Question

To create a chart, I found that Bloomberg is providing data in JSON format. Please have a look at this URL: http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/chart/data/1Y/IBM:US This sends data of the chart in JSON format. I want to get this data in an Ajax request, so that I can parse it and create a chart. But I can’t use Ajax, as this is a cross domain affair. I need to use JSONP. I am not sure how Bloomberg API supports JSOP. If you know how can we use JSONP with the above url, please let me know. If there is any alternative, please let me know.

Answer 1

You can’t. JSONP requires that the server be on board with the transaction so that it can properly handle the callback injection. If the server isn’t providing it, there’s no way to force it unilaterally.

What you might be able to do, subject to your hosting provider’s policies, is have your server-side script load the Bloomberg data, then pass it on from there, either printed in the initial page or as a JSON/JSONP call to your own server (which is probably a better idea, as it leaves you more flexibility to update the data on the fly and also allows the page’s markup to be cached).

Note that some hosting providers do not allow outgoing requests because they don’t want their servers to be used as proxies (which is, after all, basically what I’m suggesting you do). You may have an option to whitelist Bloomberg, or you may just need to keep outgoing traffic to a minimum (i.e. cache the Bloomberg data on your server so that you’re not refreshing it every time someone loads your page). Check your hosting terms.