How to convert stringified surveyjs JSON-like object into actual JSON

I'm working on a an application that uses the survey building library surveyjs. I'm building a tool where users can input a survey JSON from that website into a form that is then sent as a string via an ajax request that triggers an AWS Lambda function. The lambda function takes the ajax request and inserts their survey into a MongoDB instance using mongoose.

When the string comes into the lambda function, it looks like this:

"{ pages: [ { name: 'page1', elements: [ { type: 'radiogroup', name: 'question1', title: 'IS THIS A SURVEY?', choices: [ { value: 'item1', text: 'Yes' }, { value: 'item2', text: 'No' } ] } ] } ]}"

And when I try to parse that string, I get this error:

Error: JSON Parse error: Expected '}'

I think it might have something to do with the JSON keys not being strings. I've also read that my use of single quotes could potentially be the problem, but I've exhausted my knowledge base.

Overall, my question is: How can I convert that string into a JSON object?

Thanks!

Solution

JSON strings need their string properties and values to be double-quoted. Use a regular expression and replace:

const originalStr = "{ pages: [ { name: 'page1', elements: [ { type: 'radiogroup', name: 'question1', title: 'IS THIS A SURVEY?', choices: [ { value: 'item1', text: 'Yes' }, { value: 'item2', text: 'No' } ] } ] } ]}";
const finalStr = originalStr
  .replace(/'/g, '"')
  .replace(/(\w+):/g, '"$1":');
console.log(JSON.parse(finalStr).pages);

That said, it would be better to fix whatever's serving the results in the first place, if at all possible.