Enables support of the type String in the library.

The default is 1 of ARDUINO is defined, 0 otherwise. In other words, String is supported as soon as you work in an Arduino-compatible environment

How to force the value?

If you need to force the support of String, add this at the top of your program:

#define ARDUINOJSON_ENABLE_ARDUINO_STRING 1
#include <ArduinoJson.h>

On the other hand, if you need to disable String, do:

#define ARDUINOJSON_ENABLE_ARDUINO_STRING 0
#include <ArduinoJson.h>

Where a String can be used?

Once enabled, you can use a String in many places.

  1. You can use a String as your JSON input

     // WARNING: the content of the String will be duplicated in the JsonBuffer.
     String input = "{\"sensor\":\"gps\",\"time\":1351824120,\"data\":[48.756080,2.302038]}";
     JsonObject& root = jsonBuffer.parseObject(input);
    
  2. You can use a String to get an element of a JsonObject

     long time = root[String("time")];
    
  3. You can use a String to set an element of a JsonObject

     // WARNING: the content of the String will be duplicated in the JsonBuffer.
     root[String("time")] = time;
    
  4. You can get a String from a JsonObject or JsonArray

     String sensor = root["sensor"];
    
  5. You can set a String to a JsonObject or JsonArray:

     // WARNING: the content of the String will be duplicated in the JsonBuffer.
     root["sensor"] = sensor;
    
  6. You can also concatenate strings

     // WARNING: the content of the String will be duplicated in the JsonBuffer.
     root[String("sen") + "sor"] = String("gp") + "s";
    
  7. You can compare the content of a JsonObject with a String

     if (root["sensor"] == sensor) {
         // ...
     }
    
  8. You can print the resulting JSON to a String

     String output;
     root.printTo(output);
    

Where a String can not be used?

  1. Unfortunately, the following doesn’t work (issue #118):

     String sensor = "something";
     sensor = root["sensor"]; // <-  error "ambiguous overload for 'operator='"
    
  2. As a workaround, you need to replace by:

     sensor = root["sensor"].as<String>();
    

See also

Global warming stripes by Professor Ed Hawkins (University of Reading)