Develop Reference

Why am I getting "TypeError: 'x' is read-only" error without problems with 'use strict' or 'constant'? [duplicate]

I'd like to store a JavaScript object in HTML5 localStorage, but my object is apparently being converted to a string.
I can store and retrieve primitive JavaScript types and arrays using localStorage, but objects don't seem to work. Should they?
Here's my code:
var testObject = { 'one': 1, 'two': 2, 'three': 3 };
console.log('typeof testObject: ' + typeof testObject);
console.log('testObject properties:');
for (var prop in testObject) {
console.log(' ' + prop + ': ' + testObject[prop]);
}
// Put the object into storage
localStorage.setItem('testObject', testObject);
// Retrieve the object from storage
var retrievedObject = localStorage.getItem('testObject');
console.log('typeof retrievedObject: ' + typeof retrievedObject);
console.log('Value of retrievedObject: ' + retrievedObject);
The console output is
typeof testObject: object
testObject properties:
one: 1
two: 2
three: 3
typeof retrievedObject: string
Value of retrievedObject: [object Object]
It looks to me like the setItem method is converting the input to a string before storing it.
I see this behavior in Safari, Chrome, and Firefox, so I assume it's my misunderstanding of the HTML5 Web Storage specification, not a browser-specific bug or limitation.
I've tried to make sense of the structured clone algorithm described in 2 Common infrastructure. I don't fully understand what it's saying, but maybe my problem has to do with my object's properties not being enumerable (???).
Is there an easy workaround?
Update: The W3C eventually changed their minds about the structured-clone specification, and decided to change the spec to match the implementations. See 12111 – spec for Storage object getItem(key) method does not match implementation behavior. So this question is no longer 100% valid, but the answers still may be of interest.

Looking at the Apple, Mozilla and Mozilla again documentation, the functionality seems to be limited to handle only string key/value pairs.
A workaround can be to stringify your object before storing it, and later parse it when you retrieve it:
var testObject = { 'one': 1, 'two': 2, 'three': 3 };
// Put the object into storage
localStorage.setItem('testObject', JSON.stringify(testObject));
// Retrieve the object from storage
var retrievedObject = localStorage.getItem('testObject');
console.log('retrievedObject: ', JSON.parse(retrievedObject));

A minor improvement on a variant:
Storage.prototype.setObject = function(key, value) {
this.setItem(key, JSON.stringify(value));
}
Storage.prototype.getObject = function(key) {
var value = this.getItem(key);
return value && JSON.parse(value);
}
Because of short-circuit evaluation, getObject() will immediately return null if key is not in Storage. It also will not throw a SyntaxError exception if value is "" (the empty string; JSON.parse() cannot handle that).

You might find it useful to extend the Storage object with these handy methods:
Storage.prototype.setObject = function(key, value) {
this.setItem(key, JSON.stringify(value));
}
Storage.prototype.getObject = function(key) {
return JSON.parse(this.getItem(key));
}
This way you get the functionality that you really wanted even though underneath the API only supports strings.

Creating a facade for the Storage object is an awesome solution. That way, you can implement your own get and set methods. For my API, I have created a facade for localStorage and then check if it is an object or not while setting and getting.
var data = {
set: function(key, value) {
if (!key || !value) {return;}
if (typeof value === "object") {
value = JSON.stringify(value);
}
localStorage.setItem(key, value);
},
get: function(key) {
var value = localStorage.getItem(key);
if (!value) {return;}
// assume it is an object that has been stringified
if (value[0] === "{") {
value = JSON.parse(value);
}
return value;
}
}

Stringify doesn't solve all problems
It seems that the answers here don't cover all types that are possible in JavaScript, so here are some short examples on how to deal with them correctly:
// Objects and Arrays:
var obj = {key: "value"};
localStorage.object = JSON.stringify(obj); // Will ignore private members
obj = JSON.parse(localStorage.object);
// Boolean:
var bool = false;
localStorage.bool = bool;
bool = (localStorage.bool === "true");
// Numbers:
var num = 42;
localStorage.num = num;
num = +localStorage.num; // Short for "num = parseFloat(localStorage.num);"
// Dates:
var date = Date.now();
localStorage.date = date;
date = new Date(parseInt(localStorage.date));
// Regular expressions:
var regex = /^No\.[\d]*$/i; // Usage example: "No.42".match(regex);
localStorage.regex = regex;
var components = localStorage.regex.match("^/(.*)/([a-z]*)$");
regex = new RegExp(components[1], components[2]);
// Functions (not recommended):
function func() {}
localStorage.func = func;
eval(localStorage.func); // Recreates the function with the name "func"
I do not recommend to store functions, because eval() is evil and can lead to issues regarding security, optimisation and debugging.
In general, eval() should never be used in JavaScript code.
Private members
The problem with using JSON.stringify() for storing objects is, that this function can not serialise private members.
This issue can be solved by overwriting the .toString() method (which is called implicitly when storing data in web storage):
// Object with private and public members:
function MyClass(privateContent, publicContent) {
var privateMember = privateContent || "defaultPrivateValue";
this.publicMember = publicContent || "defaultPublicValue";
this.toString = function() {
return '{"private": "' + privateMember + '", "public": "' + this.publicMember + '"}';
};
}
MyClass.fromString = function(serialisedString) {
var properties = JSON.parse(serialisedString || "{}");
return new MyClass(properties.private, properties.public);
};
// Storing:
var obj = new MyClass("invisible", "visible");
localStorage.object = obj;
// Loading:
obj = MyClass.fromString(localStorage.object);
Circular references
Another problem stringify can't deal with are circular references:
var obj = {};
obj["circular"] = obj;
localStorage.object = JSON.stringify(obj); // Fails
In this example, JSON.stringify() will throw a TypeError "Converting circular structure to JSON".
If storing circular references should be supported, the second parameter of JSON.stringify() might be used:
var obj = {id: 1, sub: {}};
obj.sub["circular"] = obj;
localStorage.object = JSON.stringify(obj, function(key, value) {
if(key == 'circular') {
return "$ref" + value.id + "$";
} else {
return value;
}
});
However, finding an efficient solution for storing circular references highly depends on the tasks that need to be solved, and restoring such data is not trivial either.
There are already some question on Stack Overflow dealing with this problem: Stringify (convert to JSON) a JavaScript object with circular reference

There is a great library that wraps many solutions so it even supports older browsers called jStorage
You can set an object
$.jStorage.set(key, value)
And retrieve it easily
value = $.jStorage.get(key)
value = $.jStorage.get(key, "default value")

I arrived at this post after hitting on another post that has been closed as a duplicate of this - titled 'how to store an array in localstorage?'. Which is fine except neither thread actually provides a full answer as to how you can maintain an array in localStorage - however I have managed to craft a solution based on information contained in both threads.
So if anyone else is wanting to be able to push/pop/shift items within an array, and they want that array stored in localStorage or indeed sessionStorage, here you go:
Storage.prototype.getArray = function(arrayName) {
var thisArray = [];
var fetchArrayObject = this.getItem(arrayName);
if (typeof fetchArrayObject !== 'undefined') {
if (fetchArrayObject !== null) { thisArray = JSON.parse(fetchArrayObject); }
}
return thisArray;
}
Storage.prototype.pushArrayItem = function(arrayName,arrayItem) {
var existingArray = this.getArray(arrayName);
existingArray.push(arrayItem);
this.setItem(arrayName,JSON.stringify(existingArray));
}
Storage.prototype.popArrayItem = function(arrayName) {
var arrayItem = {};
var existingArray = this.getArray(arrayName);
if (existingArray.length > 0) {
arrayItem = existingArray.pop();
this.setItem(arrayName,JSON.stringify(existingArray));
}
return arrayItem;
}
Storage.prototype.shiftArrayItem = function(arrayName) {
var arrayItem = {};
var existingArray = this.getArray(arrayName);
if (existingArray.length > 0) {
arrayItem = existingArray.shift();
this.setItem(arrayName,JSON.stringify(existingArray));
}
return arrayItem;
}
Storage.prototype.unshiftArrayItem = function(arrayName,arrayItem) {
var existingArray = this.getArray(arrayName);
existingArray.unshift(arrayItem);
this.setItem(arrayName,JSON.stringify(existingArray));
}
Storage.prototype.deleteArray = function(arrayName) {
this.removeItem(arrayName);
}
example usage - storing simple strings in localStorage array:
localStorage.pushArrayItem('myArray','item one');
localStorage.pushArrayItem('myArray','item two');
example usage - storing objects in sessionStorage array:
var item1 = {}; item1.name = 'fred'; item1.age = 48;
sessionStorage.pushArrayItem('myArray',item1);
var item2 = {}; item2.name = 'dave'; item2.age = 22;
sessionStorage.pushArrayItem('myArray',item2);
common methods to manipulate arrays:
.pushArrayItem(arrayName,arrayItem); -> adds an element onto end of named array
.unshiftArrayItem(arrayName,arrayItem); -> adds an element onto front of named array
.popArrayItem(arrayName); -> removes & returns last array element
.shiftArrayItem(arrayName); -> removes & returns first array element
.getArray(arrayName); -> returns entire array
.deleteArray(arrayName); -> removes entire array from storage

In theory, it is possible to store objects with functions:
function store (a)
{
var c = {f: {}, d: {}};
for (var k in a)
{
if (a.hasOwnProperty(k) && typeof a[k] === 'function')
{
c.f[k] = encodeURIComponent(a[k]);
}
}
c.d = a;
var data = JSON.stringify(c);
window.localStorage.setItem('CODE', data);
}
function restore ()
{
var data = window.localStorage.getItem('CODE');
data = JSON.parse(data);
var b = data.d;
for (var k in data.f)
{
if (data.f.hasOwnProperty(k))
{
b[k] = eval("(" + decodeURIComponent(data.f[k]) + ")");
}
}
return b;
}
However, function serialization/deserialization is unreliable because it is implementation-dependent.

You cannot store a key value without a string format.
LocalStorage only supports string formats for keys/values.
That is why you should convert your data to string whatever it is an array or object.
To store data in localStorage, first of all stringify it using the JSON.stringify() method.
var myObj = [{name:"test", time:"Date 2017-02-03T08:38:04.449Z"}];
localStorage.setItem('item', JSON.stringify(myObj));
Then when you want to retrieve data, you need to parse the string to object again.
var getObj = JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('item'));

It is recommended using an abstraction library for many of the features discussed here, as well as better compatibility. There are lots of options:
jStorage or simpleStorage ← my preference
localForage
alekseykulikov/storage
Lawnchair
Store.js ← another good option
OMG
localDataStorage

You can use localDataStorage to transparently store JavaScript data types (Array, BigInt, Boolean, Date, Float, Integer, String and Object). It also provides lightweight data obfuscation, automatically compresses strings, facilitates query by key (name) as well as query by (key) value, and helps to enforce segmented shared storage within the same domain by prefixing keys.
[DISCLAIMER] I am the author of the utility [/DISCLAIMER]
Examples:
localDataStorage.set( 'key1', 'Belgian' )
localDataStorage.set( 'key2', 1200.0047 )
localDataStorage.set( 'key3', true )
localDataStorage.set( 'key4', { 'RSK' : [1,'3',5,'7',9] } )
localDataStorage.set( 'key5', null )
localDataStorage.get( 'key1' ) // --> 'Belgian'
localDataStorage.get( 'key2' ) // --> 1200.0047
localDataStorage.get( 'key3' ) // --> true
localDataStorage.get( 'key4' ) // --> Object {RSK: Array(5)}
localDataStorage.get( 'key5' ) // --> null
As you can see, the primitive values are respected.

You can use ejson to store the objects as strings.
EJSON is an extension of JSON to support more types. It supports all JSON-safe types, as well as:
Date (JavaScript Date)
Binary (JavaScript Uint8Array or the result of EJSON.newBinary)
User-defined types (see EJSON.addType. For example, Mongo.ObjectID is implemented this way.)
All EJSON serializations are also valid JSON. For example an object with a date and a binary buffer would be serialized in EJSON as:
{
"d": {"$date": 1358205756553},
"b": {"$binary": "c3VyZS4="}
}
Here is my localStorage wrapper using ejson
https://github.com/UziTech/storage.js
I added some types to my wrapper including regular expressions and functions

Another option would be to use an existing plugin.
For example persisto is an open source project that provides an easy interface to localStorage/sessionStorage and automates persistence for form fields (input, radio buttons, and checkboxes).
(Disclaimer: I am the author.)

For TypeScript users willing to set and get typed properties:
/**
* Silly wrapper to be able to type the storage keys
*/
export class TypedStorage<T> {
public removeItem(key: keyof T): void {
localStorage.removeItem(key);
}
public getItem<K extends keyof T>(key: K): T[K] | null {
const data: string | null = localStorage.getItem(key);
return JSON.parse(data);
}
public setItem<K extends keyof T>(key: K, value: T[K]): void {
const data: string = JSON.stringify(value);
localStorage.setItem(key, data);
}
}
Example usage:
// write an interface for the storage
interface MyStore {
age: number,
name: string,
address: {city:string}
}
const storage: TypedStorage<MyStore> = new TypedStorage<MyStore>();
storage.setItem("wrong key", ""); // error unknown key
storage.setItem("age", "hello"); // error, age should be number
storage.setItem("address", {city:"Here"}); // ok
const address: {city:string} = storage.getItem("address");

https://github.com/adrianmay/rhaboo is a localStorage sugar layer that lets you write things like this:
var store = Rhaboo.persistent('Some name');
store.write('count', store.count ? store.count+1 : 1);
store.write('somethingfancy', {
one: ['man', 'went'],
2: 'mow',
went: [ 2, { mow: ['a', 'meadow' ] }, {} ]
});
store.somethingfancy.went[1].mow.write(1, 'lawn');
It doesn't use JSON.stringify/parse because that would be inaccurate and slow on big objects. Instead, each terminal value has its own localStorage entry.
You can probably guess that I might have something to do with rhaboo.

localStorage.setItem('obj',JSON.stringify({name:'Akash'})); // Set Object in localStorage
localStorage.getItem('obj'); // Get Object from localStorage
sessionStorage.setItem('obj',JSON.stringify({name:'Akash'})); // Set Object in sessionStorage
sessionStorage.getItem('obj'); // Get Object from sessionStorage

I made another minimalistic wrapper with only 20 lines of code to allow using it like it should:
localStorage.set('myKey',{a:[1,2,5], b: 'ok'});
localStorage.has('myKey'); // --> true
localStorage.get('myKey'); // --> {a:[1,2,5], b: 'ok'}
localStorage.keys(); // --> ['myKey']
localStorage.remove('myKey');
https://github.com/zevero/simpleWebstorage

I made a thing that doesn't break the existing Storage objects, but creates a wrapper so you can do what you want. The result is a normal object, no methods, with access like any object.
The thing I made.
If you want 1 localStorage property to be magic:
var prop = ObjectStorage(localStorage, 'prop');
If you need several:
var storage = ObjectStorage(localStorage, ['prop', 'more', 'props']);
Everything you do to prop, or the objects inside storage will be automatically saved into localStorage. You're always playing with a real object, so you can do stuff like this:
storage.data.list.push('more data');
storage.another.list.splice(1, 2, {another: 'object'});
And every new object inside a tracked object will be automatically tracked.
The very big downside: it depends on Object.observe() so it has very limited browser support. And it doesn't look like it'll be coming for Firefox or Edge anytime soon.

I found a way to make it work with objects that have cyclic references.
Let's make an object with cyclic references.
obj = {
L: {
L: { v: 'lorem' },
R: { v: 'ipsum' }
},
R: {
L: { v: 'dolor' },
R: {
L: { v: 'sit' },
R: { v: 'amet' }
}
}
}
obj.R.L.uncle = obj.L;
obj.R.R.uncle = obj.L;
obj.R.R.L.uncle = obj.R.L;
obj.R.R.R.uncle = obj.R.L;
obj.L.L.uncle = obj.R;
obj.L.R.uncle = obj.R;
We can't do JSON.stringify here, because of the circular references.
LOCALSTORAGE.CYCLICJSON has .stringify and .parse just like normal JSON, but works with objects with circular references. ("Works" meaning parse(stringify(obj)) and obj are deep equal AND have identical sets of 'inner equalities')
But we can just use the shortcuts:
LOCALSTORAGE.setObject('latinUncles', obj)
recovered = LOCALSTORAGE.getObject('latinUncles')
Then, recovered will be "the same" to obj, in the following sense:
[
obj.L.L.v === recovered.L.L.v,
obj.L.R.v === recovered.L.R.v,
obj.R.L.v === recovered.R.L.v,
obj.R.R.L.v === recovered.R.R.L.v,
obj.R.R.R.v === recovered.R.R.R.v,
obj.R.L.uncle === obj.L,
obj.R.R.uncle === obj.L,
obj.R.R.L.uncle === obj.R.L,
obj.R.R.R.uncle === obj.R.L,
obj.L.L.uncle === obj.R,
obj.L.R.uncle === obj.R,
recovered.R.L.uncle === recovered.L,
recovered.R.R.uncle === recovered.L,
recovered.R.R.L.uncle === recovered.R.L,
recovered.R.R.R.uncle === recovered.R.L,
recovered.L.L.uncle === recovered.R,
recovered.L.R.uncle === recovered.R
]
Here is the implementation of LOCALSTORAGE
LOCALSTORAGE = (function(){
"use strict";
var ignore = [Boolean, Date, Number, RegExp, String];
function primitive(item){
if (typeof item === 'object'){
if (item === null) { return true; }
for (var i=0; i<ignore.length; i++){
if (item instanceof ignore[i]) { return true; }
}
return false;
} else {
return true;
}
}
function infant(value){
return Array.isArray(value) ? [] : {};
}
function decycleIntoForest(object, replacer) {
if (typeof replacer !== 'function'){
replacer = function(x){ return x; }
}
object = replacer(object);
if (primitive(object)) return object;
var objects = [object];
var forest = [infant(object)];
var bucket = new WeakMap(); // bucket = inverse of objects
bucket.set(object, 0);
function addToBucket(obj){
var result = objects.length;
objects.push(obj);
bucket.set(obj, result);
return result;
}
function isInBucket(obj){ return bucket.has(obj); }
function processNode(source, target){
Object.keys(source).forEach(function(key){
var value = replacer(source[key]);
if (primitive(value)){
target[key] = {value: value};
} else {
var ptr;
if (isInBucket(value)){
ptr = bucket.get(value);
} else {
ptr = addToBucket(value);
var newTree = infant(value);
forest.push(newTree);
processNode(value, newTree);
}
target[key] = {pointer: ptr};
}
});
}
processNode(object, forest[0]);
return forest;
};
function deForestIntoCycle(forest) {
var objects = [];
var objectRequested = [];
var todo = [];
function processTree(idx) {
if (idx in objects) return objects[idx];
if (objectRequested[idx]) return null;
objectRequested[idx] = true;
var tree = forest[idx];
var node = Array.isArray(tree) ? [] : {};
for (var key in tree) {
var o = tree[key];
if ('pointer' in o) {
var ptr = o.pointer;
var value = processTree(ptr);
if (value === null) {
todo.push({
node: node,
key: key,
idx: ptr
});
} else {
node[key] = value;
}
} else {
if ('value' in o) {
node[key] = o.value;
} else {
throw new Error('unexpected')
}
}
}
objects[idx] = node;
return node;
}
var result = processTree(0);
for (var i = 0; i < todo.length; i++) {
var item = todo[i];
item.node[item.key] = objects[item.idx];
}
return result;
};
var console = {
log: function(x){
var the = document.getElementById('the');
the.textContent = the.textContent + '\n' + x;
},
delimiter: function(){
var the = document.getElementById('the');
the.textContent = the.textContent +
'\n*******************************************';
}
}
function logCyclicObjectToConsole(root) {
var cycleFree = decycleIntoForest(root);
var shown = cycleFree.map(function(tree, idx) {
return false;
});
var indentIncrement = 4;
function showItem(nodeSlot, indent, label) {
var leadingSpaces = ' '.repeat(indent);
var leadingSpacesPlus = ' '.repeat(indent + indentIncrement);
if (shown[nodeSlot]) {
console.log(leadingSpaces + label + ' ... see above (object #' + nodeSlot + ')');
} else {
console.log(leadingSpaces + label + ' object#' + nodeSlot);
var tree = cycleFree[nodeSlot];
shown[nodeSlot] = true;
Object.keys(tree).forEach(function(key) {
var entry = tree[key];
if ('value' in entry) {
console.log(leadingSpacesPlus + key + ": " + entry.value);
} else {
if ('pointer' in entry) {
showItem(entry.pointer, indent + indentIncrement, key);
}
}
});
}
}
console.delimiter();
showItem(0, 0, 'root');
};
function stringify(obj){
return JSON.stringify(decycleIntoForest(obj));
}
function parse(str){
return deForestIntoCycle(JSON.parse(str));
}
var CYCLICJSON = {
decycleIntoForest: decycleIntoForest,
deForestIntoCycle : deForestIntoCycle,
logCyclicObjectToConsole: logCyclicObjectToConsole,
stringify : stringify,
parse : parse
}
function setObject(name, object){
var str = stringify(object);
localStorage.setItem(name, str);
}
function getObject(name){
var str = localStorage.getItem(name);
if (str===null) return null;
return parse(str);
}
return {
CYCLICJSON : CYCLICJSON,
setObject : setObject,
getObject : getObject
}
})();
obj = {
L: {
L: { v: 'lorem' },
R: { v: 'ipsum' }
},
R: {
L: { v: 'dolor' },
R: {
L: { v: 'sit' },
R: { v: 'amet' }
}
}
}
obj.R.L.uncle = obj.L;
obj.R.R.uncle = obj.L;
obj.R.R.L.uncle = obj.R.L;
obj.R.R.R.uncle = obj.R.L;
obj.L.L.uncle = obj.R;
obj.L.R.uncle = obj.R;
// LOCALSTORAGE.setObject('latinUncles', obj)
// recovered = LOCALSTORAGE.getObject('latinUncles')
// localStorage not available inside fiddle ):
LOCALSTORAGE.CYCLICJSON.logCyclicObjectToConsole(obj)
putIntoLS = LOCALSTORAGE.CYCLICJSON.stringify(obj);
recovered = LOCALSTORAGE.CYCLICJSON.parse(putIntoLS);
LOCALSTORAGE.CYCLICJSON.logCyclicObjectToConsole(recovered);
var the = document.getElementById('the');
the.textContent = the.textContent + '\n\n' +
JSON.stringify(
[
obj.L.L.v === recovered.L.L.v,
obj.L.R.v === recovered.L.R.v,
obj.R.L.v === recovered.R.L.v,
obj.R.R.L.v === recovered.R.R.L.v,
obj.R.R.R.v === recovered.R.R.R.v,
obj.R.L.uncle === obj.L,
obj.R.R.uncle === obj.L,
obj.R.R.L.uncle === obj.R.L,
obj.R.R.R.uncle === obj.R.L,
obj.L.L.uncle === obj.R,
obj.L.R.uncle === obj.R,
recovered.R.L.uncle === recovered.L,
recovered.R.R.uncle === recovered.L,
recovered.R.R.L.uncle === recovered.R.L,
recovered.R.R.R.uncle === recovered.R.L,
recovered.L.L.uncle === recovered.R,
recovered.L.R.uncle === recovered.R
]
)
<pre id='the'></pre>

This question has been answered sufficiently from the JavaScript-only perspective, and others have already noted that both localStorage.getItem and localStorage.setItem have no concept of objects—they handle strings and strings only. This answer provides a TypeScript-friendly solution that incorporates what others have suggested in JavaScript-only solutions.
TypeScript 4.2.3
Storage.prototype.setObject = function (key: string, value: unknown) {
this.setItem(key, JSON.stringify(value));
};
Storage.prototype.getObject = function (key: string) {
const value = this.getItem(key);
if (!value) {
return null;
}
return JSON.parse(value);
};
declare global {
interface Storage {
setObject: (key: string, value: unknown) => void;
getObject: (key: string) => unknown;
}
}
Usage
localStorage.setObject('ages', [23, 18, 33, 22, 58]);
localStorage.getObject('ages');
Explanation
We declare both setObject and getObject functions on the Storage prototype—localStorage is an instance of this type. There's nothing special we really need to note besides the null handling in getObject. Since getItem can return null, we must exit early since calling JSON.parse on a null value will throw a runtime exception.
After declaring the functions on the Storage prototype, we include their type definitions on the Storage type in the global namespace.
Note: If we defined these functions with arrow functions, we'd need to assume that the storage object we're calling is always localStorage, which might not be true. For instance, the above code will add setObject and getObject support to sessionStorage as well.

Here is some extended version of the code posted by danott:
It'll also implement a delete value from localstorage and shows how to adds a Getter and Setter layer so instead of,
localstorage.setItem(preview, true)
you can write
config.preview = true
Okay, here were go:
var PT=Storage.prototype
if (typeof PT._setItem >='u')
PT._setItem = PT.setItem;
PT.setItem = function(key, value)
{
if (typeof value >='u') //..undefined
this.removeItem(key)
else
this._setItem(key, JSON.stringify(value));
}
if (typeof PT._getItem >='u')
PT._getItem = PT.getItem;
PT.getItem = function(key)
{
var ItemData = this._getItem(key)
try
{
return JSON.parse(ItemData);
}
catch(e)
{
return ItemData;
}
}
// Aliases for localStorage.set/getItem
get = localStorage.getItem.bind(localStorage)
set = localStorage.setItem.bind(localStorage)
// Create ConfigWrapperObject
var config = {}
// Helper to create getter & setter
function configCreate(PropToAdd){
Object.defineProperty( config, PropToAdd, {
get: function () { return (get(PropToAdd) )},
set: function (val) { set(PropToAdd, val)}
})
}
//------------------------------
// Usage Part
// Create properties
configCreate('preview')
configCreate('notification')
//...
// Configuration Data transfer
// Set
config.preview = true
// Get
config.preview
// Delete
config.preview = undefined
Well, you may strip the aliases part with .bind(...). However, I just put it in since it's really good to know about this. I took me hours to find out why a simple get = localStorage.getItem; don't work.

I suggest using Jackson-js. It is a library that handles serializing and deserializing of Objects while retaining their structure, based on decorators.
The library handles all the pitfalls such as cyclic reference, attributes aliasing, etc.
Simply describe your class using the #JsonProperty() and #JsonClassType() decorators.
Serialize your object using:
const objectMapper = new ObjectMapper();
localstore.setItem(key, objectMapper.stringify<yourObjectType>(yourObject));
For slightly more detailed explanation, check my answer here:
Typescript objects serialization?
And the Jackson-js tutorial here:
Jackson-js: Powerful JavaScript decorators to serialize/deserialize objects into JSON and vice versa (Part 1)

Circular References
In this answer I focus on data-only objects (without functions, etc.) with circular references and develop ideas mentioned by maja and mathheadinclouds (I use his test case and
my code is several times shorter).
Actually, we can use JSON.stringify with a proper replacer - if the source object contains multi-references to some object, or contains circular references then we reference it by special path-string (similar to JSONPath).
// JSON.strigify replacer for objects with circ ref
function refReplacer() {
let m = new Map(), v = new Map(), init = null;
return function(field, value) {
let p = m.get(this) + (Array.isArray(this) ? `[${field}]` : '.' + field);
let isComplex = value === Object(value)
if (isComplex) m.set(value, p);
let pp = v.get(value)||'';
let path = p.replace(/undefined\.\.?/, '');
let val = pp ? `#REF:${pp[0] == '[' ? '$':'$.'}${pp}` : value;
!init ? (init=value) : (val===init ? val="#REF:$" : 0);
if(!pp && isComplex) v.set(value, path);
return val;
}
}
// ---------------
// TEST
// ---------------
// Generate obj with duplicate/circular references
let obj = {
L: {
L: { v: 'lorem' },
R: { v: 'ipsum' }
},
R: {
L: { v: 'dolor' },
R: {
L: { v: 'sit' },
R: { v: 'amet' }
}
}
}
obj.R.L.uncle = obj.L;
obj.R.R.uncle = obj.L;
obj.R.R.L.uncle = obj.R.L;
obj.R.R.R.uncle = obj.R.L;
obj.L.L.uncle = obj.R;
obj.L.R.uncle = obj.R;
testObject = obj;
let json = JSON.stringify(testObject, refReplacer(), 4);
console.log("Test Object\n", testObject);
console.log("JSON with JSONpath references\n", json);
Parse such JSON content with JSONpath-like references:
// Parse JSON content with JSONpath references to object
function parseRefJSON(json) {
let objToPath = new Map();
let pathToObj = new Map();
let o = JSON.parse(json);
let traverse = (parent, field) => {
let obj = parent;
let path = '#REF:$';
if (field !== undefined) {
obj = parent[field];
path = objToPath.get(parent) + (Array.isArray(parent) ? `[${field}]` : `${field ? '.' + field : ''}`);
}
objToPath.set(obj, path);
pathToObj.set(path, obj);
let ref = pathToObj.get(obj);
if (ref) parent[field] = ref;
for (let f in obj) if (obj === Object(obj)) traverse(obj, f);
}
traverse(o);
return o;
}
// ---------------
// TEST 1
// ---------------
let json = `
{
"L": {
"L": {
"v": "lorem",
"uncle": {
"L": {
"v": "dolor",
"uncle": "#REF:$.L"
},
"R": {
"L": {
"v": "sit",
"uncle": "#REF:$.L.L.uncle.L"
},
"R": {
"v": "amet",
"uncle": "#REF:$.L.L.uncle.L"
},
"uncle": "#REF:$.L"
}
}
},
"R": {
"v": "ipsum",
"uncle": "#REF:$.L.L.uncle"
}
},
"R": "#REF:$.L.L.uncle"
}`;
let testObject = parseRefJSON(json);
console.log("Test Object\n", testObject);
// ---------------
// TEST 2
// ---------------
console.log('Tests from mathheadinclouds answer: ');
let recovered = testObject;
let obj = { // Original object
L: {
L: { v: 'lorem' },
R: { v: 'ipsum' }
},
R: {
L: { v: 'dolor' },
R: {
L: { v: 'sit' },
R: { v: 'amet' }
}
}
}
obj.R.L.uncle = obj.L;
obj.R.R.uncle = obj.L;
obj.R.R.L.uncle = obj.R.L;
obj.R.R.R.uncle = obj.R.L;
obj.L.L.uncle = obj.R;
obj.L.R.uncle = obj.R;
[
obj.L.L.v === recovered.L.L.v,
obj.L.R.v === recovered.L.R.v,
obj.R.L.v === recovered.R.L.v,
obj.R.R.L.v === recovered.R.R.L.v,
obj.R.R.R.v === recovered.R.R.R.v,
obj.R.L.uncle === obj.L,
obj.R.R.uncle === obj.L,
obj.R.R.L.uncle === obj.R.L,
obj.R.R.R.uncle === obj.R.L,
obj.L.L.uncle === obj.R,
obj.L.R.uncle === obj.R,
recovered.R.L.uncle === recovered.L,
recovered.R.R.uncle === recovered.L,
recovered.R.R.L.uncle === recovered.R.L,
recovered.R.R.R.uncle === recovered.R.L,
recovered.L.L.uncle === recovered.R,
recovered.L.R.uncle === recovered.R
].forEach(x => console.log('test pass: ' + x));
To load/save the resulting JSON content into storage, use the following code:
localStorage.myObject = JSON.stringify(testObject, refReplacer()); // Save
testObject = parseRefJSON(localStorage.myObject); // Load

localStorage.setItem('user', JSON.stringify(user));
Then to retrieve it from the store and convert to an object again:
var user = JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('user'));
If we need to delete all entries of the store we can simply do:
localStorage.clear();

How to limit attemps in the quiz? Need to store number of attempts in localstorage [duplicate]

I'd like to store a JavaScript object in HTML5 localStorage, but my object is apparently being converted to a string.
I can store and retrieve primitive JavaScript types and arrays using localStorage, but objects don't seem to work. Should they?
Here's my code:
var testObject = { 'one': 1, 'two': 2, 'three': 3 };
console.log('typeof testObject: ' + typeof testObject);
console.log('testObject properties:');
for (var prop in testObject) {
console.log(' ' + prop + ': ' + testObject[prop]);
}
// Put the object into storage
localStorage.setItem('testObject', testObject);
// Retrieve the object from storage
var retrievedObject = localStorage.getItem('testObject');
console.log('typeof retrievedObject: ' + typeof retrievedObject);
console.log('Value of retrievedObject: ' + retrievedObject);
The console output is
typeof testObject: object
testObject properties:
one: 1
two: 2
three: 3
typeof retrievedObject: string
Value of retrievedObject: [object Object]
It looks to me like the setItem method is converting the input to a string before storing it.
I see this behavior in Safari, Chrome, and Firefox, so I assume it's my misunderstanding of the HTML5 Web Storage specification, not a browser-specific bug or limitation.
I've tried to make sense of the structured clone algorithm described in 2 Common infrastructure. I don't fully understand what it's saying, but maybe my problem has to do with my object's properties not being enumerable (???).
Is there an easy workaround?
Update: The W3C eventually changed their minds about the structured-clone specification, and decided to change the spec to match the implementations. See 12111 – spec for Storage object getItem(key) method does not match implementation behavior. So this question is no longer 100% valid, but the answers still may be of interest.

Looking at the Apple, Mozilla and Mozilla again documentation, the functionality seems to be limited to handle only string key/value pairs.
A workaround can be to stringify your object before storing it, and later parse it when you retrieve it:
var testObject = { 'one': 1, 'two': 2, 'three': 3 };
// Put the object into storage
localStorage.setItem('testObject', JSON.stringify(testObject));
// Retrieve the object from storage
var retrievedObject = localStorage.getItem('testObject');
console.log('retrievedObject: ', JSON.parse(retrievedObject));

A minor improvement on a variant:
Storage.prototype.setObject = function(key, value) {
this.setItem(key, JSON.stringify(value));
}
Storage.prototype.getObject = function(key) {
var value = this.getItem(key);
return value && JSON.parse(value);
}
Because of short-circuit evaluation, getObject() will immediately return null if key is not in Storage. It also will not throw a SyntaxError exception if value is "" (the empty string; JSON.parse() cannot handle that).

You might find it useful to extend the Storage object with these handy methods:
Storage.prototype.setObject = function(key, value) {
this.setItem(key, JSON.stringify(value));
}
Storage.prototype.getObject = function(key) {
return JSON.parse(this.getItem(key));
}
This way you get the functionality that you really wanted even though underneath the API only supports strings.

Creating a facade for the Storage object is an awesome solution. That way, you can implement your own get and set methods. For my API, I have created a facade for localStorage and then check if it is an object or not while setting and getting.
var data = {
set: function(key, value) {
if (!key || !value) {return;}
if (typeof value === "object") {
value = JSON.stringify(value);
}
localStorage.setItem(key, value);
},
get: function(key) {
var value = localStorage.getItem(key);
if (!value) {return;}
// assume it is an object that has been stringified
if (value[0] === "{") {
value = JSON.parse(value);
}
return value;
}
}

Stringify doesn't solve all problems
It seems that the answers here don't cover all types that are possible in JavaScript, so here are some short examples on how to deal with them correctly:
// Objects and Arrays:
var obj = {key: "value"};
localStorage.object = JSON.stringify(obj); // Will ignore private members
obj = JSON.parse(localStorage.object);
// Boolean:
var bool = false;
localStorage.bool = bool;
bool = (localStorage.bool === "true");
// Numbers:
var num = 42;
localStorage.num = num;
num = +localStorage.num; // Short for "num = parseFloat(localStorage.num);"
// Dates:
var date = Date.now();
localStorage.date = date;
date = new Date(parseInt(localStorage.date));
// Regular expressions:
var regex = /^No\.[\d]*$/i; // Usage example: "No.42".match(regex);
localStorage.regex = regex;
var components = localStorage.regex.match("^/(.*)/([a-z]*)$");
regex = new RegExp(components[1], components[2]);
// Functions (not recommended):
function func() {}
localStorage.func = func;
eval(localStorage.func); // Recreates the function with the name "func"
I do not recommend to store functions, because eval() is evil and can lead to issues regarding security, optimisation and debugging.
In general, eval() should never be used in JavaScript code.
Private members
The problem with using JSON.stringify() for storing objects is, that this function can not serialise private members.
This issue can be solved by overwriting the .toString() method (which is called implicitly when storing data in web storage):
// Object with private and public members:
function MyClass(privateContent, publicContent) {
var privateMember = privateContent || "defaultPrivateValue";
this.publicMember = publicContent || "defaultPublicValue";
this.toString = function() {
return '{"private": "' + privateMember + '", "public": "' + this.publicMember + '"}';
};
}
MyClass.fromString = function(serialisedString) {
var properties = JSON.parse(serialisedString || "{}");
return new MyClass(properties.private, properties.public);
};
// Storing:
var obj = new MyClass("invisible", "visible");
localStorage.object = obj;
// Loading:
obj = MyClass.fromString(localStorage.object);
Circular references
Another problem stringify can't deal with are circular references:
var obj = {};
obj["circular"] = obj;
localStorage.object = JSON.stringify(obj); // Fails
In this example, JSON.stringify() will throw a TypeError "Converting circular structure to JSON".
If storing circular references should be supported, the second parameter of JSON.stringify() might be used:
var obj = {id: 1, sub: {}};
obj.sub["circular"] = obj;
localStorage.object = JSON.stringify(obj, function(key, value) {
if(key == 'circular') {
return "$ref" + value.id + "$";
} else {
return value;
}
});
However, finding an efficient solution for storing circular references highly depends on the tasks that need to be solved, and restoring such data is not trivial either.
There are already some question on Stack Overflow dealing with this problem: Stringify (convert to JSON) a JavaScript object with circular reference

There is a great library that wraps many solutions so it even supports older browsers called jStorage
You can set an object
$.jStorage.set(key, value)
And retrieve it easily
value = $.jStorage.get(key)
value = $.jStorage.get(key, "default value")

I arrived at this post after hitting on another post that has been closed as a duplicate of this - titled 'how to store an array in localstorage?'. Which is fine except neither thread actually provides a full answer as to how you can maintain an array in localStorage - however I have managed to craft a solution based on information contained in both threads.
So if anyone else is wanting to be able to push/pop/shift items within an array, and they want that array stored in localStorage or indeed sessionStorage, here you go:
Storage.prototype.getArray = function(arrayName) {
var thisArray = [];
var fetchArrayObject = this.getItem(arrayName);
if (typeof fetchArrayObject !== 'undefined') {
if (fetchArrayObject !== null) { thisArray = JSON.parse(fetchArrayObject); }
}
return thisArray;
}
Storage.prototype.pushArrayItem = function(arrayName,arrayItem) {
var existingArray = this.getArray(arrayName);
existingArray.push(arrayItem);
this.setItem(arrayName,JSON.stringify(existingArray));
}
Storage.prototype.popArrayItem = function(arrayName) {
var arrayItem = {};
var existingArray = this.getArray(arrayName);
if (existingArray.length > 0) {
arrayItem = existingArray.pop();
this.setItem(arrayName,JSON.stringify(existingArray));
}
return arrayItem;
}
Storage.prototype.shiftArrayItem = function(arrayName) {
var arrayItem = {};
var existingArray = this.getArray(arrayName);
if (existingArray.length > 0) {
arrayItem = existingArray.shift();
this.setItem(arrayName,JSON.stringify(existingArray));
}
return arrayItem;
}
Storage.prototype.unshiftArrayItem = function(arrayName,arrayItem) {
var existingArray = this.getArray(arrayName);
existingArray.unshift(arrayItem);
this.setItem(arrayName,JSON.stringify(existingArray));
}
Storage.prototype.deleteArray = function(arrayName) {
this.removeItem(arrayName);
}
example usage - storing simple strings in localStorage array:
localStorage.pushArrayItem('myArray','item one');
localStorage.pushArrayItem('myArray','item two');
example usage - storing objects in sessionStorage array:
var item1 = {}; item1.name = 'fred'; item1.age = 48;
sessionStorage.pushArrayItem('myArray',item1);
var item2 = {}; item2.name = 'dave'; item2.age = 22;
sessionStorage.pushArrayItem('myArray',item2);
common methods to manipulate arrays:
.pushArrayItem(arrayName,arrayItem); -> adds an element onto end of named array
.unshiftArrayItem(arrayName,arrayItem); -> adds an element onto front of named array
.popArrayItem(arrayName); -> removes & returns last array element
.shiftArrayItem(arrayName); -> removes & returns first array element
.getArray(arrayName); -> returns entire array
.deleteArray(arrayName); -> removes entire array from storage

In theory, it is possible to store objects with functions:
function store (a)
{
var c = {f: {}, d: {}};
for (var k in a)
{
if (a.hasOwnProperty(k) && typeof a[k] === 'function')
{
c.f[k] = encodeURIComponent(a[k]);
}
}
c.d = a;
var data = JSON.stringify(c);
window.localStorage.setItem('CODE', data);
}
function restore ()
{
var data = window.localStorage.getItem('CODE');
data = JSON.parse(data);
var b = data.d;
for (var k in data.f)
{
if (data.f.hasOwnProperty(k))
{
b[k] = eval("(" + decodeURIComponent(data.f[k]) + ")");
}
}
return b;
}
However, function serialization/deserialization is unreliable because it is implementation-dependent.

You cannot store a key value without a string format.
LocalStorage only supports string formats for keys/values.
That is why you should convert your data to string whatever it is an array or object.
To store data in localStorage, first of all stringify it using the JSON.stringify() method.
var myObj = [{name:"test", time:"Date 2017-02-03T08:38:04.449Z"}];
localStorage.setItem('item', JSON.stringify(myObj));
Then when you want to retrieve data, you need to parse the string to object again.
var getObj = JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('item'));

It is recommended using an abstraction library for many of the features discussed here, as well as better compatibility. There are lots of options:
jStorage or simpleStorage ← my preference
localForage
alekseykulikov/storage
Lawnchair
Store.js ← another good option
OMG
localDataStorage

You can use localDataStorage to transparently store JavaScript data types (Array, BigInt, Boolean, Date, Float, Integer, String and Object). It also provides lightweight data obfuscation, automatically compresses strings, facilitates query by key (name) as well as query by (key) value, and helps to enforce segmented shared storage within the same domain by prefixing keys.
[DISCLAIMER] I am the author of the utility [/DISCLAIMER]
Examples:
localDataStorage.set( 'key1', 'Belgian' )
localDataStorage.set( 'key2', 1200.0047 )
localDataStorage.set( 'key3', true )
localDataStorage.set( 'key4', { 'RSK' : [1,'3',5,'7',9] } )
localDataStorage.set( 'key5', null )
localDataStorage.get( 'key1' ) // --> 'Belgian'
localDataStorage.get( 'key2' ) // --> 1200.0047
localDataStorage.get( 'key3' ) // --> true
localDataStorage.get( 'key4' ) // --> Object {RSK: Array(5)}
localDataStorage.get( 'key5' ) // --> null
As you can see, the primitive values are respected.

You can use ejson to store the objects as strings.
EJSON is an extension of JSON to support more types. It supports all JSON-safe types, as well as:
Date (JavaScript Date)
Binary (JavaScript Uint8Array or the result of EJSON.newBinary)
User-defined types (see EJSON.addType. For example, Mongo.ObjectID is implemented this way.)
All EJSON serializations are also valid JSON. For example an object with a date and a binary buffer would be serialized in EJSON as:
{
"d": {"$date": 1358205756553},
"b": {"$binary": "c3VyZS4="}
}
Here is my localStorage wrapper using ejson
https://github.com/UziTech/storage.js
I added some types to my wrapper including regular expressions and functions

Another option would be to use an existing plugin.
For example persisto is an open source project that provides an easy interface to localStorage/sessionStorage and automates persistence for form fields (input, radio buttons, and checkboxes).
(Disclaimer: I am the author.)

For TypeScript users willing to set and get typed properties:
/**
* Silly wrapper to be able to type the storage keys
*/
export class TypedStorage<T> {
public removeItem(key: keyof T): void {
localStorage.removeItem(key);
}
public getItem<K extends keyof T>(key: K): T[K] | null {
const data: string | null = localStorage.getItem(key);
return JSON.parse(data);
}
public setItem<K extends keyof T>(key: K, value: T[K]): void {
const data: string = JSON.stringify(value);
localStorage.setItem(key, data);
}
}
Example usage:
// write an interface for the storage
interface MyStore {
age: number,
name: string,
address: {city:string}
}
const storage: TypedStorage<MyStore> = new TypedStorage<MyStore>();
storage.setItem("wrong key", ""); // error unknown key
storage.setItem("age", "hello"); // error, age should be number
storage.setItem("address", {city:"Here"}); // ok
const address: {city:string} = storage.getItem("address");

https://github.com/adrianmay/rhaboo is a localStorage sugar layer that lets you write things like this:
var store = Rhaboo.persistent('Some name');
store.write('count', store.count ? store.count+1 : 1);
store.write('somethingfancy', {
one: ['man', 'went'],
2: 'mow',
went: [ 2, { mow: ['a', 'meadow' ] }, {} ]
});
store.somethingfancy.went[1].mow.write(1, 'lawn');
It doesn't use JSON.stringify/parse because that would be inaccurate and slow on big objects. Instead, each terminal value has its own localStorage entry.
You can probably guess that I might have something to do with rhaboo.

localStorage.setItem('obj',JSON.stringify({name:'Akash'})); // Set Object in localStorage
localStorage.getItem('obj'); // Get Object from localStorage
sessionStorage.setItem('obj',JSON.stringify({name:'Akash'})); // Set Object in sessionStorage
sessionStorage.getItem('obj'); // Get Object from sessionStorage

I made another minimalistic wrapper with only 20 lines of code to allow using it like it should:
localStorage.set('myKey',{a:[1,2,5], b: 'ok'});
localStorage.has('myKey'); // --> true
localStorage.get('myKey'); // --> {a:[1,2,5], b: 'ok'}
localStorage.keys(); // --> ['myKey']
localStorage.remove('myKey');
https://github.com/zevero/simpleWebstorage

I made a thing that doesn't break the existing Storage objects, but creates a wrapper so you can do what you want. The result is a normal object, no methods, with access like any object.
The thing I made.
If you want 1 localStorage property to be magic:
var prop = ObjectStorage(localStorage, 'prop');
If you need several:
var storage = ObjectStorage(localStorage, ['prop', 'more', 'props']);
Everything you do to prop, or the objects inside storage will be automatically saved into localStorage. You're always playing with a real object, so you can do stuff like this:
storage.data.list.push('more data');
storage.another.list.splice(1, 2, {another: 'object'});
And every new object inside a tracked object will be automatically tracked.
The very big downside: it depends on Object.observe() so it has very limited browser support. And it doesn't look like it'll be coming for Firefox or Edge anytime soon.

I found a way to make it work with objects that have cyclic references.
Let's make an object with cyclic references.
obj = {
L: {
L: { v: 'lorem' },
R: { v: 'ipsum' }
},
R: {
L: { v: 'dolor' },
R: {
L: { v: 'sit' },
R: { v: 'amet' }
}
}
}
obj.R.L.uncle = obj.L;
obj.R.R.uncle = obj.L;
obj.R.R.L.uncle = obj.R.L;
obj.R.R.R.uncle = obj.R.L;
obj.L.L.uncle = obj.R;
obj.L.R.uncle = obj.R;
We can't do JSON.stringify here, because of the circular references.
LOCALSTORAGE.CYCLICJSON has .stringify and .parse just like normal JSON, but works with objects with circular references. ("Works" meaning parse(stringify(obj)) and obj are deep equal AND have identical sets of 'inner equalities')
But we can just use the shortcuts:
LOCALSTORAGE.setObject('latinUncles', obj)
recovered = LOCALSTORAGE.getObject('latinUncles')
Then, recovered will be "the same" to obj, in the following sense:
[
obj.L.L.v === recovered.L.L.v,
obj.L.R.v === recovered.L.R.v,
obj.R.L.v === recovered.R.L.v,
obj.R.R.L.v === recovered.R.R.L.v,
obj.R.R.R.v === recovered.R.R.R.v,
obj.R.L.uncle === obj.L,
obj.R.R.uncle === obj.L,
obj.R.R.L.uncle === obj.R.L,
obj.R.R.R.uncle === obj.R.L,
obj.L.L.uncle === obj.R,
obj.L.R.uncle === obj.R,
recovered.R.L.uncle === recovered.L,
recovered.R.R.uncle === recovered.L,
recovered.R.R.L.uncle === recovered.R.L,
recovered.R.R.R.uncle === recovered.R.L,
recovered.L.L.uncle === recovered.R,
recovered.L.R.uncle === recovered.R
]
Here is the implementation of LOCALSTORAGE
LOCALSTORAGE = (function(){
"use strict";
var ignore = [Boolean, Date, Number, RegExp, String];
function primitive(item){
if (typeof item === 'object'){
if (item === null) { return true; }
for (var i=0; i<ignore.length; i++){
if (item instanceof ignore[i]) { return true; }
}
return false;
} else {
return true;
}
}
function infant(value){
return Array.isArray(value) ? [] : {};
}
function decycleIntoForest(object, replacer) {
if (typeof replacer !== 'function'){
replacer = function(x){ return x; }
}
object = replacer(object);
if (primitive(object)) return object;
var objects = [object];
var forest = [infant(object)];
var bucket = new WeakMap(); // bucket = inverse of objects
bucket.set(object, 0);
function addToBucket(obj){
var result = objects.length;
objects.push(obj);
bucket.set(obj, result);
return result;
}
function isInBucket(obj){ return bucket.has(obj); }
function processNode(source, target){
Object.keys(source).forEach(function(key){
var value = replacer(source[key]);
if (primitive(value)){
target[key] = {value: value};
} else {
var ptr;
if (isInBucket(value)){
ptr = bucket.get(value);
} else {
ptr = addToBucket(value);
var newTree = infant(value);
forest.push(newTree);
processNode(value, newTree);
}
target[key] = {pointer: ptr};
}
});
}
processNode(object, forest[0]);
return forest;
};
function deForestIntoCycle(forest) {
var objects = [];
var objectRequested = [];
var todo = [];
function processTree(idx) {
if (idx in objects) return objects[idx];
if (objectRequested[idx]) return null;
objectRequested[idx] = true;
var tree = forest[idx];
var node = Array.isArray(tree) ? [] : {};
for (var key in tree) {
var o = tree[key];
if ('pointer' in o) {
var ptr = o.pointer;
var value = processTree(ptr);
if (value === null) {
todo.push({
node: node,
key: key,
idx: ptr
});
} else {
node[key] = value;
}
} else {
if ('value' in o) {
node[key] = o.value;
} else {
throw new Error('unexpected')
}
}
}
objects[idx] = node;
return node;
}
var result = processTree(0);
for (var i = 0; i < todo.length; i++) {
var item = todo[i];
item.node[item.key] = objects[item.idx];
}
return result;
};
var console = {
log: function(x){
var the = document.getElementById('the');
the.textContent = the.textContent + '\n' + x;
},
delimiter: function(){
var the = document.getElementById('the');
the.textContent = the.textContent +
'\n*******************************************';
}
}
function logCyclicObjectToConsole(root) {
var cycleFree = decycleIntoForest(root);
var shown = cycleFree.map(function(tree, idx) {
return false;
});
var indentIncrement = 4;
function showItem(nodeSlot, indent, label) {
var leadingSpaces = ' '.repeat(indent);
var leadingSpacesPlus = ' '.repeat(indent + indentIncrement);
if (shown[nodeSlot]) {
console.log(leadingSpaces + label + ' ... see above (object #' + nodeSlot + ')');
} else {
console.log(leadingSpaces + label + ' object#' + nodeSlot);
var tree = cycleFree[nodeSlot];
shown[nodeSlot] = true;
Object.keys(tree).forEach(function(key) {
var entry = tree[key];
if ('value' in entry) {
console.log(leadingSpacesPlus + key + ": " + entry.value);
} else {
if ('pointer' in entry) {
showItem(entry.pointer, indent + indentIncrement, key);
}
}
});
}
}
console.delimiter();
showItem(0, 0, 'root');
};
function stringify(obj){
return JSON.stringify(decycleIntoForest(obj));
}
function parse(str){
return deForestIntoCycle(JSON.parse(str));
}
var CYCLICJSON = {
decycleIntoForest: decycleIntoForest,
deForestIntoCycle : deForestIntoCycle,
logCyclicObjectToConsole: logCyclicObjectToConsole,
stringify : stringify,
parse : parse
}
function setObject(name, object){
var str = stringify(object);
localStorage.setItem(name, str);
}
function getObject(name){
var str = localStorage.getItem(name);
if (str===null) return null;
return parse(str);
}
return {
CYCLICJSON : CYCLICJSON,
setObject : setObject,
getObject : getObject
}
})();
obj = {
L: {
L: { v: 'lorem' },
R: { v: 'ipsum' }
},
R: {
L: { v: 'dolor' },
R: {
L: { v: 'sit' },
R: { v: 'amet' }
}
}
}
obj.R.L.uncle = obj.L;
obj.R.R.uncle = obj.L;
obj.R.R.L.uncle = obj.R.L;
obj.R.R.R.uncle = obj.R.L;
obj.L.L.uncle = obj.R;
obj.L.R.uncle = obj.R;
// LOCALSTORAGE.setObject('latinUncles', obj)
// recovered = LOCALSTORAGE.getObject('latinUncles')
// localStorage not available inside fiddle ):
LOCALSTORAGE.CYCLICJSON.logCyclicObjectToConsole(obj)
putIntoLS = LOCALSTORAGE.CYCLICJSON.stringify(obj);
recovered = LOCALSTORAGE.CYCLICJSON.parse(putIntoLS);
LOCALSTORAGE.CYCLICJSON.logCyclicObjectToConsole(recovered);
var the = document.getElementById('the');
the.textContent = the.textContent + '\n\n' +
JSON.stringify(
[
obj.L.L.v === recovered.L.L.v,
obj.L.R.v === recovered.L.R.v,
obj.R.L.v === recovered.R.L.v,
obj.R.R.L.v === recovered.R.R.L.v,
obj.R.R.R.v === recovered.R.R.R.v,
obj.R.L.uncle === obj.L,
obj.R.R.uncle === obj.L,
obj.R.R.L.uncle === obj.R.L,
obj.R.R.R.uncle === obj.R.L,
obj.L.L.uncle === obj.R,
obj.L.R.uncle === obj.R,
recovered.R.L.uncle === recovered.L,
recovered.R.R.uncle === recovered.L,
recovered.R.R.L.uncle === recovered.R.L,
recovered.R.R.R.uncle === recovered.R.L,
recovered.L.L.uncle === recovered.R,
recovered.L.R.uncle === recovered.R
]
)
<pre id='the'></pre>

This question has been answered sufficiently from the JavaScript-only perspective, and others have already noted that both localStorage.getItem and localStorage.setItem have no concept of objects—they handle strings and strings only. This answer provides a TypeScript-friendly solution that incorporates what others have suggested in JavaScript-only solutions.
TypeScript 4.2.3
Storage.prototype.setObject = function (key: string, value: unknown) {
this.setItem(key, JSON.stringify(value));
};
Storage.prototype.getObject = function (key: string) {
const value = this.getItem(key);
if (!value) {
return null;
}
return JSON.parse(value);
};
declare global {
interface Storage {
setObject: (key: string, value: unknown) => void;
getObject: (key: string) => unknown;
}
}
Usage
localStorage.setObject('ages', [23, 18, 33, 22, 58]);
localStorage.getObject('ages');
Explanation
We declare both setObject and getObject functions on the Storage prototype—localStorage is an instance of this type. There's nothing special we really need to note besides the null handling in getObject. Since getItem can return null, we must exit early since calling JSON.parse on a null value will throw a runtime exception.
After declaring the functions on the Storage prototype, we include their type definitions on the Storage type in the global namespace.
Note: If we defined these functions with arrow functions, we'd need to assume that the storage object we're calling is always localStorage, which might not be true. For instance, the above code will add setObject and getObject support to sessionStorage as well.

Here is some extended version of the code posted by danott:
It'll also implement a delete value from localstorage and shows how to adds a Getter and Setter layer so instead of,
localstorage.setItem(preview, true)
you can write
config.preview = true
Okay, here were go:
var PT=Storage.prototype
if (typeof PT._setItem >='u')
PT._setItem = PT.setItem;
PT.setItem = function(key, value)
{
if (typeof value >='u') //..undefined
this.removeItem(key)
else
this._setItem(key, JSON.stringify(value));
}
if (typeof PT._getItem >='u')
PT._getItem = PT.getItem;
PT.getItem = function(key)
{
var ItemData = this._getItem(key)
try
{
return JSON.parse(ItemData);
}
catch(e)
{
return ItemData;
}
}
// Aliases for localStorage.set/getItem
get = localStorage.getItem.bind(localStorage)
set = localStorage.setItem.bind(localStorage)
// Create ConfigWrapperObject
var config = {}
// Helper to create getter & setter
function configCreate(PropToAdd){
Object.defineProperty( config, PropToAdd, {
get: function () { return (get(PropToAdd) )},
set: function (val) { set(PropToAdd, val)}
})
}
//------------------------------
// Usage Part
// Create properties
configCreate('preview')
configCreate('notification')
//...
// Configuration Data transfer
// Set
config.preview = true
// Get
config.preview
// Delete
config.preview = undefined
Well, you may strip the aliases part with .bind(...). However, I just put it in since it's really good to know about this. I took me hours to find out why a simple get = localStorage.getItem; don't work.

I suggest using Jackson-js. It is a library that handles serializing and deserializing of Objects while retaining their structure, based on decorators.
The library handles all the pitfalls such as cyclic reference, attributes aliasing, etc.
Simply describe your class using the #JsonProperty() and #JsonClassType() decorators.
Serialize your object using:
const objectMapper = new ObjectMapper();
localstore.setItem(key, objectMapper.stringify<yourObjectType>(yourObject));
For slightly more detailed explanation, check my answer here:
Typescript objects serialization?
And the Jackson-js tutorial here:
Jackson-js: Powerful JavaScript decorators to serialize/deserialize objects into JSON and vice versa (Part 1)

Circular References
In this answer I focus on data-only objects (without functions, etc.) with circular references and develop ideas mentioned by maja and mathheadinclouds (I use his test case and
my code is several times shorter).
Actually, we can use JSON.stringify with a proper replacer - if the source object contains multi-references to some object, or contains circular references then we reference it by special path-string (similar to JSONPath).
// JSON.strigify replacer for objects with circ ref
function refReplacer() {
let m = new Map(), v = new Map(), init = null;
return function(field, value) {
let p = m.get(this) + (Array.isArray(this) ? `[${field}]` : '.' + field);
let isComplex = value === Object(value)
if (isComplex) m.set(value, p);
let pp = v.get(value)||'';
let path = p.replace(/undefined\.\.?/, '');
let val = pp ? `#REF:${pp[0] == '[' ? '$':'$.'}${pp}` : value;
!init ? (init=value) : (val===init ? val="#REF:$" : 0);
if(!pp && isComplex) v.set(value, path);
return val;
}
}
// ---------------
// TEST
// ---------------
// Generate obj with duplicate/circular references
let obj = {
L: {
L: { v: 'lorem' },
R: { v: 'ipsum' }
},
R: {
L: { v: 'dolor' },
R: {
L: { v: 'sit' },
R: { v: 'amet' }
}
}
}
obj.R.L.uncle = obj.L;
obj.R.R.uncle = obj.L;
obj.R.R.L.uncle = obj.R.L;
obj.R.R.R.uncle = obj.R.L;
obj.L.L.uncle = obj.R;
obj.L.R.uncle = obj.R;
testObject = obj;
let json = JSON.stringify(testObject, refReplacer(), 4);
console.log("Test Object\n", testObject);
console.log("JSON with JSONpath references\n", json);
Parse such JSON content with JSONpath-like references:
// Parse JSON content with JSONpath references to object
function parseRefJSON(json) {
let objToPath = new Map();
let pathToObj = new Map();
let o = JSON.parse(json);
let traverse = (parent, field) => {
let obj = parent;
let path = '#REF:$';
if (field !== undefined) {
obj = parent[field];
path = objToPath.get(parent) + (Array.isArray(parent) ? `[${field}]` : `${field ? '.' + field : ''}`);
}
objToPath.set(obj, path);
pathToObj.set(path, obj);
let ref = pathToObj.get(obj);
if (ref) parent[field] = ref;
for (let f in obj) if (obj === Object(obj)) traverse(obj, f);
}
traverse(o);
return o;
}
// ---------------
// TEST 1
// ---------------
let json = `
{
"L": {
"L": {
"v": "lorem",
"uncle": {
"L": {
"v": "dolor",
"uncle": "#REF:$.L"
},
"R": {
"L": {
"v": "sit",
"uncle": "#REF:$.L.L.uncle.L"
},
"R": {
"v": "amet",
"uncle": "#REF:$.L.L.uncle.L"
},
"uncle": "#REF:$.L"
}
}
},
"R": {
"v": "ipsum",
"uncle": "#REF:$.L.L.uncle"
}
},
"R": "#REF:$.L.L.uncle"
}`;
let testObject = parseRefJSON(json);
console.log("Test Object\n", testObject);
// ---------------
// TEST 2
// ---------------
console.log('Tests from mathheadinclouds answer: ');
let recovered = testObject;
let obj = { // Original object
L: {
L: { v: 'lorem' },
R: { v: 'ipsum' }
},
R: {
L: { v: 'dolor' },
R: {
L: { v: 'sit' },
R: { v: 'amet' }
}
}
}
obj.R.L.uncle = obj.L;
obj.R.R.uncle = obj.L;
obj.R.R.L.uncle = obj.R.L;
obj.R.R.R.uncle = obj.R.L;
obj.L.L.uncle = obj.R;
obj.L.R.uncle = obj.R;
[
obj.L.L.v === recovered.L.L.v,
obj.L.R.v === recovered.L.R.v,
obj.R.L.v === recovered.R.L.v,
obj.R.R.L.v === recovered.R.R.L.v,
obj.R.R.R.v === recovered.R.R.R.v,
obj.R.L.uncle === obj.L,
obj.R.R.uncle === obj.L,
obj.R.R.L.uncle === obj.R.L,
obj.R.R.R.uncle === obj.R.L,
obj.L.L.uncle === obj.R,
obj.L.R.uncle === obj.R,
recovered.R.L.uncle === recovered.L,
recovered.R.R.uncle === recovered.L,
recovered.R.R.L.uncle === recovered.R.L,
recovered.R.R.R.uncle === recovered.R.L,
recovered.L.L.uncle === recovered.R,
recovered.L.R.uncle === recovered.R
].forEach(x => console.log('test pass: ' + x));
To load/save the resulting JSON content into storage, use the following code:
localStorage.myObject = JSON.stringify(testObject, refReplacer()); // Save
testObject = parseRefJSON(localStorage.myObject); // Load

localStorage.setItem('user', JSON.stringify(user));
Then to retrieve it from the store and convert to an object again:
var user = JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('user'));
If we need to delete all entries of the store we can simply do:
localStorage.clear();

Checking existence of nested property in an object javascript

I have already reviewed some of the answers to similar questions, however, I want to ask my question differently.
Let's say we have a string like "level1.level2.level3. ..." that indicates a nested property in an object called Obj.
The point is that we may not know how many nested properties exist in this string. For instance, it may be "level1.level2" or "level1.level2.level3.level4".
Now, I want to write a function, that given the Obj and the string of properties as input, to simply tell us if such a nested property exists in the object or not (let's say true or false as output).
Update:
Thanks to #Silvinus, I found the solution with a minor modification:
private checkNestedProperty(obj, props) {
var splitted = props.split('.');
var temp = obj;
for (var index in splitted) {
if (temp[splitted[index]] === 'undefined' || !temp[splitted[index]]) return false;
temp = temp[splitted[index]];
}
return true;
}

You could use Array#every() and thisArg of it, by iterating the keys and checking if it is in the given object.
var fn = function (o, props) {
return props.split('.').every(k => k in o && (o = o[k], true));
}
console.log(fn({}, "toto.tata")); // false
console.log(fn({ toto: { tata: 17 } }, "toto.tata")); // true
console.log(fn({ toto: { tata: { tutu: 17 } } }, "toto.foo.tata")); // false
console.log(fn({ toto: { tata: false } }, "toto.tata")); // true

You can explore your Obj with this function :
var fn = function(obj, props) {
var splited = props.split('.');
var temp = obj;
for(var index in splited) {
if(typeof temp[splited[index]] === 'undefined') return false;
temp = temp[splited[index]]
}
return true
}
var result = fn({ }, "toto.tata");
console.log(result); // false
var result = fn({ toto: { tata: 17 } }, "toto.tata");
console.log(result); // true
var result = fn({ toto: { tata: { tutu: 17 } } }, "toto.foo.tata");
console.log(result); // false
This function allow to explore nested property of Obj that depends of props passed in parameter

This answer provides the basic answer to your question. But it needs to be tweaked to handle the undefined case:
function isDefined(obj, path) {
function index(obj, i) {
return obj && typeof obj === 'object' ? obj[i] : undefined;
}
return path.split(".").reduce(index, obj) !== undefined;
}

Based on the solution given by #Silvinus here is a solution if you deal with array inside nested objects (as it is often the case in results from databases queries) :
checkNested = function(obj, props) {
var splited = props.split('.');
var temp = obj;
for(var index in splited) {
var regExp = /\[([^)]+)\]/;
var matches = regExp.exec(splited[index])
if(matches) {
splited[index] = splited[index].replace(matches[0], '');
}
if(matches) {
if(matches && typeof temp[splited[index]][matches[1]] === 'undefined') return false;
temp = temp[splited[index]][matches[1]];
}
else {
if(!matches && typeof temp[splited[index]] === 'undefined') return false;
temp = temp[splited[index]]
}
}
return true
}
obj = {ok: {ao: [{},{ok: { aa: ''}}]}}
console.log(checkNested(obj, 'ok.ao[1].ok.aa')) // ==> true
console.log(checkNested(obj, 'ok.ao[0].ok.aa')) // ==> false

Detecting and fixing circular references in JavaScript

Given I have a circular reference in a large JavaScript object
And I try JSON.stringify(problematicObject)
And the browser throws
"TypeError: Converting circular structure to JSON"
(which is expected)
Then I want to find the cause of this circular reference, preferably using Chrome developer tools? Is this possible? How do you find and fix circular references in a large object?

Pulled from http://blog.vjeux.com/2011/javascript/cyclic-object-detection.html. One line added to detect where the cycle is. Paste this into the Chrome dev tools:
function isCyclic (obj) {
var seenObjects = [];
function detect (obj) {
if (obj && typeof obj === 'object') {
if (seenObjects.indexOf(obj) !== -1) {
return true;
}
seenObjects.push(obj);
for (var key in obj) {
if (obj.hasOwnProperty(key) && detect(obj[key])) {
console.log(obj, 'cycle at ' + key);
return true;
}
}
}
return false;
}
return detect(obj);
}
Here's the test:
> a = {}
> b = {}
> a.b = b; b.a = a;
> isCyclic(a)
Object {a: Object}
"cycle at a"
Object {b: Object}
"cycle at b"
true

#tmack's answer is definitely what I was looking for when I found this question!
Unfortunately it returns many false positives - it returns true if an object is replicated in the JSON, which isn't the same as circularity. Circularity means that an object is its own child, e.g.
obj.key1.key2.[...].keyX === obj
I modified the original answer, and this is working for me:
function isCyclic(obj) {
var keys = [];
var stack = [];
var stackSet = new Set();
var detected = false;
function detect(obj, key) {
if (obj && typeof obj != 'object') { return; }
if (stackSet.has(obj)) { // it's cyclic! Print the object and its locations.
var oldindex = stack.indexOf(obj);
var l1 = keys.join('.') + '.' + key;
var l2 = keys.slice(0, oldindex + 1).join('.');
console.log('CIRCULAR: ' + l1 + ' = ' + l2 + ' = ' + obj);
console.log(obj);
detected = true;
return;
}
keys.push(key);
stack.push(obj);
stackSet.add(obj);
for (var k in obj) { //dive on the object's children
if (Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(obj, k)) { detect(obj[k], k); }
}
keys.pop();
stack.pop();
stackSet.delete(obj);
return;
}
detect(obj, 'obj');
return detected;
}
Here are a few very simple tests:
var root = {}
var leaf = {'isleaf':true};
var cycle2 = {l:leaf};
var cycle1 = {c2: cycle2, l:leaf};
cycle2.c1 = cycle1
root.leaf = leaf
isCyclic(cycle1); // returns true, logs "CIRCULAR: obj.c2.c1 = obj"
isCyclic(cycle2); // returns true, logs "CIRCULAR: obj.c1.c2 = obj"
isCyclic(leaf); // returns false
isCyclic(root); // returns false

Here is MDN's approach to detecting and fixing circular references when using JSON.stringify() on circular objects: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Errors/Cyclic_object_value :
In a circular structure like the following
var circularReference = {otherData: 123};
circularReference.myself = circularReference;
JSON.stringify() will fail:
JSON.stringify(circularReference);
// TypeError: cyclic object value
To serialize circular references you can use a library that supports them (e.g. cycle.js) or implement a solution by yourself, which will require finding and replacing (or removing) the cyclic references by serializable values.
The snippet below illustrates how to find and filter (thus causing data loss) a cyclic reference by using the replacer parameter of JSON.stringify():
const getCircularReplacer = () => {
const seen = new WeakSet();
return (key, value) => {
if (typeof value === "object" && value !== null) {
if (seen.has(value)) {
return;
}
seen.add(value);
}
return value;
};
};
JSON.stringify(circularReference, getCircularReplacer());
// {"otherData":123}

You can also use JSON.stringify with try/catch
function hasCircularDependency(obj)
{
try
{
JSON.stringify(obj);
}
catch(e)
{
return e.includes("Converting circular structure to JSON");
}
return false;
}
Demo
function hasCircularDependency(obj) {
try {
JSON.stringify(obj);
} catch (e) {
return String(e).includes("Converting circular structure to JSON");
}
return false;
}
var a = {b:{c:{d:""}}};
console.log(hasCircularDependency(a));
a.b.c.d = a;
console.log(hasCircularDependency(a));

This is a fix for both #Trey Mack and #Freddie Nfbnm answers on the typeof obj != 'object' condition. Instead it should test if the obj value is not instance of object, so that it can also work when checking values with object familiarity (for example, functions and symbols (symbols aren't instance of object, but still addressed, btw.)).
I'm posting this as an answer since I can't comment in this StackExchange account yet.
PS.: feel free to request me to delete this answer.
function isCyclic(obj) {
var keys = [];
var stack = [];
var stackSet = new Set();
var detected = false;
function detect(obj, key) {
if (!(obj instanceof Object)) { return; } // Now works with other
// kinds of object.
if (stackSet.has(obj)) { // it's cyclic! Print the object and its locations.
var oldindex = stack.indexOf(obj);
var l1 = keys.join('.') + '.' + key;
var l2 = keys.slice(0, oldindex + 1).join('.');
console.log('CIRCULAR: ' + l1 + ' = ' + l2 + ' = ' + obj);
console.log(obj);
detected = true;
return;
}
keys.push(key);
stack.push(obj);
stackSet.add(obj);
for (var k in obj) { //dive on the object's children
if (obj.hasOwnProperty(k)) { detect(obj[k], k); }
}
keys.pop();
stack.pop();
stackSet.delete(obj);
return;
}
detect(obj, 'obj');
return detected;
}

CircularReferenceDetector
Here is my CircularReferenceDetector class which outputs all the property stack information where the circularly referenced value is actually located at and also shows where the culprit references are.
This is especially useful for huge structures where it is not obvious by the key which value is the source of the harm.
It outputs the circularly referenced value stringified but all references to itself replaced by "[Circular object --- fix me]".
Usage:
CircularReferenceDetector.detectCircularReferences(value);
Note:
Remove the Logger.* statements if you do not want to use any logging or do not have a logger available.
Technical Explanation:
The recursive function goes through all properties of the object and tests if JSON.stringify succeeds on them or not.
If it does not succeed (circular reference), then it tests if it succeeds by replacing value itself with some constant string. This would mean that if it succeeds using this replacer, this value is the being circularly referenced value. If it is not, it recursively goes through all properties of that object.
Meanwhile it also tracks the property stack to give you information where the culprit value is located at.
Typescript
import {Logger} from "../Logger";
export class CircularReferenceDetector {
static detectCircularReferences(toBeStringifiedValue: any, serializationKeyStack: string[] = []) {
Object.keys(toBeStringifiedValue).forEach(key => {
var value = toBeStringifiedValue[key];
var serializationKeyStackWithNewKey = serializationKeyStack.slice();
serializationKeyStackWithNewKey.push(key);
try {
JSON.stringify(value);
Logger.debug(`path "${Util.joinStrings(serializationKeyStack)}" is ok`);
} catch (error) {
Logger.debug(`path "${Util.joinStrings(serializationKeyStack)}" JSON.stringify results in error: ${error}`);
var isCircularValue:boolean;
var circularExcludingStringifyResult:string = "";
try {
circularExcludingStringifyResult = JSON.stringify(value, CircularReferenceDetector.replaceRootStringifyReplacer(value), 2);
isCircularValue = true;
} catch (error) {
Logger.debug(`path "${Util.joinStrings(serializationKeyStack)}" is not the circular source`);
CircularReferenceDetector.detectCircularReferences(value, serializationKeyStackWithNewKey);
isCircularValue = false;
}
if (isCircularValue) {
throw new Error(`Circular reference detected:\nCircularly referenced value is value under path "${Util.joinStrings(serializationKeyStackWithNewKey)}" of the given root object\n`+
`Calling stringify on this value but replacing itself with [Circular object --- fix me] ( <-- search for this string) results in:\n${circularExcludingStringifyResult}\n`);
}
}
});
}
private static replaceRootStringifyReplacer(toBeStringifiedValue: any): any {
var serializedObjectCounter = 0;
return function (key: any, value: any) {
if (serializedObjectCounter !== 0 && typeof(toBeStringifiedValue) === 'object' && toBeStringifiedValue === value) {
Logger.error(`object serialization with key ${key} has circular reference to being stringified object`);
return '[Circular object --- fix me]';
}
serializedObjectCounter++;
return value;
}
}
}
export class Util {
static joinStrings(arr: string[], separator: string = ":") {
if (arr.length === 0) return "";
return arr.reduce((v1, v2) => `${v1}${separator}${v2}`);
}
}
Compiled JavaScript from TypeScript
"use strict";
const Logger_1 = require("../Logger");
class CircularReferenceDetector {
static detectCircularReferences(toBeStringifiedValue, serializationKeyStack = []) {
Object.keys(toBeStringifiedValue).forEach(key => {
var value = toBeStringifiedValue[key];
var serializationKeyStackWithNewKey = serializationKeyStack.slice();
serializationKeyStackWithNewKey.push(key);
try {
JSON.stringify(value);
Logger_1.Logger.debug(`path "${Util.joinStrings(serializationKeyStack)}" is ok`);
}
catch (error) {
Logger_1.Logger.debug(`path "${Util.joinStrings(serializationKeyStack)}" JSON.stringify results in error: ${error}`);
var isCircularValue;
var circularExcludingStringifyResult = "";
try {
circularExcludingStringifyResult = JSON.stringify(value, CircularReferenceDetector.replaceRootStringifyReplacer(value), 2);
isCircularValue = true;
}
catch (error) {
Logger_1.Logger.debug(`path "${Util.joinStrings(serializationKeyStack)}" is not the circular source`);
CircularReferenceDetector.detectCircularReferences(value, serializationKeyStackWithNewKey);
isCircularValue = false;
}
if (isCircularValue) {
throw new Error(`Circular reference detected:\nCircularly referenced value is value under path "${Util.joinStrings(serializationKeyStackWithNewKey)}" of the given root object\n` +
`Calling stringify on this value but replacing itself with [Circular object --- fix me] ( <-- search for this string) results in:\n${circularExcludingStringifyResult}\n`);
}
}
});
}
static replaceRootStringifyReplacer(toBeStringifiedValue) {
var serializedObjectCounter = 0;
return function (key, value) {
if (serializedObjectCounter !== 0 && typeof (toBeStringifiedValue) === 'object' && toBeStringifiedValue === value) {
Logger_1.Logger.error(`object serialization with key ${key} has circular reference to being stringified object`);
return '[Circular object --- fix me]';
}
serializedObjectCounter++;
return value;
};
}
}
exports.CircularReferenceDetector = CircularReferenceDetector;
class Util {
static joinStrings(arr, separator = ":") {
if (arr.length === 0)
return "";
return arr.reduce((v1, v2) => `${v1}${separator}${v2}`);
}
}
exports.Util = Util;

Here is a Node ES6 version mixed from the answers from #Aaron V and #user4976005, it fixes the problem with the call to hasOwnProperty:
const isCyclic = (obj => {
const keys = []
const stack = []
const stackSet = new Set()
let detected = false
const detect = ((object, key) => {
if (!(object instanceof Object))
return
if (stackSet.has(object)) { // it's cyclic! Print the object and its locations.
const oldindex = stack.indexOf(object)
const l1 = `${keys.join('.')}.${key}`
const l2 = keys.slice(0, oldindex + 1).join('.')
console.log(`CIRCULAR: ${l1} = ${l2} = ${object}`)
console.log(object)
detected = true
return
}
keys.push(key)
stack.push(object)
stackSet.add(object)
Object.keys(object).forEach(k => { // dive on the object's children
if (k && Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(object, k))
detect(object[k], k)
})
keys.pop()
stack.pop()
stackSet.delete(object)
})
detect(obj, 'obj')
return detected
})

There's a lot of answers here, but I thought I'd add my solution to the mix. It's similar to #Trey Mack's answer, but that solution takes O(n^2). This version uses WeakMap instead of an array, improving the time to O(n).
function isCyclic(object) {
const seenObjects = new WeakMap(); // use to keep track of which objects have been seen.
function detectCycle(obj) {
// If 'obj' is an actual object (i.e., has the form of '{}'), check
// if it's been seen already.
if (Object.prototype.toString.call(obj) == '[object Object]') {
if (seenObjects.has(obj)) {
return true;
}
// If 'obj' hasn't been seen, add it to 'seenObjects'.
// Since 'obj' is used as a key, the value of 'seenObjects[obj]'
// is irrelevent and can be set as literally anything you want. I
// just went with 'undefined'.
seenObjects.set(obj, undefined);
// Recurse through the object, looking for more circular references.
for (var key in obj) {
if (detectCycle(obj[key])) {
return true;
}
}
// If 'obj' is an array, check if any of it's elements are
// an object that has been seen already.
} else if (Array.isArray(obj)) {
for (var i in obj) {
if (detectCycle(obj[i])) {
return true;
}
}
}
return false;
}
return detectCycle(object);
}
And this is what it looks like in action.
> var foo = {grault: {}};
> detectCycle(foo);
false
> foo.grault = foo;
> detectCycle(foo);
true
> var bar = {};
> detectCycle(bar);
false
> bar.plugh = [];
> bar.plugh.push(bar);
> detectCycle(bar);
true

You can also use Symbols - thanks to that approach you won't have to mutate properties of the original object, apart from adding symbol for marking visited node.
It's cleaner and should be faster than gathering node properties and comparing with the object. It also has optional depth limitation if you don't want to serialize big nested values:
// Symbol used to mark already visited nodes - helps with circular dependencies
const visitedMark = Symbol('VISITED_MARK');
const MAX_CLEANUP_DEPTH = 10;
function removeCirculars(obj, depth = 0) {
if (!obj) {
return obj;
}
// Skip condition - either object is falsy, was visited or we go too deep
const shouldSkip = !obj || obj[visitedMark] || depth > MAX_CLEANUP_DEPTH;
// Copy object (we copy properties from it and mark visited nodes)
const originalObj = obj;
let result = {};
Object.keys(originalObj).forEach((entry) => {
const val = originalObj[entry];
if (!shouldSkip) {
if (typeof val === 'object') { // Value is an object - run object sanitizer
originalObj[visitedMark] = true; // Mark current node as "seen" - will stop from going deeper into circulars
const nextDepth = depth + 1;
result[entry] = removeCirculars(val, nextDepth);
} else {
result[entry] = val;
}
} else {
result = 'CIRCULAR';
}
});
return result;
}
This will result in an object that has all the circular dependencies stripped and also does not go deeper than given MAX_CLEANUP_DEPTH.
Using symbols is safe as long as you don't do any meta-programming stuff on the object - they are transparent and they are not enumerable, hence - they will not show in any standard operations on the object.
Also, returning a new, cleaned up object has an advantage of not mutating the original one if you need to perform any additional operations on it.
If you don't want CIRCULAR marking, you can just modify the code a bit, hence skipping object before actually performing operations on it (inside the loop):
originalObj[visitedMark] = true; // Mark current node as "seen" - will stop from going deeper into circulars
const val = originalObj[entry];
// Skip condition - either object is falsy, was visited or we go too deep
const shouldSkip = val[visitedMark] || depth > MAX_SANITIZATION_DEPTH;
if (!shouldSkip) {
if (typeof val === 'object') { // Value is an object - run object sanitizer
const nextDepth = depth + 1;
result[entry] = removeCirculars(val, nextDepth);
} else {
result[entry] = val;
}
}

I just made this. It may be dirty, but works anyway... :P
function dump(orig){
var inspectedObjects = [];
console.log('== DUMP ==');
(function _dump(o,t){
console.log(t+' Type '+(typeof o));
for(var i in o){
if(o[i] === orig){
console.log(t+' '+i+': [recursive]');
continue;
}
var ind = 1+inspectedObjects.indexOf(o[i]);
if(ind>0) console.log(t+' '+i+': [already inspected ('+ind+')]');
else{
console.log(t+' '+i+': ('+inspectedObjects.push(o[i])+')');
_dump(o[i],t+'>>');
}
}
}(orig,'>'));
}
Then
var a = [1,2,3], b = [a,4,5,6], c = {'x':a,'y':b};
a.push(c); dump(c);
Says
== DUMP ==
> Type object
> x: (1)
>>> Type object
>>> 0: (2)
>>>>> Type number
>>> 1: (3)
>>>>> Type number
>>> 2: (4)
>>>>> Type number
>>> 3: [recursive]
> y: (5)
>>> Type object
>>> 0: [already inspected (1)]
>>> 1: (6)
>>>>> Type number
>>> 2: (7)
>>>>> Type number
>>> 3: (8)
>>>>> Type number
This tells that c.x[3] is equal to c, and c.x = c.y[0].
Or, a little edit to this function can tell you what you need...
function findRecursive(orig){
var inspectedObjects = [];
(function _find(o,s){
for(var i in o){
if(o[i] === orig){
console.log('Found: obj.'+s.join('.')+'.'+i);
return;
}
if(inspectedObjects.indexOf(o[i])>=0) continue;
else{
inspectedObjects.push(o[i]);
s.push(i); _find(o[i],s); s.pop(i);
}
}
}(orig,[]));
}

Here is #Thomas's answer adapted for node:
const {logger} = require("../logger")
// Or: const logger = {debug: (...args) => console.log.call(console.log, args) }
const joinStrings = (arr, separator) => {
if (arr.length === 0) return "";
return arr.reduce((v1, v2) => `${v1}${separator}${v2}`);
}
exports.CircularReferenceDetector = class CircularReferenceDetector {
detectCircularReferences(toBeStringifiedValue, serializationKeyStack = []) {
Object.keys(toBeStringifiedValue).forEach(key => {
let value = toBeStringifiedValue[key];
let serializationKeyStackWithNewKey = serializationKeyStack.slice();
serializationKeyStackWithNewKey.push(key);
try {
JSON.stringify(value);
logger.debug(`path "${joinStrings(serializationKeyStack)}" is ok`);
} catch (error) {
logger.debug(`path "${joinStrings(serializationKeyStack)}" JSON.stringify results in error: ${error}`);
let isCircularValue;
let circularExcludingStringifyResult = "";
try {
circularExcludingStringifyResult = JSON.stringify(value, this.replaceRootStringifyReplacer(value), 2);
isCircularValue = true;
} catch (error) {
logger.debug(`path "${joinStrings(serializationKeyStack)}" is not the circular source`);
this.detectCircularReferences(value, serializationKeyStackWithNewKey);
isCircularValue = false;
}
if (isCircularValue) {
throw new Error(`Circular reference detected:\nCircularly referenced value is value under path "${joinStrings(serializationKeyStackWithNewKey)}" of the given root object\n`+
`Calling stringify on this value but replacing itself with [Circular object --- fix me] ( <-- search for this string) results in:\n${circularExcludingStringifyResult}\n`);
}
}
});
}
replaceRootStringifyReplacer(toBeStringifiedValue) {
let serializedObjectCounter = 0;
return function (key, value) {
if (serializedObjectCounter !== 0 && typeof(toBeStringifiedValue) === 'object' && toBeStringifiedValue === value) {
logger.error(`object serialization with key ${key} has circular reference to being stringified object`);
return '[Circular object --- fix me]';
}
serializedObjectCounter++;
return value;
}
}
}

I converted the answer of Freddie Nfbnm to TypeScript:
export class JsonUtil {
static isCyclic(json) {
const keys = [];
const stack = [];
const stackSet = new Set();
let detected = false;
function detect(obj, key) {
if (typeof obj !== 'object') {
return;
}
if (stackSet.has(obj)) { // it's cyclic! Print the object and its locations.
const oldIndex = stack.indexOf(obj);
const l1 = keys.join('.') + '.' + key;
const l2 = keys.slice(0, oldIndex + 1).join('.');
console.log('CIRCULAR: ' + l1 + ' = ' + l2 + ' = ' + obj);
console.log(obj);
detected = true;
return;
}
keys.push(key);
stack.push(obj);
stackSet.add(obj);
for (const k in obj) { // dive on the object's children
if (obj.hasOwnProperty(k)) {
detect(obj[k], k);
}
}
keys.pop();
stack.pop();
stackSet.delete(obj);
return;
}
detect(json, 'obj');
return detected;
}
}

Just to throw my version into the mix... below is a remix of #dkurzaj 's code (which is itself a remix of #Aaron V 's, #user4976005 's, #Trey Mack 's and finally #Freddie Nfbnm 's [removed?] code) plus #darksinge 's WeakMap idea. So... this thread's Megamix, I guess :)
In my version, a report (rather than console.log'ed entries) is optionally returned as an array of objects. If a report is not required, testing stops on the first sighting of a circular reference (a'la #darksinge 's code).
Further, hasOwnProperty has been removed as Object.keys returns only hasOwnProperty properties (see: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Object/keys ).
function isCyclic(x, bReturnReport) {
var a_sKeys = [],
a_oStack = [],
wm_oSeenObjects = new WeakMap(), //# see: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/WeakMap
oReturnVal = {
found: false,
report: []
}
;
//# Setup the recursive logic to locate any circular references while kicking off the initial call
(function doIsCyclic(oTarget, sKey) {
var a_sTargetKeys, sCurrentKey, i;
//# If we've seen this oTarget before, flip our .found to true
if (wm_oSeenObjects.has(oTarget)) {
oReturnVal.found = true;
//# If we are to bReturnReport, add the entries into our .report
if (bReturnReport) {
oReturnVal.report.push({
instance: oTarget,
source: a_sKeys.slice(0, a_oStack.indexOf(oTarget) + 1).join('.'),
duplicate: a_sKeys.join('.') + "." + sKey
});
}
}
//# Else if oTarget is an instanceof Object, determine the a_sTargetKeys and .set our oTarget into the wm_oSeenObjects
else if (oTarget instanceof Object) {
a_sTargetKeys = Object.keys(oTarget);
wm_oSeenObjects.set(oTarget /*, undefined*/);
//# If we are to bReturnReport, .push the current level's/call's items onto our stacks
if (bReturnReport) {
if (sKey) { a_sKeys.push(sKey) };
a_oStack.push(oTarget);
}
//# Traverse the a_sTargetKeys, pulling each into sCurrentKey as we go
//# NOTE: If you want all properties, even non-enumerables, see Object.getOwnPropertyNames() so there is no need to call .hasOwnProperty (per: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Object/keys)
for (i = 0; i < a_sTargetKeys.length; i++) {
sCurrentKey = a_sTargetKeys[i];
//# If we've already .found a circular reference and we're not bReturnReport, fall from the loop
if (oReturnVal.found && !bReturnReport) {
break;
}
//# Else if the sCurrentKey is an instanceof Object, recurse to test
else if (oTarget[sCurrentKey] instanceof Object) {
doIsCyclic(oTarget[sCurrentKey], sCurrentKey);
}
}
//# .delete our oTarget into the wm_oSeenObjects
wm_oSeenObjects.delete(oTarget);
//# If we are to bReturnReport, .pop the current level's/call's items off our stacks
if (bReturnReport) {
if (sKey) { a_sKeys.pop() };
a_oStack.pop();
}
}
}(x, '')); //# doIsCyclic
return (bReturnReport ? oReturnVal.report : oReturnVal.found);
}

Most of the other answers only show how to detect that an object-tree has a circular-reference -- they don't tell you how to fix those circular references (ie. replacing the circular-reference values with, eg. undefined).
The below is the function I use to replace all circular-references with undefined:
export const specialTypeHandlers_default = [
// Set and Map are included by default, since JSON.stringify tries (and fails) to serialize them by default
{type: Set, keys: a=>a.keys(), get: (a, key)=>key, delete: (a, key)=>a.delete(key)},
{type: Map, keys: a=>a.keys(), get: (a, key)=>a.get(key), delete: (a, key)=>a.set(key, undefined)},
];
export function RemoveCircularLinks(node, specialTypeHandlers = specialTypeHandlers_default, nodeStack_set = new Set()) {
nodeStack_set.add(node);
const specialHandler = specialTypeHandlers.find(a=>node instanceof a.type);
for (const key of specialHandler ? specialHandler.keys(node) : Object.keys(node)) {
const value = specialHandler ? specialHandler.get(node, key) : node[key];
// if the value is already part of visited-stack, delete the value (and don't tunnel into it)
if (nodeStack_set.has(value)) {
if (specialHandler) specialHandler.delete(node, key);
else node[key] = undefined;
}
// else, tunnel into it, looking for circular-links at deeper levels
else if (typeof value == "object" && value != null) {
RemoveCircularLinks(value, specialTypeHandlers, nodeStack_set);
}
}
nodeStack_set.delete(node);
}
For use with JSON.stringify specifically, simply call the function above prior to the stringification (note that it does mutate the passed-in object):
const objTree = {normalProp: true};
objTree.selfReference = objTree;
RemoveCircularLinks(objTree); // without this line, the JSON.stringify call errors
console.log(JSON.stringify(objTree));

if you just need to see the content of that circular object, just use console.table(circularObj)

Try using console.log() on the chrome/firefox browser to identify where the issue encountered.
On Firefox using Firebug plugin, you can debug your javascript line by line.
Update:
Refer below example of circular reference issue and which has been handled:-
// JSON.stringify, avoid TypeError: Converting circular structure to JSON
// Demo: Circular reference
var o = {};
o.o = o;
var cache = [];
JSON.stringify(o, function(key, value) {
if (typeof value === 'object' && value !== null) {
if (cache.indexOf(value) !== -1) {
// Circular reference found, discard key
alert("Circular reference found, discard key");
return;
}
alert("value = '" + value + "'");
// Store value in our collection
cache.push(value);
}
return value;
});
cache = null; // Enable garbage collection
var a = {b:1};
var o = {};
o.one = a;
o.two = a;
// one and two point to the same object, but two is discarded:
JSON.stringify(o);
var obj = {
a: "foo",
b: obj
};
var replacement = {"b":undefined};
alert("Result : " + JSON.stringify(obj,replacement));
Refer example LIVE DEMO

test the existence of property in a deep object structure

In javascript, lets say I want to access a property deep in an object, for example:
entry.mediaGroup[0].contents[0].url
At any point along that structure, a property may be undefined (so mediaGroup may not be set).
What is a simple way to say:
if( entry.mediaGroup[0].contents[0].url ){
console.log( entry.mediaGroup[0].contents[0].url )
}
without generating an error? This way will generate an undefined error if any point along the way is undefined.
My solution
if(entry) && (entry.mediaGroup) && (entry.MediaGroup[0]) ...snip...){
console.log(entry.mediaGroup[0].contents[0].url)
}
which is pretty lengthy. I am guessing there must be something more elegant.

This is a very lazy way to do it, but it meets the criteria for many similar situations:
try {
console.log(entry.mediaGroup[0].contents[0].url);
} catch (e) {}
This should not be done on long code blocks where other errors may potentially be ignored, but should be suitable for a simple situation like this.

/*decend through an object tree to a specified node, and return it.
If node is unreachable, return undefined. This should also work with arrays in the tree.
Examples:
var test1 = {a:{b:{c:{d:1}}}};
console.log(objectDesend(test1, 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd'));
var test2 = {a:{b:{c:1}}}; //will fail to reach d
console.log(objectDesend(test2, 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd'));
*/
var objectDescend = function(){
var obj = arguments[0];
var keys = arguments;
var cur = obj;
for(var i=1; i<keys.length; i++){
var key = keys[i];
var cur = cur[key];
if(typeof(cur)=='undefined')
return cur;
}
return cur;
}
var test1 = {a:{b:{c:{d:1}}}};
console.log(objectDescend(test1, 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd'));
var test2 = {a:{b:{c:1}}};
console.log(objectDescend(test2, 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd'));
So this will return either the value you are looking for, or undefined since that value doesn't exist. It won't return false, as that may actually be the value you are looking for (d:false).
In my code base, I add Object.prototype.descend, so I can do test1.descend('a', 'b', 'c', 'd'). This will only work in ECMAScript 5 (IE>=9) since you need to make it so your function doesn't appear in enumerations. For more info:
Add a method to Object primative, but not have it come up as a property
Here is my code for that:
Object.defineProperty(Object.prototype, 'descend', {
value: function(){
var keys = arguments;
var cur = this;
for(var i=0; i<keys.length; i++){
var key = keys[i];
var cur = cur[key];
if(typeof(cur)=='undefined')
return cur;
}
return cur;
}
});
var test1 = {a:{b:{c:{d:false}}}};
//this will return false, which is the value of d
console.log(test1.descend('a', 'b', 'c', 'd'));
var test2 = {a:{b:{c:1}}};
//undefined since we can't reach d.
console.log(test2.descend(test2, 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd'));

Your current solution is probably as good as you can get, as mVChr says, try..catch is just lazy here. It's probably far less effient and has nothing to recommend it other than perhaps being easier to type (but not significantly so) and it'll be harder to debug as it silently hides errors.
The real issue is the very long "reference worm" created by attempting such access. An alternative to the original that at least reduces the number of property lookups is:
var o;
if ( (o = entry ) &&
(o = o.mediaGroup) &&
(o = o[0] ) &&
(o = o.contents ) &&
(o = o[0] )) {
alert(o.url);
}
But I expect you won't like that.
If you have many such deep access paths, you might like to create a function to do the access and return the last object on success or some other vaule on failure. For failure, you could also have it return the last non-falsey object on the path.
// Create test object
var entry = {};
entry.mediaGroup = [{
contents: [{url: 'url'}]
}];
// Check that it "works"
// alert(entry.mediaGroup[0].contents[0].url);
// Deep property access function, returns last object
// or false
function deepAccess(obj) {
var path = arguments;
var i = 0, iLen = path.length;
var o = path[i++]; // o is first arg
var p = path[i++]; // p is second arg
// Go along path until o[p] is falsey
while (o[p]) {
o = o[p];
p = path[i++];
}
// Return false if didn't get all the way along
// the path or the last non-falsey value referenced
return (--i == iLen) && o;
}
// Test it
var x = deepAccess(entry, 'mediaGroup','0','contents','0');
alert(x && x.url); // url
var x = deepAccess(entry, 'mediaGroup','1','contents','0');
alert(x && x.url); // false

There are probably 3-4 different questions along this vein, and four times as many answers. None of them really satisfied me, so I made my own, and I'll share it.
This function is called "deepGet".
Example:
deepGet(mySampleData, "foo.bar[2].baz", null);
Here is the full code:
function deepGet (obj, path, defaultValue) {
// Split the path into components
var a = path.split('.');
// If we have just one component left, note that for later.
var last = (a.length) === 1;
// See if the next item is an array with an index
var myregexp = /([a-zA-Z]+)(\[(\d+)\])+/; // matches: item[0]
var match = myregexp.exec(a[0]);
// Get the next item
var next;
if (match !== null) {
next = obj[match[1]];
if (next !== undefined) {
next = next[match[3]];
}
} else {
next = obj[a[0]];
}
if (next === undefined || next === null) {
// If we don't have what we want, return the default value
return defaultValue;
} else {
if (last) {
// If it's the last item in the path, return it
return next;
} else {
// If we have more items in the path to go, recurse
return deepGet (next, a.slice(1).join("."), defaultValue);
}
}
}
Here is a jsFiddle: http://jsfiddle.net/7quzmjh8/2/
I was inspired by these two things:
http://designpepper.com/blog/drips/making-deep-property-access-safe-in-javascript.html
http://jsfiddle.net/wxrzM/1/
Hopefully this is useful to someone out there :)

I use this simple function for playing around with deep object properties:
getProperty = function(path) {
try {
return eval(path);
}
catch (e) {
return undefined;
}
};
Here's an example:
var test = {a:{b:{c:"success!"}}};
alert(getProperty('test.c.c'));
// undefined
alert(getProperty('test.a.b.c'));
// success!

Here's the one i have been using for a while
var obj = { a: { b: [
{ c: {d: 'XYZ'} }
] } };
// working
obj.a.b[0].c.d = null;
console.log('value:'+getProperty(obj, 'a.b[0].c.d', 'NOT-AVAILABLE')); // value:null
obj.a.b[0].c.d = 'XYZ';
console.log('value:'+getProperty(obj, 'a.b[0].c.d', 'NOT-AVAILABLE')); // value:XYZ
console.log('value:'+getProperty(obj, 'a.b[0].c.d.k.sds', 'NOT-AVAILABLE')); // value:NOT-AVAILABLE
obj.a.b[0].c = null;
console.log('value:'+getProperty(obj, 'a.b[0].c.d', 'NOT-AVAILABLE')); // value:NOT-AVAILABLE
// will not work
//console.log('v:'+getProperty(obj, 'a.b["0"].c.d'));
Here's the function
function getProperty(obj, str, defaultValue){
var props = str.split('.').map(function(prop){
var arrAccessRegEx = /(.*)\[(.*)\]/g;
if (arrAccessRegEx.test(prop)){
return prop.split(arrAccessRegEx).filter(function(ele){return ele!=''; });
} else {
var retArr = [];
retArr.push(prop);
return retArr
};
});
//console.log(props);
for(var i=0;i<props.length;i++){
var prop = props[i][0];
//console.log('prop:'+prop);
if (obj === null) return defaultValue;
obj = obj[prop];
if (obj === undefined) return defaultValue;
if (props[i].length == 2){
var idx = props[i][1];
if (!(obj instanceof Array)) return defaultValue;
if (idx < obj.length ){
obj = obj[idx];
if (obj === undefined) return defaultValue;
}
}
} // for each item in split
return obj;
}