Using JSON

JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) is an open-standard, lightweight, data-interchange format originally specified by Douglas Crockford in 2000, standardized in 2013, and finalized to its current version in 2017. It was derived from the JavaScript programming language to fulfil a need for a language-independent, real-time, server-to-browser exchange protocol that didn’t require plug-ins. In JSON, objects are formatted using a relatively simple key/value pair structure that is easy for humans and machines to read and write. As a result, it has become popular with Representational State Transfer (REST) web services as an indispensable tool for a variety of data exchanges. In version 16, FileMaker introduced a set of built-in functions that are used to create and manipulate JSON data. Developers quickly adopted these as a means of exchanging data with external systems and facilitating a more efficient method of exchanging data between scripts. Today, JSON is an indispensable tool for sending, receiving, manipulating, and storing complex data. This chapter introduces JSON, covering the following topics: