Importing data using ImportJSON to Google Sheets, select value output based on column name?

Question

I'm trying to import financial data from Yahoo Finance into Google Sheets. I just learned about ImportJSON.

I use ImportJSON with this link: https://query2.finance.yahoo.com/v10/finance/quoteSummary/EDIT?modules=defaultKeyStatistics
I have stock tickers in column A of my spreadsheet, I want to pull a certain value from the link above for the corresponding ticker.

I tried this: =INDEX(ImportJSON("https://query2.finance.yahoo.com/v10/finance/quoteSummary/"& A2&"?modules=defaultKeyStatistics"),2,69)

However it seems that the column don't correspond to the same value for each ticker as i'm getting mixed results.
Is there a way for me to INDEX using the column name rather than number?

Answer 1

Its complex!

JSON and spreadsheet-like data don't go together very easily because JSONs are inherently nested, which is not easy to represent in a tabular way. Often the keys will appear in a different order each time, which is why you may be getting inconsistent results.

For this reason, I suggest you get familiar with Apps Script because it is a much friendlier way to interact with JSON than via in sheet functions. This way you can easily call values by name because JSON, after all, is JavaScript Object notation, and Apps Script is a type of JavaScript!

Sample Apps Script

To illustrate this, here is a script I just wrote to extract data from the particular JSON you posted. It can work as a function in sheet too. Below is demonstrated how to use it:

/**
 * Returns 2D array of values. i.e.
 * Value, Raw, Fmt, LongFmt
 * sharesShort, 9890638, 9.89M, 9,890,638
 */
function getJsonValue(url) {
  // Fetch the JSON
  let response = UrlFetchApp.fetch(url);
  let text = response.getContentText();
  let json = JSON.parse(text);

  // Initialize the output array
  let output = [];

  // Navigate to where the main data is
  let stats = json.quoteSummary.result[0].defaultKeyStatistics

  // Adding headers to the output
  let header = ["Value", "Raw", "Fmt", "LongFmt"]
  output.push(header)

  // For each key in stats, add:
  // Value, Raw, Fmt, LongFmt
  for (let attribute in stats) {
    // initialize row array
    let row = [];
    // Add Value to array
    row.push(attribute);

    // Check if the contents of the attribute is an object, else add blank row
    if (typeof(stats[attribute]) == "object" && stats[attribute] != null) {
      // if the object contains raw, fmt, longfmt, then add to row, else add null
      "raw" in stats[attribute] ? row.push(stats[attribute].raw) : row.push(null)
      "fmt" in stats[attribute] ? row.push(stats[attribute].fmt) : row.push(null)
      "longFmt" in stats[attribute] ? row.push(stats[attribute].longFmt) : row.push(null)
    } else {
        row.push(null);
        row.push(null);
        row.push(null);
    }
    // Add row to output
    output.push(row)
  }
  // Return 2D array
  return output
}

You can use it like this:

Or in code:

function test() {
  
  let file = SpreadsheetApp.getActive();
  let sheet = file.getSheetByName("Sheet1");

  let output = getJsonValue("https://query2.finance.yahoo.com/v10/finance/quoteSummary/EDIT?modules=defaultKeyStatistics")

  let rows = output.length
  let cols = output[0].length
  let range = sheet.getRange(1,1,rows, cols)
  range.setValues(output)

}

This script is mainly for you to adapt yourself, depending on the structure of the JSON that you are using.

References

• Main Page
• SpreadsheetApp
• Url Fetch Service
• JSON