Develop Reference

Every character in an array being recognized with ".hasOwnProperty(i)" in javascript as true with Google Apps Script

This is the array:
{"C8_235550":
{"listing":"aut,C8_235550_220144650654"},
"C8_231252":
{"listing":"aut,C8_231252_220144650654"}}
It was fetched with a GET request from a Firebase database using Google Apps Script.
var optList = {"method" : "get"};
var rsltList = UrlFetchApp.fetch("https://dbName.firebaseio.com/KeyName/.json", optList );
var varUrList = rsltList.getContentText();
Notice the .getContentText() method.
I'm assuming that the array is now just a string of characters? I don't know.
When I loop over the returned data, every single character is getting pushed, and the JavaScript code will not find key/value pairs.
This is the FOR LOOP:
dataObj = The Array Shown At Top of Post;
var val = dataObj;
var out = [];
var someObject = val[0];
for (var i in someObject) {
if (someObject.hasOwnProperty(i)) {
out.push(someObject[i]);
};
};
The output from the for loop looks like this:
{,",C,8,_,2,3,5,5,5,0,",:,{,",l,i,s,t,i,n,g,",:,",a,u,t,,,C,8,_,2,3,5,5,5,0,_,2,2,0,1,4,4,6,5,0,6,5,4,",},,,",C,8,_,2,3,1,2,5,2,",:,{,",l,i,s,t,i,n,g,",:,",a,u,t,,,C,8,_,2,3,1,2,5,2,_,2,2,0,1,4,4,6,5,0,6,5,4,",},}
I'm wondering if the array got converted to a string, and is no longer recognized as an array, but just a string of characters. But I don't know enough about this to know what is going on. How do I get the value out for the key named listing?
Is this now just a string rather than an array? Do I need to convert it back to something else? JSON? I've tried using different JavaScript array methods on the array, and nothing seems to return what it should if the data was an array.

here is a way to get the elements out of your json string
as stated in the other answers, you should make it an obect again and get its keys and values.
function demo(){
var string='{"C8_235550":{"listing":"aut,C8_235550_220144650654"},"C8_231252":{"listing":"aut,C8_231252_220144650654"}}';
var ob = JSON.parse(string);
for(var propertyName in ob) {
Logger.log('first level key = '+propertyName);
Logger.log('fisrt level values = '+JSON.stringify(ob[propertyName]));
for(var subPropertyName in ob[propertyName]){
Logger.log('second level values = '+ob[propertyName][subPropertyName]);
}
}
}

What you have is an object, not an array. What you need to do is, use the
Object.keys()
method and obtain a list of keys which is the field names in that object. Then you could use a simple for loop to iterate over the keys and do whatever you need to do.

Concatenate json arrays from localStorage and send to PHP

I am using localStorage to store some json arrays (no more than 25), and when the user logs out, I need to save the information stored in a MySQL database. Therefore, I am sending the data to a PHP script that is in charge of communicating and dealing with all the database stuff.
Anyway, I have been searching on the web, and I found here - Merge two json/javascript arrays in to one array - that I could just use concat.
I basically use this function:
function saveEverything() {
var localStorageData = "";
for (var i=0; i < localStorage.length; i++) {
localStorageData = localStorageData.concat(localStorage.getItem(localStorage.key(i)));
}
...
}
The ... represents the ajax bit that sends the localStorageData to a PHP script.
As you should know, localStorage doesn't store anything but strings, so I have to do JSON.stringify when I am setting the items. You might have noticed that I didn't do JSON.parse when concatenating the localStorage items into the localStorageData variable. I tried that before, and when I did alert(localStorageData) I only got [Object][object] ... (or something like that).
Anyway, with this kind of approach I am sending strings to php, and each json array is separated by line break. Is this the best/correct thing to do or should I have sticked to the JSON.parse way?

What does your JSON look like? concat is a method of Array instances, so you can only do this when you're working with an Array. Furthermore, JSON is a notation, to use it like this you would have to parse it back into JavaScript and then out again.
For example,
var json1 = '[{"foo":"bar"}]',
json2 = '[{"fizz":"buzz"}]';
var mergedJS = JSON.parse(json1).concat(JSON.parse(json2)),
mergedJSON = JSON.stringify(merged);
mergedJSON; // '[{"foo":"bar"},{"fizz":"buzz"}]'
If they're not Arrays, you might be able to get away with just wrapping them (depending on how you want the result), i.e.
var json1 = '{"foo":"bar"}',
json2 = '{"fizz":"buzz"}';
var mergedJSON = '[' + json1 + ',' + json2 + ']';
mergedJSON; // '[{"foo":"bar"},{"fizz":"buzz"}]'
Finally,
You might have noticed that I didn't do JSON.parse when concatenating the localStorage items into the localStorageData variable. I tried that before, and when I did alert(localStorageData) I only got [object Object]
[object Object] is the result of calling toString on almost any Object.
({}).toString(); // "[object Object]"
If you want to see something useful, use console.log and view the Console, or convert back to String with JSON.stringify.

alert(localStorageData) I only got [Object][object]
That's normal, you should stick with this previous version, build an object of objects and in the end use
JSON.stringify(localStorageData)
to send it as string.
function saveEverything(){
var localStorageData = {},
l = localStorage.length,
k;
for (var i=0; i < l; i++) {
k = localStorage.key(i);
localStorageData[k] = JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem(k));
}
return localStorageData;
}
Using object also makes it easier to distinguish these arrays, since you can also save keys under which they were saved.

Can't get JSON to output

First try at using JSON. I have an ajax/php function that returns a JSON object. Back on the js side, I can see the object and output it to a div. It looks fine. I can print it to the console, still looks good. But when I try to iterate over it and expose the individual values, I just get 'undefined' in my console. I can't figure out what I am missing. Sorry it if's something obvious, but I don't see it. Thanks!
var jsonObj = JSON.parse(xmlhttp.responseText);
console.log(jsonObj); //<--looks perfect
console.log(jsonObj.length);
document.getElementById("rightsidebox").innerHTML=response; //<--looks good
for (var group in jsonObj) {
//each of these generates 'undefined' WHY???
//I get 4 'undefined' outputs for each group, so I know that my loop is iterating correctly
console.log(group.id);
console.log(group.day);
console.log(group.time);
console.log(group.name);
}
EDIT: Here is an example of one of the JSON objects being returned by my ajax call. In this example, I only have a single object inside of the array. Of course, there will typically be multiple objects:
[{"id":"7","day":"Thursday","time":"7:00 a.m.","name":"Sub 10:00"}]
EDIT 2: Given this array, I have to ask what the point of JSON is. I can return this array without having PHP encode it in JSON format. So, if all that comes back is just a javascript array, then what have I accomplished? Why not skip the JSON encoding in PHP and then iterate over the array? Clearly there is a reason for this, so I'm obviously missing something. Is there a better way to do what I am trying to accomplish? Thanks!

Consider the following:
var myJson = '{"groupA": {"id": 123, "name": "foo"}}';
var myObj = JSON.parse(myJson);
for (var i in myObj) {
console.log(i);
console.log(i.id);
console.log(myObj[i].id);
}
The expected output here is:
myGroup
undefined
123
This is because you loop is just assigning the 'key' of your object to the value i. If you were to iterate an array, instead of an object, you'd get indices instead of strings.
In the example JSON you've given, you have an array with one object in it. If you intend to have multiple objects in your array, something like this would be better:
for (var group in jsonObj) {
var thisGroup = jsonObj[group];
thisGroup.id; // Etc etc..
}

If you have the correct jsonObj, and you say that you do, you can use formatting to output the object in an easy to read form. You don't have to loop through it.
console.log(JSON.stringify(jsonObj, null, 1));

Not sure why this works, when my original for (var group in jsonObj) loop doesn't, but whatever...
for (var i=0; i < jsonObj.length; i++) {
console.log(jsonObj[i].id);
console.log(jsonObj[i].day);
console.log(jsonObj[i].time);
console.log(jsonObj[i].name);
}

Javascript: How to convert JSON dot string into object reference

I have a string: items[0].name that I want to apply to a JSON object: {"items":[{"name":"test"}]} which is contained in the variable test. I want to apply that string to the object in order to search it (test.items[0].name). I can only think of one way to do this: parse the square brackets and dots using my own function. Is there another way I can do this? Perhaps using eval? (Even though I'd LOVE to avoid that...)
For clarity:
I have a JSON object, what is inside of it is really irrelevant. I need to be able to query the object like so: theobject.items[0], this is normal behaviour of a JSON object obviously. The issue is, that query string (ie. items[0]) is unknown - call it user input if you like - it is literally a string (var thisIsAString = "items[0]"). So, I need a way to append that query string to theobject in order for it to return the value at theobject.items[0]

function locate(obj, path) {
path = path.split('.');
var arrayPattern = /(.+)\[(\d+)\]/;
for (var i = 0; i < path.length; i++) {
var match = arrayPattern.exec(path[i]);
if (match) {
obj = obj[match[1]][parseInt(match[2])];
} else {
obj = obj[path[i]];
}
}
return obj;
}
var name = locate(test, 'items[0].name');

...JSON doesn't have objects, it's just a string.
If you're dealing with an object (ie: you can reference it using dot/bracket notation) then it's just a JavaScript object/array...
So depending on what the deal is, if you're dealing with a 100% string:
'{"name":"string","array":[0,1,2]}'
Then you need to send it through JSON.parse;
var json_string = '{"name":"string","array":[0,1,2]}',
js_obj = JSON.parse(json_string);
js_obj.name; // "string"
js_obj.array; // [0,1,2]
js_obj.array[1]; // 1
If it's not a string, and is indeed an object/array, with other objects/arrays inside, then you just need to go:
myObj.items[0].name = items[0].name;
If it IS a string, then .parse it, and use the parsed object to do exactly what I just did.
If it needs to be a string again, to send to the server, then use JSON.stringify like:
var json_string = JSON.stringify(js_obj);
Now you've got your modified JSON string back.
If you need to support GhettoIE (IE < 8), then download json2.js from Douglas Crockford, and add that script on the page conditionally, if you can't find window.JSON.

Setting an object to a split array

I'm not a javascript guru. I've got the following code below:
var aCookieValues = sCookieContentString.split('&'); // split out each set of key/value pairs
var aCookieNameValuePairs = aCookieValues.split('='); // return an array of each key/value
What I'm trying to do is split the first string via & and then create another array that takes the first array and splits it further via the = character that exists in every value in the aCookieValues array
I get the error aCookieValues.split is not a function.
I've seen an example that basically does the same thing but the second time this guy is using a loop:
(http://seattlesoftware.wordpress.com/2008/01/16/javascript-query-string/)
// '&' seperates key/value pairs
var pairs = querystring.split("&");
// Load the key/values of the return collection
for (var i = 0; i < pairs.length; i++) {
var keyValuePair = pairs[i].split("=");
queryStringDictionary[keyValuePair[0]] = keyValuePair[1];
}
Ultimately what I'm trying to achieve here is a final dictionary with key/value pairs based off the '=' split. I'm simply trying to split up a cookie's values and shove it into a nice dictionary so I can then get certain values out of that dictionary later on.

You are getting this error because aCookieValues is an array, and it does not have a split method. You would need to call the split method on each element of aCookieValues:
var aCookieValues = sCookieContentString.split('&');
for (var i = 0; i < aCookieValues.length; i++) {
var aCookieNameValuePairs = aCookieValues[i].split('=');
// Handle aCookieNameValuePairs[0] as the key
// Handle aCookieNameValuePairs[1] as the value
}
To shove everything in your nice dictionary, simply declare it before the for loop: var myDict = {}, and then put the following after the split('=') call:
myDict[aCookieNameValuePairs[0]] = aCookieNameValuePairs[1];
EDIT: Which, after reading your question properly, is the same method used in the code snippet you supplied. I hope at least this explains how that works :)

In your second line you are attempting to call split() on an array, when it is a function defined on strings.
Example:
"a=1&b=2&c=3".split('&') returns an array ['a=1','b=2','c=3']
Your code would then call split on the array:
['a=1','b=2','c=3'].split('=')
But that function doesn't exist. It seems like your goal is to split each string in the array, so the example you gave in the question seems appropriate - loop through each element and split it.

split operates on a string. You're trying to split aCookieValues, which is an array. The example you cite is looping through the array, and then splitting each element as a string.
Just for fun, one way to deal with this would be to use a map function, which performs an action on each element of an array, and emits an array as a result. If you make a generic map function available to all your arrays, like this:
if (!Array.prototype.map) { // don't step on anyone's toes
Array.prototype.map = function( f ) {
var result = [];
var aLen = this.length;
for( x = 0 ; x < aLen ; x++ ) {
result.push( f(this[x]) );
}
return result;
};
};
...you can call it as a method on your array directly. Thus:
​yourstring = 'x=3&y=4&zed=blah&something=nothing';
dictionary = yourstring.split('&').map( function(a){ return a.split('='); } );
dictionary will now be a nice clean array of (arrays of) name/value pairs, like this:
[["x", "3"], ["y", "4"], ["zed", "blahblah"], ["something", "nothing"]]
If your use case becomes complex, an approach like this can be a nice abstraction. Of course, you can arrange these data in other structures if needed, either by playing with a function passed into map, or processing in a separate pass.