json: cannot unmarshal object into Go value of type

Question

I can't decode the json code below ... any ideas why it doesn't work ? See also play.golang

package main
    
import (
    "encoding/json"         
)
    
type LocationReadable struct {
    District string
    City     string
    State    string
}
    
type Locale struct {
    Location         string
    CountryCode      string
    CurrencyId       string
    CurrencySymbol   string
    LocationReadable LocationReadable
}
    
type Media struct {
    Image string
    Video string
}
    
type Variations struct {
    FixedPrice float64
    Media      Media
    Quantity   int
}
    
type PaymentData struct {
    PaymentName    string
    PaymentService string
}
    
type Payment struct {
    Online  PaymentData
    Offline PaymentData
}
    
type Shipping struct {
    ShippingService        string
    ShippingName           string
    ShippingCost           float64
    HandlingTimeMax        int
    DispatchTimeMin        int
    DispatchTimeMax        int
    ShippingAdditionalCost int
}

type Item []struct {
    _version    string
    CategoryId  string
    Title       string
    Media       Media
    SellerId    string
    Locale      Locale
    ListingType string
    Payment     Payment
    StartTime   string
    EndTime     string
    Shipping    Shipping
    TitleSlug   string
    Variations  Variations
    _fpaiStatus string
}

func main() {
    itemInfoR := `{"locale":{"location":"51.51121389999999,-0.11982439999997041","countryCode":"GB","currencyId":"GBP","currencySymbol":"£","locationReadable":{"district":"City of Westminster","city":"London","state":"Greater London"}},"_version":"serving","categoryId":["Root","Cameras \u0026 Photo","Digital Cameras"],"title":"many pictures","media":{"image":["//lh5.ggpht.com/O_o_N6CFkClY5AV0-LqntpyFjor7Of4u23ZcK7lYwc2uY1ea7GWi61VDJZCB7UCb79svkjKPHIenqwEUhjHi0jdIQnnl6z_p03yktPUB1FBHezIQ","//lh6.ggpht.com/ih3q2d7CenGLPyupH9FpfsoJQWQpw1i8wWA2Kd26bFnSF2fbnKyGU9WePIhCgEeqw5p6YMVmFi1c9oS0Ag93aF_oZ3ZiwK7fQuSYIrZ9VhgXbrTHkw","//lh6.ggpht.com/7RJRsapsnwWL3_KiLIjMz4QojDzUvsztXtvKTFvIfde_AHccDnOibAvXRN73tTB4SeHzlj8S1LWxbYwwWFGn9elfCKdSb8BUIU5QJY1LO791HutQ","//lh6.ggpht.com/qAtjgyHAB734Ox_4NC_fa-ZRqrCjCmJu0Tp8bo-HMO88duv8l4hhuv2REBkB--yneFzOL7annecVlGty-YsKouondiOFVnAZWzjpdrfsGfbL6wh2","//lh3.ggpht.com/dWUbASepwHF4lHaXIPnpv4BNm2pCml9MlJt7s86s1cpu-PsYNmS0yQmKFKTM38q_oMLW_YJMJ19civ2gVViKAGYcZylRW7jN3w77AJvhzS6JE2g","//lh6.ggpht.com/9aXLmPRVeZnxkwvNb3mWTF8kvfEY_lho_lOVVc9AbNqLb8GQmiS_XXVZ3OKqMv2pxgYSayMYPPRh6ACYyh0H8KtS8mPD6MKUkEajwxkTtp5Q4Lo","//lh3.ggpht.com/FG_QXZPHJ2tTYwI_t5Fg1KqivglVg9RlJn0JRsu9Ox8vJ7IcBirb2IV_I1LL_WVOMxfTuBBSDLMlrw9v0MCAdmnPCR29sCbRGjhm6zEfIH-3q2QSdw","//lh4.ggpht.com/Y23DqORrVkM2m55f-rq5_BBrlkvQg4uX7AsAt-ixhMobjK_SFgFaDfktgLhkNsyKwSr9HcF8iiGY3Nw0xOKXG1sn6wyAWg_qsolmKjVOrM5V5mIR","//lh6.ggpht.com/mQ62Ly-DjMKPMzU1OcSPJ7SLBqym0uBjawlkTHfmb-HOKaD56dnitk1duwPFJVdbi0GUpd63RQvr2VMpHp6S1OQ3di-hq4-JPeRoS5FJzksXSvW_","//lh3.ggpht.com/dqWjWPcNsvlR1tMC_agizX19f9MDiNGWFYTYVn4kjJxzIIkEe0mLzNcvS62zVJxAOaitT-IgaUfZ-Ze23BgzbqYY-l600i_LbVe35Uinz6sXIyoB","//lh6.ggpht.com/xhSdFc9uHgghs_6gf3seUWYM-PG2oLmjTrpF7ptEEMqaIrQIa8VPfC6tXE7f3M13eZvDXYqMW_k0AHO5vwCEPNp-iObixskd_lBaKNfz3MH3SNQ","//lh5.ggpht.com/kYeoKPoZGJCow-G1FhnD8kzVjNjbQA8-Kyj8eAh0HL-fMZX9tTeFPQikTZdSU0kks4-5Ui54cZF2CjGut9vfMJAVDKIq3T-bAQewCxvfl2120tH5zQ","//lh5.ggpht.com/4qUl3d-G9EPBzcYKrimNsWhQw7CmONV0jgfVhxFgB9mEU_QLRCyNJTWs2A3xf6wc7AUF2DXrKEkoX-SNLMZ6s-O4aXXV9WOjOPcWdAYreMRBld0E","//lh5.ggpht.com/z-0C4G6EWYkelAF1LjPfl_UQcsp92H4joIPt8NfsOl0nPJ2VpzZYahWadKqTLfl6kq3C6aDBcwfGQyMWSozYoZIAOAW0yRvZrwxia321PlsKTxbZ","//lh4.ggpht.com/U7I12JrDYmMC_pUXpw8DVBjBilU67BvbM8qT8gJE0bQfkhHo7FOdMttiz3syP5IR-LyO4J1WBlfmZjvMjRr4GIBt4o3Vqp-hKz7q2_OGwGtsN5s","//lh3.ggpht.com/fF2XWEtqG23ybhzClhC_p8gvKJalf1vg7k3H7UkuAaIVubil7EgOvJUCwAZk2KiCtlPYp1E5Ep2xaxZjJRmg5EFSEAjqlMHJS_Wd1Bcje6xre4s","//lh3.ggpht.com/jgOebMihBoIZvHE4EOklJvZ_k-9egjNIlUKfKFcLkvXJs8g2FXjPvdFUbwqGrkHrMtyis8uOvgt-E51Vm11hq4bieh7h0cegca0VI4vFtFaAemU","//lh3.ggpht.com/MOrI-zKNMNrQE_aHj5hzbojP3T0hEMJKK6K8UO3e1NBC-nkcQeIM1QnvtJdT_G-W4e7-qv4BiqwdWcNHBpZXOmmX3tcuYEV8u_ANEoa9_aUIfeyg","//lh6.ggpht.com/SyIS5sGOkTG7k_jFF14wzH9Evrblv6o4pHBI6z6X070-xhAeyut_kRO6xHtDID4KLcWFvItjQy-plPcJ6K1T9tlFOrtaryEPvuAYdMVx8e0TTw","//lh6.ggpht.com/2Pp9kLYFhDT3USwHinU5OxnzcWWOLI0nOWe29gOD5KMzyEcXoHkTN-AutJV9M8F_9eqAP379XB9O1d0BWPanhr-MguzKxfHeUvYTs6yHzDkxyfe0NA","//lh4.ggpht.com/7aofqklSkF3AMDfF19yqsA9J3EfEiKy1NdOelEGKNnW0Cv5tGEpq2PF_jZO1MVoBbrrmVVRv0Tdq7I8KyZbIlyHdbTs1jMl7dEFqVMvsPcyaORyHlQ","//lh4.ggpht.com/anYJHqkMCkuhmIHQTBspLtWcDTyx1ZRe84_q5pAgVEOVmsKkaKhS725N4YFoj2zpJrBP7iTC2vf1GUtrp6H7kkm8c1k6zkW6I_Gf5f9A3re_I8Ex","//lh3.ggpht.com/OtSw0rU-DvfoXgoWrQdkln6Kz7O14TF9qrPNJSGJnZLeDqUEctOn1DT09pdwwVpNQV-cXmVYQL-PX4XPhpZLWH1ciSkVT6WHNmTz1D9pHphBwJUv","//lh3.ggpht.com/cTCZnXPIjI-EO2bvQdLgeoSLOSlMFcv805n347Zyci9XDYUdcVDC_5H7SFVYDr4pC5HtQDYnrOHL6AinLW7hWtfSCLlvVhVUNQ-DlDn0NwZ-1iCO-g","//lh4.ggpht.com/i-mL_JcF9rwjQq6HnuKzuAHU41_UGxQ62IOPZvaDrATXaPFbhe-EbT7ZIpboyNA5PXRCsxNsZ9hu58edRvNs5ScgKN8Lg-00J2LhlwMAbdEsv7b0nw","//lh6.ggpht.com/D_YV2BG1WWwl67xNloP3sxzRkqhcVTgJi58L-A8nLrOcMR_tBqLz4fHEGQ-qiNcG_-32MNy3dlSPWrTBKzBcweJxgMnRVet5yuGfelUlwehDtXX_3w"],"video":[]},"sellerId":"mihai","listingType":"fixedPrice","payment":{"online":[{"paymentName":"PayPal","paymentService":"paypal"}],"offline":[{"paymentName":"Pay on Pick-up","paymentService":"payOnPickup"}]},"startTime":"2014-01-04T10:02:18+00:00","endTime":"2014-04-04T10:02:18+00:00","shipping":[{"shippingService":"economy","shippingName":"Economy","shippingCost":1.0,"handlingTimeMax":4,"dispatchTimeMin":1,"dispatchTimeMax":10,"shippingAdditionalCost":"2"},{"shippingService":"localPickup","shippingName":"Local Pick-Up","shippingCost":0.0,"handlingTimeMax":2,"dispatchTimeMin":0,"dispatchTimeMax":0,"shippingAdditionalCost":"0"}],"titleSlug":"many-pictures","variations":[{"fixedPrice":222999.0,"media":{"image":["//lh6.ggpht.com/ih3q2d7CenGLPyupH9FpfsoJQWQpw1i8wWA2Kd26bFnSF2fbnKyGU9WePIhCgEeqw5p6YMVmFi1c9oS0Ag93aF_oZ3ZiwK7fQuSYIrZ9VhgXbrTHkw","//lh6.ggpht.com/9aXLmPRVeZnxkwvNb3mWTF8kvfEY_lho_lOVVc9AbNqLb8GQmiS_XXVZ3OKqMv2pxgYSayMYPPRh6ACYyh0H8KtS8mPD6MKUkEajwxkTtp5Q4Lo","//lh3.ggpht.com/FG_QXZPHJ2tTYwI_t5Fg1KqivglVg9RlJn0JRsu9Ox8vJ7IcBirb2IV_I1LL_WVOMxfTuBBSDLMlrw9v0MCAdmnPCR29sCbRGjhm6zEfIH-3q2QSdw"],"video":[]},"quantity":1121,"Brand":"Bell \u0026 Howell"},{"fixedPrice":211.0,"media":{"image":["//lh6.ggpht.com/qAtjgyHAB734Ox_4NC_fa-ZRqrCjCmJu0Tp8bo-HMO88duv8l4hhuv2REBkB--yneFzOL7annecVlGty-YsKouondiOFVnAZWzjpdrfsGfbL6wh2","//lh3.ggpht.com/FG_QXZPHJ2tTYwI_t5Fg1KqivglVg9RlJn0JRsu9Ox8vJ7IcBirb2IV_I1LL_WVOMxfTuBBSDLMlrw9v0MCAdmnPCR29sCbRGjhm6zEfIH-3q2QSdw","//lh6.ggpht.com/9aXLmPRVeZnxkwvNb3mWTF8kvfEY_lho_lOVVc9AbNqLb8GQmiS_XXVZ3OKqMv2pxgYSayMYPPRh6ACYyh0H8KtS8mPD6MKUkEajwxkTtp5Q4Lo","//lh3.ggpht.com/MOrI-zKNMNrQE_aHj5hzbojP3T0hEMJKK6K8UO3e1NBC-nkcQeIM1QnvtJdT_G-W4e7-qv4BiqwdWcNHBpZXOmmX3tcuYEV8u_ANEoa9_aUIfeyg"],"video":[]},"quantity":2,"Brand":"Fujifilm"},{"fixedPrice":22.0,"media":{"image":["//lh3.ggpht.com/jgOebMihBoIZvHE4EOklJvZ_k-9egjNIlUKfKFcLkvXJs8g2FXjPvdFUbwqGrkHrMtyis8uOvgt-E51Vm11hq4bieh7h0cegca0VI4vFtFaAemU","//lh3.ggpht.com/MOrI-zKNMNrQE_aHj5hzbojP3T0hEMJKK6K8UO3e1NBC-nkcQeIM1QnvtJdT_G-W4e7-qv4BiqwdWcNHBpZXOmmX3tcuYEV8u_ANEoa9_aUIfeyg","//lh4.ggpht.com/anYJHqkMCkuhmIHQTBspLtWcDTyx1ZRe84_q5pAgVEOVmsKkaKhS725N4YFoj2zpJrBP7iTC2vf1GUtrp6H7kkm8c1k6zkW6I_Gf5f9A3re_I8Ex"],"video":[]},"quantity":12,"Brand":"Gateway"}],"_fpaiStatus":"published"}`
    itemInfoBytes := []byte(itemInfoR)
    var ItemInfo Item
    er := json.Unmarshal(itemInfoBytes, &ItemInfo)
    if er != nil {
        panic(er)
    }
        
}

Answer 1

Here's a fixed version of it: http://play.golang.org/p/w2ZcOzGHKR

The biggest fix that was needed is when Unmarshalling an array, that property needs to be an array/slice in the struct as well.

For example:

{ "things": ["a", "b", "c"] }

Would Unmarshal into a:

type Item struct {
    Things []string
}

And not into:

type Item struct {
    Things string
}

The other thing to watch out for when Unmarshaling is that the types line up exactly. It will fail when Unmarshalling a JSON string representation of a number into an int or float field -- "1" needs to Unmarshal into a string, not into an int like we saw with ShippingAdditionalCost int

Answer 2

Determining of root cause is not an issue since Go 1.8; field name now is shown in the error message:

json: cannot unmarshal object into Go struct field Comment.author of type string

Answer 3

You JSON doesn't match your struct fields: E.g. "district" in JSON and "District" as the field.

Also: Your Item is a slice type but your JSON is a dict value. Do not mix this up. Slices decode from arrays.