decoding a string that contains a json that contains an array

Hello krogold

The content of your example values are not valid JSON, so it is no wonder that your JSONSlurper attempt is throwing errors.  I am not familiar with a tool that will parse this format, so breaking it down into the lowest common denominator is what I would do... 

Since the format is basically static between the two values you want to compare, how about just splitting each the same way (with a little tweak for a common difference), then sorting so that they are both in the same order, then compare the sorted results.  A basic sanity check is that they both split into an equal number of elements.  The next check could be line by line of the sorted results to see if there are differences.  The following code compares the two string values you supplied.  The run of this groovy script shows they are equal.  To see a failure, modifying either "refStr" or "compStr" (i.e. add an extra character in a word) to trigger an assertion error. 

Regards,

TNeuschwanger

log.info 'Test Step "' + testRunner.runContext.currentStep.name + '" start...';
log.info "";

def refStr = "{satisfied=true, dynamic_href/properties/triggers, name=triggers, value={satisfied=true, dynamic_href/properties/triggers, name=triggers, value=[{type=DAILY, description=null, configuration={allXDays=1, time=08:10:29, timeProgramMode=TIME, startDate=2019-02-28}, id=guid], metadata={satisfied=true, href=/m2m/fim/metadata/items/com.hager.domovea.automation.sequence.Sequence/properties/triggers, name=null, description=null, type=null, classes=null, regex=null, min=null, max=null, step=null, enumeration=null, beanMetadata=null, readable=null, writable=null, eventable=null, asyncStatusPropertyName=null, attributes=null}, asyncStatusProperty=null}, metadata={satisfied=true, href=/m2m/fim/metadata/items/com.hager.domovea.automation.sequence.Sequence/properties/triggers, name=null, description=null, type=null, classes=null, regex=null, min=null, max=null, step=null, enumeration=null, beanMetadata=null, readable=null, writable=null, eventable=null, asyncStatusPropertyName=null, attributes=null}, asyncStatusProperty=null}";
refStr = refStr.replaceAll('}', '');   // without this, there is a close brace whose result is only differentiated by its existance
def refStrList = refStr.split();
def refStrListSorted = refStrList.sort();

log.info "refStrList.size()=" + refStrList.size();
refStrList.each { element ->
   log.info "element=" + element;
};
log.info "";
log.info "";
refStrListSorted.each { element ->
   log.info "element=" + element;
};


log.info "";
log.info "==================================================";
log.info "";

def compStr = "{satisfied=true, dynamic_href/properties/triggers, name=triggers, value={satisfied=true, dynamic_href/properties/triggers, name=triggers, value=[{type=DAILY, description=null, configuration={allXDays=1, timeProgramMode=TIME, startDate=2019-02-28, time=08:10:29}, id=guid], metadata={satisfied=true, href=/m2m/fim/metadata/items/com.hager.domovea.automation.sequence.Sequence/properties/triggers, name=null, description=null, type=null, classes=null, regex=null, min=null, max=null, step=null, enumeration=null, beanMetadata=null, readable=null, writable=null, eventable=null, asyncStatusPropertyName=null, attributes=null}, asyncStatusProperty=null}, metadata={satisfied=true, href=/m2m/fim/metadata/items/com.hager.domovea.automation.sequence.Sequence/properties/triggers, name=null, description=null, type=null, classes=null, regex=null, min=null, max=null, step=null, enumeration=null, beanMetadata=null, readable=null, writable=null, eventable=null, asyncStatusPropertyName=null, attributes=null}, asyncStatusProperty=null}";
compStr = compStr.replaceAll('}', '');  // without this, there is a close brace whose result is only differentiated by its existance
def compStrList = compStr.split();
def compStrListSorted = compStrList.sort();

log.info "compStrList.size()=" + compStrList.size();
compStrList.each { element ->
   log.info "element=" + element;
};
log.info "";
log.info "";
compStrListSorted.each { element ->
   log.info "element=" + element;
};


log.info "";
log.info "==================================================";
log.info "";

// sanity check...
log.info "refStrList.size()=" + refStrList.size();
log.info "compStrList.size()=" + compStrList.size();
assert refStrList.size().equals(compStrList.size()), "Mismatch - There are ${refStrList.size()} reference values and ${compStrList.size()} compare values";

// sorted line by sorted line check...
refStrListSorted.eachWithIndex { refValue, idx ->
   def compValue = compStrListSorted[idx];
   if ( refValue != compValue ) {
      log.info "refValue=" + refValue + "  " + idx;
      log.info "compValue=" + compValue + "  " + idx;
      assert refValue.equals(compValue), "Mismatch - At index $idx the referece value '$refValue' does not match the comparison value '$compValue'";
   };
};

// If we get here, then the contents are equal
log.info "";
log.info "   ***  Reference and Compare strings are equal  ***";

log.info "";
log.info 'Test Step "' + testRunner.runContext.currentStep.name + '" done...';