Excel VBA macro using iTunes search API - fastest way to query & parse JSON results

Question

I am trying to build Excel page from iTunes query data. An example for Angry Birds app my query would look like: https://itunes.apple.com/lookup?id=343200656&country=AL

Answer 1

Here's a basic approach using the scriptcontrol:

Sub Tester()

    Dim json As String
    Dim sc As Object
    Dim o

    Set sc = CreateObject("scriptcontrol")
    sc.Language = "JScript"

    json = HttpGet("https://itunes.apple.com/lookup?id=343200656&country=AL")

    'some json property names may be keywords in VBA, so replace with
    '  something similar....
    json = Replace(json, """description""", """description_r""")
    Debug.Print json

    sc.Eval "var obj=(" & json & ")" 'evaluate the json response
    'add some accessor functions
    sc.AddCode "function getResultCount(){return obj.resultCount;}"
    sc.AddCode "function getResult(i){return obj.results[i];}"

    Debug.Print sc.Run("getResultCount")

    Set o = sc.Run("getResult", 0)
    Debug.Print o.kind, o.features, o.description_r

End Sub

Function HttpGet(url As String) As String
    Dim oHTML As Object
    Set oHTML = CreateObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP")
    With oHTML
        .Open "GET", url, False
        .send
        HttpGet = .responsetext
    End With
End Function

There's a worked-out approach in Codo's answer to this question: Excel VBA: Parsed JSON Object Loop