Develop Reference

Javascript object with arrays to search param style query string

Looking for clean way to convert a javascript object containing arrays as values to a search param compatible query string. Serializing an element from each array before moving to the next index.
Using libraries such as querystring or qs, converts the object just fine, but handles each array independently. Passing the resulting string to the server (which I cannot change) causes an error in handling of the items as each previous value is overwritten by the next. Using any kind of array notation in the query string is not supported. The only option I have not tried is a custom sort function, but seems like it would be worse than writing a custom function to parse the object. Any revision to the object that would generate the expected result is welcome as well.
var qs = require("qs")
var jsobj = {
origString:['abc','123'],
newString:['abcd','1234'],
action:'compare'
}
qs.stringify(jsobj,{encode:false})
qs.stringify(jsobj,{encode:false,indices:false})
qs.stringify(jsobj,{encode:false,indices:false,arrayFormat:'repeat'})
Result returned is
"origString=abc&origString=123&newString=abcd&newString=1234&action=compare"
Result desired would be
"origString=abc&newString=abcd&origString=123&newString=1234&action=compare"

I tried reorder your json:
> var jsobj = [{origString: 'abc', newString: 'abcd' }, {origString: '123',
newString: '1234' }, {action:'compare'}]
> qs.stringify(jsobj,{encode:false})
'0[origString]=abc&0[newString]=abcd&1[origString]=123&1[newString]=1234&2[action]=compare'
But I don't know if this is a good alternative for your problem.

Chalk this up to misunderstanding of the application. After spending some more time with the API I realized my mistake, and as posted above by others, order does no matter. Not sure why my first several attempts failed but the question is 'answered'

How to break down an array of objects within a string

I have some code that returns something like this:
body: '[
{
name: "name",
lastname: "lastname"
},
{
name: "name",
lastname: "lastname"
},
{
name: "name",
lastname: "lastname"
}
]'
Of course extracting the body is a simple object.body however, to get rid of the '' that wraps the array is just destroying me. I tried doing object.body.slice(1,-1) to get rid of them, it didnt work. I'm clearly not using the object properly.
How can I "extract" the array from within the body into a usable array?

It sounds like you want to evaluate the content of the string. Assuming whatever code building this string can't actually build JS objects to begin with, you can use eval or Function to generate the objects you need.
var data = eval(string);
Note that you must be sure that the source of the string is safe and reliable, otherwise you could be evaluating malicious code. There may also be performance consequences to using eval.
Using Function is a tiny bit safer, only because the code can not access your local variables. It should also avoid the performance costs of eval.
var data = Function("return (" + string + ");")();
Same warning about malicious code though.
If the string data was valid JSON, you could use JSON.parse, but it isn't, so you can't. To avoid security issues, either have the source provide valid JSON data, or write your own minimal parser to parse the data.

With a valid JSON string, you could just parse the string for an object with JSON.parse, if you have .
array = JSON.parse(string);

You can use split function and then take the first element, let me say
var a = '[{name: "name",lastname: "lastname"},{name: "name",lastname: "lastname"},{name: "name",lastname: "lastname"}]';
var s = a.split("'");
s[0] will return you the desired result

Change a json/javascript object var name or retrieve values from a numerical var

I've some page that gives me kinda of a JSON file/output like this
example:
Description:
23463232
tags
appid
35433523
tags
appid
12345234
tags
appid
I'm trying to get the tags values, like so description.23463232.tags
Add gives me this error:
SyntaxError: identifier starts immediately after numeric literal
I know that you all vars must be strings started by letters but I can't change that because this file/page is not mine. So, I'd like to know what can I do to retrieve the tags values or if there is some way to change the name of that vars like "23463232" to something else.

That number is probably a string. You can try using the square bracket syntax for reading JSON like so: description["23463232"]["tags"]

You can use property accessor to access any property name:
description["23463232"].tags
Just for completeness of the answer, if you still need to change the variables, you can do this:
for(var key in description) {
var value = description[key];
//copy the value to a new key (_ prepended) then delete the original key.
description["_"+key] = value;
delete description[key];
}
Now you can access the values like: description._23463232.tags

Deserializing JavaScript object instance

I am working on an app that heavily uses JavaScript. I am attempting to include some object-oriented practices. In this attempt, I have created a basic class like such:
function Item() { this.init(); }
Item.prototype = {
init: function () {
this.data = {
id: 0,
name: "",
description: ""
}
},
save: function() {
alert("Saving...");
$.ajax({
url: getUrl(),
type: "POST",
data: JSON.stringify(this.data),
contentType: "application/json"
});
}
}
I am creating Item instances in my app and then saving them to local storage like such:
Item item = new Item();
window.localStorage.setItem("itemKey", JSON.stringify(item));
On another page, or at another time, I am retriving that item from local storage like such:
var item = window.localStorage.getItem("itemKey");
item = JSON.parse(item);
item.save();
Unfortunately, the "save" function does not seem to get reached. In the console window, there is an error that says:
*save_Click
(anonymous function)
onclick*
I have a hunch that the "(anonymous function)" is the console window's way of saying "calling item.save(), but item is an anonymous type, so I am trying to access an anonymous function". My problem is, I'm not sure how to convert "var item" into an Item class instance again. Can someone please show me?

Short answer:
Functions cannot be serialized into JSON.
Explanation:
JSON is a cross-platform serialization scheme based on a subset of JS literal syntax. This being the case, it can only store certain things. Per http://www.json.org/ :
Objects: An object is an unordered set of name/value pairs. An object begins with { (left brace) and ends with } (right brace). Each name is followed by : (colon) and the name/value pairs are separated by , (comma).
Arrays: An array is an ordered collection of values. An array begins with [ (left bracket) and ends with ] (right bracket). Values are separated by , (comma).
values: A value can be a string in double quotes, or a number, or true or false or null, or an object or an array. These structures can be nested.
Functions cannot be serialized into JSON because another non-JS platform would not be able to unserialize and use it. Consider the example in reverse. Say I had a PHP object at my server which contained properties and methods. If I serialized that object with PHP's json_encode() and methods were included in the output, how would my JavaScript ever be able to parse and understand PHP code in the methods, let alone use those methods?
What you are seeing in your resulting JSON is the toString() value of the function on the platform you're using. The JSON serilizer calls toString() on anything being serialized which isn't proper for JSON.
I believe your solution is to stop storing instances in JSON/local storage. Rather, save pertinent data for an instance which you set back to a new instance when you need.

I know this question is answered already, however I stumbled upon this by accident and wanted to share a solution to this problem, if anyone is interested.
instead of doing this:
var item = window.localStorage.getItem("itemKey");
item = JSON.parse(item);
item.save();
do something like this:
// get serialized JSON
var itemData = window.localStorage.getItem("itemKey");
//instantiate new Item object
var item = new Item();
// extend item with data
$.extend(item, JSON.parse(itemData));
// this should now work
item.save();
this will work so long as the function you are wanting to call (ie, save()) is prototypal and not an instance method (often times the case, and is indeed the case in the OP's original question.
the $.extend method is a utility method of jquery, but it is trivial to roll your own.

You cant do that, how can javascript possibly knows that item have a save function ? json doesnt allow functions as datas. just read the json spec , you cant save functions.
what you need to do is to create a serialize and deserialize method in the hash you want to stock. that will specifiy what to export and how you can "wake up" an object after parsing the corresponding json string.

You can only store plain Objects in DOMstorages (cookies, urlparams..., everything that needs [de]serialisation through JSON.stringify/JSON.parse). So what you did when sending the ajax data
ajaxsend(this.data);
also applies to string serialisation. You can only store the data, not the instance attributes (like prototype, constructor etc.). So use
savestring(JSON.stringify(item.data));
which is possible because item.data is such a plain Object. And when restoring it, you will only get that plain data Object back. In your case it's easy to reconstruct a Item instance from plain data, because your Items hold their values (only) in a public available property:
var item = new Item;
item.data = JSON.parse(getjsonstring());

Disclaimer
Not a full time time J.S. Developer, answer may have some minor bugs:
Long Boring Explanation
As mentioned by #JAAulde, your object cannot be serialized into JSON, because has functions, the technique that you are using doesn't allow it.
Many people forget or ignore that the objects that are used in an application, may not be exactly the same as saved / restored from storage.
Short & quick Answer
Since you already encapsulate the data members of your object into a single field,
you may want to try something like this:
// create J.S. object from prototype
Item item = new Item();
// assign values as you app. logic requires
item.data.name = "John Doe";
item.data.description = "Cool developer, office ladies, love him";
// encoded item into a JSON style string, not stored yet
var encodedItem = JSON.stringify(item.data)
// store string as a JSON string
window.localStorage.setItem("itemKey", encodedItem);
// do several stuff
// recover item from storage as JSON encoded string
var encodedItem = window.localStorage.getItem("itemKey");
// transform into J.S. object
item.data = JSON.parse(encodedItem);
// do other stuff
Cheers.

Why can't I access JSON objects by key in JavaScript?

This is my JSON object:
{ text: 'stuff',
user: 'user1
}
when I run a typeof jsonObj, I get object. When I run an jsonOb.length, I get undefined. When I tried to access the text property via console.log(jsonObj.text), I get undefined.
So how can I properly access everything in JavaScript?
I don't want to use jQuery as this is all node.js programming so it's serverside.
UPDATED - full JSON
{ text: '#junk_666 おかえりか',
user:
{ display_name: 'mono',
screen_name: 'monochrm',
klout_score: null,
location_str: '画面の前',
utc_offset: '32400' },
venue_id: 1304409836517,
match_type: 'twitter',
tweet_id: '116494264137023489',
created_at_unix: 1316609371,
meta:
{ matchedPhrase: 'junk',
venueName: 'deletemepls really long name' },
tags: [ '' ],
indexed_at_unix: 1316609416 }

The json seems to be invalid
{
"text": "stuff",
"user": "user1"
}

I copied and pasted your object into a FireBug console and it recognized it.
If you need to count the number of key/value pairs, you can use a function such as this one to do it:
function numMembers(o) {
var i=0;
for (a in o) {
i++;
}
return i;
}
You should be able to access the value of the text property via jsonObj.text. Are you sure that your object is being referenced by jsonObj? Also, can you access the values for simpler objects such as the ones mentioned in other posts if you create them? Furthermore, does anything work if you use only ASCII characters? For some reason, it might not be handling some of the non-Latin characters properly.

First, what you have is not JSON because JSON requires property name to be in double quotes. It is a valid JavaScript object literal though, so I'll assume that's how you're using it.
Secondly, JavaScript objects in general do not have a length property. Arrays do.
There's no problem with your object literal so there must be some other problem elsewhere in your code.

Try this:
{ text: 'stuff',
user: 'user1'
}
You left off an apostrophe.
Now that you've posted your full JS code (that's not JSON, as #josnidhin points out)... works fine in jsFiddle. http://jsfiddle.net/Rs9R4/ I don't believe a JS Object has .length, just Arrays.