Develop Reference

Better way to update an object's value at a variable depth

I am working on some software that reads/writes information in localStorage using a handler. You can find a working example here: http://jsbin.com/wifucugoko/edit?js,console
My problem is with the segment of code below (focusing on the switch statement):
_t.set = function(path, value) { // Update a single value or object
if (~path.indexOf(".")) {
let o = path.split(".")[0],
p = this.get(o),
q = path.split(".").slice(1);
switch (q.length) {
// There has to be a better way to do this...
case 1:
p[q[0]] = value;
break;
case 2:
p[q[0]][q[1]] = value;
break;
case 3:
p[q[0]][q[1]][q[2]] = value;
break;
case 4:
p[q[0]][q[1]][q[2]][q[3]] = value;
break;
case 5:
p[q[0]][q[1]][q[2]][q[3]][q[4]] = value;
break;
case 6:
p[q[0]][q[1]][q[2]][q[3]][q[4]][q[5]] = value;
break;
default:
return "error";
}
b.setItem(o, JSON.stringify(p));
return p;
} else {
b.setItem(path, JSON.stringify(value));
return this.get(path);
}
};
I am not going to be the only one using this codebase, and I am trying to make it easy for others to update any value that could be placed in localStorage. Right now you can update a value by using something like local.set('item.subitem.proeprty', 'value') Though the code above does that, it's ugly and doesn't scale.
How can this method be improved to (1) update a property nested at any depth automatically, instead of writing an infinitely-long switch statement, and (2) not lace a parent object with [object Object] after a value is updated?
This question has nothing to do with my use of localStorage. I originally posted this question in code review, which requires a working contextual example. They closed this question immediately, since part of my problem is the code I provided doesn't work once you start dealing with updating a value nested more than six objects deep. Though I could have continued my switch statement indefinitely, that's exactly what I'm trying to avoid.
With the three examples provided you'll see that setting a value in one place doesn't remove values in other places:
local.set('user.session.timeout', false);
local.set('user.name', {first:'john', last:'doe', mi:'c'});
local.set('user.PIN', 8675309);
All these values, though set at different times, only UPDATE or create a value, they do NOT clear any pre-existing values elsewhere.

As for me the minimal optimization would be following:
if (~path.indexOf(".")) {
let o = path.split(".")[0],
p = this.get(o),
q = path.split(".").slice(1),
dist = p;
q.forEach(function(item, index) {
if (index < q.length - 1) {
dist = dist[item];
} else {
dist[item] = value;
}
});
b.setItem(o, JSON.stringify(p));
return p;
} else {
changed parts:
dist variable is created
hardcoded switch is replaced with foreach

You could try something like this, if the path does not exists, the value is null:
function retreiveValueFromObject(path, object) {
var pathList = path.split(".");
var currentValue = object;
var brokeEarly = false;
for (var i = 0; i < pathList.length; i++) {
if (currentValue[pathList[i]]) {
currentValue = currentValue[pathList[i]];
} else {
brokeEarly = true;
break;
}
}
return {
value: currentValue,
brokeEarly: brokeEarly
};
}
function setValueInObject(path, value, object) {
var nestedObj = retreiveValueFromObject(path, object).value;
var pathList = path.split(".");
var finalKey = pathList[pathList.length - 1];
nestedObj[finalKey] = value;
}
var someObject = {
a: {
c: {
d: "value"
},
z: "c"
},
b: {
f: {
x: "world"
},
g: "hello"
},
};
console.log(retreiveValueFromObject("b.f.x", someObject));
setValueInObject("b.f.y", "newValue", someObject);
console.log(someObject);

What you are looking for is a little bit of recursion, I just implemented the update method.
let localStorageHandler = function() {
let b = window.localStorage,
_t = this;
_t.get = function(a) {
try {
return JSON.parse(b.getItem(a))
} catch (c) {
return b.getItem(a)
}
};
function descendAndUpdate(obj, path, value) {
let current = path[0],
remainingPath = path.slice(1);
// found and update
if (obj.hasOwnProperty(current) && remainingPath.length === 0) {
obj[current] = value;
// found but still not there
} else if (obj.hasOwnProperty(current)) {
return descendAndUpdate(obj[current], remainingPath, value);
}
// if you want do add new properties use:
// obj[current] = value;
// in the else clause
else {
throw('can not update unknown property');
}
}
_t.set = function(path, value) { // Update a single value or object
if (~path.indexOf(".")) {
let o = path.split(".")[0],
p = this.get(o),
q = path.split(".").slice(1);
descendAndUpdate(p, q, value);
console.log(p);
b.setItem(o, JSON.stringify(p));
return p;
} else {
b.setItem(path, JSON.stringify(value));
return this.get(path);
}
};
_t.remove = function(a) { // removes a single object from localstorage
let c = !1;
a = "number" === typeof a ? this.key(a) : a;
a in b && (c = !0, b.removeItem(a));
return c
};
};
let local = new localStorageHandler();
// Create user and session info if it doesn't exist
let blankUser = new Object({
alias: '',
dob: '',
PIN: '',
level: 0,
name: {
first: '',
last: '',
mi:'',
},
session: {
token: '',
timeout: true,
lastChange: Date.now()
}
});
local.remove('user');
// Loads user data into localstorage
if (!local.get('user')) {
local.set('user', blankUser);
}
local.set('user.session.timeout', false);
local.set('user.name', {first:'john', last:'doe', mi:'c'});
local.set('user.PIN', 8675309);
// new property
// local.set('user.sunshine', { 'like': 'always' });
console.log(local.get('user'));
A friend of mine would always prefer stacks over recursion, which would be a second option. Anyway I agree with many of the comments here. You already know your domain model. Unless you have a very good reason for this approach spend more time on serializing and unserializing those objects in the database. I have the impression you would be able to work with your data in a more natural way because the aspect of updating fields in a database would be abstracted away.

I am working on a similar project at the moment. What I am doing is storing the data in something I called a WordMatrix (https://github.com/SamM/Rephrase/blob/master/WordMatrix.js), maybe you could use something like it in your solution.
My project is a WIP but the next step is literally to add support for localStorage. The project itself is a database editor that works with key => value stores. You can view the prototype for it here: (https://samm.github.io/Rephrase/editor.html)
Once I have implemented the localStorage aspect I will update this post.

Your topic reminds me one recent another topic.
Trying to enhance the answer I provided, I propose you these functions:
// Function to get a nested element:
function obj_get_path(obj, path) {
return path.split('.').reduce((accu, val) => accu[val] || 'Not found', obj);
}
// Function to set a nested element:
function obj_set_path(obj, path, value) {
var result = obj;
var paths = path.split('.');
var len = paths.length;
for (var i = 0; i < len - 1; i++) {
result = result[paths[i]] || {};
}
result[paths[len - 1]] = value;
return obj;
}
// Example object
var obj = {
name0: 'A name',
level0: {
name1: 'An other name',
level1: {
level2: {
name3: 'Name to be changed',
text3: 'Some other text'
}
}
}
}
// Use of the function
obj = obj_set_path(obj, 'level0.level1.level2.name3', 'Takit Isy');
obj = obj_set_path(obj, 'level0.level1.level2.new3', 'I’m a new element!');
var obj_level2 = obj_get_path(obj, 'level0.level1.level2');
// Consoling
console.log('Consoling of obj_level2:\n', obj_level2);
console.log('\nConsoling of full obj:\n', obj); // To see that the object is correct
⋅
⋅
⋅
We could also adapt the 2nd function in my above snippet so that it works for both get and set, depending of if "value" is set:
// We could also adapt the second function for both uses:
function obj_path(obj, path, value = null) {
var result = obj;
var paths = path.split('.');
var len = paths.length;
for (var i = 0; i < len - 1; i++) {
result = result[paths[i]] || {};
}
// Return result if there is no set value
if (value === null) return result[paths[len - 1]];
// Set value and return
result[paths[len - 1]] = value;
return obj;
}
// Example object
var obj = {
name0: 'A name',
level0: {
name1: 'An other name',
level1: {
level2: {
name3: 'Name to be changed',
text3: 'Some other text'
}
}
}
}
// Use of the function
obj = obj_path(obj, 'level0.level1.level2.name3', 'Takit Isy');
obj = obj_path(obj, 'level0.level1.level2.new3', 'I’m a new element!');
var obj_level2 = obj_path(obj, 'level0.level1.level2');
// Consoling
console.log('Consoling of obj_level2:\n', obj_level2);
console.log('\nConsoling of full obj:\n', obj); // To see that the object is correct
Hope it helps.

How about:
function parse(str) {
var arr = str.split('.');
return function(obj) {
return arr.reduce((o, i) => o[i], obj);
}
}
let foo = {
a: {
b: {
c: {
bar: 0
}
}
}
}
let c = parse('a.b.c')(foo);
console.log(c.bar);
c['bar'] = 1;
console.log(foo);

Find object by properties from array

With an array, a value, and and an object with nested objects:
Object
mesh
Array
['options', 'range', 'x']
Value
12.5
Is it possible to translate this to update a property, e.g.
mesh.options.range.x = 12.5
Attempted:
index = (obj, i) ->
obj[i]
arr.reduce(index, obj) = 12.5
Update
Thank you all for the elegant solutions.

Using .reduce() is actually pretty nice for this:
// current object----| |----current key
// v v
arr.reduce(function(obj, key) {
return obj == null ? obj : obj[key];
}, window.mesh);
// ^
// |-- initial object
Your attempt to use .reduce() needed to pass a function that manages the "accumulation".
Here, as long as the previous obj wasn't null or undefined, it'll return the key of the current obj, which becomes the next obj.
Then since you need to assign a value, you'd actually want to get the value of the second to last key.
var o = arr.slice(0,-1).reduce(function(obj, key) {
return obj == null ? obj : obj[key];
}, window.mesh);
And then check its existence and use the last item in arr to do the assignment.
o && o[arr.pop()] = 12.5;
All of this can be abstracted away into a function that does one or the other based on how many arguments were passed.
function setFromArray(obj, arr, val) {
var keys = arguments.length < 3 ? arr.slice() : arr.slice(0, -1);
var o = keys.slice(0,-1).reduce(function(obj, key) {
return obj == null ? obj : obj[key];
}, window.mesh);
if (arguments.length < 3)
return o;
else
o && o[keys.pop()];
}

Here's a general solution:
function setPropertyPath(obj, path, value) {
var o = obj;
for (var i = 0; i < path.length - 1; i++) {
o = o[path[i]];
}
o[path[path.length - 1]] = value;
}
Usage:
var obj = { a: { b: { c: 0 } } };
setPropertyPath(obj, ['a', 'b', 'c'], 10);
console.log(obj.a.b.c); // prints '10'
JSBin

var mesh = {},
arr = ['options','range','x'],
value = 12.5;
mesh[arr[0]][arr[1]][arr[2]] = value;

If array length is static do something like this:
mesh[array[0]][array[1]][array[2]] = value;
However, one problem with this is that javascript doesn't do autovivification, so if you're accessing a key value that isn't previously defined you could run into errors (if mesh.options hasn't been defined then the above will throw an error because you can't assign to it). To solve that you might abstract this out into a function that handles things recursively:
http://jsfiddle.net/h4jVg/
function update_val(obj, array, val, prev) {
if (array.length == 0) {
obj = val;
return;
}
var cur = array.shift();
if(array.length == 0) {
obj[cur] = val;
return;
} else if (obj[cur] == undefined) {
obj[cur] = {};
}
update_val(obj[cur], array, val);
}

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

Access JavaScript property case-insensitively?

Assume I have an object:
var obj = {
foo:"bar",
fizz:"buzz"
};
I need to access a property of that object dynamically like so:
var objSetter = function(prop,val){
obj[prop] = val;
}
No problems there, except for that prop needs to be case insensitive in case the property name is passed into the function as, say, Foo instead of foo.
So how can I point to an object's property by name without regard to case? I would like to avoid iterating the entire object if possible.

Try this:
var myObject = { "mIxeDCaSEKeY": "value" };
var searchKey = 'mixedCaseKey';
var asLowercase = searchKey.toLowerCase();
myObject[Object.keys(myObject).find(key => key.toLowerCase() === asLowercase)];
You can alternatively already provide the searchKey in lowercase.
If you want it as a function:
/**
* #param {Object} object
* #param {string} key
* #return {any} value
*/
function getParameterCaseInsensitive(object, key) {
const asLowercase = key.toLowerCase();
return object[Object.keys(object)
.find(k => k.toLowerCase() === asLowercase)
];
}
If the key can't be found, then it'll return undefined, just like normal.
If you need to support older browsers, then you can use filter instead:
function getParameterCaseInsensitive(object, key) {
const asLowercase = key.toLowercase();
return object[Object.keys(object).filter(function(k) {
return k.toLowerCase() === asLowercase;
})[0]];
}
I suggest using the polyfills for Object.keys() and Array.filter() if you need even older support.
Note: If you want to also check non-enumerable keys, use Object.getOwnPropertyNames() instead of Object.keys().
Nerdy Note: This assumes your Object doesn't have a key undefined (eg: const foo = {[undefined]: 'bar'};). That's just weird.

Compare all the properties of obj with prop.
var objSetter = function(prop,val){
prop = (prop + "").toLowerCase();
for(var p in obj){
if(obj.hasOwnProperty(p) && prop == (p+ "").toLowerCase()){
obj[p] = val;
break;
}
}
}

For this, I prefer using the prototype over a standalone function just for ease of use and expressiveness. I just don't like funneling objects into functions if I don't have to.
Also, while the accepted answer works, I wanted a more comprehensive solution for both getting and setting that would behave as much like the native dot notation or bracket notation as possible.
With that in mind, I created a couple prototype functions for setting/getting an object property without regard to case. You have to remember to be VERY responsible when adding to the Object prototype. Especially when using JQuery and other libraries. Object.defineProperty() with enumerable set to false was used specifically to avoid conflict with JQuery. I also didn't bother naming the functions anything that indicates they are case-insensitive, but you certainly could. I like shorter names.
Here's the getter:
Object.defineProperty(Object.prototype, "getProp", {
value: function (prop) {
var key,self = this;
for (key in self) {
if (key.toLowerCase() == prop.toLowerCase()) {
return self[key];
}
}
},
//this keeps jquery happy
enumerable: false
});
Here's the setter:
Object.defineProperty(Object.prototype, "setProp", {
value: function (prop, val) {
var key,self = this;
var found = false;
if (Object.keys(self).length > 0) {
for (key in self) {
if (key.toLowerCase() == prop.toLowerCase()) {
//set existing property
found = true;
self[key] = val;
break;
}
}
}
if (!found) {
//if the property was not found, create it
self[prop] = val;
}
return val;
},
//this keeps jquery happy
enumerable: false
});
Now that we've created those functions, our code is super clean and concise and just works.
Case-insensitive getting:
var obj = {foo: 'bar', camelCase: 'humpy'}
obj.getProp("FOO"); //returns 'bar'
obj.getProp("fOO"); //returns 'bar'
obj.getProp("CAMELCASE"); //returns 'humpy'
obj.getProp("CamelCase"); //returns 'humpy'
Case-insensitive setting:
var obj = {foo: 'bar', camelCase: 'humpy'}
obj.setProp('CAmelCasE', 'super humpy'); //sets prop 'camelCase' to 'super humpy'
obj.setProp('newProp', 'newval'); //creates prop 'newProp' and sets val to 'newval'
obj.setProp('NewProp', 'anotherval'); //sets prop 'newProp' to 'anotherval'

Yet another variation on those already presented which pushes the iteration down into the Underscore/Lodash findKey function:
var _ = require('underscore');
var getProp = function (obj, name) {
var realName = _.findKey(obj, function (value, key) {
return key.toLowerCase() === name.toLowerCase();
});
return obj[realName];
};
For example:
var obj = { aa: 1, bB: 2, Cc: 3, DD: 4 };
getProp(obj, 'aa'); // 1
getProp(obj, 'AA'); // 1
getProp(obj, 'bb'); // 2
getProp(obj, 'BB'); // 2
getProp(obj, 'cc'); // 3
getProp(obj, 'CC'); // 3
getProp(obj, 'dd'); // 4
getProp(obj, 'DD'); // 4
getProp(obj, 'EE'); // undefined

This answer requires ES6.
const x = { 'aB': 1, 'X-Total-Count': 10, y3: 2 }
console.log(x[Object.keys(x).find(key=>{return key.match(/^ab$/i)})])
console.log(x[Object.keys(x).find(key=>{return key.match(/^x-total-count$/i)})])
console.log(x[Object.keys(x).find(key=>{return key.match(/^y3$/i)})])

It seems to me like a good candidate for Proxy with traps to convert string keys to either upper case or lower case and behaving like a regular object.
This works with either notation: dots or braquets
Here is the code:
'use strict';
function noCasePropObj(obj)
{
var handler =
{
get: function(target, key)
{
//console.log("key: " + key.toString());
if (typeof key == "string")
{
var uKey = key.toUpperCase();
if ((key != uKey) && (key in target))
return target[key];
return target[uKey];
}
return target[key];
},
set: function(target, key, value)
{
if (typeof key == "string")
{
var uKey = key.toUpperCase();
if ((key != uKey) && (key in target))
target[key] = value;
target[uKey] = value;
}
else
target[key] = value;
},
deleteProperty: function(target, key)
{
if (typeof key == "string")
{
var uKey = key.toUpperCase();
if ((key != uKey) && (key in target))
delete target[key];
if (uKey in target)
delete target[uKey];
}
else
delete target[key];
},
};
function checkAtomic(value)
{
if (typeof value == "object")
return new noCasePropObj(value); // recursive call only for Objects
return value;
}
var newObj;
if (typeof obj == "object")
{
newObj = new Proxy({}, handler);
// traverse the Original object converting string keys to upper case
for (var key in obj)
{
if (typeof key == "string")
{
var objKey = key.toUpperCase();
if (!(key in newObj))
newObj[objKey] = checkAtomic(obj[key]);
}
}
}
else if (Array.isArray(obj))
{
// in an array of objects convert to upper case string keys within each row
newObj = new Array();
for (var i = 0; i < obj.length; i++)
newObj[i] = checkAtomic(obj[i]);
}
return newObj; // object with upper cased keys
}
// Use Sample:
var b = {Name: "Enrique", last: "Alamo", AdDrEsS: {Street: "1233 Main Street", CITY: "Somewhere", zip: 33333}};
console.log("Original: " + JSON.stringify(b)); // Original: {"Name":"Enrique","last":"Alamo","AdDrEsS":{"Street":"1233 Main Street","CITY":"Somewhere","zip":33333}}
var t = noCasePropObj(b);
console.log(JSON.stringify(t)); // {"NAME":"Enrique","LAST":"Alamo","ADDRESS":{"STREET":"1233 Main Street","CITY":"Somewhere","ZIP":33333}}
console.log('.NaMe:' + t.NaMe); // .NaMe:Enrique
console.log('["naME"]:' + t["naME"]); // ["naME"]:Enrique
console.log('.ADDreSS["CitY"]:' + t.ADDreSS["CitY"]); // .ADDreSS["CitY"]:Somewhere
console.log('check:' + JSON.stringify(Object.getOwnPropertyNames(t))); // check:["NAME","LAST","ADDRESS"]
console.log('check2:' + JSON.stringify(Object.getOwnPropertyNames(t['AddresS']))); // check2:["STREET","CITY","ZIP"]

You could do this in order to "normalize" prop
var normalizedProp = prop.toLowerCase();
obj[normalizedProp] = val;

const getPropertyNoCase = (obj, prop) => obj[Object.keys(obj).find(key => key.toLowerCase() === prop.toLowerCase() )];
or
const getPropertyNoCase = (obj, prop) => {
const lowerProp = prop.toLowerCase(obj[Object.keys(obj).find(key => key.toLowerCase() === prop.toLowerCase() )];
}

The ES6 example posted by #nilloc is incorrect and will break in use.
Here is a working example:
const x = {'first':5,'X-Total-Count':10,'third':20};
console.log(x[Object.keys(x).reduce((result,key)=>{
if (!result) {
return key.match(/x-total-count/i)
} else {
return result;
}
},null)]);
or better yet, it should return undefined if the key doesn't exist:
const x = {'first':5,'X-Total-Count':10,'third':20};
console.log(x[Object.keys(x).reduce((result,key)=>{
if (!result) {
return key.match(/x-total-count/i) || undefined
} else {
return result;
}
},undefined)]);
One consideration is that the above example will return the last matching key in the object if there are multiple keys that match.
Here is an example with the code made into a function:
/**
* #param {Object} object
* #param {string} key
* #return {string||undefined} value || undefined
*/
function getKeyCase(obj,key) {
const re = new RegExp(key,"i");
return Object.keys(obj).reduce((result,key)=>{
if (!result) {
return key.match(re) || undefined
} else {
return result;
}
},undefined);
const x = {'first':5,'X-Total-Count':10,'third':20};
console.log(x[getKeyCase(x,"x-total-count")]);

Its really sad that the iteration can't be skipped as it seems. For me what is acceptable but may not be for everyone is to shape the object one time via iteration and then use it in regular hashmap fashion.
const hashmap = {
'FOO': 'foo as in function programming',
'bar': 'bar is in baz',
};
const shapedmap = Object.entries(hashmap).reduce(
(acc, [key, val]) => (acc[key.toUpperCase()] = val, acc), {}
);
for (const term of ['foo', 'bar', 'baz']) {
const match = shapedmap[term.toUpperCase()]
match && console.log('awesome, we got the term.', match);
};
Even if it just one time lookup has to be performed, it shouldn't less performant as any other iteration solution since after 1 pass, the lookup speed is constant. (I guess).

This is an old question, but it was the first one I found.
As #ZachSmith says, you can use a Proxy.
Here's some example code:
function lowercase(oldKey) {
// Check that it's a string.
return typeof oldKey === 'string' ? oldKey.toLowerCase() : oldKey;
}
const propertiesMap = new Map(
Object.keys(obj).map(propKey => [lowercase(propKey), obj[propKey]])
);
const caseInsensitiveGetHandler = {
get: function(target, property, receiver) {
return propertiesMap.get(lowercase(property));
}
};
obj = new Proxy(obj, caseInsensitiveGetHandler);
For my use case, I only needed to proxy the object's getter, but you may need to implement more of the Proxy methods.

There is no need for any iteration. Since prop might not be a string, it should be coerced to a string first where appropriate since that's what objects do natively. A simple getter function is:
function objGetter(prop) {
return obj[String(prop).toLowerCase()];
}
If there is a requirement is to restring access to own properties:
function objGetter(prop) {
prop = String(prop).toLowerCase();
if (obj.hasOwnProperty(prop)) {
return obj.prop;
}
}
and a setter:
function objSetter(prop, val) {
obj[String(prop).toLowerCase()] = val;
}

Heres a very simple code to do this
Assuming that data is the array of objects like
data=[{"A":"bc","B":"nn"}]
var data=data.reduce(function(prev, curr) {
var cc = curr; // current value
var K = Object.keys(cc); // get all keys
var n = {};
for (var i = 0; i < K.length; i++) {
var key = K[i];//get hte key
n[key.toLowerCase()] = cc[key] // convert to lowercase and assign
}
prev.push(n) // push to array
return prev;
}, [])
Output will be
data=[{"a":"bc","b":"nn"}]

You might only need to do case-insensitive matching (usually expensive because of object iteration) IF a case-sensitive match (cheap and quick) fails.
Say you have:
var your_object = { "Chicago" : 'hi' , "deTroiT" : 'word' , "atlanta" : 'get r dun' } ;
And you have, for whatever reason, the_value, Detroit:
if( your_object.hasOwnProperty( the_value ) )
{
// do what you need to do here
}
else
{ // since the case-sensitive match did not succeed,
// ... Now try a the more-expensive case-insensitive matching
for( let lvs_prop in your_object )
{ if( the_value.toLowerCase() == lvs_prop.toLowerCase() )
{
// do what you need to do here
break ;
} ;
}
} ;

why would we do it that complicated when we simply can make it all lower case:
var your_object = {
"chickago" : 'hi' ,
"detroit" : 'word',
"atlanta" : 'get r dun',
GetName: function (status) {
return this[status].name;
} };
to call it: your_object.GetName(your_var.toLowerCase());

Another simple way:
function getVal(obj, prop){
var val;
prop = (prop + "").toLowerCase();
for(var p in obj){
if(obj.hasOwnProperty(p) && prop == (p+ "").toLowerCase()){
val = obj[p]
break;
}
}
return val;
}
Use it like this:
var obj = {
foo:"bar",
fizz:"buzz"
};
getVal(obj,"FoO") -> returns "bar"

Here is a nice recursive function that allows you to traverse a javascript object in a case-insensitive way:
let testObject = {'a': {'B': {'cC': [1,2,3]}}}
let testSeq = ['a','b','cc']
function keySequence(o, kseq) {
if(kseq.length==0){ return o; }
let validKeys = Object.keys(o).filter(k=>k.toLowerCase()==kseq[0].toLowerCase());
if(validKeys.length==0) { return `Incorrect Key: ${kseq[0]}` }
return keySequence(o[validKeys[0]], kseq.slice(1))
}
keySequence(testObject, testSeq); //returns [1,2,3]

This will convert everything to lowercase, but in a bind this could help if you are not concerned with retaining case.
var somedata = {
"MixEdCase": 1234
}
var temp = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(somedata).toLowerCase());
console.log(temp.mixedcase);
// or
console.log(temp["mixedcase"]);

So, you will need to get the object key that matches the case of the existing object, then use this to do your object update.
const obj = {
foo:"bar",
fizz:"buzz"
};
// to get obj.foo or obj.FOO or obj.foO returning "bar"
// create regex expression of case insensitive version of the key string
const regex=passedKey=> new RegExp(`^${passedKey}$`,'gi');
// find the key that matches the string you are passing
const formattedKey=passedKey=>Object.keys(obj).find(key=>regex(passedKey).test(key));
formattedKey('Foo'); // returns foo
formattedKey('FoO'); // returns foo
// consequently you can can use it like wise
obj[formattedKey('Foo')] // returns bar
obj[formattedKey('FoO')] // returns bar
obj[formattedKey('foo')] // returns bar

Catching a falling 'undefined' knife in object literals?

Need to catch any undefined within the entire structure space of the an object literal. The issue is that the location of the undefined will not be predictable:
.object
.result2[0] <--undefined could show its ugly face here, or anywhere above or below!
.thumbnails[0]
.type
.name
.['open']
This doesn't work:
if ( typeof object.result2[0].thumbnails[0]..... type == 'undefined'){
console.log("err'd out")
handleError();
}
So I guess I am looking for a solution that follows: if anything within object is undefined do something, or am I barking up the wrong tree?

If you're doing this sort of thing a lot then a little helper function is useful:
function dig_out(o, path, def) {
var parts = path.split('.');
for(var i = 0; i < parts.length; ++i) {
if(typeof o == 'undefined')
return def;
o = o[parts[i]];
}
return o;
}
obj = { a: [1, [2, { b: 10 } ]]};
var x = dig_out(ob, 'a.1.1.b'); // x is now 10
The trick is to realize that this:
object.results2[0].thumbnails[0].type.name["open"]
can also be written as:
object['results2'][0]['thumbnails'][0]['type']['name']['open']
And that can be easily represented as a string:
'results2.0.thumbnails.0.type.name.open'
that is easy to understand and parse.
You could also represent the path as an array (as CD Sanchez does) but then you'd have to do something with the default value, def.
You could also allow the path argument to be an array:
function dig_out(o, path, def) {
var parts = path instanceof Array ? path : path.split('.');
for(var i = 0; i < parts.length; ++i) {
if(typeof o == 'undefined')
return def;
o = o[parts[i]];
}
return o;
}
obj = { a: [1, [2, { b: 10 } ]]};
var x = dig_out(obj, 'a.1.1.b'); // x is now 10
var y = dig_out(obj, ['a', 1, 1, 'b']); // y is now 10
Then you'd have some flexibility as to which argument format was easiest to work with and it wouldn't even cost that much. Thanks to a small discussion with CD Sanchez for this idea.

Generally you use
if (object && object.result2[0] && object.results2[0].thumbnails[0] && object.results2[0].thumbnails[0].type && object.results2[0].thumbnails[0].type.name) {
object.results2[0].thumbnails[0].type.name["open"]
}
The fact that this looks ugly is a problem with your nesting and that things can be undefined at each level.

Simple try-catch block will do the trick, without need to test each level.

If you really want to keep your code clean, you could make a simple function to check if all the keys exist.
function pathExists() { // untested, but the basis is sound
var obj = arguments[0], path = Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments, 1), cursor = obj;
for (var i = 0; i < path.length; ++i) {
if (typeof cursor[path[i]] == "undefined") return false;
cursor = cursor[path[i]];
}
return cursor;
}
if (!pathExists(object, "result2", 0, "type", "name", "open"))
console.log("bork");