I want to search a string in a nested JSON object. If the string found in an object, I need to return that object.
I am using a recursive function to achieve this. The problem is, the function is recursing until the end and not returning the object found.
Please see the entire code in jsfiddle
function search(obj, name) {
console.log(obj["name"], ",", name, obj["name"] == name);
if (obj["name"] == name) {
return obj; //NOT RETURNING HERE
}
if (obj.children || obj._children) {
var ch = obj.children || obj._children;
//console.log(ch);
ch.forEach(function(val) {
search(val, name)
});
}
return -1;
}
search(myJson, "VM10-Proc4")
I am not sure what is going wrong.
You need to stop looping over children when it finds one that matches.
function search(obj, name) {
console.log(obj.name, ",", name, obj.name == name);
if (obj.name == name) {
return obj;
}
if (obj.children || obj._children) {
var ch = obj.children || obj._children;
for (var i = 0; i < ch.length; i++) {
var found = search(ch[i], name);
if (found) {
return found;
}
}
}
return false;
}
FIDDLE demo
The correct return value is getting lost in the chain of recursive function calls. After the correct value is found, any additional searches made will return incorrect values from that point on.
A couple ways to handle this:
1. Cancel the search
When the correct value is found, immediately return it all the way up the recursive stack, without searching any more of the current arrays or the nested arrays. In other words, cancel the rest of the search.
#Barmer's answer is an example of this. The key part of his code is the use of for loops rather than the each method to iterate through the arrays, since it's much easier to interrupt a for loop.
2. Store the value somewhere safe
When the correct value is found, store it somewhere safe, allow the rest of the search to continue, and after the initial function call has finished access the value. The simplest way is to store the correct value in a global variable, though that's not a good practice as it violates the encapsulation of the function.
#shyam's answer presents a cleaner solution: Passing a reference to a global variable as a function parameter, setting the parameter when the correct value is found, and then accessing the global variable after the initial function call has finished.
Choosing between the two
In laymen's terms, the intended logic of the function could be summed up as follows: When you find what you're looking for, stop, and let me know what it is immediately. The only reason to continue searching would be if multiple pieces of data needed to be found. I'm assuming that's not the case here.
Of the two approaches, #2 is a quick-fix workaround that should work fine but will further confuse anyone who's trying to understand the intended logic of the function. Why is the search continuing if it's only looking for a single piece of data that's already been found?
#1 is a refactoring of the function so that it behaves more consistently with the intended logic, which would make the function easier to understand. The function stops searching when it finds what it needs.
I know this is an old post, but I can see 2 issues with this:
1) the recursive call isn't returning the result up the call stack i.e.
search(val, name)
Should be
return search(val, name)
2) it looks like you are using array.forEach(). The documentation states:
There is no way to stop or break a forEach() loop other than by throwing an exception. If you need such behavior, the forEach() method is the wrong tool. Use a plain loop instead. If you are testing the array elements for a predicate and need a Boolean return value, you can use every() or some() instead. If available, the new methods find() or findIndex() can be used for early termination upon true predicates as well.
What this means is, effectively, when you find the result you are looking for you want to send it back up the call stack. Using array.forEach will continue to recursively look through the hierarchy and return all values, not just the one you are interested in. Therefore the last returned value maybe one you don't expect, like undefined! Therefore use a different method of iterating i.e.
for (var i = 0; i < ch.length; i++) {
var val = ch[i];
return search(val, name, ret);
}
The accepted answer does spoon feed you part of this answer but doesn't explain why. Hence this answer
Since you are recursing the return might be nested too deep for you to get a meaningful result. Instead you can try passing an extra argument to collect the results.
function search(obj, name, ret) {
console.log(obj["name"], ",", name, obj["name"] == name);
if (obj["name"] == name) {
ret.push(obj);
return
}
if (obj.children || obj._children) {
var ch = obj.children || obj._children;
ch.forEach(function(val) {
search(val, name, ret);
});
}
}
var result = [];
search(myJson, "VM10-Proc4", result)
Here is a solution using object-scan
// const objectScan = require('object-scan');
const myJson = {"name":"UCS - San Jose","type":"Minor","children":[{"name":"VM1","type":"Clear","children":[{"name":"VM1-Proc1","type":"Clear","children":[{"name":"VM1-Proc1-child1","type":"Clear"}]},{"name":"VM1-Proc2","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM1-Proc3","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM1-Proc4","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM1-Proc5","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM1-Proc6","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM1-Proc7","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM1-Proc8","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM1-Proc9","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM1-Proc10","type":"Clear"}]},{"name":"VM2","type":"Clear","children":[{"name":"VM2-Proc1","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM2-Proc2","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM2-Proc3","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM2-Proc4","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM2-Proc5","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM2-Proc6","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM2-Proc7","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM2-Proc8","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM2-Proc9","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM2-Proc10","type":"Clear"}]},{"name":"VM3","type":"Clear","children":[{"name":"VM3-Proc1","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM3-Proc2","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM3-Proc3","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM3-Proc4","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM3-Proc5","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM3-Proc6","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM3-Proc7","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM3-Proc8","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM3-Proc9","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM3-Proc10","type":"Clear"}]},{"name":"VM4","type":"Minor","children":[{"name":"VM4-Proc1","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM4-Proc2","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM4-Proc3","type":"Minor"},{"name":"VM4-Proc4","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM4-Proc5","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM4-Proc6","type":"Minor"},{"name":"VM4-Proc7","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM4-Proc8","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM4-Proc9","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM4-Proc10","type":"Clear"}]},{"name":"VM5","type":"Clear","children":[{"name":"VM5-Proc1","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM5-Proc2","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM5-Proc3","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM5-Proc4","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM5-Proc5","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM5-Proc6","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM5-Proc7","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM5-Proc8","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM5-Proc9","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM5-Proc10","type":"Clear"}]},{"name":"VM6","type":"Minor","children":[{"name":"VM6-Proc1","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM6-Proc2","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM6-Proc3","type":"Minor"},{"name":"VM6-Proc4","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM6-Proc5","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM6-Proc6","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM6-Proc7","type":"Minor"},{"name":"VM6-Proc8","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM6-Proc9","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM6-Proc10","type":"Clear"}]},{"name":"VM7","type":"Clear","children":[{"name":"VM7-Proc1","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM7-Proc2","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM7-Proc3","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM7-Proc4","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM7-Proc5","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM7-Proc6","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM7-Proc7","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM7-Proc8","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM7-Proc9","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM7-Proc10","type":"Clear"}]},{"name":"VM8","type":"Clear","children":[{"name":"VM8-Proc1","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM8-Proc2","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM8-Proc3","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM8-Proc4","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM8-Proc5","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM8-Proc6","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM8-Proc7","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM8-Proc8","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM8-Proc9","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM8-Proc10","type":"Clear"}]},{"name":"VM9","type":"Clear","children":[{"name":"VM9-Proc1","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM9-Proc2","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM9-Proc3","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM9-Proc4","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM9-Proc5","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM9-Proc6","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM9-Proc7","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM9-Proc8","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM9-Proc9","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM9-Proc10","type":"Clear"}]},{"name":"VM10","type":"Clear","children":[{"name":"VM10-Proc1","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM10-Proc2","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM10-Proc3","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM10-Proc4","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM10-Proc5","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM10-Proc6","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM10-Proc7","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM10-Proc8","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM10-Proc9","type":"Clear"},{"name":"VM10-Proc10","type":"Clear"}]}]};
const search = (obj, name) => objectScan(['**.name'], {
rtn: 'parent',
abort: true,
filterFn: ({ value }) => value === name
})(obj);
console.log(search(myJson, 'VM10-Proc4'));
// => { name: 'VM10-Proc4', type: 'Clear' }
.as-console-wrapper {max-height: 100% !important; top: 0}
<script src="https://bundle.run/object-scan#13.7.1"></script>
Disclaimer: I'm the author of object-scan