Develop Reference

How to grab the children of an Object.keys(myEl) reference

In the code below, I can get a reference to the text000 object, but I need to capture its child array as my target payload. Once I have a reference to the key, how can I capture its children?
Full object is below:
activeItem = [{"dnd":{"index":0,"active":true,"group":"common","label":"Text (000)","type":"text"},
"json":{"schema":{"properties":{"text000":{"title":"Text (000)","type":"string"}},"required":["text000"]},"layout":[{"key":"text000","description":"","floatLabel":"auto","validationMessages":{"required":"Required"}}]}}]
To grab a reference to the "text000" key I'm using:
const myEl = Object.keys(this.activeItem.json.schema.properties); // points to text000
I need to pull that key's contents/children > {"title":"Text (000)","type":"string"} out to use it as my target payload for this operation.
The text000 element is dynamic so I need its reference, which is why I'm using the Object.keys() method to point to it.
Feel free to school me on the proper names to use to refer to these elements. For example, not sure exactly how to reference > {"title":"Text (000)","type":"string"} with respect to the key text000. Is that the key's "children", "value", "contents" or what?
UPDATE:
console.log('TRY: ', this.activeItem.json.schema.properties[0]);
// Returns undefined
console.log('TRY2: ', this.activeItem.json.schema.properties);
// Returns {"text000":{"title":"Text (000)","type":"string"}}
I need something to return:
{"title":"Text (000)","type":"string"}
SOLUTION thanks #jaredgorski:
const properties = this.activeItem.json.schema.properties;
const propertiesKeys = Object.keys(properties);
const propertiesKeysFirstVal = Object.keys(properties)[0];
const logProperties = properties[propertiesKeysFirstVal];
console.log('PROPERTIES KEYS:', propertiesKeys);
console.log(
'VALUES OF FIRST PROPERTIES KEY:',
propertiesKeysFirstVal
);
console.log('RESULT:', logProperties);
PROPERTIES KEYS: ["text000"]
wrux-wrux-form-builder.js:1782 VALUES OF FIRST PROPERTIES KEY: text000
wrux-wrux-form-builder.js:1783 RESULT: {title: "Text (000)", type: "string"}

You need to remember that activeItem is an array. As long as you include the index (in this case the first index, which is [0]), you can access the json property (or key) and continue down the chain to retrieve the values in text000.
The other trick here is that you're wanting to access the first key in properties, but you don't know the name of that key yet. So what you need to do is actually make an array of the keys and then find out the name of the first key in that properties object. To do this, you can use Object.keys(), a method which turns the keys of an object into an array. Once you have the name of this key, you only need to use bracket notation on the properties object to find the value for this key. I'll show you how this works in the snippet below.
Here are some references so that you can learn more about how this works:
MDN page on the Object.keys() method
Accessing JavaScript
object properties: Bracket notation vs. Dot notation
And here's the working example:
const activeItem = [
{
"dnd": {
"index": 0,
"active": true,
"group":"common",
"label":"Text (000)",
"type":"text",
"icon":"text_fields",
"fontSet":"material-icons",
"class":""
},
"json": {
"schema": {
"properties": {
"text000":{
"title":"Text (000)",
"type":"string"
}
},
"required":["text000"]
},
"layout":[
{
"key":"text000",
"description":"",
"floatLabel":"auto",
"validationMessages": {
"required":"Required"
}
}
]
}
}
]
// This is the dirty looking version:
const logPropertiesDirty = activeItem[0].json.schema.properties[Object.keys(activeItem[0].json.schema.properties)[0]]
console.log("First, the dirty version where we don't save anything to variables. Everything is laid out here.")
console.log('WHAT WE DID:', 'activeItem[0].json.schema.properties[Object.keys(activeItem[0].json.schema.properties)[0]]')
console.log('RESULT:', logPropertiesDirty)
console.log('=================================================')
// This is the cleaner version, using variables to store things as we go:
const properties = activeItem[0].json.schema.properties;
const propertiesKeys = Object.keys(properties);
const propertiesKeysFirstVal = Object.keys(properties)[0];
const logPropertiesClean = properties[propertiesKeysFirstVal];
console.log('Now, the cleaner version. We save some values to variables to make things more readable.')
console.log('PROPERTIES OBJECT:', properties)
console.log('PROPERTIES KEYS:', propertiesKeys)
console.log('NAME OF FIRST PROPERTIES KEY:', propertiesKeysFirstVal)
console.log('RESULT:', logPropertiesClean)
Regarding what to call these things, I've always thought of Objects as generally consisting of "key-value pairs". Keys can also be called properties and values can also be called contents (I guess).
myObject = {
key1: value1,
property2: contentsOfProperty2
}
At the end of the day, clear communication is all that counts! So, whatever names you come up with (as long as they make reasonable sense), I'm sure people won't be jerks about it unless they feel like they have something to prove.

You should be able to use Object.values over this.activeItem.json.schema.properties:
The Object.values() method returns an array of a given object's own enumerable property values, in the same order as that provided by a for...in loop (the difference being that a for-in loop enumerates properties in the prototype chain as well).
const object1 = {
a: 'somestring',
b: 42,
c: false
};
console.log(Object.values(object1));
// expected output: Array ["somestring", 42, false]
It is not supported across the map yet, but you should be able to load a polyfill if you need it.

If object array has x parameter [duplicate]

How do I check if a particular key exists in a JavaScript object or array?
If a key doesn't exist, and I try to access it, will it return false? Or throw an error?

Checking for undefined-ness is not an accurate way of testing whether a key exists. What if the key exists but the value is actually undefined?
var obj = { key: undefined };
console.log(obj["key"] !== undefined); // false, but the key exists!
You should instead use the in operator:
var obj = { key: undefined };
console.log("key" in obj); // true, regardless of the actual value
If you want to check if a key doesn't exist, remember to use parenthesis:
var obj = { not_key: undefined };
console.log(!("key" in obj)); // true if "key" doesn't exist in object
console.log(!"key" in obj); // Do not do this! It is equivalent to "false in obj"
Or, if you want to particularly test for properties of the object instance (and not inherited properties), use hasOwnProperty:
var obj = { key: undefined };
console.log(obj.hasOwnProperty("key")); // true
For performance comparison between the methods that are in, hasOwnProperty and key is undefined, see this benchmark:

Quick Answer
How do I check if a particular key exists in a JavaScript object or array?
If a key doesn't exist and I try to access it, will it return false? Or throw an error?
Accessing directly a missing property using (associative) array style or object style will return an undefined constant.
The slow and reliable in operator and hasOwnProperty method
As people have already mentioned here, you could have an object with a property associated with an "undefined" constant.
var bizzareObj = {valid_key: undefined};
In that case, you will have to use hasOwnProperty or in operator to know if the key is really there. But, but at what price?
so, I tell you...
in operator and hasOwnProperty are "methods" that use the Property Descriptor mechanism in Javascript (similar to Java reflection in the Java language).
http://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/5.1/#sec-8.10
The Property Descriptor type is used to explain the manipulation and reification of named property attributes. Values of the Property Descriptor type are records composed of named fields where each field’s name is an attribute name and its value is a corresponding attribute value as specified in 8.6.1. In addition, any field may be present or absent.
On the other hand, calling an object method or key will use Javascript [[Get]] mechanism. That is a far way faster!
Benchmark
https://jsben.ch/HaHQt
.
Using in operator
var result = "Impression" in array;
The result was
12,931,832 ±0.21% ops/sec 92% slower
Using hasOwnProperty
var result = array.hasOwnProperty("Impression")
The result was
16,021,758 ±0.45% ops/sec 91% slower
Accessing elements directly (brackets style)
var result = array["Impression"] === undefined
The result was
168,270,439 ±0.13 ops/sec 0.02% slower
Accessing elements directly (object style)
var result = array.Impression === undefined;
The result was
168,303,172 ±0.20% fastest
EDIT: What is the reason to assign to a property the undefined value?
That question puzzles me. In Javascript, there are at least two references for absent objects to avoid problems like this: null and undefined.
null is the primitive value that represents the intentional absence of any object value, or in short terms, the confirmed lack of value. On the other hand, undefined is an unknown value (not defined). If there is a property that will be used later with a proper value consider use null reference instead of undefined because in the initial moment the property is confirmed to lack value.
Compare:
var a = {1: null};
console.log(a[1] === undefined); // output: false. I know the value at position 1 of a[] is absent and this was by design, i.e.: the value is defined.
console.log(a[0] === undefined); // output: true. I cannot say anything about a[0] value. In this case, the key 0 was not in a[].
Advice
Avoid objects with undefined values. Check directly whenever possible and use null to initialize property values. Otherwise, use the slow in operator or hasOwnProperty() method.
EDIT: 12/04/2018 - NOT RELEVANT ANYMORE
As people have commented, modern versions of the Javascript engines (with firefox exception) have changed the approach for access properties. The current implementation is slower than the previous one for this particular case but the difference between access key and object is neglectable.

It will return undefined.
var aa = {hello: "world"};
alert( aa["hello"] ); // popup box with "world"
alert( aa["goodbye"] ); // popup box with "undefined"
undefined is a special constant value. So you can say, e.g.
// note the three equal signs so that null won't be equal to undefined
if( aa["goodbye"] === undefined ) {
// do something
}
This is probably the best way to check for missing keys. However, as is pointed out in a comment below, it's theoretically possible that you'd want to have the actual value be undefined. I've never needed to do this and can't think of a reason offhand why I'd ever want to, but just for the sake of completeness, you can use the in operator
// this works even if you have {"goodbye": undefined}
if( "goodbye" in aa ) {
// do something
}

"key" in obj
Is likely testing only object attribute values that are very different from array keys

Checking for properties of the object including inherited properties
Could be determined using the in operator which returns true if the specified property is in the specified object or its prototype chain, false otherwise
const person = { name: 'dan' };
console.log('name' in person); // true
console.log('age' in person); // false
Checking for properties of the object instance (not including inherited properties)
*2021 - Using the new method ***Object.hasOwn() as a replacement for Object.hasOwnProperty()
Object.hasOwn() is intended as a replacement for Object.hasOwnProperty() and is a new method available to use (yet still not fully supported by all browsers like safari yet but soon will be)
Object.hasOwn() is a static method which returns true if the specified object has the specified property as its own property. If the property is inherited, or does not exist, the method returns false.
const person = { name: 'dan' };
console.log(Object.hasOwn(person, 'name'));// true
console.log(Object.hasOwn(person, 'age'));// false
const person2 = Object.create({gender: 'male'});
console.log(Object.hasOwn(person2, 'gender'));// false
What is the motivation to use it over Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty? - It is recommended to this method use over the Object.hasOwnProperty() because it also works for objects created by using Object.create(null) and for objects that have overridden the inherited hasOwnProperty() method. Although it's possible to solve these kind of problems by calling Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty() on an external object, Object.hasOwn() overcome these problems, hence is preferred (see examples below)
let person = {
hasOwnProperty: function() {
return false;
},
age: 35
};
if (Object.hasOwn(person, 'age')) {
console.log(person.age); // true - the remplementation of hasOwnProperty() did not affect the Object
}
let person = Object.create(null);
person.age = 35;
if (Object.hasOwn(person, 'age')) {
console.log(person.age); // true - works regardless of how the object was created
}
More about Object.hasOwn can be found here : https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Object/hasOwn
Browser compatibility for Object.hasOwn - https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Object/hasOwn#browser_compatibility

The accepted answer refers to Object. Beware using the in operator on Array to find data instead of keys:
("true" in ["true", "false"])
// -> false (Because the keys of the above Array are actually 0 and 1)
To test existing elements in an Array: Best way to find if an item is in a JavaScript array?

Three ways to check if a property is present in a javascript object:
!!obj.theProperty
Will convert value to bool. returns true for all but the false value
'theProperty' in obj
Will return true if the property exists, no matter its value (even empty)
obj.hasOwnProperty('theProperty')
Does not check the prototype chain. (since all objects have the toString method, 1 and 2 will return true on it, while 3 can return false on it.)
Reference:
http://book.mixu.net/node/ch5.html

If you are using underscore.js library then object/array operations become simple.
In your case _.has method can be used. Example:
yourArray = {age: "10"}
_.has(yourArray, "age")
returns true
But,
_.has(yourArray, "invalidKey")
returns false

Answer:
if ("key" in myObj)
{
console.log("key exists!");
}
else
{
console.log("key doesn't exist!");
}
Explanation:
The in operator will check if the key exists in the object. If you checked if the value was undefined: if (myObj["key"] === 'undefined'), you could run into problems because a key could possibly exist in your object with the undefined value.
For that reason, it is much better practice to first use the in operator and then compare the value that is inside the key once you already know it exists.

Here's a helper function I find quite useful
This keyExists(key, search) can be used to easily lookup a key within objects or arrays!
Just pass it the key you want to find, and search obj (the object or array) you want to find it in.
function keyExists(key, search) {
if (!search || (search.constructor !== Array && search.constructor !== Object)) {
return false;
}
for (var i = 0; i < search.length; i++) {
if (search[i] === key) {
return true;
}
}
return key in search;
}
// How to use it:
// Searching for keys in Arrays
console.log(keyExists('apple', ['apple', 'banana', 'orange'])); // true
console.log(keyExists('fruit', ['apple', 'banana', 'orange'])); // false
// Searching for keys in Objects
console.log(keyExists('age', {'name': 'Bill', 'age': 29 })); // true
console.log(keyExists('title', {'name': 'Jason', 'age': 29 })); // false
It's been pretty reliable and works well cross-browser.

vanila js
yourObjName.hasOwnProperty(key) : true ? false;
If you want to check if the object has at least one property in es2015
Object.keys(yourObjName).length : true ? false

ES6 solution
using Array#some and Object.keys. It will return true if given key exists in the object or false if it doesn't.
var obj = {foo: 'one', bar: 'two'};
function isKeyInObject(obj, key) {
var res = Object.keys(obj).some(v => v == key);
console.log(res);
}
isKeyInObject(obj, 'foo');
isKeyInObject(obj, 'something');
One-line example.
console.log(Object.keys({foo: 'one', bar: 'two'}).some(v => v == 'foo'));

Optional chaining operator:
const invoice = {customer: {address: {city: "foo"}}}
console.log( invoice?.customer?.address?.city )
console.log( invoice?.customer?.address?.street )
console.log( invoice?.xyz?.address?.city )
See supported browsers list
For those which have lodash included in their project:There is a lodash _.get method which tries to get "deep" keys:
Gets the value at path of object. If the resolved value is undefined,
the defaultValue is returned in its place.
var object = { 'a': [{ 'b': { 'c': 3 } }] };
console.log(
_.get(object, 'a[0].b.c'), // => 3
_.get(object, ['a', '0', 'b', 'c']), // => 3
_.get(object, 'a.b.c'), // => undefined
_.get(object, 'a.b.c', 'default') // => 'default'
)
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/lodash.js/4.17.4/lodash.min.js"></script>
This will effectively check if that key, however deep, is defined and will not throw an error which might harm the flow of your program if that key is not defined.

To find if a key exists in an object, use
Object.keys(obj).includes(key)
The ES7 includes method checks if an Array includes an item or not, & is a simpler alternative to indexOf.

The easiest way to check is
"key" in object
for example:
var obj = {
a: 1,
b: 2,
}
"a" in obj // true
"c" in obj // false
Return value as true implies that key exists in the object.

Optional Chaining (?.) operator can also be used for this
Source: MDN/Operators/Optional_chaining
const adventurer = {
name: 'Alice',
cat: {
name: 'Dinah'
}
}
console.log(adventurer.dog?.name) // undefined
console.log(adventurer.cat?.name) // Dinah

An alternate approach using "Reflect"
As per MDN
Reflect is a built-in object that provides methods for interceptable
JavaScript operations.
The static Reflect.has() method works like the in operator as a
function.
var obj = {
a: undefined,
b: 1,
c: "hello world"
}
console.log(Reflect.has(obj, 'a'))
console.log(Reflect.has(obj, 'b'))
console.log(Reflect.has(obj, 'c'))
console.log(Reflect.has(obj, 'd'))
Should I use it ?
It depends.
Reflect.has() is slower than the other methods mentioned on the accepted answer (as per my benchmark test). But, if you are using it only a few times in your code, I don't see much issues with this approach.

We can use - hasOwnProperty.call(obj, key);
The underscore.js way -
if(_.has(this.options, 'login')){
//key 'login' exists in this.options
}
_.has = function(obj, key) {
return hasOwnProperty.call(obj, key);
};

If you want to check for any key at any depth on an object and account for falsey values consider this line for a utility function:
var keyExistsOn = (o, k) => k.split(".").reduce((a, c) => a.hasOwnProperty(c) ? a[c] || 1 : false, Object.assign({}, o)) === false ? false : true;
Results
var obj = {
test: "",
locals: {
test: "",
test2: false,
test3: NaN,
test4: 0,
test5: undefined,
auth: {
user: "hw"
}
}
}
keyExistsOn(obj, "")
> false
keyExistsOn(obj, "locals.test")
> true
keyExistsOn(obj, "locals.test2")
> true
keyExistsOn(obj, "locals.test3")
> true
keyExistsOn(obj, "locals.test4")
> true
keyExistsOn(obj, "locals.test5")
> true
keyExistsOn(obj, "sdsdf")
false
keyExistsOn(obj, "sdsdf.rtsd")
false
keyExistsOn(obj, "sdsdf.234d")
false
keyExistsOn(obj, "2134.sdsdf.234d")
false
keyExistsOn(obj, "locals")
true
keyExistsOn(obj, "locals.")
false
keyExistsOn(obj, "locals.auth")
true
keyExistsOn(obj, "locals.autht")
false
keyExistsOn(obj, "locals.auth.")
false
keyExistsOn(obj, "locals.auth.user")
true
keyExistsOn(obj, "locals.auth.userr")
false
keyExistsOn(obj, "locals.auth.user.")
false
keyExistsOn(obj, "locals.auth.user")
true
Also see this NPM package: https://www.npmjs.com/package/has-deep-value

While this doesn't necessarily check if a key exists, it does check for the truthiness of a value. Which undefined and null fall under.
Boolean(obj.foo)
This solution works best for me because I use typescript, and using strings like so 'foo' in obj or obj.hasOwnProperty('foo')
to check whether a key exists or not does not provide me with intellisense.

const object1 = {
a: 'something',
b: 'something',
c: 'something'
};
const key = 's';
// Object.keys(object1) will return array of the object keys ['a', 'b', 'c']
Object.keys(object1).indexOf(key) === -1 ? 'the key is not there' : 'yep the key is exist';

In 'array' world we can look on indexes as some kind of keys. What is surprising the in operator (which is good choice for object) also works with arrays. The returned value for non-existed key is undefined
let arr = ["a","b","c"]; // we have indexes: 0,1,2
delete arr[1]; // set 'empty' at index 1
arr.pop(); // remove last item
console.log(0 in arr, arr[0]);
console.log(1 in arr, arr[1]);
console.log(2 in arr, arr[2]);

Worth noting that since the introduction of ES11 you can use the nullish coalescing operator, which simplifies things a lot:
const obj = {foo: 'one', bar: 'two'};
const result = obj.foo ?? "Not found";
The code above will return "Not found" for any "falsy" values in foo. Otherwise it will return obj.foo.
See Combining with the nullish coalescing operator

JS Double Exclamation !! sign may help in this case.
const cars = {
petrol:{
price: 5000
},
gas:{
price:8000
}
}
Suppose we have the object above and If you try to log car with petrol price.
=> console.log(cars.petrol.price);
=> 5000
You'll definitely get 5000 out of it. But what if you try to get an
electric car which does not exist then you'll get undefine
=> console.log(cars.electric);
=> undefine
But using !! which is its short way to cast a variable to be a
Boolean (true or false) value.
=> console.log(!!cars.electric);
=> false

In my case, I wanted to check an NLP metadata returned by LUIS which is an object. I wanted to check if a key which is a string "FinancialRiskIntent" exists as a key inside that metadata object.
I tried to target the nested object I needed to check -> data.meta.prediction.intents (for my own purposes only, yours could be any object)
I used below code to check if the key exists:
const hasKey = 'FinancialRiskIntent' in data.meta.prediction.intents;
if(hasKey) {
console.log('The key exists.');
}
else {
console.log('The key does not exist.');
}
This is checking for a specific key which I was initially looking for.
Hope this bit helps someone.

yourArray.indexOf(yourArrayKeyName) > -1
fruit = ['apple', 'grapes', 'banana']
fruit.indexOf('apple') > -1
true
fruit = ['apple', 'grapes', 'banana']
fruit.indexOf('apple1') > -1
false
for strict object keys checking:
const object1 = {};
object1.stackoverflow = 51;
console.log(object1.hasOwnProperty('stackoverflow'));
output: true

These example can demonstrate the differences between defferent ways. Hope it will help you to pick the right one for your needs:
// Lets create object `a` using create function `A`
function A(){};
A.prototype.onProtDef=2;
A.prototype.onProtUndef=undefined;
var a=new A();
a.ownProp = 3;
a.ownPropUndef = undefined;
// Let's try different methods:
a.onProtDef; // 2
a.onProtUndef; // undefined
a.ownProp; // 3
a.ownPropUndef; // undefined
a.whatEver; // undefined
a.valueOf; // ƒ valueOf() { [native code] }
a.hasOwnProperty('onProtDef'); // false
a.hasOwnProperty('onProtUndef'); // false
a.hasOwnProperty('ownProp'); // true
a.hasOwnProperty('ownPropUndef'); // true
a.hasOwnProperty('whatEver'); // false
a.hasOwnProperty('valueOf'); // false
'onProtDef' in a; // true
'onProtUndef' in a; // true
'ownProp' in a; // true
'ownPropUndef' in a; // true
'whatEver' in a; // false
'valueOf' in a; // true (on the prototype chain - Object.valueOf)
Object.keys(a); // ["ownProp", "ownPropUndef"]

const rawObject = {};
rawObject.propertyKey = 'somethingValue';
console.log(rawObject.hasOwnProperty('somethingValue'));
// expected output: true
checking particular key present in given object, hasOwnProperty will works here.

If you have ESLint configured in your project follows ESLint rule no-prototype-builtins. The reason why has been described in the following link:
// bad
console.log(object.hasOwnProperty(key));
// good
console.log(Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(object, key));
// best
const has = Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty; // cache the lookup once, in module scope.
console.log(has.call(object, key));
/* or */
import has from 'has'; // https://www.npmjs.com/package/has
console.log(has(object, key));

New awesome solution with JavaScript Destructuring:
let obj = {
"key1": "value1",
"key2": "value2",
"key3": "value3",
};
let {key1, key2, key3, key4} = obj;
// key1 = "value1"
// key2 = "value2"
// key3 = "value3"
// key4 = undefined
// Can easily use `if` here on key4
if(!key4) { console.log("key not present"); } // Key not present
Do check other use of JavaScript Destructuring

Design pattern to check if a JavaScript object has changed

I get from the server a list of objects
[{name:'test01', age:10},{name:'test02', age:20},{name:'test03', age:30}]
I load them into html controls for the user to edit.
Then there is a button to bulk save the entire list back to the database.
Instead of sending the whole list I only want to send the subset of objects that were changed.
It can be any number of items in the array. I want to do something similar to frameworks like Angular that mark an object property like "pristine" when no change has been done to it. Then use that flag to only post to the server the items that are not "pristine", the ones that were modified.

Here is a function down below that will return an array/object of changed objects when supplied with an old array/object of objects and a new array of objects:
// intended to compare objects of identical shape; ideally static.
//
// any top-level key with a primitive value which exists in `previous` but not
// in `current` returns `undefined` while vice versa yields a diff.
//
// in general, the input type determines the output type. that is if `previous`
// and `current` are objects then an object is returned. if arrays then an array
// is returned, etc.
const getChanges = (previous, current) => {
if (isPrimitive(previous) && isPrimitive(current)) {
if (previous === current) {
return "";
}
return current;
}
if (isObject(previous) && isObject(current)) {
const diff = getChanges(Object.entries(previous), Object.entries(current));
return diff.reduce((merged, [key, value]) => {
return {
...merged,
[key]: value
}
}, {});
}
const changes = [];
if (JSON.stringify(previous) === JSON.stringify(current)) {
return changes;
}
for (let i = 0; i < current.length; i++) {
const item = current[i];
if (JSON.stringify(item) !== JSON.stringify(previous[i])) {
changes.push(item);
}
}
return changes;
};
For Example:
const arr1 = [1, 2, 3, 4]
const arr2 = [4, 4, 2, 4]
console.log(getChanges(arr1, arr2)) // [4,4,2]
const obj1 = {
foo: "bar",
baz: [
1, 2, 3
],
qux: {
hello: "world"
},
bingo: "name-o",
}
const obj2 = {
foo: "barx",
baz: [
1, 2, 3, 4
],
qux: {
hello: null
},
bingo: "name-o",
}
console.log(getChanges(obj1.foo, obj2.foo)) // barx
console.log(getChanges(obj1.bingo, obj2.bingo)) // ""
console.log(getChanges(obj1.baz, obj2.baz)) // [4]
console.log(getChanges(obj1, obj2)) // {foo:'barx',baz:[1,2,3,4],qux:{hello:null}}
const obj3 = [{ name: 'test01', age: 10 }, { name: 'test02', age: 20 }, { name: 'test03', age: 30 }]
const obj4 = [{ name: 'test01', age: 10 }, { name: 'test02', age: 20 }, { name: 'test03', age: 20 }]
console.log(getChanges(obj3, obj4)) // [{name:'test03', age:20}]
Utility functions used:
// not required for this example but aid readability of the main function
const typeOf = o => Object.prototype.toString.call(o);
const isObject = o => o !== null && !Array.isArray(o) && typeOf(o).split(" ")[1].slice(0, -1) === "Object";
const isPrimitive = o => {
switch (typeof o) {
case "object": {
return false;
}
case "function": {
return false;
}
default: {
return true;
}
}
};
You would simply have to export the full list of edited values client side, compare it with the old list, and then send the list of changes off to the server.
Hope this helps!

Here are a few ideas.
Use a framework. You spoke of Angular.
Use Proxies, though Internet Explorer has no support for it.
Instead of using classic properties, maybe use Object.defineProperty's set/get to achieve some kind of change tracking.
Use getter/setting functions to store data instead of properties: getName() and setName() for example. Though this the older way of doing what defineProperty now does.
Whenever you bind your data to your form elements, set a special property that indicates if the property has changed. Something like __hasChanged. Set to true if any property on the object changes.
The old school bruteforce way: keep your original list of data that came from the server, deep copy it into another list, bind your form controls to the new list, then when the user clicks submit, compare the objects in the original list to the objects in the new list, plucking out the changed ones as you go. Probably the easiest, but not necessarily the cleanest.
A different take on #6: Attach a special property to each object that always returns the original version of the object:
var myData = [{name: "Larry", age: 47}];
var dataWithCopyOfSelf = myData.map(function(data) {
Object.assign({}, data, { original: data });
});
// now bind your form to dataWithCopyOfSelf.
Of course, this solution assumes a few things: (1) that your objects are flat and simple since Object.assign() doesn't deep copy, (2) that your original data set will never be changed, and (3) that nothing ever touches the contents of original.
There are a multitude of solutions out there.

With ES6 we can use Proxy
to accomplish this task: intercept an Object write, and mark it as dirty.
Proxy allows to create a handler Object that can trap, manipulate, and than forward changes to the original target Object, basically allowing to reconfigure its behavior.
The trap we're going to adopt to intercept Object writes is the handler set().
At this point we can add a non-enumerable property flag like i.e: _isDirty using Object.defineProperty() to mark our Object as modified, dirty.
When using traps (in our case the handler's set()) no changes are applied nor reflected to the Objects, therefore we need to forward the argument values to the target Object using Reflect.set().
Finally, to retrieve the modified objects, filter() the Array with our proxy Objects in search of those having its own Property "_isDirty".
// From server:
const dataOrg = [
{id:1, name:'a', age:10},
{id:2, name:'b', age:20},
{id:3, name:'c', age:30}
];
// Mirror data from server to observable Proxies:
const data = dataOrg.map(ob => new Proxy(ob, {
set() {
Object.defineProperty(ob, "_isDirty", {value: true}); // Flag
return Reflect.set(...arguments); // Forward trapped args to ob
}
}));
// From now on, use proxied data. Let's change some values:
data[0].name = "Lorem";
data[0].age = 42;
data[2].age = 31;
// Collect modified data
const dataMod = data.filter(ob => ob.hasOwnProperty("_isDirty"));
// Test what we're about to send back to server:
console.log(JSON.stringify(dataMod, null, 2));
Without using .defineProperty()
If for some reason you don't feel comfortable into tapping into the original object adding extra properties as flags, you could instead populate immediately
the dataMod (array with modified Objects) with references:
const dataOrg = [
{id:1, name:'a', age:10},
{id:2, name:'b', age:20},
{id:3, name:'c', age:30}
];
// Prepare array to hold references to the modified Objects
const dataMod = [];
const data = dataOrg.map(ob => new Proxy(ob, {
set() {
if (dataMod.indexOf(ob) < 0) dataMod.push(ob); // Push reference
return Reflect.set(...arguments);
}
}));
data[0].name = "Lorem";
data[0].age = 42;
data[2].age = 31;
console.log(JSON.stringify(dataMod, null, 2));
Can I Use - Proxy (IE)
Proxy - handler.set()
Global Objects - Reflect
Reflect.set()
Object.defineProperty()
Object.hasOwnProperty()

Without having to get fancy with prototype properties you could simply store them in another array whenever your form control element detects a change
Something along the lines of:
var modified = [];
data.forEach(function(item){
var domNode = // whatever you use to match data to form control element
domNode.addEventListener('input',function(){
if(modified.indexOf(item) === -1){
modified.push(item);
}
});
});
Then send the modified array to server when it's time to save

Why not use Ember.js observable properties ? You can use the Ember.observer function to get and set changes in your data.
Ember.Object.extend({
valueObserver: Ember.observer('value', function(sender, key, value, rev) {
// Executes whenever the "value" property changes
// See the addObserver method for more information about the callback arguments
})
});
The Ember.object actually does a lot of heavy lifting for you.
Once you define your object, add an observer like so:
object.addObserver('propertyKey', targetObject, targetAction)

My idea is to sort object keys and convert object to be string to compare:
// use this function to sort keys, and save key=>value in an array
function objectSerilize(obj) {
let keys = Object.keys(obj)
let results = []
keys.sort((a, b) => a > b ? -1 : a < b ? 1 : 0)
keys.forEach(key => {
let value = obj[key]
if (typeof value === 'object') {
value = objectSerilize(value)
}
results.push({
key,
value,
})
})
return results
}
// use this function to compare
function compareObject(a, b) {
let aStr = JSON.stringify(objectSerilize(a))
let bStr = JSON.stringify(objectSerilize(b))
return aStr === bStr
}
This is what I think up.

It would be cleanest, I’d think to have the object emit an event when a property is added or removed or modified.
A simplistic implementation could involve an array with the object keys; whenever a setter or heck the constructor returns this, it first calls a static function returning a promise; resolving: map with changed values in the array: things added, things removed, or neither. So one could get(‘changed’) or so forth; returning an array.
Similarly every setter can emit an event with arguments for initial value and new value.
Assuming classes are used, you could easily have a static method in a parent generic class that can be called through its constructor and so really you could simplify most of this by passing the object either to itself, or to the parent through super(checkMeProperty).

Removing all properties from a object

I have this Javascript object.
req.session
In my code I add properties to this object. These properties can be other objects, arrays, or just plain strings.
req.session.savedDoc = someObject;
req.session.errors = ['someThing', 'anotherThing', 'thirdThing'];
req.session.message = 'someString'
If I later would like to erase all added properties of this object, what is the easiest/best way?
There must be a better way than this?
// Delete all session values
delete req.session.savedDoc;
delete req.session.errors;
delete req.session.message;

#VisioN's answer works if you want to clear that specific reference, but if you actually want to clear an object I found that this works:
for (var variableKey in vartoClear){
if (vartoClear.hasOwnProperty(variableKey)){
delete vartoClear[variableKey];
}
}

There are two possible solutions to the problem:
Assign an empty object
req.session = {};
The garbage collector will clean the memory automatically. This variant is super fast and will work in most cases, however, you need to use it with caution, as it may keep the references to the objects in memory. This caveat is described in the TLDR section below.
Delete properties one-by-one
Object.keys(object).forEach(key => delete object[key]);
This will clean the object by going through every non-prototype property and deleting it. It's safer but slower. You need to decide if it makes sense for you to use it in a particular case.
TLDR
Any solution given above will do the job for the author in the current situation, as well as any other valid solution provided in this question. It mainly depends on the way how the developer wants to manipulate the deprecated data.
Session object may contain data that is linked by different variable, and setting a new empty object to req.session will not break the reference to the old data, so the old data will be available where it is still required. Although the correct way to keep old data is to clone the initial object, real-life scenarios can be different. Let's look at the following example:
req.session.user = { name: "Alexander" }; // we store an object in the session
var session = req.session; // save reference to the session in a variable
console.log( req.session, session ); // {user: Object}, {user: Object}
req.session = {}; // let's replace session with a new object
console.log( req.session, session ); // {}, {user: Object}
We still can fetch old data from session variable but req.session is empty: here setting a new object works as a sort of alternative to deep cloning. The garbage collector will not remove data from the old req.session object as it is still referenced by the session variable.
Deep cleaning of the object with:
Object.keys(object).forEach(key => delete object[key]);
... will explicitly remove all values from the req.session object and, since session variable is linked to the same object, session will become empty as well. Let's see how it works:
req.session.user = { name: "Alexander" }; // we store an object in the session
var session = req.session; // save reference to the session in a variable
console.log( req.session, session ); // {user: Object}, {user: Object}
Object.keys(req.session).forEach(key => delete req.session[key]);
console.log( req.session, session ); // {}, {}
As you can see now, in both cases we get empty objects.
From speed and memory perspectives setting a new empty object will be much faster than cleaning the old object property by property, however memory-wise if the old data is still referenced somewhere, the new object approach won't free up memory that old data is consuming.
It's quite obvious that choosing the approach to take is mostly up to your coding scenario but in most cases req.session = {}; will do the job: it is fast and short. However, if you keep references to the original object in other variables, you may consider using deep implicit object properties deletion.

I can see only one correct solution for removing own properties from object:
for (var x in objectToClean) if (objectToClean.hasOwnProperty(x)) delete objectToClean[x];
If you want to use it more than once, you should create a cleaning function:
function deleteProperties(objectToClean) {
for (var x in objectToClean) if (objectToClean.hasOwnProperty(x)) delete objectToClean[x];
}
For your case the usage would be:
deleteProperties(req.session);
This solution removes properties from the object wherever it's referenced and keeping the old reference.
Example:
Using empty object assignment:
var x = {a: 5};
var y = x;
x = {}; // x will be empty but y is still {a: 5}, also now reference is gone: x !== y
Using cleaning method:
var x = {a: 5};
var y = x;
deleteProperties(x); // x and y are both empty and x === y

If you want to delete all properties without touching methods you can use :
for(var k in req.session) if(!req.session[k].constructor.toString().match(/^function Function\(/)) delete req.session[k];

You can use a map instead if you care about performance like so
const map = new Map()
map.set("first", 1)
map.set("second", 1)
map.clear()
This is a O(1) operation, so even if you have a huge object you do not need to iterate x times to delete the entries.

I've done it like this
var
i,
keys = Object.keys(obj);
for(i = 0; i < keys.length; i++){
delete obj[keys[i]];
}
You could add it to Object (prototype's not ideal here) - will be static.
Object.defineproperties(Object, {
'clear': function(target){
var
i,
keys = Object.keys(target);
for(i = 0; i < keys.length; i++){
delete target[keys[i]];
}
}
});
Then you can clear random objects with
Object.clear(yourObj);
yourObj = {} replaces the reference to a new object, the above removes it's properties - reference is the same.

The naive object = {} method is okay for vanilla Object, but it deletes prototypes of custom objects.
This method produces an empty object that preserves prototypes, using Object.getPrototypeOf() and Object.create():
emptyObj = Object.create(Object.getPrototypeOf(obj), {});
Example:
class Custom extends Object {
custom() {}
}
let custom = new Custom();
custom.foo = "bar";
console.log(custom.constructor.name, custom);
// Custom {"foo": "bar"}
// naive method:
let objVanilla = {}
console.log(objVanilla.constructor.name, objVanilla);
// Object {}
// safe method:
objSafe = Object.create(Object.getPrototypeOf(custom), {});
console.log(objSafe.constructor.name, objSafe);
// Custom {}

This script removes property recursively except for the data reported in vector.
You need the lodash library
-- Function:
function removeKeysExcept(object, keysExcept = [], isFirstLevel = true) {
let arrayKeysExcept = [],
arrayNextKeysExcept = {};
_.forEach(keysExcept, (value, i) => {
let j = value.split('.');
let keyExcept = j[0];
arrayKeysExcept.push(keyExcept);
j.shift();
if (j.length) {
j = j.join('.');
if (!arrayNextKeysExcept[keyExcept]) {
arrayNextKeysExcept[keyExcept] = [];
}
arrayNextKeysExcept[keyExcept].push(j);
}
})
_.forEach(arrayNextKeysExcept, (value, key) => {
removeKeysExcept(object[key], value, false);
});
if (isFirstLevel) {
return;
}
Object.keys(object).forEach(function (key) {
if (arrayKeysExcept.indexOf(key) == -1) {
delete object[key];
}
});
}
Run so:
-- Removes all properties except the first level and reported in the vector:
removeKeysExcept(obj, ['department.id','user.id']);
-- Removes all properties
removeKeysExcept(obj, ['department.id','user.id'], false);
-- Example:
let obj = {
a: {
aa: 1,
ab: {
aba: 21
}
},
b: 10,
c: {
ca: 100,
cb: 200
}
};
removeKeysExcept(obj, ['a.ab.aba','c.ca']);
/*OUTPUT: {
a: {
ab: {
aba: 21
}
},
b: 10,
c: {
ca: 100,
}
};*/
removeKeysExcept(obj, ['a.ab.aba','c.ca'], false); //Remove too firt level
/*OUTPUT: {
a: {
ab: {
aba: 21
}
},
c: {
ca: 100,
}
};*/
removeKeysExcept(obj);
/*OUTPUT: {b:10};*/
removeKeysExcept(obj, [], false); //Remove too firt level
/*OUTPUT: {};*/

Does Javascript have associative arrays?

Does Javascript have associative arrays? Please explain.

Nope; JavaScript arrays are just numeric keys and mixed values. The same thing can be achieved (or, actually, it's exactly the same as associative arrays in other languages) with objects:
var foo = {
a: 123,
b: 'CDE'
};
foo.a; // 123
foo['a']; // 123
You could use arrays:
var foo = [];
foo.a = 123;
foo.b = 'CDE';
foo.b; // CDE
foo['b']; // CDE
HOWEVER, this should never be done because this will not enter the key/value pairs into the array, but add them to the array object as properties. (besides, {a: 123} is easier than a = []; a.a = 123) If you need key/value pairs, use Objects. If you need an enumerated list, use arrays.

This answer is pretty much a copy-paste of my previous answer on this question.
The situation has changed in the five years since this question was asked.
Due to weak typing associative arrays can be faked in JavaScript:
>> var names = new Array();
undefined
>> names["first"] = "Dotan";
"Dotan"
>> names["last"] = "Cohen";
"Cohen"
>> for ( key in names ) { console.log(key+" "+names[key]) }
undefined
first Dotan
last Cohen
That is sometimes useful, and all browsers released since 2012 support it, but there are caveats! The array cannot be simply read back:
>> names
Array [ ]
More importantly, the array's length cannot be easily retrieved:
>> names.length
0
Therefore this is not an associative array in the sense that JavaScript would have supported it had it been intended, but rather a workaround that is often useful if for whatever reason a real JS object does not support what you need:
>> var names = {};
undefined
>> names.first = "Dotan";
"Dotan"
>> names.last = "Cohen";
"Cohen"
>> for ( key in names ) { console.log(key+" "+names[key]) }
undefined
first Dotan
last Cohen
>> names
Object { first: "Dotan", last: "Cohen" }
>> Object.keys(names).length
2

The closest we have is an object; the easiest way you can define this is using object literal syntax.
var assocArray = {
key: 1,
key2: 2
};
You should be wary of a few things however:
It does not have a .length property.
You should use for in to iterative over it, rather than for(;;;);, but should combine it with hasOwnProperty():
for (var x in assocArray) {
if (assocArray.hasOwnProperty(x)) {
// x = the key, assocArray[x] = the value
}
}
There is no concept of ordering/ sorting the members. Whilst all implementations I know of iterate the members in the order they were added, this is not standardised.

Instead of associative arrays. Javascript has objects. Properties of an object are addressed using a string.
var obj1 = {}; // declare empty object
var obj2 = {a: 1, b: 'string', c: [4,5]}; // obj with 3 properties, a, b, and c
// note that the 'c' property contains an anonymous array
alert(obj2.a); // shows 1
obj2.a = 'another string'; // redefine the 'a' property
obj2.cookie = 'oatmeal'; // add a new property to the object
obj2['ice_cream'] = {vendor: 'Beyers',
flavor: 'Chocolate Surprise'}; // add anonymous object as
// a new property for the object
assert(obj2.a === obj2['a']); // two ways to retrieve the value
var i = 'a'; // using an index varable
assert(obj2.a === obj2[i]); // note the i does not have apostrophes around it
See the Quirksmode docs

Something comparable in JavaScript is an object.
var my_obj = { key : 'value' }

Sure it does (kind of, use objects)
var foo = {
bar: "hello"
}
accessible with
foo.bar