Should I Parse JSON Data Before Inserting To MongoDB? - node.js

Question

So, I am receiving some JSON data from a client to my Node.JS server. I want to insert that json into my MongoDB instance using Mongoose.
I can insert the JSON as-is, and it works great, because it's just text. However, I want to parse it before insertion so that when I extract it later it will be all nice and neat.
So, this works:
wordStream.words.push(wordData);
And this doesn't:
wordStream.words.push(JSON.parse(wordData));
So, should I even want to parse the JSON before insertion?
And if I should parse the JSON, how do I do it without throwing an error? I need to put everything in double quotes "", I believe, before it will parse, but for some reason whenever I make a string with double quotes and parse it, it turns everything all wrong.
Here is the JSON:
{ word: 'bundle',
definitions:
[ { definition: 'A group of objects held together by wrapping or tying.',
partOfSpeech: 'noun' } ],
urlSource: 'testurl',
otherSource: '' }
And the error when I try to parse
/Users/spence450/Documents/development/wordly-dev/wordly-server/node_modules/mongoose/lib/utils.js:409
throw err;
^
SyntaxError: Unexpected token o
Ideas?

Answer 1

So, should I even want to parse the JSON before insertion?
Convert the strings to JSON objects will benefit you later, when you need to make queries in your MongoDB database.
And if I should parse the JSON, how do I do it without throwing an error? I need to put everything in double quotes "", I believe, before it will parse, but for some reason whenever I make a string with double quotes and parse it, it turns everything all wrong.
You aren't receiving JSON documents. JSON documents must contain the keys quoted.
You can:
Use a library that recognizes invalid JSON objects (please don't)
Use eval (this is a security issue, so don't do it)
Fix the source of the problem, creating real JSON objects. This isn't difficult, you can see the JSON features here