Parsing multiple JSON objects that exist in one line in Java

I’m currently using the OMDB API, which can either return get-queries as JSON objects or XML. Working with JSON is something I’d like to learn, and it generally seems like best solution for what I’m trying to do. The implementation I’m hoping for, is to allow the user to search for a movie, and select the correct one from a list. I’m currently using the google.gson library.

The problem I’ve run in to, is that the searching for movies by a title with OMDB, this example being “batman”, returns the following String:

{"Search":[{"Title":"Batman Begins","Year":"2005","imdbID":"tt0372784","Type":"movie","Poster":"https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BOTY4YjI2N2MtYmFlMC00ZjcyLTg3YjEtMDQyM2ZjYzQ5YWFkXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTQxNzMzNDI@._V1_SX300.jpg"},{"Title":"Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice","Year":"2016","imdbID":"tt2975590","Type":"movie","Poster":"https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYThjYzcyYzItNTVjNy00NDk0LTgwMWQtYjMwNmNlNWJhMzMyXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTQxNzMzNDI@._V1_SX300.jpg"},{"Title":"Batman","Year":"1989","imdbID":"tt0096895","Type":"movie","Poster":"https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTYwNjAyODIyMF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwNDMwMDk2._V1_SX300.jpg"},{"Title":"Batman Returns","Year":"1992","imdbID":"tt0103776","Type":"movie","Poster":"https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BOGZmYzVkMmItM2NiOS00MDI3LWI4ZWQtMTg0YWZkODRkMmViXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyODY0NzcxNw@@._V1_SX300.jpg"},{"Title":"Batman Forever","Year":"1995","imdbID":"tt0112462","Type":"movie","Poster":"https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNDdjYmFiYWEtYzBhZS00YTZkLWFlODgtY2I5MDE0NzZmMDljXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTMxODk2OTU@._V1_SX300.jpg"},{"Title":"Batman & Robin","Year":"1997","imdbID":"tt0118688","Type":"movie","Poster":"https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMGQ5YTM1NmMtYmIxYy00N2VmLWJhZTYtN2EwYTY3MWFhOTczXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNTA2NTI0MTY@._V1_SX300.jpg"},{"Title":"The Lego Batman Movie","Year":"2017","imdbID":"tt4116284","Type":"movie","Poster":"https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTcyNTEyOTY0M15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwOTAyNzU3MDI@._V1_SX300.jpg"},{"Title":"Batman: The Animated Series","Year":"1992–1995","imdbID":"tt0103359","Type":"series","Poster":"https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BOTM3MTRkZjQtYjBkMy00YWE1LTkxOTQtNDQyNGY0YjYzNzAzXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyOTgwMzk1MTA@._V1_SX300.jpg"},{"Title":"Batman: Under the Red Hood","Year":"2010","imdbID":"tt1569923","Type":"movie","Poster":"https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNmY4ZDZjY2UtOWFiYy00MjhjLThmMjctOTQ2NjYxZGRjYmNlL2ltYWdlL2ltYWdlXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNTAyODkwOQ@@._V1_SX300.jpg"},{"Title":"Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1","Year":"2012","imdbID":"tt2313197","Type":"movie","Poster":"https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMzIxMDkxNDM2M15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMDA5ODY1OQ@@._V1_SX300.jpg"}],"totalResults":"490","Response":"True"}

Thus far, I’ve managed to remove the {"Search":[ and ],"totalResults":"490","Response":"True"} part using sendGetRequest(requestURL).substring(11, sendGetRequest(requestURL).length()-41);, yet I still can’t seem to parse the String as JSON. I’ve tried using String.split and Matcher/Pattern with various regexes, to separate the the JsonObjects. I’ve also tried a JSONArray, but to no avail.

I’m new to working with JSON, so it’s not unlikely I’m missing something obvious or have completely misunderstood JSON in general.

Answer

First define a new custom class for your need:

import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;

public class YourClass {
    @JsonProperty("Title")
    private String title;
    @JsonProperty("Year")
    private String year;
    private String imdbID;
    @JsonProperty("Type")
    private String type;
    @JsonProperty("Poster")
    private String poster;

    public String getTitle() {
        return title;
    }

    public void setTitle(String title) {
        this.title = title;
    }

    public String getYear() {
        return year;
    }

    public void setYear(String year) {
        this.year = year;
    }

    public String getImdbID() {
        return imdbID;
    }

    public void setImdbID(String imdbID) {
        this.imdbID = imdbID;
    }

    public String getType() {
        return type;
    }

    public void setType(String type) {
        this.type = type;
    }

    public String getPoster() {
        return poster;
    }

    public void setPoster(String poster) {
        this.poster = poster;
    }

    @Override
    public String toString() {
        return "YourClass{" +
                "title='" + title + ''' +
                ", year='" + year + ''' +
                ", imdbID='" + imdbID + ''' +
                ", type='" + type + ''' +
                ", poster='" + poster + ''' +
                '}';
    }
}

Then simply you can parse your JSON, this is main method:

public static void main(String[] args) throws JsonProcessingException {
    SpringApplication.run(Demo2Application.class, args);


    ObjectMapper objectMapper = new ObjectMapper();

    List<YourClass> yourClassList = objectMapper.readValue("[{"Title":"Batman Begins","Year":"2005","imdbID":"tt0372784","Type":"movie","Poster":"https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BOTY4YjI2N2MtYmFlMC00ZjcyLTg3YjEtMDQyM2ZjYzQ5YWFkXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTQxNzMzNDI@._V1_SX300.jpg"},{"Title":"Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice","Year":"2016","imdbID":"tt2975590","Type":"movie","Poster":"https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYThjYzcyYzItNTVjNy00NDk0LTgwMWQtYjMwNmNlNWJhMzMyXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTQxNzMzNDI@._V1_SX300.jpg"},{"Title":"Batman","Year":"1989","imdbID":"tt0096895","Type":"movie","Poster":"https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTYwNjAyODIyMF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwNDMwMDk2._V1_SX300.jpg"},{"Title":"Batman Returns","Year":"1992","imdbID":"tt0103776","Type":"movie","Poster":"https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BOGZmYzVkMmItM2NiOS00MDI3LWI4ZWQtMTg0YWZkODRkMmViXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyODY0NzcxNw@@._V1_SX300.jpg"},{"Title":"Batman Forever","Year":"1995","imdbID":"tt0112462","Type":"movie","Poster":"https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNDdjYmFiYWEtYzBhZS00YTZkLWFlODgtY2I5MDE0NzZmMDljXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTMxODk2OTU@._V1_SX300.jpg"},{"Title":"Batman & Robin","Year":"1997","imdbID":"tt0118688","Type":"movie","Poster":"https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMGQ5YTM1NmMtYmIxYy00N2VmLWJhZTYtN2EwYTY3MWFhOTczXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNTA2NTI0MTY@._V1_SX300.jpg"},{"Title":"The Lego Batman Movie","Year":"2017","imdbID":"tt4116284","Type":"movie","Poster":"https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTcyNTEyOTY0M15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwOTAyNzU3MDI@._V1_SX300.jpg"},{"Title":"Batman: The Animated Series","Year":"1992–1995","imdbID":"tt0103359","Type":"series","Poster":"https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BOTM3MTRkZjQtYjBkMy00YWE1LTkxOTQtNDQyNGY0YjYzNzAzXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyOTgwMzk1MTA@._V1_SX300.jpg"},{"Title":"Batman: Under the Red Hood","Year":"2010","imdbID":"tt1569923","Type":"movie","Poster":"https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNmY4ZDZjY2UtOWFiYy00MjhjLThmMjctOTQ2NjYxZGRjYmNlL2ltYWdlL2ltYWdlXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNTAyODkwOQ@@._V1_SX300.jpg"},{"Title":"Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1","Year":"2012","imdbID":"tt2313197","Type":"movie","Poster":"https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMzIxMDkxNDM2M15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMDA5ODY1OQ@@._V1_SX300.jpg"}]", new TypeReference<ArrayList<YourClass>>() {});

    for (YourClass yourClass: yourClassList) {
        System.out.println(yourClass);
    }
}

P.S: Keep in your mind that you must not remove brackets [] from your JSON as you said in your question.