Problem using "observable"

[Elizabeth]

I'm new to Kendo, so this may be a stupid question.

I'm trying to use use a hidden input field as a data source and this is failing.

<input id="jsonall" type="hidden" value='{ "university": { "AltBreak": "Yes", "ABAverage": "5.8", "id": "17360" } }'>
<span data-bind="text: university.AltBreak"></span>
<span data-bind="text: university.ABAverage"></span>
<span data-bind="text: university.id"></span>

var viewModel = kendo.observable($('input[id=jsonall]').val());
kendo.bind($("span"), viewModel);

But if I hard code the data like below, it is working:
var viewModel = kendo.observable({ "university": { "AB": "Yes", "ABAverage": "5.8", "id": "12345" } });

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

[Alexander Valchev]

Hi Elizabeth,

Value of the input is a string, not JavaScript object. In order to build ViewModel from it you should parse it at first.

var viewModel = kendo.observable(JSON.parse($('input[id=jsonall]').val()));
kendo.bind($("span"), viewModel);

I hope this will help.

Regards,
Alexander Valchev
Telerik

[Elizabeth]

Thanks, that did it. One other thing, the examples I've seen using functions are like the example below where the function is in the data, how/can I create a function outside of the original data source?

var viewModel = kendo.observable({
firstName: "John",
lastName: "Doe",
fullName: function() {
return this.get("firstName") + " " + this.get("lastName");
}
});

[Alexander Valchev]

Hi Elizabeth,

I am afraid that your question is a bit unclear. Provided code snippet does not contain a DataSource object and does not explain the details of your scenario. Is it possible for you to provide another example which demonstrates your exact case?
Thank you in advance.

Regards,
Alexander Valchev
Telerik

[Elizabeth]

My JSON data was in a string, once I used JSON.parse, it worked.