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Js how to set an item at a nested index in an empty array [duplicate]

I hope someone can help me with this Javascript.
I have an Object called "Settings" and I would like to write a function that adds new settings to that object.
The new setting's name and value are provided as strings. The string giving the setting's name is then split by the underscores into an array. The new setting should get added to the existing "Settings" object by creating new nested objects with the names given by each part of the array, except the last part which should be a string giving the setting's value. I should then be able to refer to the setting and e.g. alert its value. I can do this in a static way like this...
var Settings = {};
var newSettingName = "Modules_Video_Plugin";
var newSettingValue = "JWPlayer";
var newSettingNameArray = newSettingName.split("_");
Settings[newSettingNameArray[0]] = {};
Settings[newSettingNameArray[0]][newSettingNameArray[1]] = {};
Settings[newSettingNameArray[0]][newSettingNameArray[1]][newSettingNameArray[2]] = newSettingValue;
alert(Settings.Modules.Mediaplayers.Video.Plugin);
... the part that creates the nested objects is doing this ...
Settings["Modules"] = {};
Settings["Modules"]["Video"] = {};
Settings["Modules"]["Video"]["Plugin"] = "JWPlayer";
However, as the number of parts that make up the setting name can vary, e.g. a newSettingName could be "Modules_Floorplan_Image_Src", I'd like to do this dynamically using a function such as...
createSetting (newSettingNameArray, newSettingValue);
function createSetting(setting, value) {
// code to create new setting goes here
}
Can anyone help me work out how to do this dynamically?
I presume there has to be a for...loop in there to itterate through the array, but I haven't been able to work out a way to create the nested objects.
If you've got this far thanks very much for taking the time to read even if you can't help.

Put in a function, short and fast (no recursion).
var createNestedObject = function( base, names ) {
for( var i = 0; i < names.length; i++ ) {
base = base[ names[i] ] = base[ names[i] ] || {};
}
};
// Usage:
createNestedObject( window, ["shapes", "triangle", "points"] );
// Now window.shapes.triangle.points is an empty object, ready to be used.
It skips already existing parts of the hierarchy. Useful if you are not sure whether the hierarchy was already created.
Or:
A fancier version where you can directly assign the value to the last object in the hierarchy, and you can chain function calls because it returns the last object.
// Function: createNestedObject( base, names[, value] )
// base: the object on which to create the hierarchy
// names: an array of strings contaning the names of the objects
// value (optional): if given, will be the last object in the hierarchy
// Returns: the last object in the hierarchy
var createNestedObject = function( base, names, value ) {
// If a value is given, remove the last name and keep it for later:
var lastName = arguments.length === 3 ? names.pop() : false;
// Walk the hierarchy, creating new objects where needed.
// If the lastName was removed, then the last object is not set yet:
for( var i = 0; i < names.length; i++ ) {
base = base[ names[i] ] = base[ names[i] ] || {};
}
// If a value was given, set it to the last name:
if( lastName ) base = base[ lastName ] = value;
// Return the last object in the hierarchy:
return base;
};
// Usages:
createNestedObject( window, ["shapes", "circle"] );
// Now window.shapes.circle is an empty object, ready to be used.
var obj = {}; // Works with any object other that window too
createNestedObject( obj, ["shapes", "rectangle", "width"], 300 );
// Now we have: obj.shapes.rectangle.width === 300
createNestedObject( obj, "shapes.rectangle.height".split('.'), 400 );
// Now we have: obj.shapes.rectangle.height === 400
Note: if your hierarchy needs to be built from values other that standard objects (ie. not {}), see also TimDog's answer below.
Edit: uses regular loops instead of for...in loops. It's safer in cases where a library modifies the Array prototype.

function assign(obj, keyPath, value) {
lastKeyIndex = keyPath.length-1;
for (var i = 0; i < lastKeyIndex; ++ i) {
key = keyPath[i];
if (!(key in obj)){
obj[key] = {}
}
obj = obj[key];
}
obj[keyPath[lastKeyIndex]] = value;
}
Usage:
var settings = {};
assign(settings, ['Modules', 'Video', 'Plugin'], 'JWPlayer');

My ES2015 solution. Keeps existing values.
const set = (obj, path, val) => {
const keys = path.split('.');
const lastKey = keys.pop();
const lastObj = keys.reduce((obj, key) =>
obj[key] = obj[key] || {},
obj);
lastObj[lastKey] = val;
};
Example:
const obj = {'a': {'prop': {'that': 'exists'}}};
set(obj, 'a.very.deep.prop', 'value');
console.log(JSON.stringify(obj));
// {"a":{"prop":{"that":"exists"},"very":{"deep":{"prop":"value"}}}}

Using ES6 is shorten. Set your path into an array.
first, you have to reverse the array, to start filling the object.
let obj = ['a','b','c'] // {a:{b:{c:{}}}
obj.reverse();
const nestedObject = obj.reduce((prev, current) => (
{[current]:{...prev}}
), {});

Another recursive solution:
var nest = function(obj, keys, v) {
if (keys.length === 1) {
obj[keys[0]] = v;
} else {
var key = keys.shift();
obj[key] = nest(typeof obj[key] === 'undefined' ? {} : obj[key], keys, v);
}
return obj;
};
Example usage:
var dog = {bark: {sound: 'bark!'}};
nest(dog, ['bark', 'loudness'], 66);
nest(dog, ['woff', 'sound'], 'woff!');
console.log(dog); // {bark: {loudness: 66, sound: "bark!"}, woff: {sound: "woff!"}}

I love this ES6 immutable way to set certain value on nested field:
const setValueToField = (fields, value) => {
const reducer = (acc, item, index, arr) => ({ [item]: index + 1 < arr.length ? acc : value });
return fields.reduceRight(reducer, {});
};
And then use it with creating your target object.
const targetObject = setValueToField(['one', 'two', 'three'], 'nice');
console.log(targetObject); // Output: { one: { two: { three: 'nice' } } }

Lodash has a _.set method to achieve this
let obj = {}
_.set(obj, ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd'], 'e')
or
_.set(obj, 'a.b.c.d', 'e')
// which generate the following object
{
"a": {
"b": {
"c": {
"d": "e"
}
}
}
}

Here is a simple tweak to jlgrall's answer that allows setting distinct values on each element in the nested hierarchy:
var createNestedObject = function( base, names, values ) {
for( var i in names ) base = base[ names[i] ] = base[ names[i] ] || (values[i] || {});
};
Hope it helps.

Here is a functional solution to dynamically create nested objects.
const nest = (path, obj) => {
const reversedPath = path.split('.').reverse();
const iter = ([head, ...tail], obj) => {
if (!head) {
return obj;
}
const newObj = {[head]: {...obj}};
return iter(tail, newObj);
}
return iter(reversedPath, obj);
}
Example:
const data = {prop: 'someData'};
const path = 'a.deep.path';
const result = nest(path, data);
console.log(JSON.stringify(result));
// {"a":{"deep":{"path":{"prop":"someData"}}}}

Inspired by ImmutableJS setIn method which will never mutate the original. This works with mixed array and object nested values.
function setIn(obj = {}, [prop, ...rest], value) {
const newObj = Array.isArray(obj) ? [...obj] : {...obj};
newObj[prop] = rest.length ? setIn(obj[prop], rest, value) : value;
return newObj;
}
var obj = {
a: {
b: {
c: [
{d: 5}
]
}
}
};
const newObj = setIn(obj, ["a", "b", "c", 0, "x"], "new");
//obj === {a: {b: {c: [{d: 5}]}}}
//newObj === {a: {b: {c: [{d: 5, x: "new"}]}}}

Appreciate that this question is mega old! But after coming across a need to do something like this in node, I made a module and published it to npm.
Nestob
var nestob = require('nestob');
//Create a new nestable object - instead of the standard js object ({})
var newNested = new nestob.Nestable();
//Set nested object properties without having to create the objects first!
newNested.setNested('biscuits.oblong.marmaduke', 'cheese');
newNested.setNested(['orange', 'tartan', 'pipedream'], { poppers: 'astray', numbers: [123,456,789]});
console.log(newNested, newNested.orange.tartan.pipedream);
//{ biscuits: { oblong: { marmaduke: 'cheese' } },
orange: { tartan: { pipedream: [Object] } } } { poppers: 'astray', numbers: [ 123, 456, 789 ] }
//Get nested object properties without having to worry about whether the objects exist
//Pass in a default value to be returned if desired
console.log(newNested.getNested('generic.yoghurt.asguard', 'autodrome'));
//autodrome
//You can also pass in an array containing the object keys
console.log(newNested.getNested(['chosp', 'umbridge', 'dollar'], 'symbols'));
//symbols
//You can also use nestob to modify objects not created using nestob
var normalObj = {};
nestob.setNested(normalObj, 'running.out.of', 'words');
console.log(normalObj);
//{ running: { out: { of: 'words' } } }
console.log(nestob.getNested(normalObj, 'random.things', 'indigo'));
//indigo
console.log(nestob.getNested(normalObj, 'improbable.apricots'));
//false

Inside your loop you can use lodash.set and will create the path for you:
...
const set = require('lodash.set');
const p = {};
const [type, lang, name] = f.split('.');
set(p, [lang, type, name], '');
console.log(p);
// { lang: { 'type': { 'name': '' }}}

try using recursive function:
function createSetting(setting, value, index) {
if (typeof index !== 'number') {
index = 0;
}
if (index+1 == setting.length ) {
settings[setting[index]] = value;
}
else {
settings[setting[index]] = {};
createSetting(setting, value, ++index);
}
}

I think, this is shorter:
Settings = {};
newSettingName = "Modules_Floorplan_Image_Src";
newSettingValue = "JWPlayer";
newSettingNameArray = newSettingName.split("_");
a = Settings;
for (var i = 0 in newSettingNameArray) {
var x = newSettingNameArray[i];
a[x] = i == newSettingNameArray.length-1 ? newSettingValue : {};
a = a[x];
}

I found #jlgrall's answer was great but after simplifying it, it didn't work in Chrome. Here's my fixed should anyone want a lite version:
var callback = 'fn.item1.item2.callbackfunction',
cb = callback.split('.'),
baseObj = window;
function createNestedObject(base, items){
$.each(items, function(i, v){
base = base[v] = (base[v] || {});
});
}
callbackFunction = createNestedObject(baseObj, cb);
console.log(callbackFunction);
I hope this is useful and relevant. Sorry, I've just smashed this example out...

You can define your own Object methods; also I'm using underscore for brevity:
var _ = require('underscore');
// a fast get method for object, by specifying an address with depth
Object.prototype.pick = function(addr) {
if (!_.isArray(addr)) return this[addr]; // if isn't array, just get normally
var tmpo = this;
while (i = addr.shift())
tmpo = tmpo[i];
return tmpo;
};
// a fast set method for object, put value at obj[addr]
Object.prototype.put = function(addr, val) {
if (!_.isArray(addr)) this[addr] = val; // if isn't array, just set normally
this.pick(_.initial(addr))[_.last(addr)] = val;
};
Sample usage:
var obj = {
'foo': {
'bar': 0 }}
obj.pick('foo'); // returns { bar: 0 }
obj.pick(['foo','bar']); // returns 0
obj.put(['foo', 'bar'], -1) // obj becomes {'foo': {'bar': -1}}

A snippet for those who need to create a nested objects with support of array keys to set a value to the end of path. Path is the string like: modal.product.action.review.2.write.survey.data. Based on jlgrall version.
var updateStateQuery = function(state, path, value) {
var names = path.split('.');
for (var i = 0, len = names.length; i < len; i++) {
if (i == (len - 1)) {
state = state[names[i]] = state[names[i]] || value;
}
else if (parseInt(names[i+1]) >= 0) {
state = state[names[i]] = state[names[i]] || [];
}
else {
state = state[names[i]] = state[names[i]] || {};
}
}
};

Set Nested Data:
function setNestedData(root, path, value) {
var paths = path.split('.');
var last_index = paths.length - 1;
paths.forEach(function(key, index) {
if (!(key in root)) root[key] = {};
if (index==last_index) root[key] = value;
root = root[key];
});
return root;
}
var obj = {'existing': 'value'};
setNestedData(obj, 'animal.fish.pet', 'derp');
setNestedData(obj, 'animal.cat.pet', 'musubi');
console.log(JSON.stringify(obj));
// {"existing":"value","animal":{"fish":{"pet":"derp"},"cat":{"pet":"musubi"}}}
Get Nested Data:
function getNestedData(obj, path) {
var index = function(obj, i) { return obj && obj[i]; };
return path.split('.').reduce(index, obj);
}
getNestedData(obj, 'animal.cat.pet')
// "musubi"
getNestedData(obj, 'animal.dog.pet')
// undefined

Try this: https://github.com/silkyland/object-to-formdata
var obj2fd = require('obj2fd/es5').default
var fd = obj2fd({
a:1,
b:[
{c: 3},
{d: 4}
]
})
Result :
fd = [
a => 1,
b => [
c => 3,
d => 4
]
]

Here is a decomposition to several useful functions, that each preserve existing data. Does not handle arrays.
setDeep: Answers question. Non-destructive to other data in the object.
setDefaultDeep: Same, but only sets if not already set.
setDefault: Sets a key if not already set. Same as Python's setdefault.
setStructure: Helper function that builds the path.
// Create a nested structure of objects along path within obj. Only overwrites the final value.
let setDeep = (obj, path, value) =>
setStructure(obj, path.slice(0, -1))[path[path.length - 1]] = value
// Create a nested structure of objects along path within obj. Does not overwrite any value.
let setDefaultDeep = (obj, path, value) =>
setDefault(setStructure(obj, path.slice(0, -1)), path[path.length - 1], value)
// Set obj[key] to value if key is not in object, and return obj[key]
let setDefault = (obj, key, value) =>
obj[key] = key in obj ? obj[key] : value;
// Create a nested structure of objects along path within obj. Does not overwrite any value.
let setStructure = (obj, path) =>
path.reduce((obj, segment) => setDefault(obj, segment, {}), obj);
// EXAMPLES
let temp = {};
// returns the set value, similar to assignment
console.log('temp.a.b.c.d:',
setDeep(temp, ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd'], 'one'))
// not destructive to 'one'
setDeep(temp, ['a', 'b', 'z'], 'two')
// does not overwrite, returns previously set value
console.log('temp.a.b.z: ',
setDefaultDeep(temp, ['a', 'b', 'z'], 'unused'))
// creates new, returns current value
console.log('temp["a.1"]: ',
setDefault(temp, 'a.1', 'three'))
// can also be used as a getter
console.log("temp.x.y.z: ",
setStructure(temp, ['x', 'y', 'z']))
console.log("final object:", temp)
I'm not sure why anyone would want string paths:
They are ambiguous for keys with periods
You have to build the strings in the first place

Since I started with something from this page, I wanted to contribute back
Other examples overwrote the final node even if it was set, and that wasn't what I wanted.
Also, if returnObj is set to true, it returns the base object. By default, falsy, it returns the deepest node.
function param(obj, path, value, returnObj) {
if (typeof path == 'string') path = path.split(".");
var child = obj;
path.forEach((key, i) => {
if (!(key in child)) {
child[key] = (i < path.length-1) ? {} : value || {};
}
child = child[key];
});
return returnObj ? obj : child;
}
var x = {};
var xOut = param(x, "y.z", "setting")
console.log(xOut);
xOut = param(x, "y.z", "overwrite") // won't set
console.log(xOut);
xOut = param(x, "y.a", "setting2")
console.log(xOut);
xOut = param(x, "y.a", "setting2", true) // get object rather than deepest node.
console.log(xOut);
You can also do something where numeric keys are placed in arrays (if they don't already exist). Note that numeric keys won't convert to arrays for the first element of the path, since that's set by the type of your base-object.
function isNumber(n) {
return !isNaN(parseFloat(n)) && isFinite(n);
}
function param(obj, path, value, returnObj) {
if (typeof path == 'string') path = path.split(".");
var child = obj;
path.forEach((key, i) => {
var nextKey = path[i+1];
if (!(key in child)) {
child[key] = (nextKey == undefined && value != undefined
? value
: isNumber(nextKey)
? []
: {});
}
child = child[key];
});
return returnObj ? obj : child;
}
var x = {};
var xOut = param(x, "y.z", "setting")
console.log(xOut);
xOut = param(x, "y.z", "overwrite") // won't set
console.log(xOut);
xOut = param(x, "y.a", "setting2")
console.log(xOut);
xOut = param(x, "y.a", "setting2", true) // get object rather than deepest node.
xOut = param(x, "1.0.2.a", "setting")
xOut = param(x, "1.0.1.a", "try to override") // won't set
xOut = param(x, "1.0.5.a", "new-setting", true) // get object rather than deepest node.
console.log(xOut);
Naturally, when the numeric keys are greater than 0, you might see some undefined gaps.
Practical uses of this might be
function AddNote(book, page, line) {
// assume a global global notes collection
var myNotes = param(allNotes, [book, page, line], []);
myNotes.push('This was a great twist!')
return myNotes;
}
var allNotes = {}
var youthfulHopes = AddNote('A Game of Thrones', 4, 2, "I'm already hooked, at least I won't have to wait long for the books to come out!");
console.log(allNotes)
// {"A Game of Thrones": [undefined, undefined, undefined, undefined, [undefined, undefined, ["I'm already hooked, at least I won't have to wait long for the books to come out!"]]]}
console.log(youthfulHopes)
// ["I'm already hooked, at least I won't have to wait long for the books to come out!"]

function initPath(obj, path) {
path.split('.').reduce((o, key) => (
Object.assign(o, {[key]: Object(o[key])}),
o[key]
), obj);
return obj;
}
Usage
const obj = { a: { b: 'value1' } };
initPath(obj, 'a.c.d').a.c.d='value2';
/*
{
"a": {
"b": "value1",
"c": {
"d": "value2"
}
}
}
*/

simple answer. on es6, im using this
const assign = (obj, path, value) => {
let keyPath = path.split('.')
let lastKeyIndex = keyPath.length - 1
for (let i = 0; i < lastKeyIndex; ++i) {
let key = keyPath[i]
if (!(key in obj)) {
obj[key] = {}
}
obj = obj[key]
}
obj[keyPath[lastKeyIndex]] = value
}
example json
const obj = {
b: 'hello'
}
you can add new key
assign(obj, 'c.d.e', 'this value')
and you get like bellow
console.log(obj)
//response example
obj = {
b: 'hello',
c: {
d: {
e: 'this value'
}
}
}

function createObj(keys, value) {
let obj = {}
let schema = obj
keys = keys.split('.')
for (let i = 0; i < keys.length - 1; i++) {
schema[keys[i]] = {}
schema = schema[keys[i]]
}
schema[keys.pop()] = value
return obj
}
let keys = 'value1.value2.value3'
let value = 'Hello'
let obj = createObj(keys, value)

Eval is probably overkill but the result is simple to visualize, with no nested loops or recursion.
function buildDir(obj, path){
var paths = path.split('_');
var final = paths.pop();
for (let i = 1; i <= paths.length; i++) {
var key = "obj['" + paths.slice(0, i).join("']['") + "']"
console.log(key)
eval(`${key} = {}`)
}
eval(`${key} = '${final}'`)
return obj
}
var newSettingName = "Modules_Video_Plugin_JWPlayer";
var Settings = buildDir( {}, newSettingName );
Basically you are progressively writing a string "obj['one']= {}", "obj['one']['two']"= {} and evaling it;

Editing a JSON value in varying depth [duplicate]

I have an object that could be any number of levels deep and could have any existing properties.
For example:
var obj = {
db: {
mongodb: {
host: 'localhost'
}
}
};
On that I would like to set (or overwrite) properties like so:
set('db.mongodb.user', 'root');
// or:
set('foo.bar', 'baz');
Where the property string can have any depth, and the value can be any type/thing.
Objects and arrays as values don't need to be merged, should the property key already exist.
Previous example would produce following object:
var obj = {
db: {
mongodb: {
host: 'localhost',
user: 'root'
}
},
foo: {
bar: baz
}
};
How can I realize such a function?

This function, using the arguments you specified, should add/update the data in the obj container. Note that you need to keep track of which elements in obj schema are containers and which are values (strings, ints, etc.) otherwise you will start throwing exceptions.
obj = {}; // global object
function set(path, value) {
var schema = obj; // a moving reference to internal objects within obj
var pList = path.split('.');
var len = pList.length;
for(var i = 0; i < len-1; i++) {
var elem = pList[i];
if( !schema[elem] ) schema[elem] = {}
schema = schema[elem];
}
schema[pList[len-1]] = value;
}
set('mongo.db.user', 'root');

Lodash has a _.set() method.
_.set(obj, 'db.mongodb.user', 'root');
_.set(obj, 'foo.bar', 'baz');

I just write a small function using ES6 + recursion to achieve the goal.
updateObjProp = (obj, value, propPath) => {
const [head, ...rest] = propPath.split('.');
!rest.length
? obj[head] = value
: this.updateObjProp(obj[head], value, rest.join('.'));
}
const user = {profile: {name: 'foo'}};
updateObjProp(user, 'fooChanged', 'profile.name');
I used it a lot on react to update state, it worked pretty well for me.

We can use a recursion function:
/**
* Sets a value of nested key string descriptor inside a Object.
* It changes the passed object.
* Ex:
* let obj = {a: {b:{c:'initial'}}}
* setNestedKey(obj, ['a', 'b', 'c'], 'changed-value')
* assert(obj === {a: {b:{c:'changed-value'}}})
*
* #param {[Object]} obj Object to set the nested key
* #param {[Array]} path An array to describe the path(Ex: ['a', 'b', 'c'])
* #param {[Object]} value Any value
*/
export const setNestedKey = (obj, path, value) => {
if (path.length === 1) {
obj[path] = value
return
}
return setNestedKey(obj[path[0]], path.slice(1), value)
}
It's more simple!

A bit late but here's a non-library, simpler answer:
/**
* Dynamically sets a deeply nested value in an object.
* Optionally "bores" a path to it if its undefined.
* #function
* #param {!object} obj - The object which contains the value you want to change/set.
* #param {!array} path - The array representation of path to the value you want to change/set.
* #param {!mixed} value - The value you want to set it to.
* #param {boolean} setrecursively - If true, will set value of non-existing path as well.
*/
function setDeep(obj, path, value, setrecursively = false) {
path.reduce((a, b, level) => {
if (setrecursively && typeof a[b] === "undefined" && level !== path.length){
a[b] = {};
return a[b];
}
if (level === path.length){
a[b] = value;
return value;
}
return a[b];
}, obj);
}
This function I made can do exactly what you need and a little more.
lets say we want to change the target value that is deeply nested in this object:
let myObj = {
level1: {
level2: {
target: 1
}
}
}
So we would call our function like so:
setDeep(myObj, ["level1", "level2", "target1"], 3);
will result in:
myObj = {
level1: {
level2: {
target: 3
}
}
}
Setting the set recursively flag to true will set objects if they don't exist.
setDeep(myObj, ["new", "path", "target"], 3, true);
will result in this:
obj = myObj = {
new: {
path: {
target: 3
}
},
level1: {
level2: {
target: 3
}
}
}

Inspired by #bpmason1's answer:
function leaf(obj, path, value) {
const pList = path.split('.');
const key = pList.pop();
const pointer = pList.reduce((accumulator, currentValue) => {
if (accumulator[currentValue] === undefined) accumulator[currentValue] = {};
return accumulator[currentValue];
}, obj);
pointer[key] = value;
return obj;
}
Example:
const obj = {
boats: {
m1: 'lady blue'
}
};
leaf(obj, 'boats.m1', 'lady blue II');
leaf(obj, 'boats.m2', 'lady bird');
console.log(obj); // { boats: { m1: 'lady blue II', m2: 'lady bird' } }

I came up with my own solution using pure es6 and recursion that doesn't mutate the original object.
const setNestedProp = (obj = {}, [first, ...rest] , value) => ({
...obj,
[first]: rest.length
? setNestedProp(obj[first], rest, value)
: value
});
const result = setNestedProp({}, ["first", "second", "a"],
"foo");
const result2 = setNestedProp(result, ["first", "second", "b"], "bar");
console.log(result);
console.log(result2);

Lodash has a method called update that does exactly what you need.
This method receives the following parameters:
The object to update
The path of the property to update (the property can be deeply nested)
A function that returns the value to update (given the original value as a parameter)
In your example it would look like this:
_.update(obj, 'db.mongodb.user', function(originalValue) {
return 'root'
})

ES6 has a pretty cool way to do this too using Computed Property Name and Rest Parameter.
const obj = {
levelOne: {
levelTwo: {
levelThree: "Set this one!"
}
}
}
const updatedObj = {
...obj,
levelOne: {
...obj.levelOne,
levelTwo: {
...obj.levelOne.levelTwo,
levelThree: "I am now updated!"
}
}
}
If levelThree is a dynamic property i.e. to set any of the property in levelTwo, you can use [propertyName]: "I am now updated!" where propertyName holds the name of the property in levelTwo.

I needed to achieve the same thing, but in Node.js...
So, I found this nice module: https://www.npmjs.com/package/nested-property
Example:
var mod = require("nested-property");
var obj = {
a: {
b: {
c: {
d: 5
}
}
}
};
console.log(mod.get(obj, "a.b.c.d"));
mod.set(obj, "a.b.c.d", 6);
console.log(mod.get(obj, "a.b.c.d"));

I created gist for setting and getting obj values by string based on correct answer. You can download it or use it as npm/yarn package.
// yarn add gist:5ceba1081bbf0162b98860b34a511a92
// npm install gist:5ceba1081bbf0162b98860b34a511a92
export const DeepObject = {
set: setDeep,
get: getDeep
};
// https://stackoverflow.com/a/6491621
function getDeep(obj: Object, path: string) {
path = path.replace(/\[(\w+)\]/g, '.$1'); // convert indexes to properties
path = path.replace(/^\./, ''); // strip a leading dot
const a = path.split('.');
for (let i = 0, l = a.length; i < l; ++i) {
const n = a[i];
if (n in obj) {
obj = obj[n];
} else {
return;
}
}
return obj;
}
// https://stackoverflow.com/a/18937118
function setDeep(obj: Object, path: string, value: any) {
let schema = obj; // a moving reference to internal objects within obj
const pList = path.split('.');
const len = pList.length;
for (let i = 0; i < len - 1; i++) {
const elem = pList[i];
if (!schema[elem]) {
schema[elem] = {};
}
schema = schema[elem];
}
schema[pList[len - 1]] = value;
}
// Usage
// import {DeepObject} from 'somePath'
//
// const obj = {
// a: 4,
// b: {
// c: {
// d: 2
// }
// }
// };
//
// DeepObject.set(obj, 'b.c.d', 10); // sets obj.b.c.d to 10
// console.log(DeepObject.get(obj, 'b.c.d')); // returns 10

Extending the accepted answer provided by #bpmason1, to support arrays in string path e.g. string path can be 'db.mongodb.users[0].name' and 'db.mongodb.users[1].name'.
It will set the property value, which if doesn't exist, will be created.
var obj = {};
function set(path, value) {
var schema = obj;
var keysList = path.split('.');
var len = keysList.length;
for (var i = 0; i < len - 1; i++) {
var key = keysList[i];
// checking if key represents an array element e.g. users[0]
if (key.includes('[')) {
//getting propertyName 'users' form key 'users[0]'
var propertyName = key.substr(0, key.length - key.substr(key.indexOf("["), key.length - key.indexOf("[")).length);
if (!schema[propertyName]) {
schema[propertyName] = [];
}
// schema['users'][getting index 0 from 'users[0]']
if (!schema[propertyName][parseInt(key.substr(key.indexOf("[") + 1, key.indexOf("]") - key.indexOf("[") - 1))]) {
// if it doesn't exist create and initialise it
schema = schema[propertyName][parseInt(key.substr(key.indexOf("[") + 1, key.indexOf("]") - key.indexOf("[") - 1))] = {};
} else {
schema = schema[propertyName][parseInt(key.substr(key.indexOf("[") + 1, key.indexOf("]") - key.indexOf("[") - 1))];
}
continue;
}
if (!schema[key]) {
schema[key] = {};
}
schema = schema[key];
} //loop ends
// if last key is array element
if (keysList[len - 1].includes('[')) {
//getting propertyName 'users' form key 'users[0]'
var propertyName = keysList[len - 1].substr(0, keysList[len - 1].length - keysList[len - 1].substr(keysList[len - 1].indexOf("["), keysList[len - 1].length - keysList[len - 1].indexOf("[")).length);
if (!schema[propertyName]) {
schema[propertyName] = [];
}
// schema[users][0] = value;
schema[propertyName][parseInt(keysList[len - 1].substr(keysList[len - 1].indexOf("[") + 1, keysList[len - 1].indexOf("]") - keysList[len - 1].indexOf("[") - 1))] = value;
} else {
schema[keysList[len - 1]] = value;
}
}
// will create if not exist
set("mongo.db.users[0].name.firstname", "hii0");
set("mongo.db.users[1].name.firstname", "hii1");
set("mongo.db.users[2].name", {
"firstname": "hii2"
});
set("mongo.db.other", "xx");
console.log(obj);
// will set if exist
set("mongo.db.other", "yy");
console.log(obj);

Here's a solution using ES 12
function set(obj = {}, key, val) {
const keys = key.split('.')
const last = keys.pop()
keys.reduce((o, k) => o[k] ??= {}, obj)[last] = val
}
(For older versions of javascript, you can do do o[k] || o[k] = {} in the reduce instead)
First, we set keys to be an array of everything but the last key.
Then in the reduce, the accumulator goes one level deeper into obj
each time, initializing it to an empty object if it the value at that key is not defined.
Finally, we set the value at the last key to val.

If you only need to change deeper nested objects, then another method could be to reference the object. As JS objects are handled by their references, you can create a reference to an object you have string-key access to.
Example:
// The object we want to modify:
var obj = {
db: {
mongodb: {
host: 'localhost',
user: 'root'
}
},
foo: {
bar: baz
}
};
var key1 = 'mongodb';
var key2 = 'host';
var myRef = obj.db[key1]; //this creates a reference to obj.db['mongodb']
myRef[key2] = 'my new string';
// The object now looks like:
var obj = {
db: {
mongodb: {
host: 'my new string',
user: 'root'
}
},
foo: {
bar: baz
}
};

Another approach is to use recursion to dig through the object:
(function(root){
function NestedSetterAndGetter(){
function setValueByArray(obj, parts, value){
if(!parts){
throw 'No parts array passed in';
}
if(parts.length === 0){
throw 'parts should never have a length of 0';
}
if(parts.length === 1){
obj[parts[0]] = value;
} else {
var next = parts.shift();
if(!obj[next]){
obj[next] = {};
}
setValueByArray(obj[next], parts, value);
}
}
function getValueByArray(obj, parts, value){
if(!parts) {
return null;
}
if(parts.length === 1){
return obj[parts[0]];
} else {
var next = parts.shift();
if(!obj[next]){
return null;
}
return getValueByArray(obj[next], parts, value);
}
}
this.set = function(obj, path, value) {
setValueByArray(obj, path.split('.'), value);
};
this.get = function(obj, path){
return getValueByArray(obj, path.split('.'));
};
}
root.NestedSetterAndGetter = NestedSetterAndGetter;
})(this);
var setter = new this.NestedSetterAndGetter();
var o = {};
setter.set(o, 'a.b.c', 'apple');
console.log(o); //=> { a: { b: { c: 'apple'}}}
var z = { a: { b: { c: { d: 'test' } } } };
setter.set(z, 'a.b.c', {dd: 'zzz'});
console.log(JSON.stringify(z)); //=> {"a":{"b":{"c":{"dd":"zzz"}}}}
console.log(JSON.stringify(setter.get(z, 'a.b.c'))); //=> {"dd":"zzz"}
console.log(JSON.stringify(setter.get(z, 'a.b'))); //=> {"c":{"dd":"zzz"}}

Late to the party - here's a vanilla js function that accepts a path as an argument and returns the modified object/json
let orig_json = {
string: "Hi",
number: 0,
boolean: false,
object: {
subString: "Hello",
subNumber: 1,
subBoolean: true,
subObject: {
subSubString: "Hello World"
},
subArray: ["-1", "-2", "-3"]
},
array: ["1", "2", "3"]
}
function changeValue(obj_path, value, json) {
let keys = obj_path.split(".")
let obj = { ...json },
tmpobj = {},
prevobj = {}
for (let x = keys.length - 1; x >= 0; x--) {
if (x == 0) {
obj[keys[0]] = tmpobj
} else {
let toeval = 'json.' + keys.slice(0, x).join('.');
prevobj = { ...tmpobj
}
tmpobj = eval(toeval);
if (x == keys.length - 1) tmpobj[keys[x]] = value
else {
tmpobj[keys[x]] = prevobj
}
}
}
return obj
}
let newjson = changeValue("object.subObject.subSubString", "Goodbye world", orig_json);
console.log(newjson)

Another solution to add or override properties:
function propertySetter(property, value) {
const sampleObject = {
string: "Hi",
number: 0,
boolean: false,
object: {
subString: "Hello",
subNumber: 1,
subBoolean: true,
subObject: {
subSubString: "Hello World",
},
subArray: ["-1", "-2", "-3"],
},
array: ["1", "2", "3"],
};
const keys = property.split(".");
const propertyName = keys.pop();
let propertyParent = sampleObject;
while (keys.length > 0) {
const key = keys.shift();
if (!(key in propertyParent)) {
propertyParent[key] = {};
}
propertyParent = propertyParent[key];
}
propertyParent[propertyName] = value;
return sampleObject;
}
console.log(propertySetter("object.subObject.anotherSubString", "Hello you"));
console.log(propertySetter("object.subObject.subSubString", "Hello Earth"));
console.log(propertySetter("object.subObject.nextSubString.subSubSubString", "Helloooo"));

Inspired by ImmutableJS setIn method which will never mutate the original.
This works with mixed array and object nested values.
function setIn(obj = {}, [prop, ...rest], value) {
const newObj = Array.isArray(obj) ? [...obj] : {...obj};
newObj[prop] = rest.length ? setIn(obj[prop], rest, value) : value;
return newObj;
}
var obj = {
a: {
b: {
c: [
{d: 5}
]
}
}
};
const newObj = setIn(obj, ["a", "b", "c", 0, "x"], "new");
//obj === {a: {b: {c: [{d: 5}]}}}
//newObj === {a: {b: {c: [{d: 5, x: "new"}]}}}

As #aheuermann sed, you can use set from lodash library,
However, if you don't want to add lodash to your project for some reason you can use a recursion function that sets/overrides a value in an object.
/**
* recursion function that called in main function
* #param obj initial JSON
* #param keysList array of keys
* #param value value that you want to set
* #returns final JSON
*/
function recursionSet(obj, keysList, value) {
const key = keysList[0]
if (keysList.length === 1) return { ...obj, [key]: value }
return { ...obj, [key]: (recursionSet(obj?.[key] || {}, keysList.slice(1), value)) }
}
/**
* main function that you can call for set a value in an object by nested keys
* #param obj initial JSON
* #param keysString nested keys that seprated by "."
* #param value value that you want to set
* #returns final JSON
*/
function objectSet(obj, keysString, value) {
return recursionSet(obj, keysString.split('.'), value)
}
// simple usage
const a1 = {}
console.log('simple usage:', objectSet(a1, "b.c.d", 5))
// keep the initial data
const a2 = {b:{e: 8}}
console.log('keep the initial data:', objectSet(a2, "b.c.d", 5))
// override data
const a3 = {b:{e: 8, c:2}}
console.log('override data:', objectSet(a3, "b.c.d", 5))
// complex value
const a4 = {b:{e: 8, c:2}}
console.log('complex value:', objectSet(a4, "b.c.d", {f:12}))

If you would like a function that required prior properties to exist, then you could use something like this, it would also return a flag stating whether it managed to find and set the nested property.
function set(obj, path, value) {
var parts = (path || '').split('.');
// using 'every' so we can return a flag stating whether we managed to set the value.
return parts.every((p, i) => {
if (!obj) return false; // cancel early as we havent found a nested prop.
if (i === parts.length - 1){ // we're at the final part of the path.
obj[parts[i]] = value;
}else{
obj = obj[parts[i]]; // overwrite the functions reference of the object with the nested one.
}
return true;
});
}

JQuery has an extend method:
https://api.jquery.com/jquery.extend/
just pass the overwrites as an object and it will merge the two.

Inspired by ClojureScript's assoc-in (https://github.com/clojure/clojurescript/blob/master/src/main/cljs/cljs/core.cljs#L5280), using recursion:
/**
* Associate value (v) in object/array (m) at key/index (k).
* If m is falsy, use new object.
* Returns the updated object/array.
*/
function assoc(m, k, v) {
m = (m || {});
m[k] = v;
return m;
}
/**
* Associate value (v) in nested object/array (m) using sequence of keys (ks)
* to identify the path to the nested key/index.
* If one of the values in the nested object/array doesn't exist, it adds
* a new object.
*/
function assoc_in(m={}, [k, ...ks], v) {
return ks.length ? assoc(m, k, assoc_in(m[k], ks, v)) : assoc(m, k, v);
}
/**
* Associate value (v) in nested object/array (m) using key string notation (s)
* (e.g. "k1.k2").
*/
function set(m, s, v) {
ks = s.split(".");
return assoc_in(m, ks, v);
}
Note:
With the provided implementation,
assoc_in({"a": 1}, ["a", "b"], 2)
returns
{"a": 1}
I would prefer that it throw an error in this case. If desired, you can add a check in assoc to verify m is either an object or array and throw an error otherwise.

I tried to write this set method in short, it may help someone!
function set(obj, key, value) {
let keys = key.split('.');
if(keys.length<2){ obj[key] = value; return obj; }
let lastKey = keys.pop();
let fun = `obj.${keys.join('.')} = {${lastKey}: '${value}'};`;
return new Function(fun)();
}
var obj = {
"hello": {
"world": "test"
}
};
set(obj, "hello.world", 'test updated');
console.log(obj);
set(obj, "hello.world.again", 'hello again');
console.log(obj);
set(obj, "hello.world.again.onece_again", 'hello once again');
console.log(obj);

const set = (o, path, value) => {
const props = path.split('.');
const prop = props.shift()
if (props.length === 0) {
o[prop] = value
} else {
o[prop] = o[prop] ?? {}
set(o[prop], props.join('.'), value)
}
}

in case you want to deeply update or insert an object
try this :-
let init = {
abc: {
c: {1: 2, 3: 5, 0: {l: 3}},
d: 100
}
}
Object.prototype.deepUpdate = function(update){
let key = Object.keys(update);
key.forEach((k) => {
if(typeof update[key] == "object"){
this[k].deepUpdate(update[key], this[k])
}
else
this[k] = update[k]
})
}
init.deepUpdate({abc: {c: {l: 10}}})
console.log(init)
but make sure it will change the original object, you can make it to not change the original object :
JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(init)).deepUpdate({abc: {c: {l: 10}}})

Improving on bpmason1's answer:
-adds a get() function.
-It does not require to define global storage object
-It is accessible from same domain iFrames
function set(path, value)
{
var schema = parent.document;
path="data."+path;
var pList = path.split('.');
var len = pList.length;
for(var i = 0; i < len-1; i++)
{
if(!schema[pList[i]])
schema[pList[i]] = {}
schema = schema[pList[i]];
}
schema[pList[len-1]] = value;
}
function get(path)
{
path="data."+path;
var schema=parent.document;
var pList = path.split('.');
for(var i = 0; i < pList.length; i++)
schema = schema[pList[i]];
return schema;
}
set('mongo.db.user', 'root');
set('mongo.db.name', 'glen');
console.log(get('mongo.db.name')); //prints 'glen'

Sometimes if the key also has dots (.) it its string this may pose a problem. As even that single key will now get split into various keys.
It is best to store the key path in an array, like so: ['db','mongodb','user'] and assign the value dynamically with the below function.
function set(obj, path, value) {
var schema = obj;
var pList = path.slice();
var len = pList.length;
for (var i = 0; i < len - 1; i++) {
var elem = pList[i];
if (!schema[elem]) schema[elem] = {};
schema = schema[elem];
}
schema[pList[len - 1]] = value;
}
let path = ['db','mongodb','user'];
set(obj, path, 'root');

I want to leave my answer for this interesting topic. Creating a function that sets dynamic properties for an object can be difficult.
const entity = {
haveDogs: true,
dogs: ['Maya', 'Perla']
}
function isObject(obj) {
return obj instanceof Object && obj.constructor === Object;
}
function setSchema(key, schema, value) {
if (!isObject(value)) {
schema[key] = value;
return
}
if (!schema[key]) schema[key] = {}
schema[key] = mutate(schema[key], value);
}
function mutate(obj, newObjData) {
const keys = Object.keys(newObjData)
for (const key of keys) {
let schema = obj
const list = key.split('.')
const value = newObjData[key]
const total = list.length - 1
if (list.length === 1) {
setSchema(key, schema, value)
continue
}
for (let i = 0; i < total; i++) {
const elem = list[i];
if (!schema[elem]) schema[elem] = {}
schema = schema[elem]
}
const subField = list[total]
setSchema(subField, schema, value)
}
return obj
}
mutate(entity, {
haveDogs: false,
'pet1.pet2.pet3.pet4.pet5': 'pets',
'bestFriends.list': ['Maya', 'Lucas'],
friends: {
'whitelist.permitted': ['Maya', 'Perla'],
'party.blocked': ['Juan', 'Trump']
}
})
console.log('[entity]', entity)

Convert a JavaScript object's keys with dot notation into an object [duplicate]

I threw some code together to flatten and un-flatten complex/nested JavaScript objects. It works, but it's a bit slow (triggers the 'long script' warning).
For the flattened names I want "." as the delimiter and [INDEX] for arrays.
Examples:
un-flattened | flattened
---------------------------
{foo:{bar:false}} => {"foo.bar":false}
{a:[{b:["c","d"]}]} => {"a[0].b[0]":"c","a[0].b[1]":"d"}
[1,[2,[3,4],5],6] => {"[0]":1,"[1].[0]":2,"[1].[1].[0]":3,"[1].[1].[1]":4,"[1].[2]":5,"[2]":6}
I created a benchmark that ~simulates my use case http://jsfiddle.net/WSzec/
Get a nested object
Flatten it
Look through it and possibly modify it while flattened
Unflatten it back to it's original nested format to be shipped away
I would like faster code: For clarification, code that completes the JSFiddle benchmark (http://jsfiddle.net/WSzec/) significantly faster (~20%+ would be nice) in IE 9+, FF 24+, and Chrome 29+.
Here's the relevant JavaScript code: Current Fastest: http://jsfiddle.net/WSzec/6/
var unflatten = function(data) {
"use strict";
if (Object(data) !== data || Array.isArray(data))
return data;
var result = {}, cur, prop, idx, last, temp;
for(var p in data) {
cur = result, prop = "", last = 0;
do {
idx = p.indexOf(".", last);
temp = p.substring(last, idx !== -1 ? idx : undefined);
cur = cur[prop] || (cur[prop] = (!isNaN(parseInt(temp)) ? [] : {}));
prop = temp;
last = idx + 1;
} while(idx >= 0);
cur[prop] = data[p];
}
return result[""];
}
var flatten = function(data) {
var result = {};
function recurse (cur, prop) {
if (Object(cur) !== cur) {
result[prop] = cur;
} else if (Array.isArray(cur)) {
for(var i=0, l=cur.length; i<l; i++)
recurse(cur[i], prop ? prop+"."+i : ""+i);
if (l == 0)
result[prop] = [];
} else {
var isEmpty = true;
for (var p in cur) {
isEmpty = false;
recurse(cur[p], prop ? prop+"."+p : p);
}
if (isEmpty)
result[prop] = {};
}
}
recurse(data, "");
return result;
}
EDIT 1 Modified the above to #Bergi 's implementation which is currently the fastest. As an aside, using ".indexOf" instead of "regex.exec" is around 20% faster in FF but 20% slower in Chrome; so I'll stick with the regex since it's simpler (here's my attempt at using indexOf to replace the regex http://jsfiddle.net/WSzec/2/).
EDIT 2 Building on #Bergi 's idea I managed to created a faster non-regex version (3x faster in FF and ~10% faster in Chrome). http://jsfiddle.net/WSzec/6/ In the this (the current) implementation the rules for key names are simply, keys cannot start with an integer or contain a period.
Example:
{"foo":{"bar":[0]}} => {"foo.bar.0":0}
EDIT 3 Adding #AaditMShah 's inline path parsing approach (rather than String.split) helped to improve the unflatten performance. I'm very happy with the overall performance improvement reached.
The latest jsfiddle and jsperf:
http://jsfiddle.net/WSzec/14/
http://jsperf.com/flatten-un-flatten/4

Here's my much shorter implementation:
Object.unflatten = function(data) {
"use strict";
if (Object(data) !== data || Array.isArray(data))
return data;
var regex = /\.?([^.\[\]]+)|\[(\d+)\]/g,
resultholder = {};
for (var p in data) {
var cur = resultholder,
prop = "",
m;
while (m = regex.exec(p)) {
cur = cur[prop] || (cur[prop] = (m[2] ? [] : {}));
prop = m[2] || m[1];
}
cur[prop] = data[p];
}
return resultholder[""] || resultholder;
};
flatten hasn't changed much (and I'm not sure whether you really need those isEmpty cases):
Object.flatten = function(data) {
var result = {};
function recurse (cur, prop) {
if (Object(cur) !== cur) {
result[prop] = cur;
} else if (Array.isArray(cur)) {
for(var i=0, l=cur.length; i<l; i++)
recurse(cur[i], prop + "[" + i + "]");
if (l == 0)
result[prop] = [];
} else {
var isEmpty = true;
for (var p in cur) {
isEmpty = false;
recurse(cur[p], prop ? prop+"."+p : p);
}
if (isEmpty && prop)
result[prop] = {};
}
}
recurse(data, "");
return result;
}
Together, they run your benchmark in about the half of the time (Opera 12.16: ~900ms instead of ~ 1900ms, Chrome 29: ~800ms instead of ~1600ms).
Note: This and most other solutions answered here focus on speed and are susceptible to prototype pollution and shold not be used on untrusted objects.

I wrote two functions to flatten and unflatten a JSON object.
Flatten a JSON object:
var flatten = (function (isArray, wrapped) {
return function (table) {
return reduce("", {}, table);
};
function reduce(path, accumulator, table) {
if (isArray(table)) {
var length = table.length;
if (length) {
var index = 0;
while (index < length) {
var property = path + "[" + index + "]", item = table[index++];
if (wrapped(item) !== item) accumulator[property] = item;
else reduce(property, accumulator, item);
}
} else accumulator[path] = table;
} else {
var empty = true;
if (path) {
for (var property in table) {
var item = table[property], property = path + "." + property, empty = false;
if (wrapped(item) !== item) accumulator[property] = item;
else reduce(property, accumulator, item);
}
} else {
for (var property in table) {
var item = table[property], empty = false;
if (wrapped(item) !== item) accumulator[property] = item;
else reduce(property, accumulator, item);
}
}
if (empty) accumulator[path] = table;
}
return accumulator;
}
}(Array.isArray, Object));
Performance:
It's faster than the current solution in Opera. The current solution is 26% slower in Opera.
It's faster than the current solution in Firefox. The current solution is 9% slower in Firefox.
It's faster than the current solution in Chrome. The current solution is 29% slower in Chrome.
Unflatten a JSON object:
function unflatten(table) {
var result = {};
for (var path in table) {
var cursor = result, length = path.length, property = "", index = 0;
while (index < length) {
var char = path.charAt(index);
if (char === "[") {
var start = index + 1,
end = path.indexOf("]", start),
cursor = cursor[property] = cursor[property] || [],
property = path.slice(start, end),
index = end + 1;
} else {
var cursor = cursor[property] = cursor[property] || {},
start = char === "." ? index + 1 : index,
bracket = path.indexOf("[", start),
dot = path.indexOf(".", start);
if (bracket < 0 && dot < 0) var end = index = length;
else if (bracket < 0) var end = index = dot;
else if (dot < 0) var end = index = bracket;
else var end = index = bracket < dot ? bracket : dot;
var property = path.slice(start, end);
}
}
cursor[property] = table[path];
}
return result[""];
}
Performance:
It's faster than the current solution in Opera. The current solution is 5% slower in Opera.
It's slower than the current solution in Firefox. My solution is 26% slower in Firefox.
It's slower than the current solution in Chrome. My solution is 6% slower in Chrome.
Flatten and unflatten a JSON object:
Overall my solution performs either equally well or even better than the current solution.
Performance:
It's faster than the current solution in Opera. The current solution is 21% slower in Opera.
It's as fast as the current solution in Firefox.
It's faster than the current solution in Firefox. The current solution is 20% slower in Chrome.
Output format:
A flattened object uses the dot notation for object properties and the bracket notation for array indices:
{foo:{bar:false}} => {"foo.bar":false}
{a:[{b:["c","d"]}]} => {"a[0].b[0]":"c","a[0].b[1]":"d"}
[1,[2,[3,4],5],6] => {"[0]":1,"[1][0]":2,"[1][1][0]":3,"[1][1][1]":4,"[1][2]":5,"[2]":6}
In my opinion this format is better than only using the dot notation:
{foo:{bar:false}} => {"foo.bar":false}
{a:[{b:["c","d"]}]} => {"a.0.b.0":"c","a.0.b.1":"d"}
[1,[2,[3,4],5],6] => {"0":1,"1.0":2,"1.1.0":3,"1.1.1":4,"1.2":5,"2":6}
Advantages:
Flattening an object is faster than the current solution.
Flattening and unflattening an object is as fast as or faster than the current solution.
Flattened objects use both the dot notation and the bracket notation for readability.
Disadvantages:
Unflattening an object is slower than the current solution in most (but not all) cases.
The current JSFiddle demo gave the following values as output:
Nested : 132175 : 63
Flattened : 132175 : 564
Nested : 132175 : 54
Flattened : 132175 : 508
My updated JSFiddle demo gave the following values as output:
Nested : 132175 : 59
Flattened : 132175 : 514
Nested : 132175 : 60
Flattened : 132175 : 451
I'm not really sure what that means, so I'll stick with the jsPerf results. After all jsPerf is a performance benchmarking utility. JSFiddle is not.

ES6 version:
const flatten = (obj, path = '') => {
if (!(obj instanceof Object)) return {[path.replace(/\.$/g, '')]:obj};
return Object.keys(obj).reduce((output, key) => {
return obj instanceof Array ?
{...output, ...flatten(obj[key], path + '[' + key + '].')}:
{...output, ...flatten(obj[key], path + key + '.')};
}, {});
}
Example:
console.log(flatten({a:[{b:["c","d"]}]}));
console.log(flatten([1,[2,[3,4],5],6]));

3 ½ Years later...
For my own project I wanted to flatten JSON objects in mongoDB dot notation and came up with a simple solution:
/**
* Recursively flattens a JSON object using dot notation.
*
* NOTE: input must be an object as described by JSON spec. Arbitrary
* JS objects (e.g. {a: () => 42}) may result in unexpected output.
* MOREOVER, it removes keys with empty objects/arrays as value (see
* examples bellow).
*
* #example
* // returns {a:1, 'b.0.c': 2, 'b.0.d.e': 3, 'b.1': 4}
* flatten({a: 1, b: [{c: 2, d: {e: 3}}, 4]})
* // returns {a:1, 'b.0.c': 2, 'b.0.d.e.0': true, 'b.0.d.e.1': false, 'b.0.d.e.2.f': 1}
* flatten({a: 1, b: [{c: 2, d: {e: [true, false, {f: 1}]}}]})
* // return {a: 1}
* flatten({a: 1, b: [], c: {}})
*
* #param obj item to be flattened
* #param {Array.string} [prefix=[]] chain of prefix joined with a dot and prepended to key
* #param {Object} [current={}] result of flatten during the recursion
*
* #see https://docs.mongodb.com/manual/core/document/#dot-notation
*/
function flatten (obj, prefix, current) {
prefix = prefix || []
current = current || {}
// Remember kids, null is also an object!
if (typeof (obj) === 'object' && obj !== null) {
Object.keys(obj).forEach(key => {
this.flatten(obj[key], prefix.concat(key), current)
})
} else {
current[prefix.join('.')] = obj
}
return current
}
Features and/or caveats
It only accepts JSON objects. So if you pass something like {a: () => {}} you might not get what you wanted!
It removes empty arrays and objects. So this {a: {}, b: []} is flattened to {}.

Use this library:
npm install flat
Usage (from https://www.npmjs.com/package/flat):
Flatten:
var flatten = require('flat')
flatten({
key1: {
keyA: 'valueI'
},
key2: {
keyB: 'valueII'
},
key3: { a: { b: { c: 2 } } }
})
// {
// 'key1.keyA': 'valueI',
// 'key2.keyB': 'valueII',
// 'key3.a.b.c': 2
// }
Un-flatten:
var unflatten = require('flat').unflatten
unflatten({
'three.levels.deep': 42,
'three.levels': {
nested: true
}
})
// {
// three: {
// levels: {
// deep: 42,
// nested: true
// }
// }
// }

Here's another approach that runs slower (about 1000ms) than the above answer, but has an interesting idea :-)
Instead of iterating through each property chain, it just picks the last property and uses a look-up-table for the rest to store the intermediate results. This look-up-table will be iterated until there are no property chains left and all values reside on uncocatenated properties.
JSON.unflatten = function(data) {
"use strict";
if (Object(data) !== data || Array.isArray(data))
return data;
var regex = /\.?([^.\[\]]+)$|\[(\d+)\]$/,
props = Object.keys(data),
result, p;
while(p = props.shift()) {
var m = regex.exec(p),
target;
if (m.index) {
var rest = p.slice(0, m.index);
if (!(rest in data)) {
data[rest] = m[2] ? [] : {};
props.push(rest);
}
target = data[rest];
} else {
target = result || (result = (m[2] ? [] : {}));
}
target[m[2] || m[1]] = data[p];
}
return result;
};
It currently uses the data input parameter for the table, and puts lots of properties on it - a non-destructive version should be possible as well. Maybe a clever lastIndexOf usage performs better than the regex (depends on the regex engine).
See it in action here.

You can use https://github.com/hughsk/flat
Take a nested Javascript object and flatten it, or unflatten an object with delimited keys.
Example from the doc
var flatten = require('flat')
flatten({
key1: {
keyA: 'valueI'
},
key2: {
keyB: 'valueII'
},
key3: { a: { b: { c: 2 } } }
})
// {
// 'key1.keyA': 'valueI',
// 'key2.keyB': 'valueII',
// 'key3.a.b.c': 2
// }
var unflatten = require('flat').unflatten
unflatten({
'three.levels.deep': 42,
'three.levels': {
nested: true
}
})
// {
// three: {
// levels: {
// deep: 42,
// nested: true
// }
// }
// }

This code recursively flattens out JSON objects.
I included my timing mechanism in the code and it gives me 1ms but I'm not sure if that's the most accurate one.
var new_json = [{
"name": "fatima",
"age": 25,
"neighbour": {
"name": "taqi",
"location": "end of the street",
"property": {
"built in": 1990,
"owned": false,
"years on market": [1990, 1998, 2002, 2013],
"year short listed": [], //means never
}
},
"town": "Mountain View",
"state": "CA"
},
{
"name": "qianru",
"age": 20,
"neighbour": {
"name": "joe",
"location": "opposite to the park",
"property": {
"built in": 2011,
"owned": true,
"years on market": [1996, 2011],
"year short listed": [], //means never
}
},
"town": "Pittsburgh",
"state": "PA"
}]
function flatten(json, flattened, str_key) {
for (var key in json) {
if (json.hasOwnProperty(key)) {
if (json[key] instanceof Object && json[key] != "") {
flatten(json[key], flattened, str_key + "." + key);
} else {
flattened[str_key + "." + key] = json[key];
}
}
}
}
var flattened = {};
console.time('flatten');
flatten(new_json, flattened, "");
console.timeEnd('flatten');
for (var key in flattened){
console.log(key + ": " + flattened[key]);
}
Output:
flatten: 1ms
.0.name: fatima
.0.age: 25
.0.neighbour.name: taqi
.0.neighbour.location: end of the street
.0.neighbour.property.built in: 1990
.0.neighbour.property.owned: false
.0.neighbour.property.years on market.0: 1990
.0.neighbour.property.years on market.1: 1998
.0.neighbour.property.years on market.2: 2002
.0.neighbour.property.years on market.3: 2013
.0.neighbour.property.year short listed:
.0.town: Mountain View
.0.state: CA
.1.name: qianru
.1.age: 20
.1.neighbour.name: joe
.1.neighbour.location: opposite to the park
.1.neighbour.property.built in: 2011
.1.neighbour.property.owned: true
.1.neighbour.property.years on market.0: 1996
.1.neighbour.property.years on market.1: 2011
.1.neighbour.property.year short listed:
.1.town: Pittsburgh
.1.state: PA

Here's mine. It runs in <2ms in Google Apps Script on a sizable object. It uses dashes instead of dots for separators, and it doesn't handle arrays specially like in the asker's question, but this is what I wanted for my use.
function flatten (obj) {
var newObj = {};
for (var key in obj) {
if (typeof obj[key] === 'object' && obj[key] !== null) {
var temp = flatten(obj[key])
for (var key2 in temp) {
newObj[key+"-"+key2] = temp[key2];
}
} else {
newObj[key] = obj[key];
}
}
return newObj;
}
Example:
var test = {
a: 1,
b: 2,
c: {
c1: 3.1,
c2: 3.2
},
d: 4,
e: {
e1: 5.1,
e2: 5.2,
e3: {
e3a: 5.31,
e3b: 5.32
},
e4: 5.4
},
f: 6
}
Logger.log("start");
Logger.log(JSON.stringify(flatten(test),null,2));
Logger.log("done");
Example output:
[17-02-08 13:21:05:245 CST] start
[17-02-08 13:21:05:246 CST] {
"a": 1,
"b": 2,
"c-c1": 3.1,
"c-c2": 3.2,
"d": 4,
"e-e1": 5.1,
"e-e2": 5.2,
"e-e3-e3a": 5.31,
"e-e3-e3b": 5.32,
"e-e4": 5.4,
"f": 6
}
[17-02-08 13:21:05:247 CST] done

Object.prototype.flatten = function (obj) {
let ans = {};
let anotherObj = { ...obj };
function performFlatten(anotherObj) {
Object.keys(anotherObj).forEach((key, idx) => {
if (typeof anotherObj[key] !== 'object') {
ans[key] = anotherObj[key];
console.log('ans so far : ', ans);
} else {
console.log(key, { ...anotherObj[key] });
performFlatten(anotherObj[key]);
}
})
}
performFlatten(anotherObj);
return ans;
}
let ans = flatten(obj);
console.log(ans);

I added +/- 10-15% efficiency to the selected answer by minor code refactoring and moving the recursive function outside of the function namespace.
See my question: Are namespaced functions reevaluated on every call? for why this slows nested functions down.
function _flatten (target, obj, path) {
var i, empty;
if (obj.constructor === Object) {
empty = true;
for (i in obj) {
empty = false;
_flatten(target, obj[i], path ? path + '.' + i : i);
}
if (empty && path) {
target[path] = {};
}
}
else if (obj.constructor === Array) {
i = obj.length;
if (i > 0) {
while (i--) {
_flatten(target, obj[i], path + '[' + i + ']');
}
} else {
target[path] = [];
}
}
else {
target[path] = obj;
}
}
function flatten (data) {
var result = {};
_flatten(result, data, null);
return result;
}
See benchmark.

Here's a recursive solution for flatten I put together in PowerShell:
#---helper function for ConvertTo-JhcUtilJsonTable
#
function getNodes {
param (
[Parameter(Mandatory)]
[System.Object]
$job,
[Parameter(Mandatory)]
[System.String]
$path
)
$t = $job.GetType()
$ct = 0
$h = #{}
if ($t.Name -eq 'PSCustomObject') {
foreach ($m in Get-Member -InputObject $job -MemberType NoteProperty) {
getNodes -job $job.($m.Name) -path ($path + '.' + $m.Name)
}
}
elseif ($t.Name -eq 'Object[]') {
foreach ($o in $job) {
getNodes -job $o -path ($path + "[$ct]")
$ct++
}
}
else {
$h[$path] = $job
$h
}
}
#---flattens a JSON document object into a key value table where keys are proper JSON paths corresponding to their value
#
function ConvertTo-JhcUtilJsonTable {
param (
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true, ValueFromPipeline = $true)]
[System.Object[]]
$jsonObj
)
begin {
$rootNode = 'root'
}
process {
foreach ($o in $jsonObj) {
$table = getNodes -job $o -path $rootNode
# $h = #{}
$a = #()
$pat = '^' + $rootNode
foreach ($i in $table) {
foreach ($k in $i.keys) {
# $h[$k -replace $pat, ''] = $i[$k]
$a += New-Object -TypeName psobject -Property #{'Key' = $($k -replace $pat, ''); 'Value' = $i[$k]}
# $h[$k -replace $pat, ''] = $i[$k]
}
}
# $h
$a
}
}
end{}
}
Example:
'{"name": "John","Address": {"house": "1234", "Street": "Boogie Ave"}, "pets": [{"Type": "Dog", "Age": 4, "Toys": ["rubberBall", "rope"]},{"Type": "Cat", "Age": 7, "Toys": ["catNip"]}]}' | ConvertFrom-Json | ConvertTo-JhcUtilJsonTable
Key Value
--- -----
.Address.house 1234
.Address.Street Boogie Ave
.name John
.pets[0].Age 4
.pets[0].Toys[0] rubberBall
.pets[0].Toys[1] rope
.pets[0].Type Dog
.pets[1].Age 7
.pets[1].Toys[0] catNip
.pets[1].Type Cat

I wanted an approach so that I could be able to easily convert my json data into a csv file.
The scenario is: I query data from somewhere and I receive an array of some model, like a bank extract.
This approach below is used to parse each one of these entries.
function jsonFlatter(data, previousKey, obj) {
obj = obj || {}
previousKey = previousKey || ""
Object.keys(data).map(key => {
let newKey = `${previousKey}${previousKey ? "_" : ""}${key}`
let _value = data[key]
let isArray = Array.isArray(_value)
if (typeof _value !== "object" || isArray || _value == null) {
if (isArray) {
_value = JSON.stringify(_value)
} else if (_value == null) {
_value = "null"
}
obj[newKey] = _value
} else if (typeof _value === "object") {
if (!Object.keys(_value).length) {
obj[newKey] = "null"
} else {
return jsonFlatter(_value, newKey, obj)
}
}
})
return obj
}
This way, I can count on the uniformity of the keys and inner keys of my object model, but arrays are simply stringified since I can't rely on their uniformity. Also, empty objects become the string "null", since I still want it's key to appear in the final result.
Usage example:
const test_data = {
a: {
aa: {
aaa: 4354,
aab: 654
},
ab: 123
},
b: 234,
c: {},
d: []
}
console.log('result', jsonFlatter(test_data))
#### output
{
"a_aa_aaa": 4354,
"a_aa_aab": 654,
"a_ab": 123,
"b": 234,
"c": "null",
"d": "[]"
}

try this one:
function getFlattenObject(data, response = {}) {
for (const key in data) {
if (typeof data[key] === 'object' && !Array.isArray(data[key])) {
getFlattenObject(data[key], response);
} else {
response[key] = data[key];
}
}
return response;
}

I'd like to add a new version of flatten case (this is what i needed :)) which, according to my probes with the above jsFiddler, is slightly faster then the currently selected one.
Moreover, me personally see this snippet a bit more readable, which is of course important for multi-developer projects.
function flattenObject(graph) {
let result = {},
item,
key;
function recurr(graph, path) {
if (Array.isArray(graph)) {
graph.forEach(function (itm, idx) {
key = path + '[' + idx + ']';
if (itm && typeof itm === 'object') {
recurr(itm, key);
} else {
result[key] = itm;
}
});
} else {
Reflect.ownKeys(graph).forEach(function (p) {
key = path + '.' + p;
item = graph[p];
if (item && typeof item === 'object') {
recurr(item, key);
} else {
result[key] = item;
}
});
}
}
recurr(graph, '');
return result;
}

Here is some code I wrote to flatten an object I was working with. It creates a new class that takes every nested field and brings it into the first layer. You could modify it to unflatten by remembering the original placement of the keys. It also assumes the keys are unique even across nested objects. Hope it helps.
class JSONFlattener {
ojson = {}
flattenedjson = {}
constructor(original_json) {
this.ojson = original_json
this.flattenedjson = {}
this.flatten()
}
flatten() {
Object.keys(this.ojson).forEach(function(key){
if (this.ojson[key] == null) {
} else if (this.ojson[key].constructor == ({}).constructor) {
this.combine(new JSONFlattener(this.ojson[key]).returnJSON())
} else {
this.flattenedjson[key] = this.ojson[key]
}
}, this)
}
combine(new_json) {
//assumes new_json is a flat array
Object.keys(new_json).forEach(function(key){
if (!this.flattenedjson.hasOwnProperty(key)) {
this.flattenedjson[key] = new_json[key]
} else {
console.log(key+" is a duplicate key")
}
}, this)
}
returnJSON() {
return this.flattenedjson
}
}
console.log(new JSONFlattener(dad_dictionary).returnJSON())
As an example, it converts
nested_json = {
"a": {
"b": {
"c": {
"d": {
"a": 0
}
}
}
},
"z": {
"b":1
},
"d": {
"c": {
"c": 2
}
}
}
into
{ a: 0, b: 1, c: 2 }

You can try out the package jpflat.
It flattens, inflates, resolves promises, flattens arrays, has customizable path creation and customizable value serialization.
The reducers and serializers receive the whole path as an array of it's parts, so more complex operations can be done to the path instead of modifying a single key or changing the delimiter.
Json path is the default, hence "jp"flat.
https://www.npmjs.com/package/jpflat
let flatFoo = await require('jpflat').flatten(foo)

JavaScript--merge two array objects into one arr object then loop through each index/object

var arrObj1 = [{a:1},{b:2}, {c:3}]
var arrObj2 = [{operator: LESS THAN}, {operator:GREATER THAN}, {operator:"NOT EQUAL"}]
so I want to merge obj at arrObj2[0] into obj at arrObj1[0], arrObj2[1] into obj at arrObj1[1] and so forth...
//resultArrObj = [{a:1, operator: LESS THAN}, {b:2, operator:"GREATER THAN}];
After (or while merging) i need to loop through each object and return a new obj which will have the properties(field, input, operator) and push into array.
field = key from arrObj1 (a, b, c)
input = value from arrObj1(1,2,3)
operator = "operator" from arrObj 2.
// var endResult = [{field:a, input:1, operator: LESS THAN}, {field:b, input:2, operator:GREATER THAN}];
thanks!!

I believe this does what you are looking for. It assumes that you know your data and doesn't do any error checking but just combines them the way that you asked.
var arrObj1 = [{a:1},{b:2}, {c:3}];
var arrObj2 = [{operator: "LESS THAN"}, {operator:"GREATER THAN"}, {operator:"NOT EQUAL"}];
var endResult = [];
var counter = 0;
var objNew = {};
arrObj1.forEach(function(fieldInput){
for ( field in fieldInput ){
objNew.field=field;
objNew.input=fieldInput[field];
objNew.operator=arrObj2[counter]['operator'];
counter++;
endResult.push(objNew);
objNew={};
};
})
// var endResult = [{field:a, input:1, operator: LESS THAN}, {field:b, input:2, operator:GREATER THAN}, {field:c, input:3, operator:NOT EQUAL}]

Let's break this problem into 2 steps:
1) Merging objects
2) Processing objects
We can write a generalized merging function:
if (!Object.prototype.extend) {
Object.prototype.extend = function (object) {
for (key in object) {
if (typeof object[key] === 'object' &&
typeof this[key] === 'object' &&
this.hasOwnProperty(key)) {
this[key].extend(object[key]);
} else {
this[key] = object[key];
}
}
return this;
};
};
The code above creates a method that all Objects share. It works like this:
var obj1 = { 'a': 7 },
obj2 = { 'b': 2 };
obj1.extend(obj2);
console.log(obj1); // { 'a': 7, 'b': 2 };
I usually wouldn't modify Objects like I have done with the .extend method, but it should be trivial to build something that does the same thing but has a different API. (for example, function extend (obj1, obj2) { do stuff.. and return extended object }
Anyways. That should solve the first part about merging objects.
The second part, processing this merged object, is simply using a for loop that iterates over the merged object, and pushes new objects into an array. It would look something like this:
for (var prop in mergedObject) {
var tempObject = {};
if (prop === 'operator') {
tempObject.operator = mergedObject.operator;
} else {
tempObject.field = prop;
tempObject.input = tempObject[prop];
}
endResult.push(tempObject);
}
Hopefully this helps you.

Javascript transforming data-structure [duplicate]

I threw some code together to flatten and un-flatten complex/nested JavaScript objects. It works, but it's a bit slow (triggers the 'long script' warning).
For the flattened names I want "." as the delimiter and [INDEX] for arrays.
Examples:
un-flattened | flattened
---------------------------
{foo:{bar:false}} => {"foo.bar":false}
{a:[{b:["c","d"]}]} => {"a[0].b[0]":"c","a[0].b[1]":"d"}
[1,[2,[3,4],5],6] => {"[0]":1,"[1].[0]":2,"[1].[1].[0]":3,"[1].[1].[1]":4,"[1].[2]":5,"[2]":6}
I created a benchmark that ~simulates my use case http://jsfiddle.net/WSzec/
Get a nested object
Flatten it
Look through it and possibly modify it while flattened
Unflatten it back to it's original nested format to be shipped away
I would like faster code: For clarification, code that completes the JSFiddle benchmark (http://jsfiddle.net/WSzec/) significantly faster (~20%+ would be nice) in IE 9+, FF 24+, and Chrome 29+.
Here's the relevant JavaScript code: Current Fastest: http://jsfiddle.net/WSzec/6/
var unflatten = function(data) {
"use strict";
if (Object(data) !== data || Array.isArray(data))
return data;
var result = {}, cur, prop, idx, last, temp;
for(var p in data) {
cur = result, prop = "", last = 0;
do {
idx = p.indexOf(".", last);
temp = p.substring(last, idx !== -1 ? idx : undefined);
cur = cur[prop] || (cur[prop] = (!isNaN(parseInt(temp)) ? [] : {}));
prop = temp;
last = idx + 1;
} while(idx >= 0);
cur[prop] = data[p];
}
return result[""];
}
var flatten = function(data) {
var result = {};
function recurse (cur, prop) {
if (Object(cur) !== cur) {
result[prop] = cur;
} else if (Array.isArray(cur)) {
for(var i=0, l=cur.length; i<l; i++)
recurse(cur[i], prop ? prop+"."+i : ""+i);
if (l == 0)
result[prop] = [];
} else {
var isEmpty = true;
for (var p in cur) {
isEmpty = false;
recurse(cur[p], prop ? prop+"."+p : p);
}
if (isEmpty)
result[prop] = {};
}
}
recurse(data, "");
return result;
}
EDIT 1 Modified the above to #Bergi 's implementation which is currently the fastest. As an aside, using ".indexOf" instead of "regex.exec" is around 20% faster in FF but 20% slower in Chrome; so I'll stick with the regex since it's simpler (here's my attempt at using indexOf to replace the regex http://jsfiddle.net/WSzec/2/).
EDIT 2 Building on #Bergi 's idea I managed to created a faster non-regex version (3x faster in FF and ~10% faster in Chrome). http://jsfiddle.net/WSzec/6/ In the this (the current) implementation the rules for key names are simply, keys cannot start with an integer or contain a period.
Example:
{"foo":{"bar":[0]}} => {"foo.bar.0":0}
EDIT 3 Adding #AaditMShah 's inline path parsing approach (rather than String.split) helped to improve the unflatten performance. I'm very happy with the overall performance improvement reached.
The latest jsfiddle and jsperf:
http://jsfiddle.net/WSzec/14/
http://jsperf.com/flatten-un-flatten/4

Here's my much shorter implementation:
Object.unflatten = function(data) {
"use strict";
if (Object(data) !== data || Array.isArray(data))
return data;
var regex = /\.?([^.\[\]]+)|\[(\d+)\]/g,
resultholder = {};
for (var p in data) {
var cur = resultholder,
prop = "",
m;
while (m = regex.exec(p)) {
cur = cur[prop] || (cur[prop] = (m[2] ? [] : {}));
prop = m[2] || m[1];
}
cur[prop] = data[p];
}
return resultholder[""] || resultholder;
};
flatten hasn't changed much (and I'm not sure whether you really need those isEmpty cases):
Object.flatten = function(data) {
var result = {};
function recurse (cur, prop) {
if (Object(cur) !== cur) {
result[prop] = cur;
} else if (Array.isArray(cur)) {
for(var i=0, l=cur.length; i<l; i++)
recurse(cur[i], prop + "[" + i + "]");
if (l == 0)
result[prop] = [];
} else {
var isEmpty = true;
for (var p in cur) {
isEmpty = false;
recurse(cur[p], prop ? prop+"."+p : p);
}
if (isEmpty && prop)
result[prop] = {};
}
}
recurse(data, "");
return result;
}
Together, they run your benchmark in about the half of the time (Opera 12.16: ~900ms instead of ~ 1900ms, Chrome 29: ~800ms instead of ~1600ms).
Note: This and most other solutions answered here focus on speed and are susceptible to prototype pollution and shold not be used on untrusted objects.

I wrote two functions to flatten and unflatten a JSON object.
Flatten a JSON object:
var flatten = (function (isArray, wrapped) {
return function (table) {
return reduce("", {}, table);
};
function reduce(path, accumulator, table) {
if (isArray(table)) {
var length = table.length;
if (length) {
var index = 0;
while (index < length) {
var property = path + "[" + index + "]", item = table[index++];
if (wrapped(item) !== item) accumulator[property] = item;
else reduce(property, accumulator, item);
}
} else accumulator[path] = table;
} else {
var empty = true;
if (path) {
for (var property in table) {
var item = table[property], property = path + "." + property, empty = false;
if (wrapped(item) !== item) accumulator[property] = item;
else reduce(property, accumulator, item);
}
} else {
for (var property in table) {
var item = table[property], empty = false;
if (wrapped(item) !== item) accumulator[property] = item;
else reduce(property, accumulator, item);
}
}
if (empty) accumulator[path] = table;
}
return accumulator;
}
}(Array.isArray, Object));
Performance:
It's faster than the current solution in Opera. The current solution is 26% slower in Opera.
It's faster than the current solution in Firefox. The current solution is 9% slower in Firefox.
It's faster than the current solution in Chrome. The current solution is 29% slower in Chrome.
Unflatten a JSON object:
function unflatten(table) {
var result = {};
for (var path in table) {
var cursor = result, length = path.length, property = "", index = 0;
while (index < length) {
var char = path.charAt(index);
if (char === "[") {
var start = index + 1,
end = path.indexOf("]", start),
cursor = cursor[property] = cursor[property] || [],
property = path.slice(start, end),
index = end + 1;
} else {
var cursor = cursor[property] = cursor[property] || {},
start = char === "." ? index + 1 : index,
bracket = path.indexOf("[", start),
dot = path.indexOf(".", start);
if (bracket < 0 && dot < 0) var end = index = length;
else if (bracket < 0) var end = index = dot;
else if (dot < 0) var end = index = bracket;
else var end = index = bracket < dot ? bracket : dot;
var property = path.slice(start, end);
}
}
cursor[property] = table[path];
}
return result[""];
}
Performance:
It's faster than the current solution in Opera. The current solution is 5% slower in Opera.
It's slower than the current solution in Firefox. My solution is 26% slower in Firefox.
It's slower than the current solution in Chrome. My solution is 6% slower in Chrome.
Flatten and unflatten a JSON object:
Overall my solution performs either equally well or even better than the current solution.
Performance:
It's faster than the current solution in Opera. The current solution is 21% slower in Opera.
It's as fast as the current solution in Firefox.
It's faster than the current solution in Firefox. The current solution is 20% slower in Chrome.
Output format:
A flattened object uses the dot notation for object properties and the bracket notation for array indices:
{foo:{bar:false}} => {"foo.bar":false}
{a:[{b:["c","d"]}]} => {"a[0].b[0]":"c","a[0].b[1]":"d"}
[1,[2,[3,4],5],6] => {"[0]":1,"[1][0]":2,"[1][1][0]":3,"[1][1][1]":4,"[1][2]":5,"[2]":6}
In my opinion this format is better than only using the dot notation:
{foo:{bar:false}} => {"foo.bar":false}
{a:[{b:["c","d"]}]} => {"a.0.b.0":"c","a.0.b.1":"d"}
[1,[2,[3,4],5],6] => {"0":1,"1.0":2,"1.1.0":3,"1.1.1":4,"1.2":5,"2":6}
Advantages:
Flattening an object is faster than the current solution.
Flattening and unflattening an object is as fast as or faster than the current solution.
Flattened objects use both the dot notation and the bracket notation for readability.
Disadvantages:
Unflattening an object is slower than the current solution in most (but not all) cases.
The current JSFiddle demo gave the following values as output:
Nested : 132175 : 63
Flattened : 132175 : 564
Nested : 132175 : 54
Flattened : 132175 : 508
My updated JSFiddle demo gave the following values as output:
Nested : 132175 : 59
Flattened : 132175 : 514
Nested : 132175 : 60
Flattened : 132175 : 451
I'm not really sure what that means, so I'll stick with the jsPerf results. After all jsPerf is a performance benchmarking utility. JSFiddle is not.

ES6 version:
const flatten = (obj, path = '') => {
if (!(obj instanceof Object)) return {[path.replace(/\.$/g, '')]:obj};
return Object.keys(obj).reduce((output, key) => {
return obj instanceof Array ?
{...output, ...flatten(obj[key], path + '[' + key + '].')}:
{...output, ...flatten(obj[key], path + key + '.')};
}, {});
}
Example:
console.log(flatten({a:[{b:["c","d"]}]}));
console.log(flatten([1,[2,[3,4],5],6]));

3 ½ Years later...
For my own project I wanted to flatten JSON objects in mongoDB dot notation and came up with a simple solution:
/**
* Recursively flattens a JSON object using dot notation.
*
* NOTE: input must be an object as described by JSON spec. Arbitrary
* JS objects (e.g. {a: () => 42}) may result in unexpected output.
* MOREOVER, it removes keys with empty objects/arrays as value (see
* examples bellow).
*
* #example
* // returns {a:1, 'b.0.c': 2, 'b.0.d.e': 3, 'b.1': 4}
* flatten({a: 1, b: [{c: 2, d: {e: 3}}, 4]})
* // returns {a:1, 'b.0.c': 2, 'b.0.d.e.0': true, 'b.0.d.e.1': false, 'b.0.d.e.2.f': 1}
* flatten({a: 1, b: [{c: 2, d: {e: [true, false, {f: 1}]}}]})
* // return {a: 1}
* flatten({a: 1, b: [], c: {}})
*
* #param obj item to be flattened
* #param {Array.string} [prefix=[]] chain of prefix joined with a dot and prepended to key
* #param {Object} [current={}] result of flatten during the recursion
*
* #see https://docs.mongodb.com/manual/core/document/#dot-notation
*/
function flatten (obj, prefix, current) {
prefix = prefix || []
current = current || {}
// Remember kids, null is also an object!
if (typeof (obj) === 'object' && obj !== null) {
Object.keys(obj).forEach(key => {
this.flatten(obj[key], prefix.concat(key), current)
})
} else {
current[prefix.join('.')] = obj
}
return current
}
Features and/or caveats
It only accepts JSON objects. So if you pass something like {a: () => {}} you might not get what you wanted!
It removes empty arrays and objects. So this {a: {}, b: []} is flattened to {}.

Use this library:
npm install flat
Usage (from https://www.npmjs.com/package/flat):
Flatten:
var flatten = require('flat')
flatten({
key1: {
keyA: 'valueI'
},
key2: {
keyB: 'valueII'
},
key3: { a: { b: { c: 2 } } }
})
// {
// 'key1.keyA': 'valueI',
// 'key2.keyB': 'valueII',
// 'key3.a.b.c': 2
// }
Un-flatten:
var unflatten = require('flat').unflatten
unflatten({
'three.levels.deep': 42,
'three.levels': {
nested: true
}
})
// {
// three: {
// levels: {
// deep: 42,
// nested: true
// }
// }
// }

Here's another approach that runs slower (about 1000ms) than the above answer, but has an interesting idea :-)
Instead of iterating through each property chain, it just picks the last property and uses a look-up-table for the rest to store the intermediate results. This look-up-table will be iterated until there are no property chains left and all values reside on uncocatenated properties.
JSON.unflatten = function(data) {
"use strict";
if (Object(data) !== data || Array.isArray(data))
return data;
var regex = /\.?([^.\[\]]+)$|\[(\d+)\]$/,
props = Object.keys(data),
result, p;
while(p = props.shift()) {
var m = regex.exec(p),
target;
if (m.index) {
var rest = p.slice(0, m.index);
if (!(rest in data)) {
data[rest] = m[2] ? [] : {};
props.push(rest);
}
target = data[rest];
} else {
target = result || (result = (m[2] ? [] : {}));
}
target[m[2] || m[1]] = data[p];
}
return result;
};
It currently uses the data input parameter for the table, and puts lots of properties on it - a non-destructive version should be possible as well. Maybe a clever lastIndexOf usage performs better than the regex (depends on the regex engine).
See it in action here.

You can use https://github.com/hughsk/flat
Take a nested Javascript object and flatten it, or unflatten an object with delimited keys.
Example from the doc
var flatten = require('flat')
flatten({
key1: {
keyA: 'valueI'
},
key2: {
keyB: 'valueII'
},
key3: { a: { b: { c: 2 } } }
})
// {
// 'key1.keyA': 'valueI',
// 'key2.keyB': 'valueII',
// 'key3.a.b.c': 2
// }
var unflatten = require('flat').unflatten
unflatten({
'three.levels.deep': 42,
'three.levels': {
nested: true
}
})
// {
// three: {
// levels: {
// deep: 42,
// nested: true
// }
// }
// }

This code recursively flattens out JSON objects.
I included my timing mechanism in the code and it gives me 1ms but I'm not sure if that's the most accurate one.
var new_json = [{
"name": "fatima",
"age": 25,
"neighbour": {
"name": "taqi",
"location": "end of the street",
"property": {
"built in": 1990,
"owned": false,
"years on market": [1990, 1998, 2002, 2013],
"year short listed": [], //means never
}
},
"town": "Mountain View",
"state": "CA"
},
{
"name": "qianru",
"age": 20,
"neighbour": {
"name": "joe",
"location": "opposite to the park",
"property": {
"built in": 2011,
"owned": true,
"years on market": [1996, 2011],
"year short listed": [], //means never
}
},
"town": "Pittsburgh",
"state": "PA"
}]
function flatten(json, flattened, str_key) {
for (var key in json) {
if (json.hasOwnProperty(key)) {
if (json[key] instanceof Object && json[key] != "") {
flatten(json[key], flattened, str_key + "." + key);
} else {
flattened[str_key + "." + key] = json[key];
}
}
}
}
var flattened = {};
console.time('flatten');
flatten(new_json, flattened, "");
console.timeEnd('flatten');
for (var key in flattened){
console.log(key + ": " + flattened[key]);
}
Output:
flatten: 1ms
.0.name: fatima
.0.age: 25
.0.neighbour.name: taqi
.0.neighbour.location: end of the street
.0.neighbour.property.built in: 1990
.0.neighbour.property.owned: false
.0.neighbour.property.years on market.0: 1990
.0.neighbour.property.years on market.1: 1998
.0.neighbour.property.years on market.2: 2002
.0.neighbour.property.years on market.3: 2013
.0.neighbour.property.year short listed:
.0.town: Mountain View
.0.state: CA
.1.name: qianru
.1.age: 20
.1.neighbour.name: joe
.1.neighbour.location: opposite to the park
.1.neighbour.property.built in: 2011
.1.neighbour.property.owned: true
.1.neighbour.property.years on market.0: 1996
.1.neighbour.property.years on market.1: 2011
.1.neighbour.property.year short listed:
.1.town: Pittsburgh
.1.state: PA

Here's mine. It runs in <2ms in Google Apps Script on a sizable object. It uses dashes instead of dots for separators, and it doesn't handle arrays specially like in the asker's question, but this is what I wanted for my use.
function flatten (obj) {
var newObj = {};
for (var key in obj) {
if (typeof obj[key] === 'object' && obj[key] !== null) {
var temp = flatten(obj[key])
for (var key2 in temp) {
newObj[key+"-"+key2] = temp[key2];
}
} else {
newObj[key] = obj[key];
}
}
return newObj;
}
Example:
var test = {
a: 1,
b: 2,
c: {
c1: 3.1,
c2: 3.2
},
d: 4,
e: {
e1: 5.1,
e2: 5.2,
e3: {
e3a: 5.31,
e3b: 5.32
},
e4: 5.4
},
f: 6
}
Logger.log("start");
Logger.log(JSON.stringify(flatten(test),null,2));
Logger.log("done");
Example output:
[17-02-08 13:21:05:245 CST] start
[17-02-08 13:21:05:246 CST] {
"a": 1,
"b": 2,
"c-c1": 3.1,
"c-c2": 3.2,
"d": 4,
"e-e1": 5.1,
"e-e2": 5.2,
"e-e3-e3a": 5.31,
"e-e3-e3b": 5.32,
"e-e4": 5.4,
"f": 6
}
[17-02-08 13:21:05:247 CST] done

Object.prototype.flatten = function (obj) {
let ans = {};
let anotherObj = { ...obj };
function performFlatten(anotherObj) {
Object.keys(anotherObj).forEach((key, idx) => {
if (typeof anotherObj[key] !== 'object') {
ans[key] = anotherObj[key];
console.log('ans so far : ', ans);
} else {
console.log(key, { ...anotherObj[key] });
performFlatten(anotherObj[key]);
}
})
}
performFlatten(anotherObj);
return ans;
}
let ans = flatten(obj);
console.log(ans);

I added +/- 10-15% efficiency to the selected answer by minor code refactoring and moving the recursive function outside of the function namespace.
See my question: Are namespaced functions reevaluated on every call? for why this slows nested functions down.
function _flatten (target, obj, path) {
var i, empty;
if (obj.constructor === Object) {
empty = true;
for (i in obj) {
empty = false;
_flatten(target, obj[i], path ? path + '.' + i : i);
}
if (empty && path) {
target[path] = {};
}
}
else if (obj.constructor === Array) {
i = obj.length;
if (i > 0) {
while (i--) {
_flatten(target, obj[i], path + '[' + i + ']');
}
} else {
target[path] = [];
}
}
else {
target[path] = obj;
}
}
function flatten (data) {
var result = {};
_flatten(result, data, null);
return result;
}
See benchmark.

Here's a recursive solution for flatten I put together in PowerShell:
#---helper function for ConvertTo-JhcUtilJsonTable
#
function getNodes {
param (
[Parameter(Mandatory)]
[System.Object]
$job,
[Parameter(Mandatory)]
[System.String]
$path
)
$t = $job.GetType()
$ct = 0
$h = #{}
if ($t.Name -eq 'PSCustomObject') {
foreach ($m in Get-Member -InputObject $job -MemberType NoteProperty) {
getNodes -job $job.($m.Name) -path ($path + '.' + $m.Name)
}
}
elseif ($t.Name -eq 'Object[]') {
foreach ($o in $job) {
getNodes -job $o -path ($path + "[$ct]")
$ct++
}
}
else {
$h[$path] = $job
$h
}
}
#---flattens a JSON document object into a key value table where keys are proper JSON paths corresponding to their value
#
function ConvertTo-JhcUtilJsonTable {
param (
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true, ValueFromPipeline = $true)]
[System.Object[]]
$jsonObj
)
begin {
$rootNode = 'root'
}
process {
foreach ($o in $jsonObj) {
$table = getNodes -job $o -path $rootNode
# $h = #{}
$a = #()
$pat = '^' + $rootNode
foreach ($i in $table) {
foreach ($k in $i.keys) {
# $h[$k -replace $pat, ''] = $i[$k]
$a += New-Object -TypeName psobject -Property #{'Key' = $($k -replace $pat, ''); 'Value' = $i[$k]}
# $h[$k -replace $pat, ''] = $i[$k]
}
}
# $h
$a
}
}
end{}
}
Example:
'{"name": "John","Address": {"house": "1234", "Street": "Boogie Ave"}, "pets": [{"Type": "Dog", "Age": 4, "Toys": ["rubberBall", "rope"]},{"Type": "Cat", "Age": 7, "Toys": ["catNip"]}]}' | ConvertFrom-Json | ConvertTo-JhcUtilJsonTable
Key Value
--- -----
.Address.house 1234
.Address.Street Boogie Ave
.name John
.pets[0].Age 4
.pets[0].Toys[0] rubberBall
.pets[0].Toys[1] rope
.pets[0].Type Dog
.pets[1].Age 7
.pets[1].Toys[0] catNip
.pets[1].Type Cat

I wanted an approach so that I could be able to easily convert my json data into a csv file.
The scenario is: I query data from somewhere and I receive an array of some model, like a bank extract.
This approach below is used to parse each one of these entries.
function jsonFlatter(data, previousKey, obj) {
obj = obj || {}
previousKey = previousKey || ""
Object.keys(data).map(key => {
let newKey = `${previousKey}${previousKey ? "_" : ""}${key}`
let _value = data[key]
let isArray = Array.isArray(_value)
if (typeof _value !== "object" || isArray || _value == null) {
if (isArray) {
_value = JSON.stringify(_value)
} else if (_value == null) {
_value = "null"
}
obj[newKey] = _value
} else if (typeof _value === "object") {
if (!Object.keys(_value).length) {
obj[newKey] = "null"
} else {
return jsonFlatter(_value, newKey, obj)
}
}
})
return obj
}
This way, I can count on the uniformity of the keys and inner keys of my object model, but arrays are simply stringified since I can't rely on their uniformity. Also, empty objects become the string "null", since I still want it's key to appear in the final result.
Usage example:
const test_data = {
a: {
aa: {
aaa: 4354,
aab: 654
},
ab: 123
},
b: 234,
c: {},
d: []
}
console.log('result', jsonFlatter(test_data))
#### output
{
"a_aa_aaa": 4354,
"a_aa_aab": 654,
"a_ab": 123,
"b": 234,
"c": "null",
"d": "[]"
}

try this one:
function getFlattenObject(data, response = {}) {
for (const key in data) {
if (typeof data[key] === 'object' && !Array.isArray(data[key])) {
getFlattenObject(data[key], response);
} else {
response[key] = data[key];
}
}
return response;
}

I'd like to add a new version of flatten case (this is what i needed :)) which, according to my probes with the above jsFiddler, is slightly faster then the currently selected one.
Moreover, me personally see this snippet a bit more readable, which is of course important for multi-developer projects.
function flattenObject(graph) {
let result = {},
item,
key;
function recurr(graph, path) {
if (Array.isArray(graph)) {
graph.forEach(function (itm, idx) {
key = path + '[' + idx + ']';
if (itm && typeof itm === 'object') {
recurr(itm, key);
} else {
result[key] = itm;
}
});
} else {
Reflect.ownKeys(graph).forEach(function (p) {
key = path + '.' + p;
item = graph[p];
if (item && typeof item === 'object') {
recurr(item, key);
} else {
result[key] = item;
}
});
}
}
recurr(graph, '');
return result;
}

Here is some code I wrote to flatten an object I was working with. It creates a new class that takes every nested field and brings it into the first layer. You could modify it to unflatten by remembering the original placement of the keys. It also assumes the keys are unique even across nested objects. Hope it helps.
class JSONFlattener {
ojson = {}
flattenedjson = {}
constructor(original_json) {
this.ojson = original_json
this.flattenedjson = {}
this.flatten()
}
flatten() {
Object.keys(this.ojson).forEach(function(key){
if (this.ojson[key] == null) {
} else if (this.ojson[key].constructor == ({}).constructor) {
this.combine(new JSONFlattener(this.ojson[key]).returnJSON())
} else {
this.flattenedjson[key] = this.ojson[key]
}
}, this)
}
combine(new_json) {
//assumes new_json is a flat array
Object.keys(new_json).forEach(function(key){
if (!this.flattenedjson.hasOwnProperty(key)) {
this.flattenedjson[key] = new_json[key]
} else {
console.log(key+" is a duplicate key")
}
}, this)
}
returnJSON() {
return this.flattenedjson
}
}
console.log(new JSONFlattener(dad_dictionary).returnJSON())
As an example, it converts
nested_json = {
"a": {
"b": {
"c": {
"d": {
"a": 0
}
}
}
},
"z": {
"b":1
},
"d": {
"c": {
"c": 2
}
}
}
into
{ a: 0, b: 1, c: 2 }

You can try out the package jpflat.
It flattens, inflates, resolves promises, flattens arrays, has customizable path creation and customizable value serialization.
The reducers and serializers receive the whole path as an array of it's parts, so more complex operations can be done to the path instead of modifying a single key or changing the delimiter.
Json path is the default, hence "jp"flat.
https://www.npmjs.com/package/jpflat
let flatFoo = await require('jpflat').flatten(foo)