parse JSON and ScriptingReferences question

[alan_smithee]

Edit
I made this edit so in case anyone is in the same position as me I hopes this info will help you.

If you wan't to parse JSON and get neatly readable text you need to deserialize it.
You can use the already built in JavaScriptSerializer or you can use Newtonsoft JSON.NET .

For the JavaScriptSerializer you need to shutdown HS3 and edit the settings.ini file location in HomeSeer/Config/
Edit of add this line just before the [Display] line
ScriptingReferences=System.Web.Script.Serialization;System.W eb.Extensions.dll

For Newtonsoft you also need to shutdown HS3 and edit the settings.ini file location in HomeSeer/Config/
Edit of add this line just before the [Display] line
ScriptingReferences=Newtonsoft.Json;Newtonsoft.Json.dll
And add the Newtonsoft.Json.dll in the root directory of Homeseer. I got my Newtonsoft.Json.dll copy from /Homeseer/bin/homeseer/

If your JSON string looks like this

{
    "UPTIME": "UNKNOWN",
    "VERSION ": 2.0,
    "SENDTIME": "03:33:52",
    "SENDDATE": "28- 12-2012",
    "HOSTNAME": "My-PC"
}

You can easily get each value

Imports Newtonsoft.Json
Imports Newtonsoft.Json.Linq

Sub Main(params as object)

Dim json As String
Dim version As String
Dim uptime As String
Dim obj As New Object

json = "{""UPTIME"": ""UNKNOWN"", ""VERSION"": 2.0, ""SENDTIME"": ""03:33:52"",  ""SENDDATE"": ""28- 12-2012"", ""HOSTNAME"": ""My-PC""}"

obj = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(json)
uptime = obj.Item("UPTIME").ToString
version = obj.Item("VERSION").ToString

hs.WriteLog("Thinking cleaner Status", uptime)
hs.WriteLog("Thinking cleaner Status", version)

end sub

https://forums.homeseer.com/forum/homeseer-products-services/system-software-controllers/hs3-hs3pro-software/hs3-pro-beta-releases/85649-json-deserialize-in-hs3-scripts-solved?t=172336&highlight=json

However If your string looks like this.

{
"Venue": {
    "ID": 3145,
    "Name": "Big Venue, Clapton",
    "NameWithTown": "Big Venue, Clapton, London",
    "NameWithDestination": "Big Venue, Clapton, London",
    "ListingType": "A",
    "Address": {
        "Address1": "Clapton Raod",
        "Address2": "",
        "Town": "Clapton",
        "County": "Greater London",
        "Postcode": "PO1 1ST",
        "Country": "United Kingdom",
        "Region": "Europe"
    },
    "ResponseStatus": {
        "ErrorCode": "200",
        "Message": "OK"
    }
}
}

The JSON_result is wrapped in another property named "Venue"

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/21676708/simple-working-example-of-json-net-in-vb-net

So you need to create a class

Public Class Container
    Public Venue As JSON_result
End Class

Public Class JSON_result
    Public ID As Integer
    Public Name As String
    Public NameWithTown As String
    Public NameWithDestination As String
    Public ListingType As String
End Class

Dim obj = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(Of Container)(...your_json...)

This site let's you check you JSON string and make it more readable
https://jsonlint.com

This site creates all the public classes you JSON string needs
http://jsonutils.com

I hopes this helps someone else

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Original post

I've been reading a lot of topics but I still have several questions.

I want to parse a JSON string and if I'm correct there are two ways to do it
With Newtonsoft and the JavaScriptSerializer.

The Newtonsoft needs the Newtonsoft.Json.dll which is located in the /HomeSeer/bin/homeseer/ directory
The JavaScriptSerializer needs the System.Web.Extensions.dll (which you need to import yourself under /HomeSeer/bin/scripting
If you use the System.Web.Extensions.dll you need to edit your settings.ini file and add the following line

ScriptingReferences=System.Web.Extensions.dll

If the above info is incorrect please let me know

Ok now the questions;
When I edit the settings.ini and add the ScriptingReferences line, the line disappears after I restarted Homeseer and I don't see anything in the log.
Is this method still used and I'm I using the syntax correct?
In an other thread I see they use this line

ScriptingReferences=Newtonsoft.Json;C:"Program Files (x86)\HomeSeer HS3"\Bin\Newtonsoft.Json.dll

Do I need the full path?
Can I use this under Linux (/HomeSeer/bin/Newtonsoft.Json.dll)?

If Newtonsoft is already include in Homeseer why do I need to edit the settings.ini file?

Does anyone have a working code for the Newtonsoft method (I've read that this method is a lot faster)?

I've ran this script

IMPORTS Newtonsoft.Json
IMPORTS Newtonsoft.Json.Linq

Sub Main(ByVal Parms As Object)

Dim strReturn As String = "{}"

Dim obj as New JObject

obj = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject(strReturn)

End Sub

Then I get this error:

  
Error    Compiling script /etc/HomeSeer/scripts/Test/test.vb: 'JObject' is not declared. It may be inaccessible due to its protection level.
Error    Compiling script /etc/HomeSeer/scripts/Test/test.vb: The import 'Newtonsoft.Json.Linq' could not be found.
Error    Compiling script /etc/HomeSeer/scripts/Test/test.vb: The import 'Newtonsoft.Json' could not be found.
Error    Compiling script /etc/HomeSeer/scripts/Test/test.vb: The import 'System.Core' could not be

Imports System.Web.Script.Serialization

Sub Main(ByVal Parms As Object)

Dim json As New JavaScriptSerialize  

End Sub

With this error:

    
Error    Compiling script /etc/HomeSeer/scripts/Test/test.vb: 'JavaScriptSerialize' is not declared. It may be inaccessible due to its protection level.
Error    Compiling script /etc/HomeSeer/scripts/Test/test.vb: The import 'System.Web.Script.Serialization' could not be found.
Error    Compiling script /etc/HomeSeer/scripts/Test/test.vb: The import 'System.Core' could not be found.

[joegr]

I've been reading a lot of topics but I still have several questions.

I want to parse a JSON string and if I'm correct there are two ways to do it
With Newtonsoft and the JavaScriptSerializer.

The Newtonsoft needs the Newtonsoft.Json.dll which is located in the /HomeSeer/bin/homeseer/ directory
The JavaScriptSerializer needs the System.Web.Extensions.dll (which you need to import yourself under /HomeSeer/bin/scripting
If you use the System.Web.Extensions.dll you need to edit your settings.ini file and add the following line

ScriptingReferences=System.Web.Extensions.dll

If the above info is incorrect please let me know

Ok now the questions;
When I edit the settings.ini and add the ScriptingReferences line, the line disappears after I restarted Homeseer and I don't see anything in the log.
Is this method still used and I'm I using the syntax correct?
In an other thread I see they use this line

...

I have "ScriptingReferences=System.Web.Script.Serialization;System. Web.Extensions.dll", but I don't know that it won't work as you have it. I have it as the last line in the settings group, just before the display group.
You have to shut HS3 down to make any changes to the settings.ini file, AFAIK.

[alan_smithee]

I have "ScriptingReferences=System.Web.Script.Serialization;System. Web.Extensions.dll", but I don't know that it won't work as you have it. I have it as the last line in the settings group, just before the display group.
You have to shut HS3 down to make any changes to the settings.ini file, AFAIK.

Ah ok first shutdown HS3 and then edit the settings.ini works. The config now stays in the file. Thank you for that info.

However I still get the same error when I run the script.

ScriptingReferences=System.Web.Script.Serialization;System.Web.Extensions.dll

I placed the System.Web.Extensions.dll file in /HomeSeer/bin/scripting/ directory

Imports System.Web.Script.Serialization

Sub Main(ByVal Parms As Object)

Dim json As New JavaScriptSerialize  

End Sub

Error:

Error    Compiling script /etc/HomeSeer/scripts/Test/test.vb: 'JavaScriptSerialize' is not declared. It may be inaccessible due to its protection level.
Error    Compiling script /etc/HomeSeer/scripts/Test/test.vb: The import 'System.Core' could not be found.

[joegr]

Try changing it to
Dim json As New JavaScriptSerializer

[jon00]

Rather than:

Dim json As New JavaScriptSerialize

I think It should be:

Dim json As New JavaScriptSerializer()

[alan_smithee]

Rather than:

Dim json As New JavaScriptSerialize

I think It should be:

Dim json As New JavaScriptSerializer()

Yes that's it. Thank you!

One other question though, why do most scripts still use JavaScriptSerializer instead of the Newtonsoft? I've read that Newtonsoft is faster.

[jon00]

JavaScriptSerializer is built-in to .NET so no external dll file is required. Newtonsoft.dll is used by HomeSeer & many plugins. Each instance must to be referenced separately outside the HomeSeer root folder and many plugins are compiled against different versions of the dll. For a script, this would have to be done via the scriptingreferences entry and all scripts would have to use that reference.

For JSON parsing in a script, I don't think speed is an issue.

[alan_smithee]

JavaScriptSerializer is built-in to .NET so no external dll file is required. Newtonsoft.dll is used by HomeSeer & many plugins. Each instance must to be referenced separately outside the HomeSeer root folder and many plugins are compiled against different versions of the dll. For a script, this would have to be done via the scriptingreferences entry and all scripts would have to use that reference.

For JSON parsing in a script, I don't think speed is an issue.

Ok, thank you for clearing that up.