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I have an object x. I'd like to copy it as object y, such that changes to y do not modify x. I realized that copying objects derived from built-in JavaScript objects will result in extra, unwanted properties. This isn't a problem, since I'm copying one of my own literal-constructed objects.
How do I correctly clone a JavaScript object?
2022 update
There's a new JS standard called structured cloning. It works in many browsers (see Can I Use).
const clone = structuredClone(object);
Old answer
To do this for any object in JavaScript will not be simple or straightforward. You will run into the problem of erroneously picking up attributes from the object's prototype that should be left in the prototype and not copied to the new instance. If, for instance, you are adding a clone method to Object.prototype, as some answers depict, you will need to explicitly skip that attribute. But what if there are other additional methods added to Object.prototype, or other intermediate prototypes, that you don't know about? In that case, you will copy attributes you shouldn't, so you need to detect unforeseen, non-local attributes with the hasOwnProperty method.
In addition to non-enumerable attributes, you'll encounter a tougher problem when you try to copy objects that have hidden properties. For example, prototype is a hidden property of a function. Also, an object's prototype is referenced with the attribute __proto__, which is also hidden, and will not be copied by a for/in loop iterating over the source object's attributes. I think __proto__ might be specific to Firefox's JavaScript interpreter and it may be something different in other browsers, but you get the picture. Not everything is enumerable. You can copy a hidden attribute if you know its name, but I don't know of any way to discover it automatically.
Yet another snag in the quest for an elegant solution is the problem of setting up the prototype inheritance correctly. If your source object's prototype is Object, then simply creating a new general object with {} will work, but if the source's prototype is some descendant of Object, then you are going to be missing the additional members from that prototype which you skipped using the hasOwnProperty filter, or which were in the prototype, but weren't enumerable in the first place. One solution might be to call the source object's constructor property to get the initial copy object and then copy over the attributes, but then you still will not get non-enumerable attributes. For example, a Date object stores its data as a hidden member:
function clone(obj) {
if (null == obj || "object" != typeof obj) return obj;
var copy = obj.constructor();
for (var attr in obj) {
if (obj.hasOwnProperty(attr)) copy[attr] = obj[attr];
}
return copy;
}
var d1 = new Date();
/* Executes function after 5 seconds. */
setTimeout(function(){
var d2 = clone(d1);
alert("d1 = " + d1.toString() + "\nd2 = " + d2.toString());
}, 5000);
The date string for d1 will be 5 seconds behind that of d2. A way to make one Date the same as another is by calling the setTime method, but that is specific to the Date class. I don't think there is a bullet-proof general solution to this problem, though I would be happy to be wrong!
When I had to implement general deep copying I ended up compromising by assuming that I would only need to copy a plain Object, Array, Date, String, Number, or Boolean. The last 3 types are immutable, so I could perform a shallow copy and not worry about it changing. I further assumed that any elements contained in Object or Array would also be one of the 6 simple types in that list. This can be accomplished with code like the following:
function clone(obj) {
var copy;
// Handle the 3 simple types, and null or undefined
if (null == obj || "object" != typeof obj) return obj;
// Handle Date
if (obj instanceof Date) {
copy = new Date();
copy.setTime(obj.getTime());
return copy;
}
// Handle Array
if (obj instanceof Array) {
copy = [];
for (var i = 0, len = obj.length; i < len; i++) {
copy[i] = clone(obj[i]);
}
return copy;
}
// Handle Object
if (obj instanceof Object) {
copy = {};
for (var attr in obj) {
if (obj.hasOwnProperty(attr)) copy[attr] = clone(obj[attr]);
}
return copy;
}
throw new Error("Unable to copy obj! Its type isn't supported.");
}
The above function will work adequately for the 6 simple types I mentioned, as long as the data in the objects and arrays form a tree structure. That is, there isn't more than one reference to the same data in the object. For example:
// This would be cloneable:
var tree = {
"left" : { "left" : null, "right" : null, "data" : 3 },
"right" : null,
"data" : 8
};
// This would kind-of work, but you would get 2 copies of the
// inner node instead of 2 references to the same copy
var directedAcylicGraph = {
"left" : { "left" : null, "right" : null, "data" : 3 },
"data" : 8
};
directedAcyclicGraph["right"] = directedAcyclicGraph["left"];
// Cloning this would cause a stack overflow due to infinite recursion:
var cyclicGraph = {
"left" : { "left" : null, "right" : null, "data" : 3 },
"data" : 8
};
cyclicGraph["right"] = cyclicGraph;
It will not be able to handle any JavaScript object, but it may be sufficient for many purposes as long as you don't assume that it will just work for anything you throw at it.
If you do not use Dates, functions, undefined, regExp or Infinity within your object, a very simple one liner is JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(object)):
const a = {
string: 'string',
number: 123,
bool: false,
nul: null,
date: new Date(), // stringified
undef: undefined, // lost
inf: Infinity, // forced to 'null'
}
console.log(a);
console.log(typeof a.date); // Date object
const clone = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(a));
console.log(clone);
console.log(typeof clone.date); // result of .toISOString()
This works for all kind of objects containing objects, arrays, strings, booleans and numbers.
See also this article about the structured clone algorithm of browsers which is used when posting messages to and from a worker. It also contains a function for deep cloning.
In ECMAScript 6 there is Object.assign method, which copies values of all enumerable own properties from one object to another. For example:
var x = {myProp: "value"};
var y = Object.assign({}, x);
But be aware this is a shallow copy - nested objects are still copied as reference.
With jQuery, you can shallow copy with extend:
var copiedObject = jQuery.extend({}, originalObject)
subsequent changes to the copiedObject will not affect the originalObject, and vice versa.
Or to make a deep copy:
var copiedObject = jQuery.extend(true, {}, originalObject)
Per MDN:
If you want shallow copy, use Object.assign({}, a)
For "deep" copy, use JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(a))
There is no need for external libraries but you need to check browser compatibility first.
An elegant way to clone a Javascript object in one line of code
An Object.assign method is part of the ECMAScript 2015 (ES6) standard and does exactly what you need.
var clone = Object.assign({}, obj);
The Object.assign() method is used to copy the values of all enumerable own properties from one or more source objects to a target object.
Read more...
The polyfill to support older browsers:
if (!Object.assign) {
Object.defineProperty(Object, 'assign', {
enumerable: false,
configurable: true,
writable: true,
value: function(target) {
'use strict';
if (target === undefined || target === null) {
throw new TypeError('Cannot convert first argument to object');
}
var to = Object(target);
for (var i = 1; i < arguments.length; i++) {
var nextSource = arguments[i];
if (nextSource === undefined || nextSource === null) {
continue;
}
nextSource = Object(nextSource);
var keysArray = Object.keys(nextSource);
for (var nextIndex = 0, len = keysArray.length; nextIndex < len; nextIndex++) {
var nextKey = keysArray[nextIndex];
var desc = Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(nextSource, nextKey);
if (desc !== undefined && desc.enumerable) {
to[nextKey] = nextSource[nextKey];
}
}
}
return to;
}
});
}
There are many answers, but none that mentions Object.create from ECMAScript 5, which admittedly does not give you an exact copy, but sets the source as the prototype of the new object.
Thus, this is not an exact answer to the question, but it is a one-line solution and thus elegant. And it works best for 2 cases:
Where such inheritance is useful (duh!)
Where the source object won't be modified, thus making the relation between the 2 objects a non issue.
Example:
var foo = { a : 1 };
var bar = Object.create(foo);
foo.a; // 1
bar.a; // 1
foo.a = 2;
bar.a; // 2 - prototype changed
bar.a = 3;
foo.a; // Still 2, since setting bar.a makes it an "own" property
Why do I consider this solution to be superior? It's native, thus no looping, no recursion. However, older browsers will need a polyfill.
There are several issues with most solutions on the internet. So I decided to make a follow-up, which includes, why the accepted answer shouldn't be accepted.
starting situation
I want to deep-copy a Javascript Object with all of its children and their children and so on. But since I'm not kind of a normal developer, my Object has normal properties, circular structures and even nested objects.
So let's create a circular structure and a nested object first.
function Circ() {
this.me = this;
}
function Nested(y) {
this.y = y;
}
Let's bring everything together in an Object named a.
var a = {
x: 'a',
circ: new Circ(),
nested: new Nested('a')
};
Next, we want to copy a into a variable named b and mutate it.
var b = a;
b.x = 'b';
b.nested.y = 'b';
You know what happened here because if not you wouldn't even land on this great question.
console.log(a, b);
a --> Object {
x: "b",
circ: Circ {
me: Circ { ... }
},
nested: Nested {
y: "b"
}
}
b --> Object {
x: "b",
circ: Circ {
me: Circ { ... }
},
nested: Nested {
y: "b"
}
}
Now let's find a solution.
JSON
The first attempt I tried was using JSON.
var b = JSON.parse( JSON.stringify( a ) );
b.x = 'b';
b.nested.y = 'b';
Don't waste too much time on it, you'll get TypeError: Converting circular structure to JSON.
Recursive copy (the accepted "answer")
Let's have a look at the accepted answer.
function cloneSO(obj) {
// Handle the 3 simple types, and null or undefined
if (null == obj || "object" != typeof obj) return obj;
// Handle Date
if (obj instanceof Date) {
var copy = new Date();
copy.setTime(obj.getTime());
return copy;
}
// Handle Array
if (obj instanceof Array) {
var copy = [];
for (var i = 0, len = obj.length; i < len; i++) {
copy[i] = cloneSO(obj[i]);
}
return copy;
}
// Handle Object
if (obj instanceof Object) {
var copy = {};
for (var attr in obj) {
if (obj.hasOwnProperty(attr)) copy[attr] = cloneSO(obj[attr]);
}
return copy;
}
throw new Error("Unable to copy obj! Its type isn't supported.");
}
Looks good, heh? It's a recursive copy of the object and handles other types as well, like Date, but that wasn't a requirement.
var b = cloneSO(a);
b.x = 'b';
b.nested.y = 'b';
Recursion and circular structures doesn't work well together... RangeError: Maximum call stack size exceeded
native solution
After arguing with my co-worker, my boss asked us what happened, and he found a simple solution after some googling. It's called Object.create.
var b = Object.create(a);
b.x = 'b';
b.nested.y = 'b';
This solution was added to Javascript some time ago and even handles circular structure.
console.log(a, b);
a --> Object {
x: "a",
circ: Circ {
me: Circ { ... }
},
nested: Nested {
y: "b"
}
}
b --> Object {
x: "b",
circ: Circ {
me: Circ { ... }
},
nested: Nested {
y: "b"
}
}
... and you see, it didn't work with the nested structure inside.
polyfill for the native solution
There's a polyfill for Object.create in the older browser just like the IE 8. It's something like recommended by Mozilla, and of course, it's not perfect and results in the same problem as the native solution.
function F() {};
function clonePF(o) {
F.prototype = o;
return new F();
}
var b = clonePF(a);
b.x = 'b';
b.nested.y = 'b';
I've put F outside the scope so we can have a look at what instanceof tells us.
console.log(a, b);
a --> Object {
x: "a",
circ: Circ {
me: Circ { ... }
},
nested: Nested {
y: "b"
}
}
b --> F {
x: "b",
circ: Circ {
me: Circ { ... }
},
nested: Nested {
y: "b"
}
}
console.log(typeof a, typeof b);
a --> object
b --> object
console.log(a instanceof Object, b instanceof Object);
a --> true
b --> true
console.log(a instanceof F, b instanceof F);
a --> false
b --> true
Same problem as the native solution, but a little bit worse output.
the better (but not perfect) solution
When digging around, I found a similar question (In Javascript, when performing a deep copy, how do I avoid a cycle, due to a property being "this"?) to this one, but with a way better solution.
function cloneDR(o) {
const gdcc = "__getDeepCircularCopy__";
if (o !== Object(o)) {
return o; // primitive value
}
var set = gdcc in o,
cache = o[gdcc],
result;
if (set && typeof cache == "function") {
return cache();
}
// else
o[gdcc] = function() { return result; }; // overwrite
if (o instanceof Array) {
result = [];
for (var i=0; i<o.length; i++) {
result[i] = cloneDR(o[i]);
}
} else {
result = {};
for (var prop in o)
if (prop != gdcc)
result[prop] = cloneDR(o[prop]);
else if (set)
result[prop] = cloneDR(cache);
}
if (set) {
o[gdcc] = cache; // reset
} else {
delete o[gdcc]; // unset again
}
return result;
}
var b = cloneDR(a);
b.x = 'b';
b.nested.y = 'b';
And let's have a look at the output...
console.log(a, b);
a --> Object {
x: "a",
circ: Object {
me: Object { ... }
},
nested: Object {
y: "a"
}
}
b --> Object {
x: "b",
circ: Object {
me: Object { ... }
},
nested: Object {
y: "b"
}
}
console.log(typeof a, typeof b);
a --> object
b --> object
console.log(a instanceof Object, b instanceof Object);
a --> true
b --> true
console.log(a instanceof F, b instanceof F);
a --> false
b --> false
The requirements are matched, but there are still some smaller issues, including changing the instance of nested and circ to Object.
The structure of trees that share a leaf won't be copied, they will become two independent leaves:
[Object] [Object]
/ \ / \
/ \ / \
|/_ _\| |/_ _\|
[Object] [Object] ===> [Object] [Object]
\ / | |
\ / | |
_\| |/_ \|/ \|/
[Object] [Object] [Object]
conclusion
The last solution using recursion and a cache, may not be the best, but it's a real deep-copy of the object. It handles simple properties, circular structures and nested object, but it will mess up the instance of them while cloning.
jsfiddle
If you're okay with a shallow copy, the underscore.js library has a clone method.
y = _.clone(x);
or you can extend it like
copiedObject = _.extend({},originalObject);
OK, imagine you have this object below and you want to clone it:
let obj = {a:1, b:2, c:3}; //ES6
or
var obj = {a:1, b:2, c:3}; //ES5
the answer is mainly depeneds on which ECMAscript you using, in ES6+, you can simply use Object.assign to do the clone:
let cloned = Object.assign({}, obj); //new {a:1, b:2, c:3};
or using spread operator like this:
let cloned = {...obj}; //new {a:1, b:2, c:3};
But if you using ES5, you can use few methods, but the JSON.stringify, just make sure you not using for a big chunk of data to copy, but it could be one line handy way in many cases, something like this:
let cloned = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(obj));
//new {a:1, b:2, c:3};, can be handy, but avoid using on big chunk of data over and over
Update 06 July 2020
There are three (3) ways to clone objects in JavaScript. As objects in JavaScript are reference values, you can't simply just copy using the =.
The ways are:
const food = { food: 'apple', drink: 'milk' }
// 1. Using the "Spread"
// ------------------
{ ...food }
// 2. Using "Object.assign"
// ------------------
Object.assign({}, food)
// 3. "JSON"
// ------------------
JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(food))
// RESULT:
// { food: 'apple', drink: 'milk' }
This can be used as a reference summary.
One particularly inelegant solution is to use JSON encoding to make deep copies of objects that do not have member methods. The methodology is to JSON encode your target object, then by decoding it, you get the copy you are looking for. You can decode as many times as you want to make as many copies as you need.
Of course, functions do not belong in JSON, so this only works for objects without member methods.
This methodology was perfect for my use case, since I'm storing JSON blobs in a key-value store, and when they are exposed as objects in a JavaScript API, each object actually contains a copy of the original state of the object so we can calculate the delta after the caller has mutated the exposed object.
var object1 = {key:"value"};
var object2 = object1;
object2 = JSON.stringify(object1);
object2 = JSON.parse(object2);
object2.key = "a change";
console.log(object1);// returns value
You can simply use a spread property to copy an object without references. But be careful (see comments), the 'copy' is just on the lowest object/array level. Nested properties are still references!
Complete clone:
let x = {a: 'value1'}
let x2 = {...x}
// => mutate without references:
x2.a = 'value2'
console.log(x.a) // => 'value1'
Clone with references on second level:
const y = {a: {b: 'value3'}}
const y2 = {...y}
// => nested object is still a references:
y2.a.b = 'value4'
console.log(y.a.b) // => 'value4'
JavaScript actually does not support deep clones natively. Use an utility function. For example Ramda:
http://ramdajs.com/docs/#clone
const objClone = { ...obj };
Be aware that nested objects are still copied as a reference.
From this article: How to copy arrays and objects in Javascript by Brian Huisman:
Object.prototype.clone = function() {
var newObj = (this instanceof Array) ? [] : {};
for (var i in this) {
if (i == 'clone') continue;
if (this[i] && typeof this[i] == "object") {
newObj[i] = this[i].clone();
} else newObj[i] = this[i]
} return newObj;
};
For those using AngularJS, there is also direct method for cloning or extending of the objects in this library.
var destination = angular.copy(source);
or
angular.copy(source, destination);
More in angular.copy documentation...
function clone(obj) {
if(obj == null || typeof(obj) != 'object')
return obj;
var temp = new obj.constructor();
for(var key in obj)
temp[key] = clone(obj[key]);
return temp;
}
A.Levy's answer is almost complete, here is my little contribution: there is a way how to handle recursive references, see this line
if(this[attr]==this) copy[attr] = copy;
If the object is XML DOM element, we must use cloneNode instead
if(this.cloneNode) return this.cloneNode(true);
Inspired by A.Levy's exhaustive study and Calvin's prototyping approach, I offer this solution:
Object.prototype.clone = function() {
if(this.cloneNode) return this.cloneNode(true);
var copy = this instanceof Array ? [] : {};
for(var attr in this) {
if(typeof this[attr] == "function" || this[attr]==null || !this[attr].clone)
copy[attr] = this[attr];
else if(this[attr]==this) copy[attr] = copy;
else copy[attr] = this[attr].clone();
}
return copy;
}
Date.prototype.clone = function() {
var copy = new Date();
copy.setTime(this.getTime());
return copy;
}
Number.prototype.clone =
Boolean.prototype.clone =
String.prototype.clone = function() {
return this;
}
See also Andy Burke's note in the answers.
Performance
Today 2020.04.30 I perform tests of chosen solutions on Chrome v81.0, Safari v13.1 and Firefox v75.0 on MacOs High Sierra v10.13.6.
I focus on speed of copy DATA (object with simple type fields, not methods etc.). The solutions A-I can make only shallow copy, solutions J-U can make deep copy.
Results for shallow copy
solution {...obj} (A) is fastest on chrome and firefox and medium fast on safari
solution based on Object.assign (B) is fast on all browsers
jQuery (E) and lodash (F,G,H) solutions are medium/quite fast
solution JSON.parse/stringify (K) is quite slow
solutions D and U are slow on all browsers
Results for deep copy
solution Q is fastest on all browsers
jQuery (L) and lodash (J) are medium fast
solution JSON.parse/stringify (K) is quite slow
solution U is slowest on all browsers
lodash (J) and solution U crash on Chrome for 1000 level deep object
Details
For choosen solutions:
A
B
C(my)
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U,
I perform 4 tests
shallow-small: object with 10 non-nested fields - you can run it HERE
shallow-big: object with 1000 non-nested fields - you can run it HERE
deep-small: object with 10 levels-nested fields - you can run it HERE
deep-big: object with 1000 levels-nested fields - you can run it HERE
Objects used in tests are show in below snippet
let obj_ShallowSmall = {
field0: false,
field1: true,
field2: 1,
field3: 0,
field4: null,
field5: [],
field6: {},
field7: "text7",
field8: "text8",
}
let obj_DeepSmall = {
level0: {
level1: {
level2: {
level3: {
level4: {
level5: {
level6: {
level7: {
level8: {
level9: [[[[[[[[[['abc']]]]]]]]]],
}}}}}}}}},
};
let obj_ShallowBig = Array(1000).fill(0).reduce((a,c,i) => (a['field'+i]=getField(i),a) ,{});
let obj_DeepBig = genDeepObject(1000);
// ------------------
// Show objects
// ------------------
console.log('obj_ShallowSmall:',JSON.stringify(obj_ShallowSmall));
console.log('obj_DeepSmall:',JSON.stringify(obj_DeepSmall));
console.log('obj_ShallowBig:',JSON.stringify(obj_ShallowBig));
console.log('obj_DeepBig:',JSON.stringify(obj_DeepBig));
// ------------------
// HELPERS
// ------------------
function getField(k) {
let i=k%10;
if(i==0) return false;
if(i==1) return true;
if(i==2) return k;
if(i==3) return 0;
if(i==4) return null;
if(i==5) return [];
if(i==6) return {};
if(i>=7) return "text"+k;
}
function genDeepObject(N) {
// generate: {level0:{level1:{...levelN: {end:[[[...N-times...['abc']...]]] }}}...}}}
let obj={};
let o=obj;
let arr = [];
let a=arr;
for(let i=0; i<N; i++) {
o['level'+i]={};
o=o['level'+i];
let aa=[];
a.push(aa);
a=aa;
}
a[0]='abc';
o['end']=arr;
return obj;
}
Below snippet presents tested solutions and shows differences between them
function A(obj) {
return {...obj}
}
function B(obj) {
return Object.assign({}, obj);
}
function C(obj) {
return Object.keys(obj).reduce( (a,c) => (a[c]=obj[c], a), {})
}
function D(obj) {
let copyOfObject = {};
Object.defineProperties(copyOfObject, Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptors(obj));
return copyOfObject;
}
function E(obj) {
return jQuery.extend({}, obj) // shallow
}
function F(obj) {
return _.clone(obj);
}
function G(obj) {
return _.clone(obj,true);
}
function H(obj) {
return _.extend({},obj);
}
function I(obj) {
if (null == obj || "object" != typeof obj) return obj;
var copy = obj.constructor();
for (var attr in obj) {
if (obj.hasOwnProperty(attr)) copy[attr] = obj[attr];
}
return copy;
}
function J(obj) {
return _.cloneDeep(obj,true);
}
function K(obj) {
return JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(obj));
}
function L(obj) {
return jQuery.extend(true, {}, obj) // deep
}
function M(obj) {
if(obj == null || typeof(obj) != 'object')
return obj;
var temp = new obj.constructor();
for(var key in obj)
temp[key] = M(obj[key]);
return temp;
}
function N(obj) {
let EClone = function(obj) {
var newObj = (obj instanceof Array) ? [] : {};
for (var i in obj) {
if (i == 'EClone') continue;
if (obj[i] && typeof obj[i] == "object") {
newObj[i] = EClone(obj[i]);
} else newObj[i] = obj[i]
} return newObj;
};
return EClone(obj);
};
function O(obj) {
if (obj == null || typeof obj != "object") return obj;
if (obj.constructor != Object && obj.constructor != Array) return obj;
if (obj.constructor == Date || obj.constructor == RegExp || obj.constructor == Function ||
obj.constructor == String || obj.constructor == Number || obj.constructor == Boolean)
return new obj.constructor(obj);
let to = new obj.constructor();
for (var name in obj)
{
to[name] = typeof to[name] == "undefined" ? O(obj[name], null) : to[name];
}
return to;
}
function P(obj) {
function clone(target, source){
for(let key in source){
// Use getOwnPropertyDescriptor instead of source[key] to prevent from trigering setter/getter.
let descriptor = Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(source, key);
if(descriptor.value instanceof String){
target[key] = new String(descriptor.value);
}
else if(descriptor.value instanceof Array){
target[key] = clone([], descriptor.value);
}
else if(descriptor.value instanceof Object){
let prototype = Reflect.getPrototypeOf(descriptor.value);
let cloneObject = clone({}, descriptor.value);
Reflect.setPrototypeOf(cloneObject, prototype);
target[key] = cloneObject;
}
else {
Object.defineProperty(target, key, descriptor);
}
}
let prototype = Reflect.getPrototypeOf(source);
Reflect.setPrototypeOf(target, prototype);
return target;
}
return clone({},obj);
}
function Q(obj) {
var copy;
// Handle the 3 simple types, and null or undefined
if (null == obj || "object" != typeof obj) return obj;
// Handle Date
if (obj instanceof Date) {
copy = new Date();
copy.setTime(obj.getTime());
return copy;
}
// Handle Array
if (obj instanceof Array) {
copy = [];
for (var i = 0, len = obj.length; i < len; i++) {
copy[i] = Q(obj[i]);
}
return copy;
}
// Handle Object
if (obj instanceof Object) {
copy = {};
for (var attr in obj) {
if (obj.hasOwnProperty(attr)) copy[attr] = Q(obj[attr]);
}
return copy;
}
throw new Error("Unable to copy obj! Its type isn't supported.");
}
function R(obj) {
const gdcc = "__getDeepCircularCopy__";
if (obj !== Object(obj)) {
return obj; // primitive value
}
var set = gdcc in obj,
cache = obj[gdcc],
result;
if (set && typeof cache == "function") {
return cache();
}
// else
obj[gdcc] = function() { return result; }; // overwrite
if (obj instanceof Array) {
result = [];
for (var i=0; i<obj.length; i++) {
result[i] = R(obj[i]);
}
} else {
result = {};
for (var prop in obj)
if (prop != gdcc)
result[prop] = R(obj[prop]);
else if (set)
result[prop] = R(cache);
}
if (set) {
obj[gdcc] = cache; // reset
} else {
delete obj[gdcc]; // unset again
}
return result;
}
function S(obj) {
const cache = new WeakMap(); // Map of old - new references
function copy(object) {
if (typeof object !== 'object' ||
object === null ||
object instanceof HTMLElement
)
return object; // primitive value or HTMLElement
if (object instanceof Date)
return new Date().setTime(object.getTime());
if (object instanceof RegExp)
return new RegExp(object.source, object.flags);
if (cache.has(object))
return cache.get(object);
const result = object instanceof Array ? [] : {};
cache.set(object, result); // store reference to object before the recursive starts
if (object instanceof Array) {
for(const o of object) {
result.push(copy(o));
}
return result;
}
const keys = Object.keys(object);
for (const key of keys)
result[key] = copy(object[key]);
return result;
}
return copy(obj);
}
function T(obj){
var clonedObjectsArray = [];
var originalObjectsArray = []; //used to remove the unique ids when finished
var next_objid = 0;
function objectId(obj) {
if (obj == null) return null;
if (obj.__obj_id == undefined){
obj.__obj_id = next_objid++;
originalObjectsArray[obj.__obj_id] = obj;
}
return obj.__obj_id;
}
function cloneRecursive(obj) {
if (null == obj || typeof obj == "string" || typeof obj == "number" || typeof obj == "boolean") return obj;
// Handle Date
if (obj instanceof Date) {
var copy = new Date();
copy.setTime(obj.getTime());
return copy;
}
// Handle Array
if (obj instanceof Array) {
var copy = [];
for (var i = 0; i < obj.length; ++i) {
copy[i] = cloneRecursive(obj[i]);
}
return copy;
}
// Handle Object
if (obj instanceof Object) {
if (clonedObjectsArray[objectId(obj)] != undefined)
return clonedObjectsArray[objectId(obj)];
var copy;
if (obj instanceof Function)//Handle Function
copy = function(){return obj.apply(this, arguments);};
else
copy = {};
clonedObjectsArray[objectId(obj)] = copy;
for (var attr in obj)
if (attr != "__obj_id" && obj.hasOwnProperty(attr))
copy[attr] = cloneRecursive(obj[attr]);
return copy;
}
throw new Error("Unable to copy obj! Its type isn't supported.");
}
var cloneObj = cloneRecursive(obj);
//remove the unique ids
for (var i = 0; i < originalObjectsArray.length; i++)
{
delete originalObjectsArray[i].__obj_id;
};
return cloneObj;
}
function U(obj) {
/*
Deep copy objects by value rather than by reference,
exception: `Proxy`
*/
const seen = new WeakMap()
return clone(obj)
function defineProp(object, key, descriptor = {}, copyFrom = {}) {
const { configurable: _configurable, writable: _writable }
= Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(object, key)
|| { configurable: true, writable: true }
const test = _configurable // Can redefine property
&& (_writable === undefined || _writable) // Can assign to property
if (!test || arguments.length <= 2) return test
const basisDesc = Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(copyFrom, key)
|| { configurable: true, writable: true } // Custom…
|| {}; // …or left to native default settings
["get", "set", "value", "writable", "enumerable", "configurable"]
.forEach(attr =>
descriptor[attr] === undefined &&
(descriptor[attr] = basisDesc[attr])
)
const { get, set, value, writable, enumerable, configurable }
= descriptor
return Object.defineProperty(object, key, {
enumerable, configurable, ...get || set
? { get, set } // Accessor descriptor
: { value, writable } // Data descriptor
})
}
function clone(object) {
if (object !== Object(object)) return object /*
—— Check if the object belongs to a primitive data type */
if (object instanceof Node) return object.cloneNode(true) /*
—— Clone DOM trees */
let _object // The clone of object
switch (object.constructor) {
case Array:
case Object:
_object = cloneObject(object)
break
case Date:
_object = new Date(+object)
break
case Function:
const fnStr = String(object)
_object = new Function("return " +
(/^(?!function |[^{]+?=>)[^(]+?\(/.test(fnStr)
? "function " : ""
) + fnStr
)()
copyPropDescs(_object, object)
break
case RegExp:
_object = new RegExp(object)
break
default:
switch (Object.prototype.toString.call(object.constructor)) {
// // Stem from:
case "[object Function]": // `class`
case "[object Undefined]": // `Object.create(null)`
_object = cloneObject(object)
break
default: // `Proxy`
_object = object
}
}
return _object
}
function cloneObject(object) {
if (seen.has(object)) return seen.get(object) /*
—— Handle recursive references (circular structures) */
const _object = Array.isArray(object)
? []
: Object.create(Object.getPrototypeOf(object)) /*
—— Assign [[Prototype]] for inheritance */
seen.set(object, _object) /*
—— Make `_object` the associative mirror of `object` */
Reflect.ownKeys(object).forEach(key =>
defineProp(_object, key, { value: clone(object[key]) }, object)
)
return _object
}
function copyPropDescs(target, source) {
Object.defineProperties(target,
Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptors(source)
)
}
}
// ------------------------
// Test properties
// ------------------------
console.log(` shallow deep func circ undefined date RegExp bigInt`)
log(A);
log(B);
log(C);
log(D);
log(E);
log(F);
log(G);
log(H);
log(I);
log(J);
log(K);
log(L);
log(M);
log(N);
log(O);
log(P);
log(Q);
log(R);
log(S);
log(T);
log(U);
console.log(` shallow deep func circ undefined date RegExp bigInt
----
LEGEND:
shallow - solution create shallow copy
deep - solution create deep copy
func - solution copy functions
circ - solution can copy object with circular references
undefined - solution copy fields with undefined value
date - solution can copy date
RegExp - solution can copy fields with regular expressions
bigInt - solution can copy BigInt
`)
// ------------------------
// Helper functions
// ------------------------
function deepCompare(obj1,obj2) {
return JSON.stringify(obj1)===JSON.stringify(obj2);
}
function getCase() { // pure data case
return {
undef: undefined,
bool: true, num: 1, str: "txt1",
e1: null, e2: [], e3: {}, e4: 0, e5: false,
arr: [ false, 2, "txt3", null, [], {},
[ true,4,"txt5",null, [], {}, [true,6,"txt7",null,[],{} ],
{bool: true,num: 8, str: "txt9", e1:null, e2:[] ,e3:{} ,e4: 0, e5: false}
],
{bool: true,num: 10, str: "txt11", e1:null, e2:[] ,e3:{} ,e4: 0, e5: false}
],
obj: {
bool: true, num: 12, str: "txt13",
e1: null, e2: [], e3: {}, e4: 0, e5: false,
arr: [true,14,"txt15",null,[],{} ],
obj: {
bool: true, num: 16, str: "txt17",
e1: null, e2: [], e3: {}, e4: 0, e5: false,
arr: [true,18,"txt19",null,[],{} ],
obj: {bool: true,num: 20, str: "txt21", e1:null, e2:[] ,e3:{} ,e4: 0, e5: false}
}
}
};
}
function check(org, copy, field, newValue) {
copy[field] = newValue;
return deepCompare(org,copy);
}
function testFunc(f) {
let o = { a:1, fun: (i,j)=> i+j };
let c = f(o);
let val = false
try{
val = c.fun(3,4)==7;
} catch(e) { }
return val;
}
function testCirc(f) {
function Circ() {
this.me = this;
}
var o = {
x: 'a',
circ: new Circ(),
obj_circ: null,
};
o.obj_circ = o;
let val = false;
try{
let c = f(o);
val = (o.obj_circ == o) && (o.circ == o.circ.me);
} catch(e) { }
return val;
}
function testRegExp(f) {
let o = {
re: /a[0-9]+/,
};
let val = false;
try{
let c = f(o);
val = (String(c.re) == String(/a[0-9]+/));
} catch(e) { }
return val;
}
function testDate(f) {
let o = {
date: new Date(),
};
let val = false;
try{
let c = f(o);
val = (+new Date(c.date) == +new Date(o.date));
} catch(e) { }
return val;
}
function testBigInt(f) {
let val = false;
try{
let o = {
big: 123n,
};
let c = f(o);
val = o.big == c.big;
} catch(e) { }
return val;
}
function log(f) {
let o = getCase(); // orginal object
let oB = getCase(); // "backup" used for shallow valid test
let c1 = f(o); // copy 1 for reference
let c2 = f(o); // copy 2 for test shallow values
let c3 = f(o); // copy 3 for test deep values
let is_proper_copy = deepCompare(c1,o); // shoud be true
// shallow changes
let testShallow =
[ ['bool',false],['num',666],['str','xyz'],['arr',[]],['obj',{}] ]
.reduce((acc,curr)=> acc && check(c1,c2,curr[0], curr[1]), true );
// should be true (original object shoud not have changed shallow fields)
let is_valid = deepCompare(o,oB);
// deep test (intruduce some change)
if (c3.arr[6]) c3.arr[6][7].num = 777;
let diff_shallow = !testShallow; // shoud be true (shallow field was copied)
let diff_deep = !deepCompare(c1,c3); // shoud be true (deep field was copied)
let can_copy_functions = testFunc(f);
let can_copy_circular = testCirc(f);
let can_copy_regexp = testRegExp(f);
let can_copy_date = testDate(f);
let can_copy_bigInt = testBigInt(f);
let has_undefined = 'undef' in c1; // field with undefined value is copied?
let is_ok = is_valid && is_proper_copy;
let b=(bool) => (bool+'').padEnd(5,' '); // bool value to formated string
testFunc(f);
if(is_ok) {
console.log(`${f.name} ${b(diff_shallow)} ${b(diff_deep)} ${b(can_copy_functions)} ${b(can_copy_circular)} ${b(has_undefined)} ${b(can_copy_date)} ${b(can_copy_regexp)} ${b(can_copy_bigInt)}`)
} else {
console.log(`${f.name}: INVALID ${is_valid} ${is_proper_copy}`,{c1})
}
}
<script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.5.0.min.js" integrity="sha256-xNzN2a4ltkB44Mc/Jz3pT4iU1cmeR0FkXs4pru/JxaQ=" crossorigin="anonymous"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/lodash#4.17.15/lodash.min.js"></script>
This snippet only presents tested solutions and show differences between them (but it no make performence tests)
Below there are example results for Chrome for shallow-big object
Using Lodash:
var y = _.clone(x, true);
In ES-6 you can simply use Object.assign(...).
Ex:
let obj = {person: 'Thor Odinson'};
let clone = Object.assign({}, obj);
A good reference is here:
https://googlechrome.github.io/samples/object-assign-es6/
Interested in cloning simple objects:
JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(json_original));
Source : How to copy JavaScript object to new variable NOT by reference?
let clone = Object.assign( Object.create( Object.getPrototypeOf(obj)), obj)
ES6 solution if you want to (shallow) clone a class instance and not just a property object.
Structured Cloning
2022 update: The structuredClone() global function is already available in Node 17, Deno 1.14, and most major browsers (see Can I Use).
You can use the same structured clone mechanism that the HTML standard includes for sending data between realms.
const clone = structuredClone(original);
See the other answer for more details.
You can clone an object and remove any reference from the previous one using a single line of code. Simply do:
var obj1 = { text: 'moo1' };
var obj2 = Object.create(obj1); // Creates a new clone without references
obj2.text = 'moo2'; // Only updates obj2's text property
console.log(obj1, obj2); // Outputs: obj1: {text:'moo1'}, obj2: {text:'moo2'}
For browsers / engines that do not currently support Object.create you can use this polyfill:
// Polyfill Object.create if it does not exist
if (!Object.create) {
Object.create = function (o) {
var F = function () {};
F.prototype = o;
return new F();
};
}
New answer to an old question! If you have the pleasure of having using ECMAScript 2016 (ES6) with Spread Syntax, it's easy.
keepMeTheSame = {first: "Me!", second: "You!"};
cloned = {...keepMeTheSame}
This provides a clean method for a shallow copy of an object. Making a deep copy, meaning makign a new copy of every value in every recursively nested object, requires on of the heavier solutions above.
JavaScript keeps evolving.
I think there is a simple and working answer. In deep copying there are two concerns:
Keep properties independent to each other.
And keep the methods alive on cloned object.
So I think one simple solution will be to first serialize and deserialize and then do an assign on it to copy functions too.
let deepCloned = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(source));
let merged = Object.assign({}, source);
Object.assign(merged, deepCloned);
Although this question has many answers, I hope this one helps too.
For a deep copy and clone, JSON.stringify then JSON.parse the object:
obj = { a: 0 , b: { c: 0}};
let deepClone = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(obj));
obj.a = 5;
obj.b.c = 5;
console.log(JSON.stringify(deepClone)); // { a: 0, b: { c: 0}}
(The following was mainly an integration of #Maciej Bukowski, #A. Levy, #Jan Turoň, #Redu's answers, and #LeviRoberts, #RobG's comments, many thanks to them!!!)
Deep copy? — YES! (mostly);
Shallow copy? — NO! (except Proxy).
I sincerely welcome everyone to test clone().
In addition, defineProp() is designed to easily and quickly (re)define or copy any type of descriptor.
Function
function clone(object) {
/*
Deep copy objects by value rather than by reference,
exception: `Proxy`
*/
const seen = new WeakMap()
return clone(object)
function clone(object) {
if (object !== Object(object)) return object /*
—— Check if the object belongs to a primitive data type */
if (object instanceof Node) return object.cloneNode(true) /*
—— Clone DOM trees */
let _object // The clone of object
switch (object.constructor) {
case Array:
case Object:
_object = cloneObject(object)
break
case Date:
_object = new Date(+object)
break
case Function:
_object = copyFn(object)
break
case RegExp:
_object = new RegExp(object)
break
default:
switch (Object.prototype.toString.call(object.constructor)) {
// // Stem from:
case "[object Function]":
switch (object[Symbol.toStringTag]) {
case undefined:
_object = cloneObject(object) // `class`
break
case "AsyncFunction":
case "GeneratorFunction":
case "AsyncGeneratorFunction":
_object = copyFn(object)
break
default:
_object = object
}
break
case "[object Undefined]": // `Object.create(null)`
_object = cloneObject(object)
break
default:
_object = object // `Proxy`
}
}
return _object
}
function cloneObject(object) {
if (seen.has(object)) return seen.get(object) /*
—— Handle recursive references (circular structures) */
const _object = Array.isArray(object)
? []
: Object.create(Object.getPrototypeOf(object)) /*
—— Assign [[Prototype]] for inheritance */
seen.set(object, _object) /*
—— Make `_object` the associative mirror of `object` */
Reflect.ownKeys(object).forEach(key =>
defineProp(_object, key, { value: clone(object[key]) }, object)
)
return _object
}
}
function copyPropDescs(target, source) {
Object.defineProperties(target,
Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptors(source)
)
}
function convertFnToStr(fn) {
let fnStr = String(fn)
if (fn.name.startsWith("[")) // isSymbolKey
fnStr = fnStr.replace(/\[Symbol\..+?\]/, '')
fnStr = /^(?!(async )?(function\b|[^{]+?=>))[^(]+?\(/.test(fnStr)
? fnStr.replace(/^(async )?(\*)?/, "$1function$2 ") : fnStr
return fnStr
}
function copyFn(fn) {
const newFn = new Function(`return ${convertFnToStr(fn)}`)()
copyPropDescs(newFn, fn)
return newFn
}
function defineProp(object, key, descriptor = {}, copyFrom = {}) {
const { configurable: _configurable, writable: _writable }
= Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(object, key)
|| { configurable: true, writable: true }
const test = _configurable // Can redefine property
&& (_writable === undefined || _writable) // Can assign to property
if (!test || arguments.length <= 2) return test
const basisDesc = Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(copyFrom, key)
|| { configurable: true, writable: true } // Custom…
|| {}; // …or left to native default settings
["get", "set", "value", "writable", "enumerable", "configurable"]
.forEach(attr =>
descriptor[attr] === undefined &&
(descriptor[attr] = basisDesc[attr])
)
const { get, set, value, writable, enumerable, configurable }
= descriptor
return Object.defineProperty(object, key, {
enumerable, configurable, ...get || set
? { get, set } // Accessor descriptor
: { value, writable } // Data descriptor
})
}
// Tests
const obj0 = {
u: undefined,
nul: null,
t: true,
num: 9,
str: "",
sym: Symbol("symbol"),
[Symbol("e")]: Math.E,
arr: [[0], [1, 2]],
d: new Date(),
re: /f/g,
get g() { return 0 },
o: {
n: 0,
o: { f: function (...args) { } }
},
f: {
getAccessorStr(object) {
return []
.concat(...
Object.values(Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptors(object))
.filter(desc => desc.writable === undefined)
.map(desc => Object.values(desc))
)
.filter(prop => typeof prop === "function")
.map(String)
},
f0: function f0() { },
f1: function () { },
f2: a => a / (a + 1),
f3: () => 0,
f4(params) { return param => param + params },
f5: (a, b) => ({ c = 0 } = {}) => a + b + c
}
}
defineProp(obj0, "s", { set(v) { this._s = v } })
defineProp(obj0.arr, "tint", { value: { is: "non-enumerable" } })
obj0.arr[0].name = "nested array"
let obj1 = clone(obj0)
obj1.o.n = 1
obj1.o.o.g = function g(a = 0, b = 0) { return a + b }
obj1.arr[1][1] = 3
obj1.d.setTime(+obj0.d + 60 * 1000)
obj1.arr.tint.is = "enumerable? no"
obj1.arr[0].name = "a nested arr"
defineProp(obj1, "s", { set(v) { this._s = v + 1 } })
defineProp(obj1.re, "multiline", { value: true })
console.log("\n\n" + "-".repeat(2 ** 6))
console.log(">:>: Test - Routinely")
console.log("obj0:\n ", JSON.stringify(obj0))
console.log("obj1:\n ", JSON.stringify(obj1))
console.log()
console.log("obj0:\n ", obj0)
console.log("obj1:\n ", obj1)
console.log()
console.log("obj0\n ",
".arr.tint:", obj0.arr.tint, "\n ",
".arr[0].name:", obj0.arr[0].name
)
console.log("obj1\n ",
".arr.tint:", obj1.arr.tint, "\n ",
".arr[0].name:", obj1.arr[0].name
)
console.log()
console.log("Accessor-type descriptor\n ",
"of obj0:", obj0.f.getAccessorStr(obj0), "\n ",
"of obj1:", obj1.f.getAccessorStr(obj1), "\n ",
"set (obj0 & obj1) .s :", obj0.s = obj1.s = 0, "\n ",
" → (obj0 , obj1) ._s:", obj0._s, ",", obj1._s
)
console.log("—— obj0 has not been interfered.")
console.log("\n\n" + "-".repeat(2 ** 6))
console.log(">:>: Test - More kinds of functions")
const fnsForTest = {
f(_) { return _ },
func: _ => _,
aFunc: async _ => _,
async function() { },
async asyncFunc() { },
aFn: async function () { },
*gen() { },
async *asyncGen() { },
aG1: async function* () { },
aG2: async function* gen() { },
*[Symbol.iterator]() { yield* Object.keys(this) }
}
console.log(Reflect.ownKeys(fnsForTest).map(k =>
`${String(k)}:
${fnsForTest[k].name}-->
${String(fnsForTest[k])}`
).join("\n"))
const normedFnsStr = `{
f: function f(_) { return _ },
func: _ => _,
aFunc: async _ => _,
function: async function() { },
asyncFunc: async function asyncFunc() { },
aFn: async function () { },
gen: function* gen() { },
asyncGen: async function* asyncGen() { },
aG1: async function* () { },
aG2: async function* gen() { },
[Symbol.iterator]: function* () { yield* Object.keys(this) }
}`
const copiedFnsForTest = clone(fnsForTest)
console.log("fnsForTest:", fnsForTest)
console.log("fnsForTest (copied):", copiedFnsForTest)
console.log("fnsForTest (normed str):", eval(`(${normedFnsStr})`))
console.log("Comparison of fnsForTest and its clone:",
Reflect.ownKeys(fnsForTest).map(k =>
[k, fnsForTest[k] === copiedFnsForTest[k]]
)
)
console.log("\n\n" + "-".repeat(2 ** 6))
console.log(">:>: Test - Circular structures")
obj0.o.r = {}
obj0.o.r.recursion = obj0.o
obj0.arr[1] = obj0.arr
obj1 = clone(obj0)
console.log("obj0:\n ", obj0)
console.log("obj1:\n ", obj1)
console.log("Clear obj0's recursion:",
obj0.o.r.recursion = null, obj0.arr[1] = 1
)
console.log(
"obj0\n ",
".o.r:", obj0.o.r, "\n ",
".arr:", obj0.arr
)
console.log(
"obj1\n ",
".o.r:", obj1.o.r, "\n ",
".arr:", obj1.arr
)
console.log("—— obj1 has not been interfered.")
console.log("\n\n" + "-".repeat(2 ** 6))
console.log(">:>: Test - Classes")
class Person {
constructor(name) {
this.name = name
}
}
class Boy extends Person { }
Boy.prototype.sex = "M"
const boy0 = new Boy
boy0.hobby = { sport: "spaceflight" }
const boy1 = clone(boy0)
boy1.hobby.sport = "superluminal flight"
boy0.name = "one"
boy1.name = "neo"
console.log("boy0:\n ", boy0)
console.log("boy1:\n ", boy1)
console.log("boy1's prototype === boy0's:",
Object.getPrototypeOf(boy1) === Object.getPrototypeOf(boy0)
)
References
Object.create() | MDN
Object.defineProperties() | MDN
Enumerability and ownership of properties | MDN
TypeError: cyclic object value | MDN
Language tricks used
Conditionally add prop to object
Use lodash _.cloneDeep().
Shallow Copy: lodash _.clone()
A shallow copy can be made by simply copying the reference.
let obj1 = {
a: 0,
b: {
c: 0,
e: {
f: 0
}
}
};
let obj3 = _.clone(obj1);
obj1.a = 4;
obj1.b.c = 4;
obj1.b.e.f = 100;
console.log(JSON.stringify(obj1));
//{"a":4,"b":{"c":4,"e":{"f":100}}}
console.log(JSON.stringify(obj3));
//{"a":0,"b":{"c":4,"e":{"f":100}}}
Deep Copy: lodash _.cloneDeep()
fields are dereferenced: rather than references to objects being copied
let obj1 = {
a: 0,
b: {
c: 0,
e: {
f: 0
}
}
};
let obj3 = _.cloneDeep(obj1);
obj1.a = 100;
obj1.b.c = 100;
obj1.b.e.f = 100;
console.log(JSON.stringify(obj1));
{"a":100,"b":{"c":100,"e":{"f":100}}}
console.log(JSON.stringify(obj3));
{"a":0,"b":{"c":0,"e":{"f":0}}}
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;
I am trying to create a deep copy map method for my Redux project that will work with objects rather than arrays. I read that in Redux each state should not change anything in the previous states.
export const mapCopy = (object, callback) => {
return Object.keys(object).reduce(function (output, key) {
output[key] = callback.call(this, {...object[key]});
return output;
},
{});
}
It works:
return mapCopy(state, e => {
if (e.id === action.id) {
e.title = 'new item';
}
return e;
})
However it does not deep copy inner items so I need to tweak it to:
export const mapCopy = (object, callback) => {
return Object.keys(object).reduce(function (output, key) {
let newObject = {...object[key]};
newObject.style = {...newObject.style};
newObject.data = {...newObject.data};
output[key] = callback.call(this, newObject);
return output;
}, {});
}
This is less elegant as it requires to know which objects are passed.
Is there a way in ES6 to use the spread syntax to deep copy an object?
Use JSON for deep copy
var newObject = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(oldObject))
var oldObject = {
name: 'A',
address: {
street: 'Station Road',
city: 'Pune'
}
}
var newObject = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(oldObject));
newObject.address.city = 'Delhi';
console.log('newObject');
console.log(newObject);
console.log('oldObject');
console.log(oldObject);
No such functionality is built-in to ES6. I think you have a couple of options depending on what you want to do.
If you really want to deep copy:
Use a library. For example, lodash has a cloneDeep method.
Implement your own cloning function.
Alternative Solution To Your Specific Problem (No Deep Copy)
However, I think, if you're willing to change a couple things, you can save yourself some work. I'm assuming you control all call sites to your function.
Specify that all callbacks passed to mapCopy must return new objects instead of mutating the existing object. For example:
mapCopy(state, e => {
if (e.id === action.id) {
return Object.assign({}, e, {
title: 'new item'
});
} else {
return e;
}
});
This makes use of Object.assign to create a new object, sets properties of e on that new object, then sets a new title on that new object. This means you never mutate existing objects and only create new ones when necessary.
mapCopy can be really simple now:
export const mapCopy = (object, callback) => {
return Object.keys(object).reduce(function (output, key) {
output[key] = callback.call(this, object[key]);
return output;
}, {});
}
Essentially, mapCopy is trusting its callers to do the right thing. This is why I said this assumes you control all call sites.
From MDN
Note: Spread syntax effectively goes one level deep while copying an array. Therefore, it may be unsuitable for copying multidimensional arrays as the following example shows (it's the same with Object.assign() and spread syntax).
Personally, I suggest using Lodash's cloneDeep function for multi-level object/array cloning.
Here is a working example:
const arr1 = [{ 'a': 1 }];
const arr2 = [...arr1];
const arr3 = _.clone(arr1);
const arr4 = arr1.slice();
const arr5 = _.cloneDeep(arr1);
const arr6 = [...{...arr1}]; // a bit ugly syntax but it is working!
// first level
console.log(arr1 === arr2); // false
console.log(arr1 === arr3); // false
console.log(arr1 === arr4); // false
console.log(arr1 === arr5); // false
console.log(arr1 === arr6); // false
// second level
console.log(arr1[0] === arr2[0]); // true
console.log(arr1[0] === arr3[0]); // true
console.log(arr1[0] === arr4[0]); // true
console.log(arr1[0] === arr5[0]); // false
console.log(arr1[0] === arr6[0]); // false
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/lodash.js/4.17.4/lodash.js"></script>
I often use this:
function deepCopy(obj) {
if(typeof obj !== 'object' || obj === null) {
return obj;
}
if(obj instanceof Date) {
return new Date(obj.getTime());
}
if(obj instanceof Array) {
return obj.reduce((arr, item, i) => {
arr[i] = deepCopy(item);
return arr;
}, []);
}
if(obj instanceof Object) {
return Object.keys(obj).reduce((newObj, key) => {
newObj[key] = deepCopy(obj[key]);
return newObj;
}, {})
}
}
You can use structuredClone() like the following:
const myOriginal = {
title: "Full Stack JavaScript Developer",
info: {
firstname: "Abolfazl",
surname: "Roshanzamir",
age: 34
}
};
const myDeepCopy = structuredClone(myOriginal);
structuredClone()
You can use structuredClone() that is a built-in function for deep-copying.
Structured cloning addresses many (although not all) shortcomings of the JSON.stringify() technique.
Structured cloning can handle cyclical data structures,
support many built-in data types, and is generally more robust and often faster.
However, it still has some limitations that may catch you off-guard:
1-Prototypes : If you use structuredClone() with a class instance,
you’ll get a plain object as the return value, as structured cloning discards the object’s prototype chain.
2-Functions: If your object contains functions, they will be quietly discarded.
3- Non-cloneables: Some values are not structured cloneable, most notably Error and DOM nodes. It will cause structuredClone() to throw.
const myDeepCopy = structuredClone(myOriginal);
JSON.stringify
If you simply want to deep copy the object to another object,
all you will need to do is JSON.stringify the object and parse it using JSON.parse afterward.
This will essentially perform deep copying of the object.
let user1 = {
name: 'Abolfazl Roshanzamir',
age: 34,
university: {
name: 'Shiraz Bahonar University'
}
};
let user2 = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(user1));
user2.name = 'Andy Madadian';
user2.university.name = 'Kerman Bahonar University'
console.log(user2);
// { name: 'Andy Madadian', age: 33, university: { name: 'Kerman Bahonar University' } }
console.log(user1);
// { name: 'Abolfazl Roshanzamir', age: 33, university: { name: 'Shiraz Bahonar University' } }
Spread operator / Object.assign()
One way to create a shallow copy in JavaScript using the object spread operator ... or Object.assign() like the following:
const myShallowCopySpread = {...myOriginal};
const myShallowCopyObjectAssign=Object.assign({},obj)
Performance
When it comes to performance the creator Surma has pointed out that JSON.Parse() can be a bit faster for small objects. But when you have a large object, complex object
structuredClone() starts to get significantly faster.
Browser support is pretty fantastic And even is supported by Node.js.
const a = {
foods: {
dinner: 'Pasta'
}
}
let b = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(a))
b.foods.dinner = 'Soup'
console.log(b.foods.dinner) // Soup
console.log(a.foods.dinner) // Pasta
Using JSON.stringify and JSON.parse is the best way. Because by using the spread operator we will not get the efficient answer when the json object contains another object inside it. we need to manually specify that.
Here's my deep copy algorithm.
const DeepClone = (obj) => {
if(obj===null||typeof(obj)!=='object')return null;
let newObj = { ...obj };
for (let prop in obj) {
if (
typeof obj[prop] === "object" ||
typeof obj[prop] === "function"
) {
newObj[prop] = DeepClone(obj[prop]);
}
}
return newObj;
};
// use: clone( <thing to copy> ) returns <new copy>
// untested use at own risk
function clone(o, m){
// return non object values
if('object' !==typeof o) return o
// m: a map of old refs to new object refs to stop recursion
if('object' !==typeof m || null ===m) m =new WeakMap()
var n =m.get(o)
if('undefined' !==typeof n) return n
// shallow/leaf clone object
var c =Object.getPrototypeOf(o).constructor
// TODO: specialize copies for expected built in types i.e. Date etc
switch(c) {
// shouldn't be copied, keep reference
case Boolean:
case Error:
case Function:
case Number:
case Promise:
case String:
case Symbol:
case WeakMap:
case WeakSet:
n =o
break;
// array like/collection objects
case Array:
m.set(o, n =o.slice(0))
// recursive copy for child objects
n.forEach(function(v,i){
if('object' ===typeof v) n[i] =clone(v, m)
});
break;
case ArrayBuffer:
m.set(o, n =o.slice(0))
break;
case DataView:
m.set(o, n =new (c)(clone(o.buffer, m), o.byteOffset, o.byteLength))
break;
case Map:
case Set:
m.set(o, n =new (c)(clone(Array.from(o.entries()), m)))
break;
case Int8Array:
case Uint8Array:
case Uint8ClampedArray:
case Int16Array:
case Uint16Array:
case Int32Array:
case Uint32Array:
case Float32Array:
case Float64Array:
m.set(o, n =new (c)(clone(o.buffer, m), o.byteOffset, o.length))
break;
// use built in copy constructor
case Date:
case RegExp:
m.set(o, n =new (c)(o))
break;
// fallback generic object copy
default:
m.set(o, n =Object.assign(new (c)(), o))
// recursive copy for child objects
for(c in n) if('object' ===typeof n[c]) n[c] =clone(n[c], m)
}
return n
}
Here is the deepClone function which handles all primitive, array, object, function data types
function deepClone(obj){
if(Array.isArray(obj)){
var arr = [];
for (var i = 0; i < obj.length; i++) {
arr[i] = deepClone(obj[i]);
}
return arr;
}
if(typeof(obj) == "object"){
var cloned = {};
for(let key in obj){
cloned[key] = deepClone(obj[key])
}
return cloned;
}
return obj;
}
console.log( deepClone(1) )
console.log( deepClone('abc') )
console.log( deepClone([1,2]) )
console.log( deepClone({a: 'abc', b: 'def'}) )
console.log( deepClone({
a: 'a',
num: 123,
func: function(){'hello'},
arr: [[1,2,3,[4,5]], 'def'],
obj: {
one: {
two: {
three: 3
}
}
}
}) )
function deepclone(obj) {
let newObj = {};
if (typeof obj === 'object') {
for (let key in obj) {
let property = obj[key],
type = typeof property;
switch (type) {
case 'object':
if( Object.prototype.toString.call( property ) === '[object Array]' ) {
newObj[key] = [];
for (let item of property) {
newObj[key].push(this.deepclone(item))
}
} else {
newObj[key] = deepclone(property);
}
break;
default:
newObj[key] = property;
break;
}
}
return newObj
} else {
return obj;
}
}
const cloneData = (dataArray) => {
newData= []
dataArray.forEach((value) => {
newData.push({...value})
})
return newData
}
a = [{name:"siva"}, {name:"siva1"}] ;
b = myCopy(a)
b === a // false`
I myself landed on these answers last day, trying to find a way to deep copy complex structures, which may include recursive links. As I wasn't satisfied with anything being suggested before, I implemented this wheel myself. And it works quite well. Hope it helps someone.
Example usage:
OriginalStruct.deep_copy = deep_copy; // attach the function as a method
TheClone = OriginalStruct.deep_copy();
Please look at https://github.com/latitov/JS_DeepCopy for live examples how to use it, and also deep_print() is there.
If you need it quick, right here's the source of deep_copy() function:
function deep_copy() {
'use strict'; // required for undef test of 'this' below
// Copyright (c) 2019, Leonid Titov, Mentions Highly Appreciated.
var id_cnt = 1;
var all_old_objects = {};
var all_new_objects = {};
var root_obj = this;
if (root_obj === undefined) {
console.log(`deep_copy() error: wrong call context`);
return;
}
var new_obj = copy_obj(root_obj);
for (var id in all_old_objects) {
delete all_old_objects[id].__temp_id;
}
return new_obj;
//
function copy_obj(o) {
var new_obj = {};
if (o.__temp_id === undefined) {
o.__temp_id = id_cnt;
all_old_objects[id_cnt] = o;
all_new_objects[id_cnt] = new_obj;
id_cnt ++;
for (var prop in o) {
if (o[prop] instanceof Array) {
new_obj[prop] = copy_array(o[prop]);
}
else if (o[prop] instanceof Object) {
new_obj[prop] = copy_obj(o[prop]);
}
else if (prop === '__temp_id') {
continue;
}
else {
new_obj[prop] = o[prop];
}
}
}
else {
new_obj = all_new_objects[o.__temp_id];
}
return new_obj;
}
function copy_array(a) {
var new_array = [];
if (a.__temp_id === undefined) {
a.__temp_id = id_cnt;
all_old_objects[id_cnt] = a;
all_new_objects[id_cnt] = new_array;
id_cnt ++;
a.forEach((v,i) => {
if (v instanceof Array) {
new_array[i] = copy_array(v);
}
else if (v instanceof Object) {
new_array[i] = copy_object(v);
}
else {
new_array[i] = v;
}
});
}
else {
new_array = all_new_objects[a.__temp_id];
}
return new_array;
}
}
Cheers#!
I would suggest using the spread operator. You'll need to spread a second time if you need to update the second level. Attempting to update the newObject using something like newObject.address.city will throw an error if address did not already exist in oldObject.
const oldObject = {
name: 'A',
address: {
street: 'Station Road',
city: 'Pune'
}
}
const newObject = {
...oldObject,
address: {
...oldObject.address,
city: 'Delhi'
}
}
console.log(newObject)
This is a very old question but I think in 2022 there are many ways to solve this. However, if you want a simple, fast and vanilla JS solution check this out:
const cloner = (o) => {
let idx = 1
const isArray = (a) => a instanceof Array
const isObject = (o) => o instanceof Object
const isUndefined = (a) => a === undefined
const process = v => {
if (isArray(v)) return cloneArray(v)
else if (isObject(v)) return cloneObject(v)
else return v
}
const register = (old, o) => {
old.__idx = idx
oldObjects[idx] = old
newObjects[idx] = o
idx++
}
const cloneObject = o => {
if (!isUndefined(o.__idx)) return newObjects[o.__idx]
const obj = {}
for (const prop in o) {
if (prop === '__idx') continue
obj[prop] = process(o[prop])
}
register(o, obj)
return obj
}
const cloneArray = a => {
if (!isUndefined(a.__idx)) return newObjects[a.__idx]
const arr = a.map((v) => process(v))
register(a, arr)
return arr
}
const oldObjects = {}
const newObjects = {}
let tmp
if (isArray(o)) tmp = cloneArray(o)
else if (isObject(o)) tmp = cloneObject(o)
else return o
for (const id in oldObjects) delete oldObjects[id].__idx
return tmp
}
const c = {
id: 123,
label: "Lala",
values: ['char', 1, {flag: true}, [1,2,3,4,5], ['a', 'b']],
name: undefined
}
const d = cloner(c)
d.name = "Super"
d.values[2].flag = false
d.values[3] = [6,7,8]
console.log({ c, d })
It's recursive and self-contained, all the functions needed are defined in the function cloner().
In this snippet we are handling Array and Object types if you want to add more handlers you can add specify handlers like Date and clone it like new Date(v.getTime())
For me Array and Object are the types that I use the most in my implementations.
My application has a large array of objects, which I stringify and save them to the disk. Unfortunately, when the objects in the array are manipulated, and sometimes replaced, the properties on the objects are listed in different orders (their creation order?). When I do JSON.stringify() on the array and save it, a diff shows the properties getting listed in different orders, which is annoying when trying to merge the data further with diff and merging tools.
Ideally I would like to sort the properties of the objects in alphabetical order prior to performing the stringify, or as part of the stringify operation. There is code for manipulating the array objects in many places, and altering these to always create properties in an explicit order would be difficult.
Suggestions would be most welcome!
A condensed example:
obj = {}; obj.name="X"; obj.os="linux";
JSON.stringify(obj);
obj = {}; obj.os="linux"; obj.name="X";
JSON.stringify(obj);
The output of these two stringify calls are different, and showing up in a diff of my data, but my application doesn't care about the ordering of properties. The objects are constructed in many ways and places.
The simpler, modern and currently browser supported approach is simply this:
JSON.stringify(sortMyObj, Object.keys(sortMyObj).sort());
However, this method does remove any nested objects that aren't referenced and does not apply to objects within arrays. You will want to flatten the sorting object as well if you want something like this output:
{"a":{"h":4,"z":3},"b":2,"c":1}
You can do that with this:
var flattenObject = function(ob) {
var toReturn = {};
for (var i in ob) {
if (!ob.hasOwnProperty(i)) continue;
if ((typeof ob[i]) == 'object') {
var flatObject = flattenObject(ob[i]);
for (var x in flatObject) {
if (!flatObject.hasOwnProperty(x)) continue;
toReturn[i + '.' + x] = flatObject[x];
}
} else {
toReturn[i] = ob[i];
}
}
return toReturn;
};
var myFlattenedObj = flattenObject(sortMyObj);
JSON.stringify(myFlattenedObj, Object.keys(myFlattenedObj).sort());
To do it programmatically with something you can tweak yourself, you need to push the object property names into an array, then sort the array alphabetically and iterate through that array (which will be in the right order) and select each value from the object in that order. "hasOwnProperty" is checked also so you definitely have only the object's own properties. Here's an example:
var obj = {"a":1,"b":2,"c":3};
function iterateObjectAlphabetically(obj, callback) {
var arr = [],
i;
for (i in obj) {
if (obj.hasOwnProperty(i)) {
arr.push(i);
}
}
arr.sort();
for (i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {
var key = obj[arr[i]];
//console.log( obj[arr[i]] ); //here is the sorted value
//do what you want with the object property
if (callback) {
// callback returns arguments for value, key and original object
callback(obj[arr[i]], arr[i], obj);
}
}
}
iterateObjectAlphabetically(obj, function(val, key, obj) {
//do something here
});
Again, this should guarantee that you iterate through in alphabetical order.
Finally, taking it further for the simplest way, this library will recursively allow you to sort any JSON you pass into it: https://www.npmjs.com/package/json-stable-stringify
var stringify = require('json-stable-stringify');
var obj = { c: 8, b: [{z:6,y:5,x:4},7], a: 3 };
console.log(stringify(obj));
Output
{"a":3,"b":[{"x":4,"y":5,"z":6},7],"c":8}
I don't understand why the complexity of the current best answers is needed, to get all the keys recursively. Unless perfect performance is needed, it seems to me that we can just call JSON.stringify() twice, the first time to get all the keys, and the second time, to really do the job. That way, all the recursion complexity is handled by stringify, and we know that it knows its stuff, and how to handle each object type:
function JSONstringifyOrder(obj, space)
{
const allKeys = new Set();
JSON.stringify(obj, (key, value) => (allKeys.add(key), value));
return JSON.stringify(obj, Array.from(allKeys).sort(), space);
}
Or if you want to support older browsers:
function JSONstringifyOrder(obj, space)
{
var allKeys = [];
var seen = {};
JSON.stringify(obj, function (key, value) {
if (!(key in seen)) {
allKeys.push(key);
seen[key] = null;
}
return value;
});
allKeys.sort();
return JSON.stringify(obj, allKeys, space);
}
I think that if you are in control of the JSON generation (and it sounds like you are), then for your purposes this might be a good solution: json-stable-stringify
From the project website:
deterministic JSON.stringify() with custom sorting to get
deterministic hashes from stringified results
If the JSON produced is deterministic you should be able to easily diff/merge it.
You can pass a sorted array of the property names as the second argument of JSON.stringify():
JSON.stringify(obj, Object.keys(obj).sort())
JSON.stringify() replacer function for having object keys sorted in output (supports deeply nested objects).
const replacer = (key, value) =>
value instanceof Object && !(value instanceof Array) ?
Object.keys(value)
.sort()
.reduce((sorted, key) => {
sorted[key] = value[key];
return sorted
}, {}) :
value;
// Usage
// JSON.stringify({c: 1, a: { d: 0, c: 1, e: {a: 0, 1: 4}}}, replacer);
GitHub Gist page here.
Update 2018-7-24:
This version sorts nested objects and supports array as well:
function sortObjByKey(value) {
return (typeof value === 'object') ?
(Array.isArray(value) ?
value.map(sortObjByKey) :
Object.keys(value).sort().reduce(
(o, key) => {
const v = value[key];
o[key] = sortObjByKey(v);
return o;
}, {})
) :
value;
}
function orderedJsonStringify(obj) {
return JSON.stringify(sortObjByKey(obj));
}
Test case:
describe('orderedJsonStringify', () => {
it('make properties in order', () => {
const obj = {
name: 'foo',
arr: [
{ x: 1, y: 2 },
{ y: 4, x: 3 },
],
value: { y: 2, x: 1, },
};
expect(orderedJsonStringify(obj))
.to.equal('{"arr":[{"x":1,"y":2},{"x":3,"y":4}],"name":"foo","value":{"x":1,"y":2}}');
});
it('support array', () => {
const obj = [
{ x: 1, y: 2 },
{ y: 4, x: 3 },
];
expect(orderedJsonStringify(obj))
.to.equal('[{"x":1,"y":2},{"x":3,"y":4}]');
});
});
Deprecated answer:
A concise version in ES2016.
Credit to #codename , from https://stackoverflow.com/a/29622653/94148
function orderedJsonStringify(o) {
return JSON.stringify(Object.keys(o).sort().reduce((r, k) => (r[k] = o[k], r), {}));
}
This is same as Satpal Singh's answer
function stringifyJSON(obj){
keys = [];
if(obj){
for(var key in obj){
keys.push(key);
}
}
keys.sort();
var tObj = {};
var key;
for(var index in keys){
key = keys[index];
tObj[ key ] = obj[ key ];
}
return JSON.stringify(tObj);
}
obj1 = {}; obj1.os="linux"; obj1.name="X";
stringifyJSON(obj1); //returns "{"name":"X","os":"linux"}"
obj2 = {}; obj2.name="X"; obj2.os="linux";
stringifyJSON(obj2); //returns "{"name":"X","os":"linux"}"
A recursive and simplified answer:
function sortObject(obj) {
if(typeof obj !== 'object')
return obj
var temp = {};
var keys = [];
for(var key in obj)
keys.push(key);
keys.sort();
for(var index in keys)
temp[keys[index]] = sortObject(obj[keys[index]]);
return temp;
}
var str = JSON.stringify(sortObject(obj), undefined, 4);
You can sort object by property name in EcmaScript 2015
function sortObjectByPropertyName(obj) {
return Object.keys(obj).sort().reduce((c, d) => (c[d] = obj[d], c), {});
}
You can add a custom toJSON function to your object which you can use to customise the output. Inside the function, adding current properties to a new object in a specific order should preserve that order when stringified.
See here:
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/JSON/stringify
There's no in-built method for controlling ordering because JSON data is meant to be accessed by keys.
Here's a jsfiddle with a small example:
http://jsfiddle.net/Eq2Yw/
Try commenting out the toJSON function - the order of the properties is reversed. Please be aware that this may be browser-specific, i.e. ordering is not officially supported in the specification. It works in the current version of Firefox, but if you want a 100% robust solution, you may have to write your own stringifier function.
Edit:
Also see this SO question regarding stringify's non-deterministic output, especially Daff's details about browser differences:
How to deterministically verify that a JSON object hasn't been modified?
I took the answer from #Jason Parham and made some improvements
function sortObject(obj, arraySorter) {
if(typeof obj !== 'object')
return obj
if (Array.isArray(obj)) {
if (arraySorter) {
obj.sort(arraySorter);
}
for (var i = 0; i < obj.length; i++) {
obj[i] = sortObject(obj[i], arraySorter);
}
return obj;
}
var temp = {};
var keys = [];
for(var key in obj)
keys.push(key);
keys.sort();
for(var index in keys)
temp[keys[index]] = sortObject(obj[keys[index]], arraySorter);
return temp;
}
This fixes the issue of arrays being converted to objects, and it also allows you to define how to sort arrays.
Example:
var data = { content: [{id: 3}, {id: 1}, {id: 2}] };
sortObject(data, (i1, i2) => i1.id - i2.id)
output:
{content:[{id:1},{id:2},{id:3}]}
I just rewrote one of mentioned examples to use it in stringify
const stringifySort = (key, value) => {
if (!value || typeof value !== 'object' || Array.isArray(value)) return value;
return Object.keys(value).sort().reduce((obj, key) => (obj[key]=value[key], obj), {});
};
JSON.stringify({name:"X", os:"linux"}, stringifySort);
The accepted answer does not work for me for nested objects for some reason. This led me to code up my own. As it's late 2019 when I write this, there are a few more options available within the language.
Update: I believe David Furlong's answer is a preferable approach to my earlier attempt, and I have riffed off that. Mine relies on support for Object.entries(...), so no Internet Explorer support.
function normalize(sortingFunction) {
return function(key, value) {
if (typeof value === 'object' && !Array.isArray(value)) {
return Object
.entries(value)
.sort(sortingFunction || undefined)
.reduce((acc, entry) => {
acc[entry[0]] = entry[1];
return acc;
}, {});
}
return value;
}
}
JSON.stringify(obj, normalize(), 2);
--
KEEPING THIS OLDER VERSION FOR HISTORICAL REFERENCE
I found that a simple, flat array of all keys in the object will work. In almost all browsers (not Edge or Internet explorer, predictably) and Node 12+ there is a fairly short solution now that Array.prototype.flatMap(...) is available. (The lodash equivalent would work too.) I have only tested in Safari, Chrome, and Firefox, but I see no reason why it wouldn't work anywhere else that supports flatMap and standard JSON.stringify(...).
function flattenEntries([key, value]) {
return (typeof value !== 'object')
? [ [ key, value ] ]
: [ [ key, value ], ...Object.entries(value).flatMap(flattenEntries) ];
}
function sortedStringify(obj, sorter, indent = 2) {
const allEntries = Object.entries(obj).flatMap(flattenEntries);
const sorted = allEntries.sort(sorter || undefined).map(entry => entry[0]);
return JSON.stringify(obj, sorted, indent);
}
With this, you can stringify with no 3rd-party dependencies and even pass in your own sort algorithm that sorts on the key-value entry pairs, so you can sort by key, payload, or a combination of the two. Works for nested objects, arrays, and any mixture of plain old data types.
const obj = {
"c": {
"z": 4,
"x": 3,
"y": [
2048,
1999,
{
"x": false,
"g": "help",
"f": 5
}
]
},
"a": 2,
"b": 1
};
console.log(sortedStringify(obj, null, 2));
Prints:
{
"a": 2,
"b": 1,
"c": {
"x": 3,
"y": [
2048,
1999,
{
"f": 5,
"g": "help",
"x": false
}
],
"z": 4
}
}
If you must have compatibility with older JavaScript engines, you could use these slightly more verbose versions that emulate flatMap behavior. Client must support at least ES5, so no Internet Explorer 8 or below.
These will return the same result as above.
function flattenEntries([key, value]) {
if (typeof value !== 'object') {
return [ [ key, value ] ];
}
const nestedEntries = Object
.entries(value)
.map(flattenEntries)
.reduce((acc, arr) => acc.concat(arr), []);
nestedEntries.unshift([ key, value ]);
return nestedEntries;
}
function sortedStringify(obj, sorter, indent = 2) {
const sortedKeys = Object
.entries(obj)
.map(flattenEntries)
.reduce((acc, arr) => acc.concat(arr), [])
.sort(sorter || undefined)
.map(entry => entry[0]);
return JSON.stringify(obj, sortedKeys, indent);
}
An additional solution that works for nested objects as well:
const myFunc = (key) =>
JSON.stringify(key, (_, v) =>
v.constructor === Object ? Object.entries(v).sort() : v
);
const jsonFunc = JSON.stringify;
const obj1 = {
key1: "value1",
key2: {
key3: "value2",
key4: "value3",
},
};
const obj2 = {
key2: {
key4: "value3",
key3: "value2",
},
key1: "value1",
};
console.log(`JSON: ${jsonFunc(obj1) === jsonFunc(obj2)}`);
console.log(`My: ${myFunc(obj1) === myFunc(obj2)}`);
Works with lodash, nested objects, any value of object attribute:
function sort(myObj) {
var sortedObj = {};
Object.keys(myObj).sort().forEach(key => {
sortedObj[key] = _.isPlainObject(myObj[key]) ? sort(myObj[key]) : myObj[key]
})
return sortedObj;
}
JSON.stringify(sort(yourObj), null, 2)
It relies on Chrome's and Node's behaviour that the first key assigned to an object is outputted first by JSON.stringify.
After all, it needs an Array that caches all keys in the nested object (otherwise it will omit the uncached keys.) The oldest answer is just plain wrong, because second argument doesn't care about dot-notation. So, the answer (using Set) becomes.
function stableStringify (obj) {
const keys = new Set()
const getAndSortKeys = (a) => {
if (a) {
if (typeof a === 'object' && a.toString() === '[object Object]') {
Object.keys(a).map((k) => {
keys.add(k)
getAndSortKeys(a[k])
})
} else if (Array.isArray(a)) {
a.map((el) => getAndSortKeys(el))
}
}
}
getAndSortKeys(obj)
return JSON.stringify(obj, Array.from(keys).sort())
}
Try:
function obj(){
this.name = '';
this.os = '';
}
a = new obj();
a.name = 'X',
a.os = 'linux';
JSON.stringify(a);
b = new obj();
b.os = 'linux';
b.name = 'X',
JSON.stringify(b);
I made a function to sort object, and with callback .. which actually create a new object
function sortObj( obj , callback ) {
var r = [] ;
for ( var i in obj ){
if ( obj.hasOwnProperty( i ) ) {
r.push( { key: i , value : obj[i] } );
}
}
return r.sort( callback ).reduce( function( obj , n ){
obj[ n.key ] = n.value ;
return obj;
},{});
}
and call it with object .
var obj = {
name : "anu",
os : "windows",
value : 'msio',
};
var result = sortObj( obj , function( a, b ){
return a.key < b.key ;
});
JSON.stringify( result )
which prints {"value":"msio","os":"windows","name":"anu"} , and for sorting with value .
var result = sortObj( obj , function( a, b ){
return a.value < b.value ;
});
JSON.stringify( result )
which prints {"os":"windows","value":"msio","name":"anu"}
If objects in the list does not have same properties, generate a combined master object before stringify:
let arr=[ <object1>, <object2>, ... ]
let o = {}
for ( let i = 0; i < arr.length; i++ ) {
Object.assign( o, arr[i] );
}
JSON.stringify( arr, Object.keys( o ).sort() );
function FlatternInSort( obj ) {
if( typeof obj === 'object' )
{
if( obj.constructor === Object )
{ //here use underscore.js
let PaireStr = _( obj ).chain().pairs().sortBy( p => p[0] ).map( p => p.map( FlatternInSort ).join( ':' )).value().join( ',' );
return '{' + PaireStr + '}';
}
return '[' + obj.map( FlatternInSort ).join( ',' ) + ']';
}
return JSON.stringify( obj );
}
// example as below. in each layer, for objects like {}, flattened in key sort. for arrays, numbers or strings, flattened like/with JSON.stringify.
FlatternInSort( { c:9, b: { y: 4, z: 2, e: 9 }, F:4, a:[{j:8, h:3},{a:3,b:7}] } )
"{"F":4,"a":[{"h":3,"j":8},{"a":3,"b":7}],"b":{"e":9,"y":4,"z":2},"c":9}"
Extending AJP's answer, to handle arrays:
function sort(myObj) {
var sortedObj = {};
Object.keys(myObj).sort().forEach(key => {
sortedObj[key] = _.isPlainObject(myObj[key]) ? sort(myObj[key]) : _.isArray(myObj[key])? myObj[key].map(sort) : myObj[key]
})
return sortedObj;
}
Surprised nobody has mentioned lodash's isEqual function.
Performs a deep comparison between two values to determine if they are
equivalent.
Note: This method supports comparing arrays, array buffers, booleans,
date objects, error objects, maps, numbers, Object objects, regexes,
sets, strings, symbols, and typed arrays. Object objects are compared
by their own, not inherited, enumerable properties. Functions and DOM
nodes are compared by strict equality, i.e. ===.
https://lodash.com/docs/4.17.11#isEqual
With the original problem - keys being inconsistently ordered - it's a great solution - and of course it will just stop if it finds a conflict instead of blindly serializing the whole object.
To avoid importing the whole library you do this:
import { isEqual } from "lodash-es";
Bonus example:
You can also use this with RxJS with this custom operator
export const distinctUntilEqualChanged = <T>(): MonoTypeOperatorFunction<T> =>
pipe(distinctUntilChanged(isEqual));
Here is a clone approach...clone the object before converting to json:
function sort(o: any): any {
if (null === o) return o;
if (undefined === o) return o;
if (typeof o !== "object") return o;
if (Array.isArray(o)) {
return o.map((item) => sort(item));
}
const keys = Object.keys(o).sort();
const result = <any>{};
keys.forEach((k) => (result[k] = sort(o[k])));
return result;
}
If is very new but seems to work on package.json files fine.
Don't be confused with the object monitoring of Chrome debugger. It shows sorted keys in object, even though actually it is not sorted. You have to sort the object before you stringify it.
Before I found libs like fast-json-stable-stringify (haven't tested it in production myself), I was doing it this way:
import { flatten } from "flat";
import { set } from 'lodash/fp';
const sortJson = (jsonString) => {
const object = JSON.parse(jsonString);
const flatObject = flatten(object);
const propsSorted = Object.entries(flatObject).map(([key, value]) => ({ key, value })).sort((a, b) => a.key.localeCompare(b.key));
const objectSorted = propsSorted.reduce((object, { key, value }) => set(key, value, object), {});
return JSON.stringify(objectSorted);
};
const originalJson = JSON.stringify({ c: { z: 3, x: 1, y: 2 }, a: true, b: [ 'a', 'b', 'c' ] });
console.log(sortJson(originalJson)); // {"a":true,"b":["a","b","c"],"c":{"x":1,"y":2,"z":3}}
There is Array.sort method which can be helpful for you. For example:
yourBigArray.sort(function(a,b){
//custom sorting mechanism
});
I've come up with
function keysToLowerCase (obj) {
var keys = Object.keys(obj);
var n = keys.length;
while (n--) {
var key = keys[n]; // "cache" it, for less lookups to the array
if (key !== key.toLowerCase()) { // might already be in its lower case version
obj[key.toLowerCase()] = obj[key] // swap the value to a new lower case key
delete obj[key] // delete the old key
}
}
return (obj);
}
But I'm not sure how will v8 behave with that, for instance, will it really delete the other keys or will it only delete references and the garbage collector will bite me later ?
Also, I created these tests, I'm hoping you could add your answer there so we could see how they match up.
EDIT 1:
Apparently, according to the tests, it's faster if we don't check if the key is already in lower case, but being faster aside, will it create more clutter by ignoring this and just creating new lower case keys ? Will the garbage collector be happy with this ?
The fastest I come up with is if you create a new object:
var key, keys = Object.keys(obj);
var n = keys.length;
var newobj={}
while (n--) {
key = keys[n];
newobj[key.toLowerCase()] = obj[key];
}
I'm not familiar enough with the current inner working of v8 to give you a definitive answer. A few years ago I saw a video where the developers talked about objects, and IIRC
it will only delete the references and let the garbage collector take care of it. But it was years ago so even if it was like that then, it doesn't need to be like that now.
Will it bite you later? It depends on what you are doing, but probably not. It is very common to create short lived objects so the code is optimized to handle it. But every environment has its limitations, and maybe it will bite you. You have to test with actual data.
Using Object.fromEntries (ES10)
Native and immutable solution using the new Object.fromEntries method:
const newObj = Object.fromEntries(
Object.entries(obj).map(([k, v]) => [k.toLowerCase(), v])
);
Until that function becomes widely available you could define it yourself with the following polyfill:
Object.fromEntries = arr => Object.assign({}, ...Array.from(arr, ([k, v]) => ({[k]: v}) ));
A nice thing is that this method does the opposite of Object.entries, so now you can go back and forth between the object and array representation.
I'd use Lo-Dash.transform like this:
var lowerObj = _.transform(obj, function (result, val, key) {
result[key.toLowerCase()] = val;
});
Personally, I'd use:
let objectKeysToLowerCase = function (origObj) {
return Object.keys(origObj).reduce(function (newObj, key) {
let val = origObj[key];
let newVal = (typeof val === 'object') ? objectKeysToLowerCase(val) : val;
newObj[key.toLowerCase()] = newVal;
return newObj;
}, {});
}
It's succinct, recurs to handle nested objects and returns a new object rather than modifying the original.
In my limited local testing this function is faster than the other recursive solution currently listed (once fixed). I'd love to benchmark it against the others but jsperf is down at the moment (???).
It's also written in ES5.1 so, according to the docs on MDN, should work in FF 4+, Chrome 5+, IE 9.0+, Opera 12+, Safari 5+ (so, pretty much everything).
Object.keys()
Array. prototype.reduce()
Vanilla JS for the win.
I wouldn't worry too much about the garbage collection aspect of all this. Once all references to the old object are destroyed it will be GC's but the new object will still reference basically all it's properties, so they will not.
Any Functions, Arrays or RegExp will be "copied" across by reference. In terms of memory, even Strings will not be duplicated by this process since most (all?) modern JS engines user string interning. I think that leaves just the Numbers, Booleans and the Objects that formed the original structure left to be GC'd.
Note that (all implementations of) this process will lose values if the original has multiple properties with the same lowercase representation. Ie:
let myObj = { xx: 'There', xX: 'can be', Xx: 'only', XX: 'one!' };
console.log(myObj);
// { xx: 'There', xX: 'can be', Xx: 'only', XX: 'one!' }
let newObj = objectKeysToLowerCase(myObj);
console.log(newObj);
// { xx: 'one!' }
Of course, sometimes this is exactly what you want.
Update 2018-07-17
A few people have noted the original function doesn't work well with arrays. Here's an expanded, more resilient version. It recurs correctly through arrays and works if the initial value is an array or simple value:
let objectKeysToLowerCase = function (input) {
if (typeof input !== 'object') return input;
if (Array.isArray(input)) return input.map(objectKeysToLowerCase);
return Object.keys(input).reduce(function (newObj, key) {
let val = input[key];
let newVal = (typeof val === 'object') && val !== null ? objectKeysToLowerCase(val) : val;
newObj[key.toLowerCase()] = newVal;
return newObj;
}, {});
};
ES6 version:
Object.keys(source)
.reduce((destination, key) => {
destination[key.toLowerCase()] = source[key];
return destination;
}, {});
The loDash/fp way, quite nice as its essentially a one liner
import {
mapKeys
} from 'lodash/fp'
export function lowerCaseObjectKeys (value) {
return mapKeys(k => k.toLowerCase(), value)
}
Using forEach seems to be a bit quicker in my tests- and the original reference is gone, so deleting the new one will put it in reach of the g.c.
function keysToLowerCase(obj){
Object.keys(obj).forEach(function (key) {
var k = key.toLowerCase();
if (k !== key) {
obj[k] = obj[key];
delete obj[key];
}
});
return (obj);
}
var O={ONE:1,two:2,tHree:3,FOUR:4,Five:5,SIX:{a:1,b:2,c:3,D:4,E:5}};
keysToLowerCase(O);
/* returned value: (Object) */
{
five:5,
four:4,
one:1,
six:{
a:1,
b:2,
c:3,
D:4,
E:5
},
three:3,
two:2
}
Simplified Answer
For simple situations, you can use the following example to convert all keys to lower case:
Object.keys(example).forEach(key => {
const value = example[key];
delete example[key];
example[key.toLowerCase()] = value;
});
You can convert all of the keys to upper case using toUpperCase() instead of toLowerCase():
Object.keys(example).forEach(key => {
const value = example[key];
delete example[key];
example[key.toUpperCase()] = value;
});
Here is easiest solution to convert all the json keys to lower case.
let o = {"Account_Number ":"0102301", "customer_NaME":"name"}
o = Object.keys(o).reduce((c, k) => (c[k.toLowerCase().trim()] = o[k], c), {})
console.log(o)
With TypeScript
/**
* Lowercase the keys of an object
* #example
lowercaseKeys({FOO: true, bAr: false}); // {foo: true, bar: false}
*/
export function lowercaseKeys<T>(object: { [key: string]: T }): { [key: string]: T } {
const result: { [key: string]: T } = {};
for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(object)) {
result[key.toLowerCase()] = value;
}
return result;
}
Usage
lowercaseKeys({FOO: true, bAr: false}); // {foo: true, bar: false}
I used ES6 and TypeScript.
toLowerCaseObject function takes an Array as parameter and looking through Object tree recursively and make every node lowercase:
function toLowerCaseObject(items: any[]) {
return items.map(x => {
let lowerCasedObject = {}
for (let i in x) {
if (x.hasOwnProperty(i)) {
lowerCased[i.toLowerCase()] = x[i] instanceof Array ? toLowerCaseObject(x[i]) : x[i];
}
}
return lowerCasedObject;
});
}
One-liner (only for top level keys):
Object.assign(...Object.keys(obj).map(key => ({[key.toLowerCase()]: obj[key]})))
Converts:
{ a: 1, B: 2, C: { Z: 4 } }
To:
{ a: 1, b: 2, c: { Z: 4 } }
While the ES10 Object.fromentries() method works
const newObj = Object.fromEntries(
Object.entries(obj).map(([k, v]) => [k.toLowerCase(), v])
);
You can similarly use the snippet below for ES2015 and below
this.htmlWorkbookJSON = jsonData.map((element: Object) => {
let entriesArray = Object.entries(element)
const data = new Object()
entriesArray.forEach(([key, value]) => {
data[key.toLocaleLowerCase()] = value;
})
return data
})
This is not the cleanest way but it has worked for my team so it is worth sharing.
I created this method as our backend is running a language that is not case sensitive and the database and backend will produce different key cases. For us, it has worked flawlessly. Mind you we send dates as Strings and we don't send functions.
We have reduced it to this one line.
const toLowerCase = (data) => JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(data).replace(/"([^"]+)":/g, ($0, key) => '"' + key.toString().toLowerCase() + '":'))
We clone the object by using the JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(obj)) method. This produces a string version of the object in the JSON format. While the object is in the string form you can use regex as JSON is a predictable format to convert all keys.
Broken up it looks like this.
const toLowerCase = function (data) {
return JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(data)
.replace(/"([^"]+)":/g, ($0, key) => {
return '"' + key.toString().toLowerCase() + '":'
}))
}
const keysToLowerCase = object => {
return Object.keys(object).reduce((acc, key) => {
let val = object[key];
if (typeof val === 'object') {
val = keysToLowerCase(val);
}
acc[key.toLowerCase()] = val;
return acc;
}, {});
};
Works for nested object.
Consider lowering case just once, storing it in a lowKey var:
function keysToLowerCase (obj) {
var keys = Object.keys(obj);
var n = keys.length;
var lowKey;
while (n--) {
var key = keys[n];
if (key === (lowKey = key.toLowerCase()))
continue
obj[lowKey] = obj[key]
delete obj[key]
}
return (obj);
}
Here's my recursive version based on one of the above examples.
//updated function
var lowerObjKeys = function(obj) {
Object.keys(obj).forEach(function(key) {
var k = key.toLowerCase();
if (k != key) {
var v = obj[key]
obj[k] = v;
delete obj[key];
if (typeof v == 'object') {
lowerObjKeys(v);
}
}
});
return obj;
}
//plumbing
console = {
_createConsole: function() {
var pre = document.createElement('pre');
pre.setAttribute('id', 'console');
document.body.insertBefore(pre, document.body.firstChild);
return pre;
},
info: function(message) {
var pre = document.getElementById("console") || console._createConsole();
pre.textContent += ['>', message, '\n'].join(' ');
}
};
//test case
console.info(JSON.stringify(lowerObjKeys({
"StackOverflow": "blah",
"Test": {
"LULZ": "MEH"
}
}), true));
Beware, it doesn't track circular references, so you can end up with an infinite loop resulting in stack overflow.
For all values:
to_lower_case = function(obj) {
for (var k in obj){
if (typeof obj[k] == "object" && obj[k] !== null)
to_lower_case(obj[k]);
else if(typeof obj[k] == "string") {
obj[k] = obj[k].toLowerCase();
}
}
return obj;
}
Same can be used for keys with minor tweaks.
This is how I do it. My input can be anything and it recuses through nested objects as well as arrays of objects.
const fixKeys = input => Array.isArray(input)
? input.map(fixKeys)
: typeof input === 'object'
? Object.keys(input).reduce((acc, elem) => {
acc[elem.toLowerCase()] = fixKeys(input[elem])
return acc
}, {})
: input
tested using mocha
const { expect } = require('chai')
const fixKeys = require('../../../src/utils/fixKeys')
describe('utils/fixKeys', () => {
const original = {
Some: 'data',
With: {
Nested: 'data'
},
And: [
'an',
'array',
'of',
'strings'
],
AsWellAs: [
{ An: 'array of objects' }
]
}
const expected = {
some: 'data',
with: {
nested: 'data'
},
and: [
'an',
'array',
'of',
'strings'
],
aswellas: [{ an: 'array of objects' }]
}
let result
before(() => {
result = fixKeys(original)
})
it('left the original untouched', () => {
expect(original).not.to.deep.equal(expected)
})
it('fixed the keys', () => {
expect(result).to.deep.equal(expected)
})
})
var aa = {ID:1,NAME:'Guvaliour'};
var bb= {};
var cc = Object.keys(aa);
cc.forEach(element=>{
bb[element.toLowerCase()]=aa[element];
});
cosole.log(bb)
The below code to convert the all key in lower case
array.forEach(item=>{
let data = Object.keys(item).reduce((result, p) => (result[p.toLowerCase().trim()] = item[p], result), {})
if(data.hasOwnProperty(fieldname)){
if(data[fieldname]){
if(!response['data'].includes(data[fieldname].toLowerCase()))
response['data'].push(data[fieldname])
}
}
})
const newObj = {};
for(const key in obj){
newObj[key.toLowerCase()] = obj[key];
}
Most of the above answers do not handle null and undefined values. To get around it why not use the transform helper function from lodash?
const query = {
Company: 'GH Works',
Items: {
Construction: 'FB',
LineItems: {
Quantity: '100',
QUALity: 'checked'
}
}
}
function deepLowercaseKeys(hash) {
return _.transform(hash, function(result, value, key) {
const valueIsObject = typeof value === 'object';
result[key.toLowerCase()] = valueIsObject ? deepLowercaseKeys(value) : value;
});
}
console.log(deepLowercaseKeys(query))
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/lodash.js/4.17.21/lodash.min.js"></script>
Additionally, you can customize the function and then use it to transform the object in any way you like.
const query = {
Company: 'GH Works',
Items: {
Construction: 'FB',
LineItems: {
Quantity: '100',
QUALity: 'checked'
}
}
}
// Base function
function deepTransform(hash, callback) {
return _.transform(hash, function(result, value, key) {
if (typeof value === 'object') {
return callback(result, deepTransform(value, callback), key)
}
callback(result, value, key)
})
}
// Custom function (can be anything)
function appendHello(hash) {
return deepTransform(hash, function(result, value, key) {
result[`${key}_hello`.toLowerCase()] = value;
})
}
console.log(appendHello(query))
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/lodash.js/4.17.21/lodash.min.js"></script>
const objectToLowercase = (data) => {
const values = Object.values(data);
if (values.length === 0) {
return data;
}
return Object.keys(data).reduce((toLowerKeyObj, key) => {
const isObject = typeof data[key] === 'object';
const isArray = Array.isArray(data[key]);
let value = null;
if (isObject) {
if (!isArray) {
value = objectToLowercase(data[key]);
}
}
if (isArray) {
value = data[key].map(_value => {
return objectToLowercase(_value);
});
}
toLowerKeyObj[key.toLowerCase()] = isObject ? value : data[key];
return toLowerKeyObj;
}, {});
};