How can I retrieve JSON from an HTTP endpoint, from within Excel on MacOS, and parse it?
excel, json, macos, vba
Solution
you can acutally use the `Worksheets(0).QueryTable` method in VBA. Just have a look at the manual or google for it. So you don't have to store your json string into a cell.
Or I have used something like
Public Function GetWebSource(ByRef URL As String) As String
Dim xml As IXMLHTTPRequest
On Error Resume Next
Set xml = CreateObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP")
With xml
.Open "GET", URL, False
.send
GetWebSource = .responseText
End With
Set xml = Nothing
End Function
to download an json string.
Look around for parsers. Somehting like Parsing JSON in Excel VBA should fill your needs.
Problem
I have seen How can I send an HTTP POST request to a server from Excel using VBA? and the MacOS-friendly response that describes how to retrieve data from an HTTP endpoint using QueryTables. It demonstrates how to retrieve a single string and stuff it into a cell. All good. Now I would like to retrieve more than a single value. It's a large JSON string, and I want to post-process it within Excel VBA before populating one or more cells. How is this possible? I can think of one way - place the result of the QueryTables thing into a hidden cell, and then post-process the hidden cell to populate other cells. There are a few JSON libraries for VBA that I have not evaluated yet. But this seems pretty hacky. Really I want to not rely on storing the JSON as a value in a cell. I'd like to store it only into a variable in my VBA code. Just as if I was using CreateObject("MSXML2.ServerXMLHTTP"). (NB: CreateObject() is not available from within Excel on MacOS). And I understand that the best answer here might be: Get a Windows machine if you want to run apps within Excel.