Parsing JSON in Excel VBA

Question

I have the same issue as in Excel VBA: Parsed JSON Object Loop but cannot find any solution. My JSON has nested objects so suggested solution like VBJSON and vba-json do not

Answer 1

If you want to build on top of ScriptControl, you can add a few helper method to get at the required information. The JScriptTypeInfo object is a bit unfortunate: it contains all the relevant information (as you can see in the Watch window) but it seems impossible to get at it with VBA. However, the Javascript engine can help us:

Option Explicit

Private ScriptEngine As ScriptControl

Public Sub InitScriptEngine()
    Set ScriptEngine = New ScriptControl
    ScriptEngine.Language = "JScript"
    ScriptEngine.AddCode "function getProperty(jsonObj, propertyName) { return jsonObj[propertyName]; } "
    ScriptEngine.AddCode "function getKeys(jsonObj) { var keys = new Array(); for (var i in jsonObj) { keys.push(i); } return keys; } "
End Sub

Public Function DecodeJsonString(ByVal JsonString As String)
    Set DecodeJsonString = ScriptEngine.Eval("(" + JsonString + ")")
End Function

Public Function GetProperty(ByVal JsonObject As Object, ByVal propertyName As String) As Variant
    GetProperty = ScriptEngine.Run("getProperty", JsonObject, propertyName)
End Function

Public Function GetObjectProperty(ByVal JsonObject As Object, ByVal propertyName As String) As Object
    Set GetObjectProperty = ScriptEngine.Run("getProperty", JsonObject, propertyName)
End Function

Public Function GetKeys(ByVal JsonObject As Object) As String()
    Dim Length As Integer
    Dim KeysArray() As String
    Dim KeysObject As Object
    Dim Index As Integer
    Dim Key As Variant

    Set KeysObject = ScriptEngine.Run("getKeys", JsonObject)
    Length = GetProperty(KeysObject, "length")
    ReDim KeysArray(Length - 1)
    Index = 0
    For Each Key In KeysObject
        KeysArray(Index) = Key
        Index = Index + 1
    Next
    GetKeys = KeysArray
End Function


Public Sub TestJsonAccess()
    Dim JsonString As String
    Dim JsonObject As Object
    Dim Keys() As String
    Dim Value As Variant
    Dim j As Variant

    InitScriptEngine

    JsonString = "{""key1"": ""val1"", ""key2"": { ""key3"": ""val3"" } }"
    Set JsonObject = DecodeJsonString(CStr(JsonString))
    Keys = GetKeys(JsonObject)

    Value = GetProperty(JsonObject, "key1")
    Set Value = GetObjectProperty(JsonObject, "key2")
End Sub

A few notes:

• If the JScriptTypeInfo instance refers to a Javascript object, For Each ... Next won't work. However, it does work if it refers to a Javascript array (see GetKeys function).
• The access properties whose name is only known at run-time, use the functions GetProperty and GetObjectProperty.
• The Javascript array provides the properties length, 0, Item 0, 1, Item 1 etc. With the VBA dot notation (jsonObject.property), only the length property is accessible and only if you declare a variable called length with all lowercase letters. Otherwise the case doesn't match and it won't find it. The other properties are not valid in VBA. So better use the GetProperty function.
• The code uses early binding. So you have to add a reference to "Microsoft Script Control 1.0".
• You have to call InitScriptEngine once before using the other functions to do some basic initialization.

Answer 2

To parse JSON in VBA without adding a huge library to your workbook project, I created the following solution. It's extremely fast and stores all of the keys and values in a dictionary for easy access:

Function ParseJSON(json$, Optional key$ = "obj") As Object
    p = 1
    token = Tokenize(json)
    Set dic = CreateObject("Scripting.Dictionary")
    If token(p) = "{" Then ParseObj key Else ParseArr key
    Set ParseJSON = dic
End Function

Function ParseObj(key$)
    Do: p = p + 1
        Select Case token(p)
            Case "]"
            Case "[":  ParseArr key
            Case "{"
                       If token(p + 1) = "}" Then
                           p = p + 1
                           dic.Add key, "null"
                       Else
                           ParseObj key
                       End If
            
            Case "}":  key = ReducePath(key): Exit Do
            Case ":":  key = key & "." & token(p - 1)
            Case ",":  key = ReducePath(key)
            Case Else: If token(p + 1) <> ":" Then dic.Add key, token(p)
        End Select
    Loop
End Function

Function ParseArr(key$)
    Dim e&
    Do: p = p + 1
        Select Case token(p)
            Case "}"
            Case "{":  ParseObj key & ArrayID(e)
            Case "[":  ParseArr key
            Case "]":  Exit Do
            Case ":":  key = key & ArrayID(e)
            Case ",":  e = e + 1
            Case Else: dic.Add key & ArrayID(e), token(p)
        End Select
    Loop
End Function

The code above does use a few helper functions, but the above is the meat of it.

The strategy used here is to employ a recursive tokenizer. I found it interesting enough to write an article about this solution on Medium. It explains the details.

Here is the full (yet surprisingly short) code listing, including all of the helper functions:

'-------------------------------------------------------------------
' VBA JSON Parser
'-------------------------------------------------------------------
Option Explicit
Private p&, token, dic
Function ParseJSON(json$, Optional key$ = "obj") As Object
    p = 1
    token = Tokenize(json)
    Set dic = CreateObject("Scripting.Dictionary")
    If token(p) = "{" Then ParseObj key Else ParseArr key
    Set ParseJSON = dic
End Function
Function ParseObj(key$)
    Do: p = p + 1
        Select Case token(p)
            Case "]"
            Case "[":  ParseArr key
            Case "{"
                       If token(p + 1) = "}" Then
                           p = p + 1
                           dic.Add key, "null"
                       Else
                           ParseObj key
                       End If
            
            Case "}":  key = ReducePath(key): Exit Do
            Case ":":  key = key & "." & token(p - 1)
            Case ",":  key = ReducePath(key)
            Case Else: If token(p + 1) <> ":" Then dic.Add key, token(p)
        End Select
    Loop
End Function
Function ParseArr(key$)
    Dim e&
    Do: p = p + 1
        Select Case token(p)
            Case "}"
            Case "{":  ParseObj key & ArrayID(e)
            Case "[":  ParseArr key
            Case "]":  Exit Do
            Case ":":  key = key & ArrayID(e)
            Case ",":  e = e + 1
            Case Else: dic.Add key & ArrayID(e), token(p)
        End Select
    Loop
End Function
'-------------------------------------------------------------------
' Support Functions
'-------------------------------------------------------------------
Function Tokenize(s$)
    Const Pattern = """(([^""\\]|\\.)*)""|[+\-]?(?:0|[1-9]\d*)(?:\.\d*)?(?:[eE][+\-]?\d+)?|\w+|[^\s""']+?"
    Tokenize = RExtract(s, Pattern, True)
End Function
Function RExtract(s$, Pattern, Optional bGroup1Bias As Boolean, Optional bGlobal As Boolean = True)
  Dim c&, m, n, v
  With CreateObject("vbscript.regexp")
    .Global = bGlobal
    .MultiLine = False
    .IgnoreCase = True
    .Pattern = Pattern
    If .TEST(s) Then
      Set m = .Execute(s)
      ReDim v(1 To m.Count)
      For Each n In m
        c = c + 1
        v(c) = n.value
        If bGroup1Bias Then If Len(n.submatches(0)) Or n.value = """""" Then v(c) = n.submatches(0)
      Next
    End If
  End With
  RExtract = v
End Function
Function ArrayID$(e)
    ArrayID = "(" & e & ")"
End Function
Function ReducePath$(key$)
    If InStr(key, ".") Then ReducePath = Left(key, InStrRev(key, ".") - 1)
End Function
Function ListPaths(dic)
    Dim s$, v
    For Each v In dic
        s = s & v & " --> " & dic(v) & vbLf
    Next
    Debug.Print s
End Function
Function GetFilteredValues(dic, match)
    Dim c&, i&, v, w
    v = dic.keys
    ReDim w(1 To dic.Count)
    For i = 0 To UBound(v)
        If v(i) Like match Then
            c = c + 1
            w(c) = dic(v(i))
        End If
    Next
    ReDim Preserve w(1 To c)
    GetFilteredValues = w
End Function
Function GetFilteredTable(dic, cols)
    Dim c&, i&, j&, v, w, z
    v = dic.keys
    z = GetFilteredValues(dic, cols(0))
    ReDim w(1 To UBound(z), 1 To UBound(cols) + 1)
    For j = 1 To UBound(cols) + 1
         z = GetFilteredValues(dic, cols(j - 1))
         For i = 1 To UBound(z)
            w(i, j) = z(i)
         Next
    Next
    GetFilteredTable = w
End Function
Function OpenTextFile$(f)
    With CreateObject("ADODB.Stream")
        .Charset = "utf-8"
        .Open
        .LoadFromFile f
        OpenTextFile = .ReadText
    End With
End Function

Answer 3

As Json is nothing but strings so it can easily be handled if we can manipulate it the right way, no matter how complex the structure is. I don't think it is necessary to use any external library or converter to do the trick. Here is an example where I've parsed json data using string manipulation.

Sub FetchData()
    Dim str As Variant, N&, R&

    With New XMLHTTP60
        .Open "GET", "https://oresapp.asicanada.net/ores.imis.services/api/member/?address=&callback=angular.callbacks._0&city=&companyName=&personName=", False
        .send
        str = Split(.responseText, ":[{""Id"":")
    End With

    N = UBound(str)

    For R = 1 To N
        Cells(R, 1) = Split(Split(str(R), "FullName"":""")(1), """")(0)
        Cells(R, 2) = Split(Split(str(R), "Phone"":""")(1), """")(0)
        Cells(R, 3) = Split(Split(str(R), "Email"":""")(1), """")(0)
    Next R
End Sub

Answer 4

UPDATE 3 (Sep 24 '17)

Check VBA-JSON-parser on GitHub for the latest version and examples. Import JSON.bas module into the VBA project for JSON processing.

UPDATE 2 (Oct 1 '16)

However if you do want to parse JSON on 64-bit Office with ScriptControl, then this answer may help you to get ScriptControl to work on 64-bit.

UPDATE (Oct 26 '15)

Note that a ScriptControl-based approachs makes the system vulnerable in some cases, since they allows a direct access to the drives (and other stuff) for the malicious JS code via ActiveX's. Let's suppose you are parsing web server response JSON, like JsonString = "{a:(function(){(new ActiveXObject('Scripting.FileSystemObject')).CreateTextFile('C:\\Test.txt')})()}". After evaluating it you'll find new created file C:\Test.txt. So JSON parsing with ScriptControl ActiveX is not a good idea.

Trying to avoid that, I've created JSON parser based on RegEx's. Objects {} are represented by dictionaries, that makes possible to use dictionary's properties and methods: .Count, .Exists(), .Item(), .Items, .Keys. Arrays [] are the conventional zero-based VB arrays, so UBound() shows the number of elements. Here is the code with some usage examples:

Option Explicit

Sub JsonTest()
    Dim strJsonString As String
    Dim varJson As Variant
    Dim strState As String
    Dim varItem As Variant

    ' parse JSON string to object
    ' root element can be the object {} or the array []
    strJsonString = "{""a"":[{}, 0, ""value"", [{""stuff"":""content""}]], b:null}"
    ParseJson strJsonString, varJson, strState

    ' checking the structure step by step
    Select Case False ' if any of the checks is False, the sequence is interrupted
        Case IsObject(varJson) ' if root JSON element is object {},
        Case varJson.Exists("a") ' having property a,
        Case IsArray(varJson("a")) ' which is array,
        Case UBound(varJson("a")) >= 3 ' having not less than 4 elements,
        Case IsArray(varJson("a")(3)) ' where forth element is array,
        Case UBound(varJson("a")(3)) = 0 ' having the only element,
        Case IsObject(varJson("a")(3)(0)) ' which is object,
        Case varJson("a")(3)(0).Exists("stuff") ' having property stuff,
        Case Else
            MsgBox "Check the structure step by step" & vbCrLf & varJson("a")(3)(0)("stuff") ' then show the value of the last one property.
    End Select

    ' direct access to the property if sure of structure
    MsgBox "Direct access to the property" & vbCrLf & varJson.Item("a")(3)(0).Item("stuff") ' content

    ' traversing each element in array
    For Each varItem In varJson("a")
        ' show the structure of the element
        MsgBox "The structure of the element:" & vbCrLf & BeautifyJson(varItem)
    Next

    ' show the full structure starting from root element
    MsgBox "The full structure starting from root element:" & vbCrLf & BeautifyJson(varJson)

End Sub

Sub BeautifyTest()
    ' put sourse JSON string to "desktop\source.json" file
    ' processed JSON will be saved to "desktop\result.json" file
    Dim strDesktop As String
    Dim strJsonString As String
    Dim varJson As Variant
    Dim strState As String
    Dim strResult As String
    Dim lngIndent As Long

    strDesktop = CreateObject("WScript.Shell").SpecialFolders.Item("Desktop")
    strJsonString = ReadTextFile(strDesktop & "\source.json", -2)
    ParseJson strJsonString, varJson, strState
    If strState <> "Error" Then
        strResult = BeautifyJson(varJson)
        WriteTextFile strResult, strDesktop & "\result.json", -1
    End If
    CreateObject("WScript.Shell").PopUp strState, 1, , 64
End Sub

Sub ParseJson(ByVal strContent As String, varJson As Variant, strState As String)
    ' strContent - source JSON string
    ' varJson - created object or array to be returned as result
    ' strState - Object|Array|Error depending on processing to be returned as state
    Dim objTokens As Object
    Dim objRegEx As Object
    Dim bMatched As Boolean

    Set objTokens = CreateObject("Scripting.Dictionary")
    Set objRegEx = CreateObject("VBScript.RegExp")
    With objRegEx
        ' specification http://www.json.org/
        .Global = True
        .MultiLine = True
        .IgnoreCase = True
        .Pattern = """(?:\\""|[^""])*""(?=\s*(?:,|\:|\]|\}))"
        Tokenize objTokens, objRegEx, strContent, bMatched, "str"
        .Pattern = "(?:[+-])?(?:\d+\.\d*|\.\d+|\d+)e(?:[+-])?\d+(?=\s*(?:,|\]|\}))"
        Tokenize objTokens, objRegEx, strContent, bMatched, "num"
        .Pattern = "(?:[+-])?(?:\d+\.\d*|\.\d+|\d+)(?=\s*(?:,|\]|\}))"
        Tokenize objTokens, objRegEx, strContent, bMatched, "num"
        .Pattern = "\b(?:true|false|null)(?=\s*(?:,|\]|\}))"
        Tokenize objTokens, objRegEx, strContent, bMatched, "cst"
        .Pattern = "\b[A-Za-z_]\w*(?=\s*\:)" ' unspecified name without quotes
        Tokenize objTokens, objRegEx, strContent, bMatched, "nam"
        .Pattern = "\s"
        strContent = .Replace(strContent, "")
        .MultiLine = False
        Do
            bMatched = False
            .Pattern = "<\d+(?:str|nam)>\:<\d+(?:str|num|obj|arr|cst)>"
            Tokenize objTokens, objRegEx, strContent, bMatched, "prp"
            .Pattern = "\{(?:<\d+prp>(?:,<\d+prp>)*)?\}"
            Tokenize objTokens, objRegEx, strContent, bMatched, "obj"
            .Pattern = "\[(?:<\d+(?:str|num|obj|arr|cst)>(?:,<\d+(?:str|num|obj|arr|cst)>)*)?\]"
            Tokenize objTokens, objRegEx, strContent, bMatched, "arr"
        Loop While bMatched
        .Pattern = "^<\d+(?:obj|arr)>$" ' unspecified top level array
        If Not (.Test(strContent) And objTokens.Exists(strContent)) Then
            varJson = Null
            strState = "Error"
        Else
            Retrieve objTokens, objRegEx, strContent, varJson
            strState = IIf(IsObject(varJson), "Object", "Array")
        End If
    End With
End Sub

Sub Tokenize(objTokens, objRegEx, strContent, bMatched, strType)
    Dim strKey As String
    Dim strRes As String
    Dim lngCopyIndex As Long
    Dim objMatch As Object

    strRes = ""
    lngCopyIndex = 1
    With objRegEx
        For Each objMatch In .Execute(strContent)
            strKey = "<" & objTokens.Count & strType & ">"
            bMatched = True
            With objMatch
                objTokens(strKey) = .Value
                strRes = strRes & Mid(strContent, lngCopyIndex, .FirstIndex - lngCopyIndex + 1) & strKey
                lngCopyIndex = .FirstIndex + .Length + 1
            End With
        Next
        strContent = strRes & Mid(strContent, lngCopyIndex, Len(strContent) - lngCopyIndex + 1)
    End With
End Sub

Sub Retrieve(objTokens, objRegEx, strTokenKey, varTransfer)
    Dim strContent As String
    Dim strType As String
    Dim objMatches As Object
    Dim objMatch As Object
    Dim strName As String
    Dim varValue As Variant
    Dim objArrayElts As Object

    strType = Left(Right(strTokenKey, 4), 3)
    strContent = objTokens(strTokenKey)
    With objRegEx
        .Global = True
        Select Case strType
            Case "obj"
                .Pattern = "<\d+\w{3}>"
                Set objMatches = .Execute(strContent)
                Set varTransfer = CreateObject("Scripting.Dictionary")
                For Each objMatch In objMatches
                    Retrieve objTokens, objRegEx, objMatch.Value, varTransfer
                Next
            Case "prp"
                .Pattern = "<\d+\w{3}>"
                Set objMatches = .Execute(strContent)

                Retrieve objTokens, objRegEx, objMatches(0).Value, strName
                Retrieve objTokens, objRegEx, objMatches(1).Value, varValue
                If IsObject(varValue) Then
                    Set varTransfer(strName) = varValue
                Else
                    varTransfer(strName) = varValue
                End If
            Case "arr"
                .Pattern = "<\d+\w{3}>"
                Set objMatches = .Execute(strContent)
                Set objArrayElts = CreateObject("Scripting.Dictionary")
                For Each objMatch In objMatches
                    Retrieve objTokens, objRegEx, objMatch.Value, varValue
                    If IsObject(varValue) Then
                        Set objArrayElts(objArrayElts.Count) = varValue
                    Else
                        objArrayElts(objArrayElts.Count) = varValue
                    End If
                    varTransfer = objArrayElts.Items
                Next
            Case "nam"
                varTransfer = strContent
            Case "str"
                varTransfer = Mid(strContent, 2, Len(strContent) - 2)
                varTransfer = Replace(varTransfer, "\""", """")
                varTransfer = Replace(varTransfer, "\\", "\")
                varTransfer = Replace(varTransfer, "\/", "/")
                varTransfer = Replace(varTransfer, "\b", Chr(8))
                varTransfer = Replace(varTransfer, "\f", Chr(12))
                varTransfer = Replace(varTransfer, "\n", vbLf)
                varTransfer = Replace(varTransfer, "\r", vbCr)
                varTransfer = Replace(varTransfer, "\t", vbTab)
                .Global = False
                .Pattern = "\\u[0-9a-fA-F]{4}"
                Do While .Test(varTransfer)
                    varTransfer = .Replace(varTransfer, ChrW(("&H" & Right(.Execute(varTransfer)(0).Value, 4)) * 1))
                Loop
            Case "num"
                varTransfer = Evaluate(strContent)
            Case "cst"
                Select Case LCase(strContent)
                    Case "true"
                        varTransfer = True
                    Case "false"
                        varTransfer = False
                    Case "null"
                        varTransfer = Null
                End Select
        End Select
    End With
End Sub

Function BeautifyJson(varJson As Variant) As String
    Dim strResult As String
    Dim lngIndent As Long
    BeautifyJson = ""
    lngIndent = 0
    BeautyTraverse BeautifyJson, lngIndent, varJson, vbTab, 1
End Function

Sub BeautyTraverse(strResult As String, lngIndent As Long, varElement As Variant, strIndent As String, lngStep As Long)
    Dim arrKeys() As Variant
    Dim lngIndex As Long
    Dim strTemp As String

    Select Case VarType(varElement)
        Case vbObject
            If varElement.Count = 0 Then
                strResult = strResult & "{}"
            Else
                strResult = strResult & "{" & vbCrLf
                lngIndent = lngIndent + lngStep
                arrKeys = varElement.Keys
                For lngIndex = 0 To UBound(arrKeys)
                    strResult = strResult & String(lngIndent, strIndent) & """" & arrKeys(lngIndex) & """" & ": "
                    BeautyTraverse strResult, lngIndent, varElement(arrKeys(lngIndex)), strIndent, lngStep
                    If Not (lngIndex = UBound(arrKeys)) Then strResult = strResult & ","
                    strResult = strResult & vbCrLf
                Next
                lngIndent = lngIndent - lngStep
                strResult = strResult & String(lngIndent, strIndent) & "}"
            End If
        Case Is >= vbArray
            If UBound(varElement) = -1 Then
                strResult = strResult & "[]"
            Else
                strResult = strResult & "[" & vbCrLf
                lngIndent = lngIndent + lngStep
                For lngIndex = 0 To UBound(varElement)
                    strResult = strResult & String(lngIndent, strIndent)
                    BeautyTraverse strResult, lngIndent, varElement(lngIndex), strIndent, lngStep
                    If Not (lngIndex = UBound(varElement)) Then strResult = strResult & ","
                    strResult = strResult & vbCrLf
                Next
                lngIndent = lngIndent - lngStep
                strResult = strResult & String(lngIndent, strIndent) & "]"
            End If
        Case vbInteger, vbLong, vbSingle, vbDouble
            strResult = strResult & varElement
        Case vbNull
            strResult = strResult & "Null"
        Case vbBoolean
            strResult = strResult & IIf(varElement, "True", "False")
        Case Else
            strTemp = Replace(varElement, "\""", """")
            strTemp = Replace(strTemp, "\", "\\")
            strTemp = Replace(strTemp, "/", "\/")
            strTemp = Replace(strTemp, Chr(8), "\b")
            strTemp = Replace(strTemp, Chr(12), "\f")
            strTemp = Replace(strTemp, vbLf, "\n")
            strTemp = Replace(strTemp, vbCr, "\r")
            strTemp = Replace(strTemp, vbTab, "\t")
            strResult = strResult & """" & strTemp & """"
    End Select

End Sub

Function ReadTextFile(strPath As String, lngFormat As Long) As String
    ' lngFormat -2 - System default, -1 - Unicode, 0 - ASCII
    With CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject").OpenTextFile(strPath, 1, False, lngFormat)
        ReadTextFile = ""
        If Not .AtEndOfStream Then ReadTextFile = .ReadAll
        .Close
    End With
End Function

Sub WriteTextFile(strContent As String, strPath As String, lngFormat As Long)
    With CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject").OpenTextFile(strPath, 2, True, lngFormat)
        .Write (strContent)
        .Close
    End With
End Sub

One more opportunity of this JSON RegEx parser is that it works on 64-bit Office, where ScriptControl isn't available.

INITIAL (May 27 '15)

Here is one more method to parse JSON in VBA, based on ScriptControl ActiveX, without external libraries:

Sub JsonTest()

    Dim Dict, Temp, Text, Keys, Items

    ' Converting JSON string to appropriate nested dictionaries structure
    ' Dictionaries have numeric keys for JSON Arrays, and string keys for JSON Objects
    ' Returns Nothing in case of any JSON syntax issues
    Set Dict = GetJsonDict("{a:[[{stuff:'result'}]], b:''}")
    ' You can use For Each ... Next and For ... Next loops through keys and items
    Keys = Dict.Keys
    Items = Dict.Items

    ' Referring directly to the necessary property if sure, without any checks
    MsgBox Dict("a")(0)(0)("stuff")

    ' Auxiliary DrillDown() function
    ' Drilling down the structure, sequentially checking if each level exists
    Select Case False
    Case DrillDown(Dict, "a", Temp, "")
    Case DrillDown(Temp, 0, Temp, "")
    Case DrillDown(Temp, 0, Temp, "")
    Case DrillDown(Temp, "stuff", "", Text)
    Case Else
        ' Structure is consistent, requested value found
        MsgBox Text
    End Select

End Sub

Function GetJsonDict(JsonString As String)
    With CreateObject("ScriptControl")
        .Language = "JScript"
        .ExecuteStatement "function gettype(sample) {return {}.toString.call(sample).slice(8, -1)}"
        .ExecuteStatement "function evaljson(json, er) {try {var sample = eval('(' + json + ')'); var type = gettype(sample); if(type != 'Array' && type != 'Object') {return er;} else {return getdict(sample);}} catch(e) {return er;}}"
        .ExecuteStatement "function getdict(sample) {var type = gettype(sample); if(type != 'Array' && type != 'Object') return sample; var dict = new ActiveXObject('Scripting.Dictionary'); if(type == 'Array') {for(var key = 0; key < sample.length; key++) {dict.add(key, getdict(sample[key]));}} else {for(var key in sample) {dict.add(key, getdict(sample[key]));}} return dict;}"
        Set GetJsonDict = .Run("evaljson", JsonString, Nothing)
    End With
End Function

Function DrillDown(Source, Prop, Target, Value)
    Select Case False
    Case TypeName(Source) = "Dictionary"
    Case Source.exists(Prop)
    Case Else
        Select Case True
        Case TypeName(Source(Prop)) = "Dictionary"
            Set Target = Source(Prop)
            Value = Empty
        Case IsObject(Source(Prop))
            Set Value = Source(Prop)
            Set Target = Nothing
        Case Else
            Value = Source(Prop)
            Set Target = Nothing
        End Select
        DrillDown = True
        Exit Function
    End Select
    DrillDown = False
End Function

Answer 5

This works for me under Excel and a big JSON files using JSON query translated in to native form. https://github.com/VBA-tools/VBA-JSON I am able parse node like "item.something" and get value using simple command:

MsgBox Json("item")("something")

What's nice.

Answer 6

Lots of good answers here - just chipping in my own.

I had a requirement to parse a very specific JSON string, representing the results of making a web-API call. The JSON described a list of objects, and looked something like this:

[
   {
     "property1": "foo",
     "property2": "bar",
     "timeOfDay": "2019-09-30T00:00:00",
     "numberOfHits": 98,
     "isSpecial": false,
     "comment": "just to be awkward, this contains a comma"
   },
   {
     "property1": "fool",
     "property2": "barrel",
     "timeOfDay": "2019-10-31T00:00:00",
     "numberOfHits": 11,
     "isSpecial": false,
     "comment": null
   },
   ...
]

There are a few things to note about this:

1. The JSON should always describe a list (even if empty), which should only contain objects.
2. The objects in the list should only contain properties with simple types (string / date / number / boolean or null).
3. The value of a property may contain a comma - which makes parsing the JSON somewhat harder - but may not contain any quotes (because I'm too lazy to deal with that).

The ParseListOfObjects function in the code below takes the JSON string as input, and returns a Collection representing the items in the list. Each item is represented as a Dictionary, where the keys of the dictionary correspond to the names of the object's properties. The values are automatically converted to the appropriate type (String, Date, Double, Boolean - or Empty if the value is null).

Your VBA project will need a reference to the Microsoft Scripting Runtime library to use the Dictionary object - though it would not be difficult to remove this dependency if you use a different way of encoding the results.

Here's my JSON.bas:

Option Explicit

' NOTE: a fully-featured JSON parser in VBA would be a beast.
' This simple parser only supports VERY simple JSON (which is all we need).
' Specifically, it supports JSON comprising a list of objects, each of which has only simple properties.

Private Const strSTART_OF_LIST As String = "["
Private Const strEND_OF_LIST As String = "]"

Private Const strLIST_DELIMITER As String = ","

Private Const strSTART_OF_OBJECT As String = "{"
Private Const strEND_OF_OBJECT As String = "}"

Private Const strOBJECT_PROPERTY_NAME_VALUE_SEPARATOR As String = ":"

Private Const strQUOTE As String = """"

Private Const strNULL_VALUE As String = "null"
Private Const strTRUE_VALUE As String = "true"
Private Const strFALSE_VALUE As String = "false"


Public Function ParseListOfObjects(ByVal strJson As String) As Collection

    ' Takes a JSON string that represents a list of objects (where each object has only simple value properties), and
    ' returns a collection of dictionary objects, where the keys and values of each dictionary represent the names and
    ' values of the JSON object properties.

    Set ParseListOfObjects = New Collection

    Dim strList As String: strList = Trim(strJson)

    ' Check we have a list
    If Left(strList, Len(strSTART_OF_LIST)) <> strSTART_OF_LIST _
    Or Right(strList, Len(strEND_OF_LIST)) <> strEND_OF_LIST Then
        Err.Raise vbObjectError, Description:="The provided JSON does not appear to be a list (it does not start with '" & strSTART_OF_LIST & "' and end with '" & strEND_OF_LIST & "')"
    End If

    ' Get the list item text (between the [ and ])
    Dim strBody As String: strBody = Trim(Mid(strList, 1 + Len(strSTART_OF_LIST), Len(strList) - Len(strSTART_OF_LIST) - Len(strEND_OF_LIST)))

    If strBody = "" Then
        Exit Function
    End If

    ' Check we have a list of objects
    If Left(strBody, Len(strSTART_OF_OBJECT)) <> strSTART_OF_OBJECT Then
        Err.Raise vbObjectError, Description:="The provided JSON does not appear to be a list of objects (the content of the list does not start with '" & strSTART_OF_OBJECT & "')"
    End If

    ' We now have something like:
    '    {"property":"value", "property":"value"}, {"property":"value", "property":"value"}, ...
    ' so we can't just split on a comma to get the various items (because the items themselves have commas in them).
    ' HOWEVER, since we know we're dealing with very simple JSON that has no nested objects, we can split on "}," because
    ' that should only appear between items. That'll mean that all but the last item will be missing it's closing brace.
    Dim astrItems() As String: astrItems = Split(strBody, strEND_OF_OBJECT & strLIST_DELIMITER)

    Dim ixItem As Long
    For ixItem = LBound(astrItems) To UBound(astrItems)

        Dim strItem As String: strItem = Trim(astrItems(ixItem))

        If Left(strItem, Len(strSTART_OF_OBJECT)) <> strSTART_OF_OBJECT Then
            Err.Raise vbObjectError, Description:="Mal-formed list item (does not start with '" & strSTART_OF_OBJECT & "')"
        End If

        ' Only the last item will have a closing brace (see comment above)
        Dim bIsLastItem As Boolean: bIsLastItem = ixItem = UBound(astrItems)

        If bIsLastItem Then
            If Right(strItem, Len(strEND_OF_OBJECT)) <> strEND_OF_OBJECT Then
                Err.Raise vbObjectError, Description:="Mal-formed list item (does not end with '" & strEND_OF_OBJECT & "')"
            End If
        End If

        Dim strContent: strContent = Mid(strItem, 1 + Len(strSTART_OF_OBJECT), Len(strItem) - Len(strSTART_OF_OBJECT) - IIf(bIsLastItem, Len(strEND_OF_OBJECT), 0))

        ParseListOfObjects.Add ParseObjectContent(strContent)

    Next ixItem

End Function

Private Function ParseObjectContent(ByVal strContent As String) As Scripting.Dictionary

    Set ParseObjectContent = New Scripting.Dictionary
    ParseObjectContent.CompareMode = TextCompare

    ' The object content will look something like:
    '    "property":"value", "property":"value", ...
    ' ... although the value may not be in quotes, since numbers are not quoted.
    ' We can't assume that the property value won't contain a comma, so we can't just split the
    ' string on the commas, but it's reasonably safe to assume that the value won't contain further quotes
    ' (and we're already assuming no sub-structure).
    ' We'll need to scan for commas while taking quoted strings into account.

    Dim ixPos As Long: ixPos = 1
    Do While ixPos <= Len(strContent)

        Dim strRemainder As String

        ' Find the opening quote for the name (names should always be quoted)
        Dim ixOpeningQuote As Long: ixOpeningQuote = InStr(ixPos, strContent, strQUOTE)

        If ixOpeningQuote <= 0 Then
            ' The only valid reason for not finding a quote is if we're at the end (though white space is permitted)
            strRemainder = Trim(Mid(strContent, ixPos))
            If Len(strRemainder) = 0 Then
                Exit Do
            End If
            Err.Raise vbObjectError, Description:="Mal-formed object (the object name does not start with a quote)"
        End If

        ' Now find the closing quote for the name, which we assume is the very next quote
        Dim ixClosingQuote As Long: ixClosingQuote = InStr(ixOpeningQuote + 1, strContent, strQUOTE)
        If ixClosingQuote <= 0 Then
            Err.Raise vbObjectError, Description:="Mal-formed object (the object name does not end with a quote)"
        End If

        If ixClosingQuote - ixOpeningQuote - Len(strQUOTE) = 0 Then
            Err.Raise vbObjectError, Description:="Mal-formed object (the object name is blank)"
        End If

        Dim strName: strName = Mid(strContent, ixOpeningQuote + Len(strQUOTE), ixClosingQuote - ixOpeningQuote - Len(strQUOTE))

        ' The next thing after the quote should be the colon

        Dim ixNameValueSeparator As Long: ixNameValueSeparator = InStr(ixClosingQuote + Len(strQUOTE), strContent, strOBJECT_PROPERTY_NAME_VALUE_SEPARATOR)

        If ixNameValueSeparator <= 0 Then
            Err.Raise vbObjectError, Description:="Mal-formed object (missing '" & strOBJECT_PROPERTY_NAME_VALUE_SEPARATOR & "')"
        End If

        ' Check that there was nothing between the closing quote and the colon

        strRemainder = Trim(Mid(strContent, ixClosingQuote + Len(strQUOTE), ixNameValueSeparator - ixClosingQuote - Len(strQUOTE)))
        If Len(strRemainder) > 0 Then
            Err.Raise vbObjectError, Description:="Mal-formed object (unexpected content between name and '" & strOBJECT_PROPERTY_NAME_VALUE_SEPARATOR & "')"
        End If

        ' What comes after the colon is the value, which may or may not be quoted (e.g. numbers are not quoted).
        ' If the very next thing we see is a quote, then it's a quoted value, and we need to find the matching
        ' closing quote while ignoring any commas inside the quoted value.
        ' If the next thing we see is NOT a quote, then it must be an unquoted value, and we can scan directly
        ' for the next comma.
        ' Either way, we're looking for a quote or a comma, whichever comes first (or neither, in which case we
        ' have the last - unquoted - value).

        ixOpeningQuote = InStr(ixNameValueSeparator + Len(strOBJECT_PROPERTY_NAME_VALUE_SEPARATOR), strContent, strQUOTE)
        Dim ixPropertySeparator As Long: ixPropertySeparator = InStr(ixNameValueSeparator + Len(strOBJECT_PROPERTY_NAME_VALUE_SEPARATOR), strContent, strLIST_DELIMITER)

        If ixOpeningQuote > 0 And ixPropertySeparator > 0 Then
            ' Only use whichever came first
            If ixOpeningQuote < ixPropertySeparator Then
                ixPropertySeparator = 0
            Else
                ixOpeningQuote = 0
            End If
        End If

        Dim strValue As String
        Dim vValue As Variant

        If ixOpeningQuote <= 0 Then ' it's not a quoted value

            If ixPropertySeparator <= 0 Then ' there's no next value; this is the last one
                strValue = Trim(Mid(strContent, ixNameValueSeparator + Len(strOBJECT_PROPERTY_NAME_VALUE_SEPARATOR)))
                ixPos = Len(strContent) + 1
            Else ' this is not the last value
                strValue = Trim(Mid(strContent, ixNameValueSeparator + Len(strOBJECT_PROPERTY_NAME_VALUE_SEPARATOR), ixPropertySeparator - ixNameValueSeparator - Len(strOBJECT_PROPERTY_NAME_VALUE_SEPARATOR)))
                ixPos = ixPropertySeparator + Len(strLIST_DELIMITER)
            End If

            vValue = ParseUnquotedValue(strValue)

        Else ' It is a quoted value

            ' Find the corresponding closing quote, which should be the very next one

            ixClosingQuote = InStr(ixOpeningQuote + Len(strQUOTE), strContent, strQUOTE)

            If ixClosingQuote <= 0 Then
                Err.Raise vbObjectError, Description:="Mal-formed object (the value does not end with a quote)"
            End If

            strValue = Mid(strContent, ixOpeningQuote + Len(strQUOTE), ixClosingQuote - ixOpeningQuote - Len(strQUOTE))
            vValue = ParseQuotedValue(strValue)

            ' Re-scan for the property separator, in case we hit one that was part of the quoted value
            ixPropertySeparator = InStr(ixClosingQuote + Len(strQUOTE), strContent, strLIST_DELIMITER)

            If ixPropertySeparator <= 0 Then ' this was the last value

                ' Check that there's nothing between the closing quote and the end of the text
                strRemainder = Trim(Mid(strContent, ixClosingQuote + Len(strQUOTE)))
                If Len(strRemainder) > 0 Then
                    Err.Raise vbObjectError, Description:="Mal-formed object (there is content after the last value)"
                End If

                ixPos = Len(strContent) + 1

            Else ' this is not the last value

                ' Check that there's nothing between the closing quote and the property separator
                strRemainder = Trim(Mid(strContent, ixClosingQuote + Len(strQUOTE), ixPropertySeparator - ixClosingQuote - Len(strQUOTE)))
                If Len(strRemainder) > 0 Then
                    Err.Raise vbObjectError, Description:="Mal-formed object (there is content after the last value)"
                End If

                ixPos = ixPropertySeparator + Len(strLIST_DELIMITER)

            End If

        End If

        ParseObjectContent.Add strName, vValue

    Loop

End Function

Private Function ParseUnquotedValue(ByVal strValue As String) As Variant

    If StrComp(strValue, strNULL_VALUE, vbTextCompare) = 0 Then
        ParseUnquotedValue = Empty
    ElseIf StrComp(strValue, strTRUE_VALUE, vbTextCompare) = 0 Then
        ParseUnquotedValue = True
    ElseIf StrComp(strValue, strFALSE_VALUE, vbTextCompare) = 0 Then
        ParseUnquotedValue = False
    ElseIf IsNumeric(strValue) Then
        ParseUnquotedValue = CDbl(strValue)
    Else
        Err.Raise vbObjectError, Description:="Mal-formed value (not null, true, false or a number)"
    End If

End Function

Private Function ParseQuotedValue(ByVal strValue As String) As Variant

    ' Both dates and strings are quoted; we'll treat it as a date if it has the expected date format.
    ' Dates are in the form:
    '    2019-09-30T00:00:00
    If strValue Like "####-##-##T##:00:00" Then
        ' NOTE: we just want the date part
        ParseQuotedValue = CDate(Left(strValue, Len("####-##-##")))
    Else
        ParseQuotedValue = strValue
    End If

End Function

A simple test:

Const strJSON As String = "[{""property1"":""foo""}]"
Dim oObjects As Collection: Set oObjects = Json.ParseListOfObjects(strJSON)

MsgBox oObjects(1)("property1") ' shows "foo"