Develop Reference

JavaScript: Convert dot notation string to array [duplicate]

I'm trying to create a JS object dynamically providing a key and a value. The key is in dot notation, so if a string like car.model.color is provided the generated object would be:
{
car: {
model: {
color: value;
}
}
}
The problem has a trivial solution if the key provided is a simple property, but i'm struggling to make it work for composed keys.
My code:
function (key, value) {
var object = {};
var arr = key.split('.');
for(var i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {
object = object[arr[i]] = {};
}
object[arr[arr.length-1]] = value;
return object;
}

your slightly modified code
function f(key, value) {
var result = object = {};
var arr = key.split('.');
for(var i = 0; i < arr.length-1; i++) {
object = object[arr[i]] = {};
}
object[arr[arr.length-1]] = value;
return result;
}
In the loop you should set all of the props but the last one.
Next set the final property and all set.

If you're using lodash you could use _.set(object, path, value)
const obj = {}
_.set(obj, "car.model.color", "my value")
console.log(obj)
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/lodash#4.17.15/lodash.min.js"></script>

Use namespace pattern, like the one Addy Osmani shows: http://addyosmani.com/blog/essential-js-namespacing/
Here's the code, pasted for convenience, all credit goes to Addy:
// top-level namespace being assigned an object literal
var myApp = myApp || {};
// a convenience function for parsing string namespaces and
// automatically generating nested namespaces
function extend( ns, ns_string ) {
var parts = ns_string.split('.'),
parent = ns,
pl, i;
if (parts[0] == "myApp") {
parts = parts.slice(1);
}
pl = parts.length;
for (i = 0; i < pl; i++) {
//create a property if it doesnt exist
if (typeof parent[parts[i]] == 'undefined') {
parent[parts[i]] = {};
}
parent = parent[parts[i]];
}
return parent;
}
// sample usage:
// extend myApp with a deeply nested namespace
var mod = extend(myApp, 'myApp.modules.module2');

function strToObj(str, val) {
var i, obj = {}, strarr = str.split(".");
var x = obj;
for(i=0;i<strarr.length-1;i++) {
x = x[strarr[i]] = {};
}
x[strarr[i]] = val;
return obj;
}
usage: console.log(strToObj("car.model.color","value"));

I would use a recursive method.
var createObject = function(key, value) {
var obj = {};
var parts = key.split('.');
if(parts.length == 1) {
obj[parts[0]] = value;
} else if(parts.length > 1) {
// concat all but the first part of the key
var remainingParts = parts.slice(1,parts.length).join('.');
obj[parts[0]] = createObject(remainingParts, value);
}
return obj;
};
var simple = createObject('simple', 'value1');
var complex = createObject('more.complex.test', 'value2');
console.log(simple);
console.log(complex);
(check the console for the output)

Here's a recursive approach to the problem:
const strToObj = (parts, val) => {
if (!Array.isArray(parts)) {
parts = parts.split(".");
}
if (!parts.length) {
return val;
}
return {
[parts.shift()]: strToObj(parts, val)
};
}

JS update Array through string eval [duplicate]

Suppose we are only given
var obj = {};
var propName = "foo.bar.foobar";
How can we set the property obj.foo.bar.foobar to a certain value (say "hello world")?
So I want to achieve this, while we only have the property name in a string:
obj.foo.bar.foobar = "hello world";

function assign(obj, prop, value) {
if (typeof prop === "string")
prop = prop.split(".");
if (prop.length > 1) {
var e = prop.shift();
assign(obj[e] =
Object.prototype.toString.call(obj[e]) === "[object Object]"
? obj[e]
: {},
prop,
value);
} else
obj[prop[0]] = value;
}
var obj = {},
propName = "foo.bar.foobar";
assign(obj, propName, "Value");

I know it's an old one, but I see only custom functions in answers.
If you don't mind using a library, look at lodash _.set and _.get function.

Since this question appears to be answered by incorrect answers, I'll just refer to the correct answer from a similar question
function setDeepValue(obj, value, path) {
if (typeof path === "string") {
var path = path.split('.');
}
if(path.length > 1){
var p=path.shift();
if(obj[p]==null || typeof obj[p]!== 'object'){
obj[p] = {};
}
setDeepValue(obj[p], value, path);
}else{
obj[path[0]] = value;
}
}
Use:
var obj = {};
setDeepValue(obj, 'Hello World', 'foo.bar.foobar');

edit: I've created a jsPerf.com testcase to compare the accepted answer with my version.
Turns out that my version is faster, especially when you go very deep.
http://jsfiddle.net/9YMm8/
var nestedObjectAssignmentFor = function(obj, propString, value) {
var propNames = propString.split('.'),
propLength = propNames.length-1,
tmpObj = obj;
for (var i = 0; i <= propLength ; i++) {
tmpObj = tmpObj[propNames[i]] = i !== propLength ? {} : value;
}
return obj;
}
var obj = nestedObjectAssignment({},"foo.bar.foobar","hello world");
​
​

All solutions overid any of the original data when setting so I have tweaked with the following, made it into a single object too:
var obj = {}
nestObject.set(obj, "a.b", "foo");
nestObject.get(obj, "a.b"); // returns foo
var nestedObject = {
set: function(obj, propString, value) {
var propNames = propString.split('.'),
propLength = propNames.length-1,
tmpObj = obj;
for (var i = 0; i <= propLength ; i++) {
if (i === propLength){
if(tmpObj[propNames[i]]){
tmpObj[propNames[i]] = value;
}else{
tmpObj[propNames[i]] = value;
}
}else{
if(tmpObj[propNames[i]]){
tmpObj = tmpObj[propNames[i]];
}else{
tmpObj = tmpObj[propNames[i]] = {};
}
}
}
return obj;
},
get: function(obj, propString){
var propNames = propString.split('.'),
propLength = propNames.length-1,
tmpObj = obj;
for (var i = 0; i <= propLength ; i++) {
if(tmpObj[propNames[i]]){
tmpObj = tmpObj[propNames[i]];
}else{
break;
}
}
return tmpObj;
}
};
Can also change functions to be an Oject.prototype method changing obj param to this:
Object.prototype = { setNested = function(){ ... }, getNested = function(){ ... } }
{}.setNested('a.c','foo')

Here is a get and set function i just compiled from a couple of threads + some custom code.
It will also create keys that don't exist on set.
function setValue(object, path, value) {
var a = path.split('.');
var o = object;
for (var i = 0; i < a.length - 1; i++) {
var n = a[i];
if (n in o) {
o = o[n];
} else {
o[n] = {};
o = o[n];
}
}
o[a[a.length - 1]] = value;
}
function getValue(object, path) {
var o = object;
path = path.replace(/\[(\w+)\]/g, '.$1');
path = path.replace(/^\./, '');
var a = path.split('.');
while (a.length) {
var n = a.shift();
if (n in o) {
o = o[n];
} else {
return;
}
}
return o;
}

Here is a simple function to do that using reference.
function setValueByPath (obj, path, value) {
var ref = obj;
path.split('.').forEach(function (key, index, arr) {
ref = ref[key] = index === arr.length - 1 ? value : {};
});
return obj;
}

You could split the path and make a check if the following element exist. If not assign an object to the new property.
Return then the value of the property.
At the end assign the value.
function setValue(object, path, value) {
var fullPath = path.split('.'),
way = fullPath.slice(),
last = way.pop();
way.reduce(function (r, a) {
return r[a] = r[a] || {};
}, object)[last] = value;
}
var object = {},
propName = 'foo.bar.foobar',
value = 'hello world';
setValue(object, propName, value);
console.log(object);

Here's one that returns the updated object
function deepUpdate(value, path, tree, branch = tree) {
const last = path.length === 1;
branch[path[0]] = last ? value : branch[path[0]];
return last ? tree : deepUpdate(value, path.slice(1), tree, branch[path[0]]);
}
const path = 'cat.dog';
const updated = deepUpdate('a', path.split('.'), {cat: {dog: null}})
// => { cat: {dog: 'a'} }

A very straightforward one.
This implementation should be very performant.
It avoids recursions, and function calls, while maintaining simplicity.
/**
* Set the value of a deep property, creating new objects as necessary.
* #param {Object} obj The object to set the value on.
* #param {String|String[]} path The property to set.
* #param {*} value The value to set.
* #return {Object} The object at the end of the path.
* #author github.com/victornpb
* #see https://stackoverflow.com/a/46060952/938822
* #example
* setDeep(obj, 'foo.bar.baz', 'quux');
*/
function setDeep(obj, path, value) {
const props = typeof path === 'string' ? path.split('.') : path;
for (var i = 0, n = props.length - 1; i < n; ++i) {
obj = obj[props[i]] = obj[props[i]] || {};
}
obj[props[i]] = value;
return obj;
}
/*********************** EXAMPLE ***********************/
const obj = {
hello : 'world',
};
setDeep(obj, 'root', true);
setDeep(obj, 'foo.bar.baz', 1);
setDeep(obj, ['foo','quux'], '😉');
console.log(obj);
// ⬇︎ Click "Run" below to see output

I was looking for an answer that does not overwrite existing values and was easily readable and was able to come up with this. Leaving this here in case it helps others with the same needs
function setValueAtObjectPath(obj, pathString, newValue) {
// create an array (pathComponents) of the period-separated path components from pathString
var pathComponents = pathString.split('.');
// create a object (tmpObj) that references the memory of obj
var tmpObj = obj;
for (var i = 0; i < pathComponents.length; i++) {
// if not on the last path component, then set the tmpObj as the value at this pathComponent
if (i !== pathComponents.length-1) {
// set tmpObj[pathComponents[i]] equal to an object of it's own value
tmpObj[pathComponents[i]] = {...tmpObj[pathComponents[i]]}
// set tmpObj to reference tmpObj[pathComponents[i]]
tmpObj = tmpObj[pathComponents[i]]
// else (IS the last path component), then set the value at this pathComponent equal to newValue
} else {
// set tmpObj[pathComponents[i]] equal to newValue
tmpObj[pathComponents[i]] = newValue
}
}
// return your object
return obj
}

Same as Rbar's answers, very useful when you're working with redux reducers. I use lodash clone instead of spread operator to support arrays too:
export function cloneAndPatch(obj, path, newValue, separator='.') {
let stack = Array.isArray(path) ? path : path.split(separator);
let newObj = _.clone(obj);
obj = newObj;
while (stack.length > 1) {
let property = stack.shift();
let sub = _.clone(obj[property]);
obj[property] = sub;
obj = sub;
}
obj[stack.shift()] = newValue;
return newObj;
}

Object.getPath = function(o, s) {
s = s.replace(/\[(\w+)\]/g, '.$1'); // convert indexes to properties
s = s.replace(/^\./, ''); // strip a leading dot
var a = s.split('.');
for (var i = 0, n = a.length; i < n; ++i) {
var k = a[i];
if (k in o) {
o = o[k];
} else {
return;
}
}
return o;
};
Object.setPath = function(o, p, v) {
var a = p.split('.');
var o = o;
for (var i = 0; i < a.length - 1; i++) {
if (a[i].indexOf('[') === -1) {
var n = a[i];
if (n in o) {
o = o[n];
} else {
o[n] = {};
o = o[n];
}
} else {
// Not totaly optimised
var ix = a[i].match(/\[.*?\]/g)[0];
var n = a[i].replace(ix, '');
o = o[n][ix.substr(1,ix.length-2)]
}
}
if (a[a.length - 1].indexOf('[') === -1) {
o[a[a.length - 1]] = v;
} else {
var ix = a[a.length - 1].match(/\[.*?\]/g)[0];
var n = a[a.length - 1].replace(ix, '');
o[n][ix.substr(1,ix.length-2)] = v;
}
};

Here's a simple method that uses a scoped Object that recursively set's the correct prop by path.
function setObjectValueByPath(pathScope, value, obj) {
const pathStrings = pathScope.split('/');
obj[pathStrings[0]] = pathStrings.length > 1 ?
setObjectValueByPath(
pathStrings.splice(1, pathStrings.length).join('/'),
value,
obj[pathStrings[0]]
) :
value;
return obj;
}

How about a simple and short one?
Object.assign(this.origin, { [propName]: value })

You can use reduce : (you can test it by copy/paste on browser console)
const setValueOf = (obj, value, ...path) => {
path.reduce((o, level, idx) => {
if(idx === path.length -1) { o[level] = value }; // on last change the value of the prop
return o && o[level]; // return the prop
}, obj);
};
Example
let objExmp = {a: 'a', b: {b1: 'b1', b2: 'b2', b3: { b3_3 : 'default_value' } }};
setValueOf(objExmp, 'new_value' , 'b', 'b3', 'b3_3');
console.log('objExmp', objExmp); // prop changed to 'new_value'
You can split the string path by '.' and spread like :
setValueOf(objExmp, 'new_value' , ...'b.b3.b3_3'.split('.'));

Create nested object dynamically with forEach

I have an 'path' string: 'profile.name.en';
I want to use this to create an object dynamically. I'm using this function and its working:
function set(obj, path, value) {
var schema = obj; // a moving reference to internal objects within obj
var arr = path.split('.');
var len = arr.length;
for(var i = 0; i < len-1; i++) {
var elem = arr[i];
if( !schema[elem] ) schema[elem] = {};
schema = schema[elem];
}
schema[arr[len-1]] = value;
return schema;
}
Use it like this:
var a = {};
var path = 'profile.name.en';
var profileName = 'OleFrank';
var o = set(a, path, profileName);
// result
{
profile: {
name: {
en: 'OleFrank'
}
}
}
I tried to refactor to using forEach instead of for-loop, but then it's not working anymore. Why is this??

You could use Array#reduce, because this returns the object you need, without keeping a reference outside.
function set(object, path, value) {
var keys = path.split('.'),
last = keys.pop();
keys.reduce(function (o, k) {
return o[k] = o[k] || {};
}, object)[last] = value;
}
var a = {},
path = 'profile.name.en',
profileName = 'OleFrank';
set(a, path, profileName); // no need of an assignment, because of
// call by reference with an object
console.log(a);
Version with Array#forEach
function set(object, path, value) {
var keys = path.split('.'),
last = keys.pop();
keys.forEach(function (k) {
object[k] = object[k] || {};
object = object[k];
});
object[last] = value;
}
var a = {},
path = 'profile.name.en',
profileName = 'OleFrank';
set(a, path, profileName);
console.log(a);

How to convert square bracket object keys from URL location into nested object in Javascript?

With:
var obj = { "object[foo][bar][ya]": 100 };
How can I create:
var obj = { object: { foo: { bar: { ya: 100 }}}};

Manual approach
Split the given string with bracket, then iterate through the resultant tokens to make the nested object:
Given
var obj = { "object[foo][bar][ya]": 100 };
Split them so we get
var tokens = Object.keys(obj)[0]
.split('[')
.map(function(s){return s.replace(']','')});
// tokens = [ 'object', 'foo', 'bar', 'ya' ]
Then make the nested object, inside out
var result = {};
tokens.reverse().forEach(function(key){
if (Object.keys(result).length==0){
result[key] = obj[Object.keys(obj)[0]]; // inner-most key-value
}
else{
var temp = {};
temp[key] = result;
result = temp;
}
});
Result
{"object":{"foo":{"bar":{"ya":100}}}}

Their is no native things in javascript fr parsing nested object in querystring.
You can use http://medialize.github.io/URI.js/ which is pretty damn good at the job.
console.log(URI.parseQuery("?&foo=bar&&foo=bar&foo=baz&"));
If you don't want to import the full library, this is just the part for querystring parsing (full credit to https://github.com/medialize/URI.js):
var URI = {
decodeQuery: function(string, escapeQuerySpace) {
string += '';
try {
return decodeURIComponent(escapeQuerySpace ? string.replace(/\+/g, '%20') : string);
} catch(e) {
// we're not going to mess with weird encodings,
// give up and return the undecoded original string
// see https://github.com/medialize/URI.js/issues/87
// see https://github.com/medialize/URI.js/issues/92
return string;
}
},
parseQuery: function(string, escapeQuerySpace) {
if (!string) {
return {};
}
// throw out the funky business - "?"[name"="value"&"]+
string = string.replace(/&+/g, '&').replace(/^\?*&*|&+$/g, '');
if (!string) {
return {};
}
var items = {};
var splits = string.split('&');
var length = splits.length;
var v, name, value;
for (var i = 0; i < length; i++) {
v = splits[i].split('=');
name = URI.decodeQuery(v.shift(), escapeQuerySpace);
// no "=" is null according to http://dvcs.w3.org/hg/url/raw-file/tip/Overview.html#collect-url-parameters
value = v.length ? URI.decodeQuery(v.join('='), escapeQuerySpace) : null;
if (Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(items, name)) {
if (typeof items[name] === 'string') {
items[name] = [items[name]];
}
items[name].push(value);
} else {
items[name] = value;
}
}
return items;
}
};

You could get the parts and build a new object.
const obj = {
"object[foo][bar][ya]": 100,
"object[foo][baz]": 200,
"object[foo][bar][bar]": 50,
"xy": 30
};
let newObj = {};
for (const i in obj) {
let a = i.match(/([^\[\]]+)(\[[^\[\]]+[^\]])*?/g),
p = obj[i];
j = a.length;
while (j--) {
q = {};
q[a[j]] = p;
p = q;
}
// merge object
let k = Object.keys(p)[0],
o = newObj;
while (k in o) {
p = p[k];
o = o[k];
k = Object.keys(p)[0];
}
o[k] = p[k];
}
console.log(newObj);
.as-console-wrapper { max-height: 100% !important; top: 0; }

Here's an es6 version. Caution: Hasn't been tested for edge cases.
const keyPattern = /^(\w+)\[(\w+)\](.*)$/;
export function decodeParams(params) {
return Object.keys(params).reduce((result, key) => {
let match = key.match(keyPattern);
if (match && match.length >= 3) {
let [key, nextKey, rest = ''] = match.slice(1);
result[key] = Object.assign(
{},
result[key],
decodeParams({ [nextKey + rest]: params[key] })
);
} else {
result[key] = params[key];
}
return result;
}, {});
}

Javascript nested objects from string

I've got an empty object and a string:
var obj = {};
var str = "a.b.c";
Is there a way I can turn this into
obj = { a: { b: { c: { } } } }
I can't quite wrap my head around this one and I'm not even sure if it would be possible.

var obj = {};
var str = "a.b.c";
var arr = str.split('.');
var tmp = obj;
for (var i=0,n=arr.length; i<n; i++){
tmp[arr[i]]={};
tmp = tmp[arr[i]];
}
ES6:
let str = "a.b.c",
arr = str.split('.'),
obj, o = obj = {};
arr.forEach(key=>{o=o[key]={}});
console.log(obj);
ES6/Reduced (array storage unnecessary):
let str = "a.b.c", obj, o = obj = {};
str.split('.').forEach(key=>o=o[key]={});
console.log(obj);
ES6/Array.prototype.reduce:
let str = "a.b.c", last;
let obj = str.split('.').reduce((o, val) => {
if (typeof last == 'object')
last = last[val] = {};
else
last = o[val] = {};
return o;
}, {});
console.log(obj);

This is from the yui2 yahoo.js file.
YAHOO.namespace = function() {
var a=arguments, o=null, i, j, d;
for (i=0; i<a.length; i=i+1) {
d=(""+a[i]).split(".");
o=YAHOO;
// YAHOO is implied, so it is ignored if it is included
for (j=(d[0] == "YAHOO") ? 1 : 0; j<d.length; j=j+1) {
o[d[j]]=o[d[j]] || {};
o=o[d[j]];
}
}
return o;
};
See the source for documentation.
https://github.com/yui/yui2/blob/master/src/yahoo/js/YAHOO.js

This recursive function returns you the string representation of the desired object
//Usage: getObjectAsString('a.b.c'.split(/\./))
function getObjectAsString (array){
return !array.length ? '{}'
: '{"' + array[0] + '":' + getObjectAsString (array.slice(1)) + '}';
}
Now you can convert the output of getObjectAsString into object using
JSON.parse(getObjectAsString('a.b.c'.split(/\./)))
EDIT: Removed 'Input as String' version as it works only for single letter subparts in the namespace such as the one given in the question (a.b.c) which is generally not the case.

Here you go:
var string = "a.b.c",
array = string.split('.');
JSON.parse("{\"" + array.join('": {\"') + "\": {" +array.map(function () {return '}'}).join('') + "}")
Example

Here's my take on it:
function ensureKeys(str, obj) {
for(var parts = str.split('.'), i=0, l=parts.length, cache=obj; i<l; i++) {
if(!cache[parts[i]]) {
cache[parts[i]] = {};
}
cache = cache[parts[i]];
}
return obj;
}
var obj = {};
ensureKeys('a.b.c', obj);
// obj = { a: { b: { c: {} } } }