Seconds 2019-03-25T20:17Z
UTC Datetime with Decimal Fraction of a Second 2019-03-25T20:17:46.384Z
Offset Datetime 2019-03-25T20:17:46+01:00
Offset Datetime Hour Only 2019-03-25T20:17:46+01
Offset Datetime No Colon 2019-03-25T20:17:46+0100
Offset Datetime with ZoneId 2019-03-25T20:17:46+01:00[Europe/Paris]

Note that the Appian Date and Time data type does not include seconds. If the JSON field includes seconds, it will be ignored.

Also, if a timezone is not explicitly stated, it is assumed to be in Universal Time Coordinated (UTC)/Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). However, it is adjusted to the logged in user's time zone (accounting for daylight saving time) when displayed.

For example 2019-03-25T20:17:46 displays as 3/25/2019 4:17 PM EDT for a user whose time zone is set to (UTC-05:00) Eastern Time (America/New_York) and 3/25/2019 8:17 PM GMT+00:00 for a user whose time zone is set to Use system default: (UTC) Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). See Appian Data Types for more information about how Date and Time data types are displayed.

Example

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
a!fromJson("[{
  ""transId"":9223372036854775807,
  ""submitTimeUTC"":""2019-07-16T14:52:26Z"",
  ""submitTimeLocal"":""2019-07-16T07:52:26"",
  ""transactionOk"":true,
  ""accountType"":""Visa"",
  ""accountNumber"":123456,
  ""settleAmount"":412.97,
  ""product"":"""",
  ""marketType"":[""Business"",""Clothing"",""Child""]
}]")

Returns

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
List of Dictionary: 1 item
    Dictionary
        /*64-Bit Integer converted to Text*/
        transId: "9223372036854775807"
        /*UTC Datetime without Seconds converted to Date and Time*/
        submitTimeUTC: 7/16/2019 10:52 AM EDT
        /*Datetime without Timezone converted to Date and Time*/
        submitTimeLocal: 7/16/2019 3:52 AM EDT
        /*Boolean data type*/
        transactionOk: true
        /*Text data type*/
        accountType: "Visa"
        /*Number(Integer) data type*/
        accountNumber: 123456
        /*Number(Decimal) data type*/
        settleAmount: 412.97
        /*Null value*/
        product: null (Text)
        /*Array*/
        marketType: List of Text String: 3 items
            "Business"
            "Clothing"
            "Child"

Old versions

There are older versions of this function. You can identify older versions by looking at the name to see if there is a version suffix. If you are using an old version, be sure to refer to the corresponding documentation from the list below.

Old Versions Reason for Update
a!fromJson_19r2

Now automatically converts date and datetime fields to the appropriate Date and Date and Time data types instead of a string. Also converts 64-bit integers to string instead of returning null.

To learn more about how Appian handles this kind of versioning, see the Function and Component Versions page.

Open in Github Built: Wed, Aug 17, 2022 (01:05:05 PM)

On This Page

FEEDBACK