How to Decode JSON Data Containing JSON-Encoded Strings?

Decoding JSON Including JSON-Encoded Strings

When receiving JSON data from external sources, it's common to encounter JSON that includes encoded JSON strings. Handling this scenario requires a two-step decoding process.

Consider the following JSON:

{"name":"message","args":["{\"method\":\"chatMsg\",\"params\":{\"channel\":\"channel\",\"name\":\"name\",\"nameColor\":\"B5B11E\",\"text\":\"<a href=\"https://play.spotify.com/browse\" target=\"_blank\">https://play.spotify.com/browse</a>\",\"time\":1455397119}}"]}

To decode this properly, we define the following structures:

type main struct {
  Name string   `json:"name"`
  Args []string `json:"args"`
}

type arg struct {
  Method string `json:"method"`
  Params par    `json:"params"`
}
type par struct {
  Channel   string `json:"channel,omitempty"`
  Name      string `json:"name,omitempty"`
  NameColor string `json:"nameColor,omitempty"`
  Text      string `json:"text,omitempty"`
  Time      int64  `json:"time,omitempty"`
}

The first step is to decode the outermost layer:

var m main
if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(str), &m); err != nil {
    log.Fatal(err)
}

Next, we decode the JSON-encoded string in the "args" array:

var args arg
if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(m.Args[0]), &args); err != nil {
    log.Fatal(err)
}

Using this two-step approach ensures that the application correctly parses both the outermost JSON and the embedded JSON strings.

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