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();

JavaScript: Map Nested Objects that May Exist [duplicate]

I threw some code together to flatten and un-flatten complex/nested JavaScript objects. It works, but it's a bit slow (triggers the 'long script' warning).
For the flattened names I want "." as the delimiter and [INDEX] for arrays.
Examples:
un-flattened | flattened
---------------------------
{foo:{bar:false}} => {"foo.bar":false}
{a:[{b:["c","d"]}]} => {"a[0].b[0]":"c","a[0].b[1]":"d"}
[1,[2,[3,4],5],6] => {"[0]":1,"[1].[0]":2,"[1].[1].[0]":3,"[1].[1].[1]":4,"[1].[2]":5,"[2]":6}
I created a benchmark that ~simulates my use case http://jsfiddle.net/WSzec/
Get a nested object
Flatten it
Look through it and possibly modify it while flattened
Unflatten it back to it's original nested format to be shipped away
I would like faster code: For clarification, code that completes the JSFiddle benchmark (http://jsfiddle.net/WSzec/) significantly faster (~20%+ would be nice) in IE 9+, FF 24+, and Chrome 29+.
Here's the relevant JavaScript code: Current Fastest: http://jsfiddle.net/WSzec/6/
var unflatten = function(data) {
"use strict";
if (Object(data) !== data || Array.isArray(data))
return data;
var result = {}, cur, prop, idx, last, temp;
for(var p in data) {
cur = result, prop = "", last = 0;
do {
idx = p.indexOf(".", last);
temp = p.substring(last, idx !== -1 ? idx : undefined);
cur = cur[prop] || (cur[prop] = (!isNaN(parseInt(temp)) ? [] : {}));
prop = temp;
last = idx + 1;
} while(idx >= 0);
cur[prop] = data[p];
}
return result[""];
}
var flatten = function(data) {
var result = {};
function recurse (cur, prop) {
if (Object(cur) !== cur) {
result[prop] = cur;
} else if (Array.isArray(cur)) {
for(var i=0, l=cur.length; i<l; i++)
recurse(cur[i], prop ? prop+"."+i : ""+i);
if (l == 0)
result[prop] = [];
} else {
var isEmpty = true;
for (var p in cur) {
isEmpty = false;
recurse(cur[p], prop ? prop+"."+p : p);
}
if (isEmpty)
result[prop] = {};
}
}
recurse(data, "");
return result;
}
EDIT 1 Modified the above to #Bergi 's implementation which is currently the fastest. As an aside, using ".indexOf" instead of "regex.exec" is around 20% faster in FF but 20% slower in Chrome; so I'll stick with the regex since it's simpler (here's my attempt at using indexOf to replace the regex http://jsfiddle.net/WSzec/2/).
EDIT 2 Building on #Bergi 's idea I managed to created a faster non-regex version (3x faster in FF and ~10% faster in Chrome). http://jsfiddle.net/WSzec/6/ In the this (the current) implementation the rules for key names are simply, keys cannot start with an integer or contain a period.
Example:
{"foo":{"bar":[0]}} => {"foo.bar.0":0}
EDIT 3 Adding #AaditMShah 's inline path parsing approach (rather than String.split) helped to improve the unflatten performance. I'm very happy with the overall performance improvement reached.
The latest jsfiddle and jsperf:
http://jsfiddle.net/WSzec/14/
http://jsperf.com/flatten-un-flatten/4

Here's my much shorter implementation:
Object.unflatten = function(data) {
"use strict";
if (Object(data) !== data || Array.isArray(data))
return data;
var regex = /\.?([^.\[\]]+)|\[(\d+)\]/g,
resultholder = {};
for (var p in data) {
var cur = resultholder,
prop = "",
m;
while (m = regex.exec(p)) {
cur = cur[prop] || (cur[prop] = (m[2] ? [] : {}));
prop = m[2] || m[1];
}
cur[prop] = data[p];
}
return resultholder[""] || resultholder;
};
flatten hasn't changed much (and I'm not sure whether you really need those isEmpty cases):
Object.flatten = function(data) {
var result = {};
function recurse (cur, prop) {
if (Object(cur) !== cur) {
result[prop] = cur;
} else if (Array.isArray(cur)) {
for(var i=0, l=cur.length; i<l; i++)
recurse(cur[i], prop + "[" + i + "]");
if (l == 0)
result[prop] = [];
} else {
var isEmpty = true;
for (var p in cur) {
isEmpty = false;
recurse(cur[p], prop ? prop+"."+p : p);
}
if (isEmpty && prop)
result[prop] = {};
}
}
recurse(data, "");
return result;
}
Together, they run your benchmark in about the half of the time (Opera 12.16: ~900ms instead of ~ 1900ms, Chrome 29: ~800ms instead of ~1600ms).
Note: This and most other solutions answered here focus on speed and are susceptible to prototype pollution and shold not be used on untrusted objects.

I wrote two functions to flatten and unflatten a JSON object.
Flatten a JSON object:
var flatten = (function (isArray, wrapped) {
return function (table) {
return reduce("", {}, table);
};
function reduce(path, accumulator, table) {
if (isArray(table)) {
var length = table.length;
if (length) {
var index = 0;
while (index < length) {
var property = path + "[" + index + "]", item = table[index++];
if (wrapped(item) !== item) accumulator[property] = item;
else reduce(property, accumulator, item);
}
} else accumulator[path] = table;
} else {
var empty = true;
if (path) {
for (var property in table) {
var item = table[property], property = path + "." + property, empty = false;
if (wrapped(item) !== item) accumulator[property] = item;
else reduce(property, accumulator, item);
}
} else {
for (var property in table) {
var item = table[property], empty = false;
if (wrapped(item) !== item) accumulator[property] = item;
else reduce(property, accumulator, item);
}
}
if (empty) accumulator[path] = table;
}
return accumulator;
}
}(Array.isArray, Object));
Performance:
It's faster than the current solution in Opera. The current solution is 26% slower in Opera.
It's faster than the current solution in Firefox. The current solution is 9% slower in Firefox.
It's faster than the current solution in Chrome. The current solution is 29% slower in Chrome.
Unflatten a JSON object:
function unflatten(table) {
var result = {};
for (var path in table) {
var cursor = result, length = path.length, property = "", index = 0;
while (index < length) {
var char = path.charAt(index);
if (char === "[") {
var start = index + 1,
end = path.indexOf("]", start),
cursor = cursor[property] = cursor[property] || [],
property = path.slice(start, end),
index = end + 1;
} else {
var cursor = cursor[property] = cursor[property] || {},
start = char === "." ? index + 1 : index,
bracket = path.indexOf("[", start),
dot = path.indexOf(".", start);
if (bracket < 0 && dot < 0) var end = index = length;
else if (bracket < 0) var end = index = dot;
else if (dot < 0) var end = index = bracket;
else var end = index = bracket < dot ? bracket : dot;
var property = path.slice(start, end);
}
}
cursor[property] = table[path];
}
return result[""];
}
Performance:
It's faster than the current solution in Opera. The current solution is 5% slower in Opera.
It's slower than the current solution in Firefox. My solution is 26% slower in Firefox.
It's slower than the current solution in Chrome. My solution is 6% slower in Chrome.
Flatten and unflatten a JSON object:
Overall my solution performs either equally well or even better than the current solution.
Performance:
It's faster than the current solution in Opera. The current solution is 21% slower in Opera.
It's as fast as the current solution in Firefox.
It's faster than the current solution in Firefox. The current solution is 20% slower in Chrome.
Output format:
A flattened object uses the dot notation for object properties and the bracket notation for array indices:
{foo:{bar:false}} => {"foo.bar":false}
{a:[{b:["c","d"]}]} => {"a[0].b[0]":"c","a[0].b[1]":"d"}
[1,[2,[3,4],5],6] => {"[0]":1,"[1][0]":2,"[1][1][0]":3,"[1][1][1]":4,"[1][2]":5,"[2]":6}
In my opinion this format is better than only using the dot notation:
{foo:{bar:false}} => {"foo.bar":false}
{a:[{b:["c","d"]}]} => {"a.0.b.0":"c","a.0.b.1":"d"}
[1,[2,[3,4],5],6] => {"0":1,"1.0":2,"1.1.0":3,"1.1.1":4,"1.2":5,"2":6}
Advantages:
Flattening an object is faster than the current solution.
Flattening and unflattening an object is as fast as or faster than the current solution.
Flattened objects use both the dot notation and the bracket notation for readability.
Disadvantages:
Unflattening an object is slower than the current solution in most (but not all) cases.
The current JSFiddle demo gave the following values as output:
Nested : 132175 : 63
Flattened : 132175 : 564
Nested : 132175 : 54
Flattened : 132175 : 508
My updated JSFiddle demo gave the following values as output:
Nested : 132175 : 59
Flattened : 132175 : 514
Nested : 132175 : 60
Flattened : 132175 : 451
I'm not really sure what that means, so I'll stick with the jsPerf results. After all jsPerf is a performance benchmarking utility. JSFiddle is not.

ES6 version:
const flatten = (obj, path = '') => {
if (!(obj instanceof Object)) return {[path.replace(/\.$/g, '')]:obj};
return Object.keys(obj).reduce((output, key) => {
return obj instanceof Array ?
{...output, ...flatten(obj[key], path + '[' + key + '].')}:
{...output, ...flatten(obj[key], path + key + '.')};
}, {});
}
Example:
console.log(flatten({a:[{b:["c","d"]}]}));
console.log(flatten([1,[2,[3,4],5],6]));

3 ½ Years later...
For my own project I wanted to flatten JSON objects in mongoDB dot notation and came up with a simple solution:
/**
* Recursively flattens a JSON object using dot notation.
*
* NOTE: input must be an object as described by JSON spec. Arbitrary
* JS objects (e.g. {a: () => 42}) may result in unexpected output.
* MOREOVER, it removes keys with empty objects/arrays as value (see
* examples bellow).
*
* #example
* // returns {a:1, 'b.0.c': 2, 'b.0.d.e': 3, 'b.1': 4}
* flatten({a: 1, b: [{c: 2, d: {e: 3}}, 4]})
* // returns {a:1, 'b.0.c': 2, 'b.0.d.e.0': true, 'b.0.d.e.1': false, 'b.0.d.e.2.f': 1}
* flatten({a: 1, b: [{c: 2, d: {e: [true, false, {f: 1}]}}]})
* // return {a: 1}
* flatten({a: 1, b: [], c: {}})
*
* #param obj item to be flattened
* #param {Array.string} [prefix=[]] chain of prefix joined with a dot and prepended to key
* #param {Object} [current={}] result of flatten during the recursion
*
* #see https://docs.mongodb.com/manual/core/document/#dot-notation
*/
function flatten (obj, prefix, current) {
prefix = prefix || []
current = current || {}
// Remember kids, null is also an object!
if (typeof (obj) === 'object' && obj !== null) {
Object.keys(obj).forEach(key => {
this.flatten(obj[key], prefix.concat(key), current)
})
} else {
current[prefix.join('.')] = obj
}
return current
}
Features and/or caveats
It only accepts JSON objects. So if you pass something like {a: () => {}} you might not get what you wanted!
It removes empty arrays and objects. So this {a: {}, b: []} is flattened to {}.

Use this library:
npm install flat
Usage (from https://www.npmjs.com/package/flat):
Flatten:
var flatten = require('flat')
flatten({
key1: {
keyA: 'valueI'
},
key2: {
keyB: 'valueII'
},
key3: { a: { b: { c: 2 } } }
})
// {
// 'key1.keyA': 'valueI',
// 'key2.keyB': 'valueII',
// 'key3.a.b.c': 2
// }
Un-flatten:
var unflatten = require('flat').unflatten
unflatten({
'three.levels.deep': 42,
'three.levels': {
nested: true
}
})
// {
// three: {
// levels: {
// deep: 42,
// nested: true
// }
// }
// }

Here's another approach that runs slower (about 1000ms) than the above answer, but has an interesting idea :-)
Instead of iterating through each property chain, it just picks the last property and uses a look-up-table for the rest to store the intermediate results. This look-up-table will be iterated until there are no property chains left and all values reside on uncocatenated properties.
JSON.unflatten = function(data) {
"use strict";
if (Object(data) !== data || Array.isArray(data))
return data;
var regex = /\.?([^.\[\]]+)$|\[(\d+)\]$/,
props = Object.keys(data),
result, p;
while(p = props.shift()) {
var m = regex.exec(p),
target;
if (m.index) {
var rest = p.slice(0, m.index);
if (!(rest in data)) {
data[rest] = m[2] ? [] : {};
props.push(rest);
}
target = data[rest];
} else {
target = result || (result = (m[2] ? [] : {}));
}
target[m[2] || m[1]] = data[p];
}
return result;
};
It currently uses the data input parameter for the table, and puts lots of properties on it - a non-destructive version should be possible as well. Maybe a clever lastIndexOf usage performs better than the regex (depends on the regex engine).
See it in action here.

You can use https://github.com/hughsk/flat
Take a nested Javascript object and flatten it, or unflatten an object with delimited keys.
Example from the doc
var flatten = require('flat')
flatten({
key1: {
keyA: 'valueI'
},
key2: {
keyB: 'valueII'
},
key3: { a: { b: { c: 2 } } }
})
// {
// 'key1.keyA': 'valueI',
// 'key2.keyB': 'valueII',
// 'key3.a.b.c': 2
// }
var unflatten = require('flat').unflatten
unflatten({
'three.levels.deep': 42,
'three.levels': {
nested: true
}
})
// {
// three: {
// levels: {
// deep: 42,
// nested: true
// }
// }
// }

This code recursively flattens out JSON objects.
I included my timing mechanism in the code and it gives me 1ms but I'm not sure if that's the most accurate one.
var new_json = [{
"name": "fatima",
"age": 25,
"neighbour": {
"name": "taqi",
"location": "end of the street",
"property": {
"built in": 1990,
"owned": false,
"years on market": [1990, 1998, 2002, 2013],
"year short listed": [], //means never
}
},
"town": "Mountain View",
"state": "CA"
},
{
"name": "qianru",
"age": 20,
"neighbour": {
"name": "joe",
"location": "opposite to the park",
"property": {
"built in": 2011,
"owned": true,
"years on market": [1996, 2011],
"year short listed": [], //means never
}
},
"town": "Pittsburgh",
"state": "PA"
}]
function flatten(json, flattened, str_key) {
for (var key in json) {
if (json.hasOwnProperty(key)) {
if (json[key] instanceof Object && json[key] != "") {
flatten(json[key], flattened, str_key + "." + key);
} else {
flattened[str_key + "." + key] = json[key];
}
}
}
}
var flattened = {};
console.time('flatten');
flatten(new_json, flattened, "");
console.timeEnd('flatten');
for (var key in flattened){
console.log(key + ": " + flattened[key]);
}
Output:
flatten: 1ms
.0.name: fatima
.0.age: 25
.0.neighbour.name: taqi
.0.neighbour.location: end of the street
.0.neighbour.property.built in: 1990
.0.neighbour.property.owned: false
.0.neighbour.property.years on market.0: 1990
.0.neighbour.property.years on market.1: 1998
.0.neighbour.property.years on market.2: 2002
.0.neighbour.property.years on market.3: 2013
.0.neighbour.property.year short listed:
.0.town: Mountain View
.0.state: CA
.1.name: qianru
.1.age: 20
.1.neighbour.name: joe
.1.neighbour.location: opposite to the park
.1.neighbour.property.built in: 2011
.1.neighbour.property.owned: true
.1.neighbour.property.years on market.0: 1996
.1.neighbour.property.years on market.1: 2011
.1.neighbour.property.year short listed:
.1.town: Pittsburgh
.1.state: PA

Here's mine. It runs in <2ms in Google Apps Script on a sizable object. It uses dashes instead of dots for separators, and it doesn't handle arrays specially like in the asker's question, but this is what I wanted for my use.
function flatten (obj) {
var newObj = {};
for (var key in obj) {
if (typeof obj[key] === 'object' && obj[key] !== null) {
var temp = flatten(obj[key])
for (var key2 in temp) {
newObj[key+"-"+key2] = temp[key2];
}
} else {
newObj[key] = obj[key];
}
}
return newObj;
}
Example:
var test = {
a: 1,
b: 2,
c: {
c1: 3.1,
c2: 3.2
},
d: 4,
e: {
e1: 5.1,
e2: 5.2,
e3: {
e3a: 5.31,
e3b: 5.32
},
e4: 5.4
},
f: 6
}
Logger.log("start");
Logger.log(JSON.stringify(flatten(test),null,2));
Logger.log("done");
Example output:
[17-02-08 13:21:05:245 CST] start
[17-02-08 13:21:05:246 CST] {
"a": 1,
"b": 2,
"c-c1": 3.1,
"c-c2": 3.2,
"d": 4,
"e-e1": 5.1,
"e-e2": 5.2,
"e-e3-e3a": 5.31,
"e-e3-e3b": 5.32,
"e-e4": 5.4,
"f": 6
}
[17-02-08 13:21:05:247 CST] done

Object.prototype.flatten = function (obj) {
let ans = {};
let anotherObj = { ...obj };
function performFlatten(anotherObj) {
Object.keys(anotherObj).forEach((key, idx) => {
if (typeof anotherObj[key] !== 'object') {
ans[key] = anotherObj[key];
console.log('ans so far : ', ans);
} else {
console.log(key, { ...anotherObj[key] });
performFlatten(anotherObj[key]);
}
})
}
performFlatten(anotherObj);
return ans;
}
let ans = flatten(obj);
console.log(ans);

I added +/- 10-15% efficiency to the selected answer by minor code refactoring and moving the recursive function outside of the function namespace.
See my question: Are namespaced functions reevaluated on every call? for why this slows nested functions down.
function _flatten (target, obj, path) {
var i, empty;
if (obj.constructor === Object) {
empty = true;
for (i in obj) {
empty = false;
_flatten(target, obj[i], path ? path + '.' + i : i);
}
if (empty && path) {
target[path] = {};
}
}
else if (obj.constructor === Array) {
i = obj.length;
if (i > 0) {
while (i--) {
_flatten(target, obj[i], path + '[' + i + ']');
}
} else {
target[path] = [];
}
}
else {
target[path] = obj;
}
}
function flatten (data) {
var result = {};
_flatten(result, data, null);
return result;
}
See benchmark.

Here's a recursive solution for flatten I put together in PowerShell:
#---helper function for ConvertTo-JhcUtilJsonTable
#
function getNodes {
param (
[Parameter(Mandatory)]
[System.Object]
$job,
[Parameter(Mandatory)]
[System.String]
$path
)
$t = $job.GetType()
$ct = 0
$h = #{}
if ($t.Name -eq 'PSCustomObject') {
foreach ($m in Get-Member -InputObject $job -MemberType NoteProperty) {
getNodes -job $job.($m.Name) -path ($path + '.' + $m.Name)
}
}
elseif ($t.Name -eq 'Object[]') {
foreach ($o in $job) {
getNodes -job $o -path ($path + "[$ct]")
$ct++
}
}
else {
$h[$path] = $job
$h
}
}
#---flattens a JSON document object into a key value table where keys are proper JSON paths corresponding to their value
#
function ConvertTo-JhcUtilJsonTable {
param (
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true, ValueFromPipeline = $true)]
[System.Object[]]
$jsonObj
)
begin {
$rootNode = 'root'
}
process {
foreach ($o in $jsonObj) {
$table = getNodes -job $o -path $rootNode
# $h = #{}
$a = #()
$pat = '^' + $rootNode
foreach ($i in $table) {
foreach ($k in $i.keys) {
# $h[$k -replace $pat, ''] = $i[$k]
$a += New-Object -TypeName psobject -Property #{'Key' = $($k -replace $pat, ''); 'Value' = $i[$k]}
# $h[$k -replace $pat, ''] = $i[$k]
}
}
# $h
$a
}
}
end{}
}
Example:
'{"name": "John","Address": {"house": "1234", "Street": "Boogie Ave"}, "pets": [{"Type": "Dog", "Age": 4, "Toys": ["rubberBall", "rope"]},{"Type": "Cat", "Age": 7, "Toys": ["catNip"]}]}' | ConvertFrom-Json | ConvertTo-JhcUtilJsonTable
Key Value
--- -----
.Address.house 1234
.Address.Street Boogie Ave
.name John
.pets[0].Age 4
.pets[0].Toys[0] rubberBall
.pets[0].Toys[1] rope
.pets[0].Type Dog
.pets[1].Age 7
.pets[1].Toys[0] catNip
.pets[1].Type Cat

I wanted an approach so that I could be able to easily convert my json data into a csv file.
The scenario is: I query data from somewhere and I receive an array of some model, like a bank extract.
This approach below is used to parse each one of these entries.
function jsonFlatter(data, previousKey, obj) {
obj = obj || {}
previousKey = previousKey || ""
Object.keys(data).map(key => {
let newKey = `${previousKey}${previousKey ? "_" : ""}${key}`
let _value = data[key]
let isArray = Array.isArray(_value)
if (typeof _value !== "object" || isArray || _value == null) {
if (isArray) {
_value = JSON.stringify(_value)
} else if (_value == null) {
_value = "null"
}
obj[newKey] = _value
} else if (typeof _value === "object") {
if (!Object.keys(_value).length) {
obj[newKey] = "null"
} else {
return jsonFlatter(_value, newKey, obj)
}
}
})
return obj
}
This way, I can count on the uniformity of the keys and inner keys of my object model, but arrays are simply stringified since I can't rely on their uniformity. Also, empty objects become the string "null", since I still want it's key to appear in the final result.
Usage example:
const test_data = {
a: {
aa: {
aaa: 4354,
aab: 654
},
ab: 123
},
b: 234,
c: {},
d: []
}
console.log('result', jsonFlatter(test_data))
#### output
{
"a_aa_aaa": 4354,
"a_aa_aab": 654,
"a_ab": 123,
"b": 234,
"c": "null",
"d": "[]"
}

try this one:
function getFlattenObject(data, response = {}) {
for (const key in data) {
if (typeof data[key] === 'object' && !Array.isArray(data[key])) {
getFlattenObject(data[key], response);
} else {
response[key] = data[key];
}
}
return response;
}

I'd like to add a new version of flatten case (this is what i needed :)) which, according to my probes with the above jsFiddler, is slightly faster then the currently selected one.
Moreover, me personally see this snippet a bit more readable, which is of course important for multi-developer projects.
function flattenObject(graph) {
let result = {},
item,
key;
function recurr(graph, path) {
if (Array.isArray(graph)) {
graph.forEach(function (itm, idx) {
key = path + '[' + idx + ']';
if (itm && typeof itm === 'object') {
recurr(itm, key);
} else {
result[key] = itm;
}
});
} else {
Reflect.ownKeys(graph).forEach(function (p) {
key = path + '.' + p;
item = graph[p];
if (item && typeof item === 'object') {
recurr(item, key);
} else {
result[key] = item;
}
});
}
}
recurr(graph, '');
return result;
}

Here is some code I wrote to flatten an object I was working with. It creates a new class that takes every nested field and brings it into the first layer. You could modify it to unflatten by remembering the original placement of the keys. It also assumes the keys are unique even across nested objects. Hope it helps.
class JSONFlattener {
ojson = {}
flattenedjson = {}
constructor(original_json) {
this.ojson = original_json
this.flattenedjson = {}
this.flatten()
}
flatten() {
Object.keys(this.ojson).forEach(function(key){
if (this.ojson[key] == null) {
} else if (this.ojson[key].constructor == ({}).constructor) {
this.combine(new JSONFlattener(this.ojson[key]).returnJSON())
} else {
this.flattenedjson[key] = this.ojson[key]
}
}, this)
}
combine(new_json) {
//assumes new_json is a flat array
Object.keys(new_json).forEach(function(key){
if (!this.flattenedjson.hasOwnProperty(key)) {
this.flattenedjson[key] = new_json[key]
} else {
console.log(key+" is a duplicate key")
}
}, this)
}
returnJSON() {
return this.flattenedjson
}
}
console.log(new JSONFlattener(dad_dictionary).returnJSON())
As an example, it converts
nested_json = {
"a": {
"b": {
"c": {
"d": {
"a": 0
}
}
}
},
"z": {
"b":1
},
"d": {
"c": {
"c": 2
}
}
}
into
{ a: 0, b: 1, c: 2 }

You can try out the package jpflat.
It flattens, inflates, resolves promises, flattens arrays, has customizable path creation and customizable value serialization.
The reducers and serializers receive the whole path as an array of it's parts, so more complex operations can be done to the path instead of modifying a single key or changing the delimiter.
Json path is the default, hence "jp"flat.
https://www.npmjs.com/package/jpflat
let flatFoo = await require('jpflat').flatten(foo)

How to make encodeURI query parameters? [duplicate]

Is there a fast and simple way to encode a JavaScript object into a string that I can pass via a GET request?
No jQuery, no other frameworks—just plain JavaScript :)

Like this:
serialize = function(obj) {
var str = [];
for (var p in obj)
if (obj.hasOwnProperty(p)) {
str.push(encodeURIComponent(p) + "=" + encodeURIComponent(obj[p]));
}
return str.join("&");
}
console.log(serialize({
foo: "hi there",
bar: "100%"
}));
// foo=hi%20there&bar=100%25
This one also converts recursive objects (using PHP "array" notation for the query string):
serialize = function(obj, prefix) {
var str = [],
p;
for (p in obj) {
if (obj.hasOwnProperty(p)) {
var k = prefix ? prefix + "[" + p + "]" : p,
v = obj[p];
str.push((v !== null && typeof v === "object") ?
serialize(v, k) :
encodeURIComponent(k) + "=" + encodeURIComponent(v));
}
}
return str.join("&");
}
console.log(serialize({
foo: "hi there",
bar: {
blah: 123,
quux: [1, 2, 3]
}
}));
// foo=hi%20there&bar%5Bblah%5D=123&bar%5Bquux%5D%5B0%5D=1&bar%5Bquux%5D%5B1%5D=2&bar%5Bquux%5D%5B2%5D=3

Just use URLSearchParams This works in all current browsers
new URLSearchParams(object).toString()

jQuery has a function for this, jQuery.param(). If you're already using it, you can use this:
Example:
var params = { width:1680, height:1050 };
var str = jQuery.param( params );
str now contains width=1680&height=1050.

I suggest using the URLSearchParams interface:
const searchParams = new URLSearchParams();
const params = {foo: "hi there", bar: "100%" };
Object.keys(params).forEach(key => searchParams.append(key, params[key]));
console.log(searchParams.toString())
Or by passing the search object into the constructor like this:
const params = {foo: "hi there", bar: "100%" };
const queryString = new URLSearchParams(params).toString();
console.log(queryString);

Use:
Object.keys(obj).reduce(function(a,k){a.push(k+'='+encodeURIComponent(obj[k]));return a},[]).join('&')
I like this one-liner, but I bet it would be a more popular answer if it matched the accepted answer semantically:
function serialize( obj ) {
let str = '?' + Object.keys(obj).reduce(function(a, k){
a.push(k + '=' + encodeURIComponent(obj[k]));
return a;
}, []).join('&');
return str;
}

Here's a one liner in ES6:
Object.keys(obj).map(k => `${encodeURIComponent(k)}=${encodeURIComponent(obj[k])}`).join('&');

With Node.js v6.6.3
const querystring = require('querystring')
const obj = {
foo: 'bar',
baz: 'tor'
}
let result = querystring.stringify(obj)
// foo=bar&baz=tor
Reference: Query string

Ruby on Rails and PHP style query builder
This method converts a JavaScript object into a URI query string. It also handles nested arrays and objects (in Ruby on Rails and PHP syntax):
function serializeQuery(params, prefix) {
const query = Object.keys(params).map((key) => {
const value = params[key];
if (params.constructor === Array)
key = `${prefix}[]`;
else if (params.constructor === Object)
key = (prefix ? `${prefix}[${key}]` : key);
if (typeof value === 'object')
return serializeQuery(value, key);
else
return `${key}=${encodeURIComponent(value)}`;
});
return [].concat.apply([], query).join('&');
}
Example Usage:
let params = {
a: 100,
b: 'has spaces',
c: [1, 2, 3],
d: { x: 9, y: 8}
}
serializeQuery(params)
// returns 'a=100&b=has%20spaces&c[]=1&c[]=2&c[]=3&d[x]=9&d[y]=8

A small amendment to the accepted solution by user187291:
serialize = function(obj) {
var str = [];
for(var p in obj){
if (obj.hasOwnProperty(p)) {
str.push(encodeURIComponent(p) + "=" + encodeURIComponent(obj[p]));
}
}
return str.join("&");
}
Checking for hasOwnProperty on the object makes JSLint and JSHint happy, and it prevents accidentally serializing methods of the object or other stuff if the object is anything but a simple dictionary. See the paragraph on for statements on Code Conventions for the JavaScript Programming Language.

Well, everyone seems to put his one-liner here so here goes mine:
const encoded = Object.entries(obj).map(([k, v]) => `${k}=${encodeURIComponent(v)}`).join("&");

If you need to send arbitrary objects, then GET is a bad idea since there are limits to the lengths of URLs that user agents and web servers will accepts. My suggestion would be to build up an array of name-value pairs to send and then build up a query string:
function QueryStringBuilder() {
var nameValues = [];
this.add = function(name, value) {
nameValues.push( {name: name, value: value} );
};
this.toQueryString = function() {
var segments = [], nameValue;
for (var i = 0, len = nameValues.length; i < len; i++) {
nameValue = nameValues[i];
segments[i] = encodeURIComponent(nameValue.name) + "=" + encodeURIComponent(nameValue.value);
}
return segments.join("&");
};
}
var qsb = new QueryStringBuilder();
qsb.add("veg", "cabbage");
qsb.add("vegCount", "5");
alert( qsb.toQueryString() );

A little bit look better
objectToQueryString(obj, prefix) {
return Object.keys(obj).map(objKey => {
if (obj.hasOwnProperty(objKey)) {
const key = prefix ? `${prefix}[${objKey}]` : objKey;
const value = obj[objKey];
return typeof value === "object" ?
this.objectToQueryString(value, key) :
`${encodeURIComponent(key)}=${encodeURIComponent(value)}`;
}
return null;
}).join("&");
}

This one skips null/undefined values
export function urlEncodeQueryParams(data) {
const params = Object.keys(data).map(key => data[key] ? `${encodeURIComponent(key)}=${encodeURIComponent(data[key])}` : '');
return params.filter(value => !!value).join('&');
}

Here's the CoffeeScript version of the accepted answer.
serialize = (obj, prefix) ->
str = []
for p, v of obj
k = if prefix then prefix + "[" + p + "]" else p
if typeof v == "object"
str.push(serialize(v, k))
else
str.push(encodeURIComponent(k) + "=" + encodeURIComponent(v))
str.join("&")

Here's a concise & recursive version with Object.entries. It handles arbitrarily nested arrays, but not nested objects. It also removes empty elements:
const format = (k,v) => v !== null ? `${k}=${encodeURIComponent(v)}` : ''
const to_qs = (obj) => {
return [].concat(...Object.entries(obj)
.map(([k,v]) => Array.isArray(v)
? v.map(arr => to_qs({[k]:arr}))
: format(k,v)))
.filter(x => x)
.join('&');
}
E.g.:
let json = {
a: [1, 2, 3],
b: [], // omit b
c: 1,
d: "test&encoding", // uriencode
e: [[4,5],[6,7]], // flatten this
f: null, // omit nulls
g: 0
};
let qs = to_qs(json)
=> "a=1&a=2&a=3&c=1&d=test%26encoding&e=4&e=5&e=6&e=7&g=0"

Use:
const toQueryString = obj => "?".concat(Object.keys(obj).map(e => `${encodeURIComponent(e)}=${encodeURIComponent(obj[e])}`).join("&"));
const data = {
offset: 5,
limit: 10
};
toQueryString(data); // => ?offset=5&limit=10
Or use a predefined feature
const data = {
offset: 5,
limit: 10
};
new URLSearchParams(data).toString(); // => ?offset=5&limit=10
Note
Both the above methods will set the value as null if not present.
If you want not to set the query parameter if value is null then use:
const toQueryString = obj => "?".concat(Object.keys(obj).map(e => obj[e] ? `${encodeURIComponent(e)}=${encodeURIComponent(obj[e])}` : null).filter(e => !!e).join("&"));
const data = {
offset: null,
limit: 10
};
toQueryString(data); // => "?limit=10" else with above methods "?offset=null&limit=10"
You can freely use any method.

In ES7 you can write this in one line:
const serialize = (obj) => (Object.entries(obj).map(i => [i[0], encodeURIComponent(i[1])].join('=')).join('&'))

I have a simpler solution that does not use any third-party library and is already apt to be used in any browser that has "Object.keys" (aka all modern browsers + edge + ie):
In ES5
function(a){
if( typeof(a) !== 'object' )
return '';
return `?${Object.keys(a).map(k=>`${k}=${a[k]}`).join('&')}`;
}
In ES3
function(a){
if( typeof(a) !== 'object' )
return '';
return '?' + Object.keys(a).map(function(k){ return k + '=' + a[k] }).join('&');
}

I made a comparison of JSON stringifiers and the results are as follows:
JSON: {"_id":"5973782bdb9a930533b05cb2","isActive":true,"balance":"$1,446.35","age":32,"name":"Logan Keller","email":"logankeller#artiq.com","phone":"+1 (952) 533-2258","friends":[{"id":0,"name":"Colon Salazar"},{"id":1,"name":"French Mcneil"},{"id":2,"name":"Carol Martin"}],"favoriteFruit":"banana"}
Rison: (_id:'5973782bdb9a930533b05cb2',age:32,balance:'$1,446.35',email:'logankeller#artiq.com',favoriteFruit:banana,friends:!((id:0,name:'Colon Salazar'),(id:1,name:'French Mcneil'),(id:2,name:'Carol Martin')),isActive:!t,name:'Logan Keller',phone:'+1 (952) 533-2258')
O-Rison: _id:'5973782bdb9a930533b05cb2',age:32,balance:'$1,446.35',email:'logankeller#artiq.com',favoriteFruit:banana,friends:!((id:0,name:'Colon Salazar'),(id:1,name:'French Mcneil'),(id:2,name:'Carol Martin')),isActive:!t,name:'Logan Keller',phone:'+1 (952) 533-2258'
JSURL: ~(_id~'5973782bdb9a930533b05cb2~isActive~true~balance~'!1*2c446.35~age~32~name~'Logan*20Keller~email~'logankeller*40artiq.com~phone~'*2b1*20*28952*29*20533-2258~friends~(~(id~0~name~'Colon*20Salazar)~(id~1~name~'French*20Mcneil)~(id~2~name~'Carol*20Martin))~favoriteFruit~'banana)
QS: _id=5973782bdb9a930533b05cb2&isActive=true&balance=$1,446.35&age=32&name=Logan Keller&email=logankeller#artiq.com&phone=+1 (952) 533-2258&friends[0][id]=0&friends[0][name]=Colon Salazar&friends[1][id]=1&friends[1][name]=French Mcneil&friends[2][id]=2&friends[2][name]=Carol Martin&favoriteFruit=banana
URLON: $_id=5973782bdb9a930533b05cb2&isActive:true&balance=$1,446.35&age:32&name=Logan%20Keller&email=logankeller#artiq.com&phone=+1%20(952)%20533-2258&friends#$id:0&name=Colon%20Salazar;&$id:1&name=French%20Mcneil;&$id:2&name=Carol%20Martin;;&favoriteFruit=banana
QS-JSON: isActive=true&balance=%241%2C446.35&age=32&name=Logan+Keller&email=logankeller%40artiq.com&phone=%2B1+(952)+533-2258&friends(0).id=0&friends(0).name=Colon+Salazar&friends(1).id=1&friends(1).name=French+Mcneil&friends(2).id=2&friends(2).name=Carol+Martin&favoriteFruit=banana
The shortest among them is URL Object Notation.

There another popular library, qs. You can add it by:
yarn add qs
And then use it like this:
import qs from 'qs'
const array = { a: { b: 'c' } }
const stringified = qs.stringify(array, { encode: false })
console.log(stringified) //-- outputs a[b]=c

ES6 solution for query string encoding of a JavaScript object
const params = {
a: 1,
b: 'query stringify',
c: null,
d: undefined,
f: '',
g: { foo: 1, bar: 2 },
h: ['Winterfell', 'Westeros', 'Braavos'],
i: { first: { second: { third: 3 }}}
}
static toQueryString(params = {}, prefix) {
const query = Object.keys(params).map((k) => {
let key = k;
const value = params[key];
if (!value && (value === null || value === undefined || isNaN(value))) {
value = '';
}
switch (params.constructor) {
case Array:
key = `${prefix}[]`;
break;
case Object:
key = (prefix ? `${prefix}[${key}]` : key);
break;
}
if (typeof value === 'object') {
return this.toQueryString(value, key); // for nested objects
}
return `${key}=${encodeURIComponent(value)}`;
});
return query.join('&');
}
toQueryString(params)
"a=1&b=query%20stringify&c=&d=&f=&g[foo]=1&g[bar]=2&h[]=Winterfell&h[]=Westeros&h[]=Braavos&i[first][second][third]=3"

A single line to convert an object into a query string in case somebody needs it again:
let Objs = { a: 'obejct-a', b: 'object-b' }
Object.keys(objs).map(key => key + '=' + objs[key]).join('&')
// The result will be a=object-a&b=object-b

This is an addition for the accepted solution. This works with objects and array of objects:
parseJsonAsQueryString = function (obj, prefix, objName) {
var str = [];
for (var p in obj) {
if (obj.hasOwnProperty(p)) {
var v = obj[p];
if (typeof v == "object") {
var k = (objName ? objName + '.' : '') + (prefix ? prefix + "[" + p + "]" : p);
str.push(parseJsonAsQueryString(v, k));
} else {
var k = (objName ? objName + '.' : '') + (prefix ? prefix + '.' + p : p);
str.push(encodeURIComponent(k) + "=" + encodeURIComponent(v));
//str.push(k + "=" + v);
}
}
}
return str.join("&");
}
Also I have added objName if you're using object parameters, like in ASP.NET MVC action methods.

If you want to convert a nested object recursively and the object may or may not contain arrays (and the arrays may contain objects or arrays, etc), then the solution gets a little more complex. This is my attempt.
I've also added some options to choose if you want to record for each object member at what depth in the main object it sits, and to choose if you want to add a label to the members that come from converted arrays.
Ideally you should test if the thing parameter really receives an object or array.
function thingToString(thing,maxDepth,recordLevel,markArrays){
//thing: object or array to be recursively serialized
//maxDepth (int or false):
// (int) how deep to go with converting objects/arrays within objs/arrays
// (false) no limit to recursive objects/arrays within objects/arrays
//recordLevel (boolean):
// true - insert "(level 1)" before transcript of members at level one (etc)
// false - just
//markArrays (boolean):
// insert text to indicate any members that came from arrays
var result = "";
if (maxDepth !== false && typeof maxDepth != 'number') {maxDepth = 3;}
var runningDepth = 0;//Keeps track how deep we're into recursion
//First prepare the function, so that it can call itself recursively
function serializeAnything(thing){
//Set path-finder values
runningDepth += 1;
if(recordLevel){result += "(level " + runningDepth + ")";}
//First convert any arrays to object so they can be processed
if (thing instanceof Array){
var realObj = {};var key;
if (markArrays) {realObj['type'] = "converted array";}
for (var i = 0;i < thing.length;i++){
if (markArrays) {key = "a" + i;} else {key = i;}
realObj[key] = thing[i];
}
thing = realObj;
console.log('converted one array to ' + typeof realObj);
console.log(thing);
}
//Then deal with it
for (var member in thing){
if (typeof thing[member] == 'object' && runningDepth < maxDepth){
serializeAnything(thing[member]);
//When a sub-object/array is serialized, it will add one to
//running depth. But when we continue to this object/array's
//next sibling, the level must go back up by one
runningDepth -= 1;
} else if (maxDepth !== false && runningDepth >= maxDepth) {
console.log('Reached bottom');
} else
if (
typeof thing[member] == "string" ||
typeof thing[member] == 'boolean' ||
typeof thing[member] == 'number'
){
result += "(" + member + ": " + thing[member] + ") ";
} else {
result += "(" + member + ": [" + typeof thing[member] + " not supported]) ";
}
}
}
//Actually kick off the serialization
serializeAnything(thing);
return result;
}

This is a solution that will work for .NET backends out of the box. I have taken the primary answer of this thread and updated it to fit our .NET needs.
function objectToQuerystring(params) {
var result = '';
function convertJsonToQueryString(data, progress, name) {
name = name || '';
progress = progress || '';
if (typeof data === 'object') {
Object.keys(data).forEach(function (key) {
var value = data[key];
if (name == '') {
convertJsonToQueryString(value, progress, key);
} else {
if (isNaN(parseInt(key))) {
convertJsonToQueryString(value, progress, name + '.' + key);
} else {
convertJsonToQueryString(value, progress, name + '[' + key+ ']');
}
}
})
} else {
result = result ? result.concat('&') : result.concat('?');
result = result.concat(`${name}=${data}`);
}
}
convertJsonToQueryString(params);
return result;
}

To do it in a better way.
It can handle recursive objects or arrays in the standard query form, like a=val&b[0]=val&b[1]=val&c=val&d[some key]=val. Here's the final function.
Logic, Functionality
const objectToQueryString = (initialObj) => {
const reducer = (obj, parentPrefix = null) => (prev, key) => {
const val = obj[key];
key = encodeURIComponent(key);
const prefix = parentPrefix ? `${parentPrefix}[${key}]` : key;
if (val == null || typeof val === 'function') {
prev.push(`${prefix}=`);
return prev;
}
if (['number', 'boolean', 'string'].includes(typeof val)) {
prev.push(`${prefix}=${encodeURIComponent(val)}`);
return prev;
}
prev.push(Object.keys(val).reduce(reducer(val, prefix), []).join('&'));
return prev;
};
return Object.keys(initialObj).reduce(reducer(initialObj), []).join('&');
};
Example
const testCase1 = {
name: 'Full Name',
age: 30
}
const testCase2 = {
name: 'Full Name',
age: 30,
children: [
{name: 'Child foo'},
{name: 'Foo again'}
],
wife: {
name: 'Very Difficult to say here'
}
}
console.log(objectToQueryString(testCase1));
console.log(objectToQueryString(testCase2));
Live Test
Expand the snippet below to verify the result in your browser -
const objectToQueryString = (initialObj) => {
const reducer = (obj, parentPrefix = null) => (prev, key) => {
const val = obj[key];
key = encodeURIComponent(key);
const prefix = parentPrefix ? `${parentPrefix}[${key}]` : key;
if (val == null || typeof val === 'function') {
prev.push(`${prefix}=`);
return prev;
}
if (['number', 'boolean', 'string'].includes(typeof val)) {
prev.push(`${prefix}=${encodeURIComponent(val)}`);
return prev;
}
prev.push(Object.keys(val).reduce(reducer(val, prefix), []).join('&'));
return prev;
};
return Object.keys(initialObj).reduce(reducer(initialObj), []).join('&');
};
const testCase1 = {
name: 'Full Name',
age: 30
}
const testCase2 = {
name: 'Full Name',
age: 30,
children: [
{name: 'Child foo'},
{name: 'Foo again'}
],
wife: {
name: 'Very Difficult to say here'
}
}
console.log(objectToQueryString(testCase1));
console.log(objectToQueryString(testCase2));
Things to consider.
It skips values for functions, null, and undefined
It skips keys and values for empty objects and arrays.
It doesn't handle Number or String objects made with new Number(1) or new String('my string') because no one should ever do that

ok, it's a older post but i'm facing this problem and i have found my personal solution.. maybe can help someone else..
function objToQueryString(obj){
var k = Object.keys(obj);
var s = "";
for(var i=0;i<k.length;i++) {
s += k[i] + "=" + encodeURIComponent(obj[k[i]]);
if (i != k.length -1) s += "&";
}
return s;
};

URLSearchParams looks good, but it didn't work for nested objects.
Try to use
encodeURIComponent(JSON.stringify(object))

The previous answers do not work if you have a lot of nested objects.
Instead you can pick the function parameter from jquery-param/jquery-param.js. It worked very well for me!
var param = function (a) {
var s = [], rbracket = /\[\]$/,
isArray = function (obj) {
return Object.prototype.toString.call(obj) === '[object Array]';
}, add = function (k, v) {
v = typeof v === 'function' ? v() : v === null ? '' : v === undefined ? '' : v;
s[s.length] = encodeURIComponent(k) + '=' + encodeURIComponent(v);
}, buildParams = function (prefix, obj) {
var i, len, key;
if (prefix) {
if (isArray(obj)) {
for (i = 0, len = obj.length; i < len; i++) {
if (rbracket.test(prefix)) {
add(prefix, obj[i]);
} else {
buildParams(prefix + '[' + (typeof obj[i] === 'object' ? i : '') + ']', obj[i]);
}
}
} else if (obj && String(obj) === '[object Object]') {
for (key in obj) {
buildParams(prefix + '[' + key + ']', obj[key]);
}
} else {
add(prefix, obj);
}
} else if (isArray(obj)) {
for (i = 0, len = obj.length; i < len; i++) {
add(obj[i].name, obj[i].value);
}
} else {
for (key in obj) {
buildParams(key, obj[key]);
}
}
return s;
};
return buildParams('', a).join('&').replace(/%20/g, '+');
};

After going through some top answers here, I have wrote another implementation that tackles some edge cases as well
function serialize(params, prefix) {
return Object.entries(params).reduce((acc, [key, value]) => {
// remove whitespace from both sides of the key before encoding
key = encodeURIComponent(key.trim());
if (params.constructor === Array ) {
key = `${prefix}[]`;
} else if (params.constructor === Object) {
key = (prefix ? `${prefix}[${key}]` : key);
}
/**
* - undefined and NaN values will be skipped automatically
* - value will be empty string for functions and null
* - nested arrays will be flattened
*/
if (value === null || typeof value === 'function') {
acc.push(`${key}=`);
} else if (typeof value === 'object') {
acc = acc.concat(serialize(value, key));
} else if(['number', 'boolean', 'string'].includes(typeof value) && value === value) { // self-check to avoid NaN
acc.push(`${key}=${encodeURIComponent(value)}`);
}
return acc;
}, []);
}
function objectToQueryString(queryParameters) {
return queryParameters ? serialize(queryParameters).join('&'): '';
}
let x = objectToQueryString({
foo: 'hello world',
bar: {
blah: 123,
list: [1, 2, 3],
'nested array': [[4,5],[6,7]] // will be flattened
},
page: 1,
limit: undefined, // field will be ignored
check: false,
max: NaN, // field will be ignored
prop: null,
' key value': 'with spaces' // space in key will be trimmed out
});
console.log(x); // foo=hello%20world&bar[blah]=123&bar[list][]=1&bar[list][]=2&bar[list][]=3&bar[nested%20array][][]=4&bar[nested%20array][][]=5&bar[nested%20array][][]=6&bar[nested%20array][][]=7&page=1&check=false&prop=&key%20value=with%20spaces

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();

How to convert an x-www-form-urlencoded string to JSON?

Exampple of application/x-www-form-urlencoded string
CorrelationId=1&PickedNumbers%5B%5D=1&PickedNumbers%5B%5D=2&PickedNumbers%5B%5D=3&PickedNumbers%5B%5D=4
Into JSON
var gamePlayData = {
CorrelationId: gameId,
PickedNumbers: ["1","2","3","4"]
};

This is a core module of Node.js now: https://nodejs.org/api/querystring.html#querystring_querystring_parse_str_sep_eq_options
var qs = require('querystring')
var json = qs.parse('why=not&sad=salad')
// { why: 'not', sad: 'salad' }
Works with encoded characters too:
var json2 = qs.parse('http%3A%2F%2Fexample.com&sad=salad')
// { url: 'http://example.com', sad: 'salad' }

I've been dealing with this recently: I had to parse data that could contain objects nested up to 5 levels deep. I needed the code to be able to deal with both rather complex data, but not fail to decode a URI as simple as id=213.
I spent quite some time on google, trying to find a (semi-)elegant solution to this problem, and this question kept showing up. Since it gets 1 view/day (give or take) I've decided to post my solution here, hope it helps someone out:
function form2Json(str)
{
"use strict";
var obj,i,pt,keys,j,ev;
if (typeof form2Json.br !== 'function')
{
form2Json.br = function(repl)
{
if (repl.indexOf(']') !== -1)
{
return repl.replace(/\](.+?)(,|$)/g,function($1,$2,$3)
{
return form2Json.br($2+'}'+$3);
});
}
return repl;
};
}
str = '{"'+(str.indexOf('%') !== -1 ? decodeURI(str) : str)+'"}';
obj = str.replace(/\=/g,'":"').replace(/&/g,'","').replace(/\[/g,'":{"');
obj = JSON.parse(obj.replace(/\](.+?)(,|$)/g,function($1,$2,$3){ return form2Json.br($2+'}'+$3);}));
pt = ('&'+str).replace(/(\[|\]|\=)/g,'"$1"').replace(/\]"+/g,']').replace(/&([^\[\=]+?)(\[|\=)/g,'"&["$1]$2');
pt = (pt + '"').replace(/^"&/,'').split('&');
for (i=0;i<pt.length;i++)
{
ev = obj;
keys = pt[i].match(/(?!:(\["))([^"]+?)(?=("\]))/g);
for (j=0;j<keys.length;j++)
{
if (!ev.hasOwnProperty(keys[j]))
{
if (keys.length > (j + 1))
{
ev[keys[j]] = {};
}
else
{
ev[keys[j]] = pt[i].split('=')[1].replace(/"/g,'');
break;
}
}
ev = ev[keys[j]];
}
}
return obj;
}
I've tested it, with data like the string below (4 levels deep):
str = "id=007&name[first]=james&name[last]=bond&name[title]=agent&personalia[occupation]=spy&personalia[strength]=women&personalia[weakness]=women&tools[weapons][close][silent]=garrot&tools[weapons][medium][silent]=pistol_supressed&tools[weapons][medium][loud]=smg&tools[weapons][far][silent]=sniper&tools[movement][slow]=foot&tools[movement][far]=DBS";
Which neatly returns an object, that, when passed through JSON.stringify comes out like this:
{"id":"007","name":{"title":"agent","first":"james","last":"bond"},"personalia":{"weakness":"women","occupation":"spy","strength":"women"},"tools":{"movement":{"far":"DBS","slow":"foot"},"weapons":{"close":{"silent":"garrot"},"medium":{"silent":"pistol_supressed","loud":"smg"},"far":{"silent":"sniper"}}}}
It passes a JSlint check, when ignoring white space, . and [^...] and accepting ++. All in all, I'd consider that to be acceptable.

You can use qs if you're using node, or browserify.
var qs = require('qs')
var encodedString = "CorrelationId=1&PickedNumbers%5B%5D=1&PickedNumbers%5B%5D=2&PickedNumbers%5B%5D=3&PickedNumbers%5B%5D=4"
console.log(qs.parse(encodedString))
// { CorrelationId: '1', PickedNumbers: [ '1', '2', '3', '4' ] }

the following code should do the trick:
var str = 'CorrelationId=1&PickedNumbers%5B%5D=1&PickedNumbers%5B%5D=2&PickedNumbers%5B%5D=3&PickedNumbers%5B%5D=4';
var keyValuePairs = str.split('&');
var json = {};
for(var i=0,len = keyValuePairs.length,tmp,key,value;i <len;i++) {
tmp = keyValuePairs[i].split('=');
key = decodeURIComponent(tmp[0]);
value = decodeURIComponent(tmp[1]);
if(key.search(/\[\]$/) != -1) {
tmp = key.replace(/\[\]$/,'');
json[tmp] = json[tmp] || [];
json[tmp].push(value);
}
else {
json[key] = value;
}
}

Updated answer for 2022, works both in the browser and in node.
Use URLSearchParams class.
Note: The param name PickedNumbers%5B%5D will turn to be the literal string PickedNumbers[]. You don't need to encode the brackets in order to make it an array
const paramsStr = 'CorrelationId=1&PickedNumbers%5B%5D=1&PickedNumbers%5B%5D=2&PickedNumbers%5B%5D=3&PickedNumbers%5B%5D=4';
const params = new URLSearchParams(paramsStr);
//access a specific param
console.log(params.get('PickedNumbers[]')); // '4'
console.log(params.getAll('PickedNumbers[]')); // ['1','2','3','4']
const o = Object.fromEntries(Array.from(params.keys()).map(k => [k, params.getAll(k).length===1 ? params.get(k) : params.getAll(k)]));
console.log(JSON.stringify(o)); //full object

Here's a pure-JavaScript way to do it. JavaScript frameworks might also help you out with this. EDIT: Just for kicks, I threw in dictionary parsing, too. See the 2nd example.
function decodeFormParams(params) {
var pairs = params.split('&'),
result = {};
for (var i = 0; i < pairs.length; i++) {
var pair = pairs[i].split('='),
key = decodeURIComponent(pair[0]),
value = decodeURIComponent(pair[1]),
isArray = /\[\]$/.test(key),
dictMatch = key.match(/^(.+)\[([^\]]+)\]$/);
if (dictMatch) {
key = dictMatch[1];
var subkey = dictMatch[2];
result[key] = result[key] || {};
result[key][subkey] = value;
} else if (isArray) {
key = key.substring(0, key.length-2);
result[key] = result[key] || [];
result[key].push(value);
} else {
result[key] = value;
}
}
return result;
}
decodeFormParams("CorrelationId=1&PickedNumbers%5B%5D=1&PickedNumbers%5B%5D=2&PickedNumbers%5B%5D=3&PickedNumbers%5B%5D=4");
// => {"CorrelationId":"1","PickedNumbers":["1","2","3","4"]}
decodeFormParams("a%5Bb%5D=c&a%5Bd%5D=e");
// => {"a":{"b":"c","d":"e"}}

Try this->
// convert string to object
str = 'a=6&id=99';
var arr = str.split('&');
var obj = {};
for(var i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {
var bits = arr[i].split('=');
obj[bits[0]] = bits[1];
}
//alert(obj.a);
//alert(obj.id);
// convert object back to string
str = '';
for(key in obj) {
str += key + '=' + obj[key] + '&';
}
str = str.slice(0, str.length - 1);
alert(str);
Or use this (JQuery) http://api.jquery.com/jQuery.param/

A one-liner:
let s = 'a=1&b=2&c=3';
Object.fromEntries(
s.split('&')
.map(s => s.split('='))
.map(pair => pair.map(decodeURIComponent)))
// -> {a: "1", b: "2", c: "3"}
and if you want repeated parameters to be represented as arrays:
let s = 'a=1&b=2&c[]=3&c[]=4&c[]=5&c[]=6';
s
.split('&')
.map(s => s.split('='))
.map(pair => pair.map(decodeURIComponent))
.reduce((memo, [key, value]) => {
if (!(key in memo)) { memo[key] = value; }
else {
if (!(memo[key] instanceof Array))
memo[key] = [memo[key], value];
else
memo[key].push(value);
}
return memo;
}, {})
// -> {"a":"1","b":"2","c[]":["3","4","5","6"]}

You need the opposite of jQuery.param. One of the options is http://benalman.com/code/projects/jquery-bbq/examples/deparam/

var jsonMessage = "{\"".concat(message.replace("&", "\",\"").replace("=", "\":\"")).concat("\"}");

In typescript, works for me:
Use qs.parse to transform in object ParsedQs.
Use as unknow to implicit type unknow and before force convert to string.
Use JSON.parse to convert an string to object.
It was useful to use validations with Joi.
const payload = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(qs.parse(request.body) as unknown as string));
Payload (cURL):
--data-urlencode 'notification=123-456123' \
--data-urlencode 'test=123456' \
--data-urlencode 'ajieoajeoa=Lorem ipsum'
Result:
{
notification: '123-456123',
test: '123456',
ajieoajeoa: 'Lorem ipsum'
}

public static void Main()
{
string str ="RESULT=0&PNREF=A10AABBF8DF2&RESPMSG=Approved&AUTHCODE=668PNI&PREFPSMSG=No Rules Triggered&POSTFPSMSG=No Rules Triggered";
var sr = str.Replace("&", "=");
string[] sp = sr.Split('=');
var spl = sp.Length;
int n = 1;
var ss = "{";
for (var k = 0; k < spl; k++)
{
if (n % 2 == 0)
{
if (n == spl)
{
ss += '"' + sp[k] + '"';
}
else
{
ss += '"' + sp[k] + '"' + ",";
}
}
else
{
ss += '"' + sp[k] + '"' + ":";
}
n++;
}
ss += "}";
Console.WriteLine(ss);
}