...

On Thu, Apr 7, 2011 at 4:07 PM, Jim Barrows jim.barrows@gmail.com wrote:

...

I'm trying to encode a list of plists, and encode-json-plist-to-string doesn't appear to do it.

Yes, because the first list is a list and not a plist.

Am I incorrect in thinking this is a list of plists?  I'm still in shock over the difference in terminology between Java and Lisp...

And I am often shocked when I need to do various things in the Java world, so I understand your reaction.

No your right, it is a list of p-lists. But the encode-json-plist function is for p-lists, not necessarily lists of p-lists. It is an easy way to render a simple key-value object. Probably not the best choice if you want to have control over details, then I suggest the explicit encoder.

The problem is for the encoder to guess what you intend to have as output. A p-list looks just like a list, so what do you want as output, an object or a list? How should a nested list (one of the values in the key-value pair) that looks like a p-list be converted, to a json-list or a json-object?

It is slightly easier with a-lists, I think you will get a list of objects if you have a list of a-lists and encode-json-alist.

Or if you don't like the unpredictable ways of some code trying to guess what you want, just use the explicit encoder or the streaming encoder, then you have full control. Look at the testcases for lots of examples.

/Henrik