JSON and java.util.Date

[feanor]

Hi,

I have been using JSON-lib for some time now to convert Java beans to JSON for using in some client-side JavaScript.  It works great!  Kudos!

I have a question regarding the transformation of java.util.Date to JSON.  JSON-lib currently transforms the java.util.Date as such:

"theDate":{"month":4,"day":5,"year":104,"time":1083902400000,"seconds":0,"timezoneOffset":240,"date":7,"hours":0,"minutes":0}

This is correct, but makes life on the JavaScript side a bit more complicated since "theDate" will not be converted to a JavaScript date upon eval().  Looking at Crockford json library in JavaScript, it turns a JavaScript date into "fullYear-month-dateTHours:minutes:seconds".

Is there anyway in JSON-lib to convert a java.util.Date to JSON in a format like the one above?  If not, any plans to support this type of behavior in a future revision?

Thanks.

[aalmiray]

Hi feanor,

As you have noticed, the java.util.Date serialization is pretty straight forward in the sense that any Date is treated as
a java bean. In the next major version of Json-lib it will be possible to plug-in custom serialization so this kind of
issues will be solved.

Thanks for using the lib, do not hesitate to send a feature request or bug!

Cheers,
Andres

[feanor]

Andres,

Thanks for your response.
That is good news.  A plug-in capability would be perfect.

Keep up the good work.

[Genius Zeng]

how to use
JsDateJsonValueProcessor,JsDateJsonBeanProcessor,
jsonConfig.registerJsonBeanProcessor,jsonConfig.registerJsonValueProcessor
please show me a example.
i am using json-lib-2.0-jdk15.jar

i use like:

JsonConfig jsonConfig = JsonConfig.getInstance();
//jsonConfig.registerJsonBeanProcessor(Date.class, new JsDateJsonBeanProcessor());
jsonConfig.registerJsonValueProcessor(java.util.Date.class, new JsDateJsonValueProcessor());
String json = JSONObject.fromObject(anObject).toString();

but not effect.
and how can i custom the output Date format?

Thanks.

[aalmiray]

Hi Genius Zeng,
You may find examples on how to configure processors looking at the tests located at
src/tests/net/sf/json/TestJSONObjectWithProcessors

You have three options for customizing the output format of a Date object:
1) use your own JsonBeanProcessor
2) use your own JsonValueProcessor
3) subclass java.util.Date and implement JSONString

Cheers,
Andres