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(Quick Reference) # 7.1.8 More on JSONBuilder - Reference Documentation Authors: Graeme Rocher, Peter Ledbrook, Marc Palmer, Jeff Brown, Luke Daley, Burt Beckwith, Lari Hotari Version: 2.3.8 ## 7.1.8 More on JSONBuilder The previous section on on XML and JSON responses covered simplistic examples of rendering XML and JSON responses. Whilst the XML builder used by Grails is the standard XmlSlurper found in Groovy, the JSON builder is a custom implementation specific to Grails. #### JSONBuilder and Grails versions JSONBuilder behaves different depending on the version of Grails you use. For version below 1.2 the deprecated grails.web.JSONBuilder class is used. This section covers the usage of the Grails 1.2 JSONBuilder For backwards compatibility the old `JSONBuilder` class is used with the `render` method for older applications; to use the newer/better `JSONBuilder` class set the following in `Config.groovy`:
    grails.json.legacy.builder = false
#### Rendering Simple Objects To render a simple JSON object just set properties within the context of the Closure:
    render(contentType: "application/json") {
        hello = "world"
    }
The above will produce the JSON:
    {"hello":"world"}
#### Rendering JSON Arrays To render a list of objects simple assign a list:
    render(contentType: "application/json") {
        categories = ['a', 'b', 'c']
    }
This will produce:
    {"categories":["a","b","c"]}
You can also render lists of complex objects, for example:
    render(contentType: "application/json") {
        categories = [ { a = "A" }, { b = "B" } ]
    }
This will produce:
    {"categories":[ {"a":"A"} , {"b":"B"}] }
Use the special `element` method to return a list as the root:
    render(contentType: "application/json") {
        element 1
        element 2
        element 3
    }
The above code produces:
    [1,2,3]
#### Rendering Complex Objects Rendering complex objects can be done with Closures. For example:
    render(contentType: "application/json") {
        categories = ['a', 'b', 'c']
        title = "Hello JSON"
        information = {
            pages = 10
        }
    }
The above will produce the JSON:
    {"categories":["a","b","c"],"title":"Hello JSON","information":{"pages":10}}
#### Arrays of Complex Objects As mentioned previously you can nest complex objects within arrays using Closures:
    render(contentType: "application/json") {
        categories = [ { a = "A" }, { b = "B" } ]
    }
You can use the `array` method to build them up dynamically:
    def results = Book.list()
    render(contentType: "application/json") {
        books = array {
            for (b in results) {
                book title: b.title
            }
        }
    }
#### Direct JSONBuilder API Access If you don't have access to the `render` method, but still want to produce JSON you can use the API directly:

    def builder = new JSONBuilder()def result = builder.build {
        categories = ['a', 'b', 'c']
        title = "Hello JSON"
        information = {
            pages = 10
        }
    }// prints the JSON text
    println result.toString()def sw = new StringWriter()
    result.render sw
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