Convert javascript object to html form compliant query

Question

Convert javascript object to html form compliant query

I have a javascript object in this form:

var order = {
  "id": 13,
  "name": "Sebastian",
  "items": [
    {
      "id": 5
    }
  ]
  ...
}

and I need to get this in a format that looks like this:

order[id] = 13
order[name] = "Sebastian"
order[items][0][id] = 5

What would be the best way to do this in Javascript? Are there any pre-built functions for this?

I'm on nodeJS with underscore and jquery.

javascript
forms
node.js

Answer 1

There's probably a ready-made function out there, but this (quickly made) function should work too:

function convert(key, obj) {
  var collector = {};

  function recurse(key, obj) {
    var property, name;
    if( typeof obj === "object" ) {
      for( property in obj ) {
        if( obj.hasOwnProperty(property) ) {
          name = key + "[" + property + "]";
          recurse(name, obj[property]);
        }
      }
    } else {
      collector[key] = String(obj);
    }
  }

  recurse(key, obj);
  return collector;
}

Give it a starting key and the object, and you'll get a "flat" object back with full names and values:

var order = {
  "id": 13,
  "name": "Sebastian",
  "items": [
    {
      "id": 5
    }
  ]
};

var flattened = convert("order", order);

// `flattened` is now:
// {
//   'order[id]': 13,
//   'order[name]': 'Sebastian',
//   'order[items][0][id]': 5
// }