how to stringify circular JSON object?

Question

Is there build-in method which can stringify a complex JSON object ?

Every time i use JSON.stringfy I get this error: Converting circular structure to JSON , and also I need its parser

this an image of my object https://i.stack.imgur.com/eRqKh.jpg

possible duplicate of [jquery json to string?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3593046/jquery-json-to-string) — Noy, Nov 17 '14 at 09:14
`JSON.stringify` _is_ the built in method, at least in modern browsers. Can you post the JSON you're trying to stringify? — James Thorpe, Nov 17 '14 at 09:14
JSON is a string of a particular shape. You are trying to stringify a JavaScript object, not a JSON. — Amadan, Nov 17 '14 at 09:15
It might be a duplicate of this question : http://stackoverflow.com/questions/13861254/json-stringify-deep-objects — Denys Séguret, Nov 17 '14 at 09:17
You get the error EVERY TIME you use JSON.stringify? Try it on `JSON.stringify(99)`. If this is your old stringifying-the-DOM question, make sure to take `outerHTML` before trying to stringify, as already described in an answer to another question. — , Nov 17 '14 at 09:24
my problem is that I had nested JSON objects and I can't stringfy this and one of them had HTML tags — Muhammed Abd El-Wadod, Nov 17 '14 at 09:34

score 4 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 17 '14 at 09:15

4

You can't exactly convert a circular structure to JSON : there's nothing to describe those relations that can't just be dumped in a finite time.

Alternatives :

use another format than JSON (for example YAML as suggested by Armadan)
extend JSON with an additional JSON compatible syntax to describe references
use a library removing the circular references (producing some JSON but without what can't be stringified). I made such a library : https://github.com/Canop/JSON.prune

answered Nov 17 '14 at 09:15

Denys Séguret

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You can also use one of the YAML libraries; YAML, unlike JSON, allows for circular representations. – Amadan Nov 17 '14 at 09:17
This my object before converting : http://imgur.com/s3HbdtQ and this after converting : http://imgur.com/ilWUGcU I had skipped the error which appear but also this lib skipped some data which is important to me – Muhammed Abd El-Wadod Nov 17 '14 at 10:05
@MuhammedAbdEl-Wadod And what would you expect ? If you want to restore your object as it was, use a serialization format supporting circular references (for example YAML) not JSON. – Denys Séguret Nov 17 '14 at 10:07
I want to stringfy JSON to store it at **sessionsttorage** and after refresh browser i want to get it back from the **sessionsttorage** and this object creating at the run time and every time i don't know what this object will carry – Muhammed Abd El-Wadod Nov 17 '14 at 10:16
and YAML is node.js and I can't use it in app – Muhammed Abd El-Wadod Nov 17 '14 at 10:33
@MuhammedAbdEl-Wadod The page I linked you to had a link to a version you can use in your browser – Denys Séguret Nov 17 '14 at 10:37
@dystroy I did so and the result is : This my object before converting : imgur.com/s3HbdtQ and this after converting : imgur.com/ilWUGcU – Muhammed Abd El-Wadod Nov 17 '14 at 10:50
@dystroy I think the problem is that there is call for n.fn.init inside the JSON object – Muhammed Abd El-Wadod Nov 17 '14 at 11:15
The problem is the fact that you are trying to serialise DOM objects, such as `option`. You can't do that. Serialise the relevant DOM objects' properties and attributes instead, or `outerHTML` representation, as already noted by @torazaburo. – Amadan Nov 18 '14 at 08:09

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 02 '16 at 03:53

1

Take a look at this little library:

https://github.com/WebReflection/circular-json

It serializes and deserializes otherwise valid JSON objects containing circular references into and from a specialized JSON format.

answered Nov 02 '16 at 03:53

zenw0lf

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This answer needs additional information – klutt Jan 18 '22 at 09:41

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 24 '20 at 10:00

I recommend Flatted. It's tiny and it works very well. The minified version of it weighs 1KB.

Here's an example from their docs.

var a = [{one: 1}, {two: '2'}];
a[0].a = a;
// a is the main object, will be at index '0'
// {one: 1} is the second object, index '1'
// {two: '2'} the third, in '2', and it has a string
// which will be found at index '3'

Flatted.stringify(a);
// [["1","2"],{"one":1,"a":"0"},{"two":"3"},"2"]

It can then parse the stringified result back if necessary and rebuild the circular references.

var a = [{one: 1}, {two: '2'}]
a[0].a = a
Flatted.stringify(a)
var a1 = Flatted.stringify(a)
var a2 = Flatted.parse(a1)

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Jul 22 '21 at 04:17

The standard and best solution is json-stringify-safe module.

Here is the usage (described in module):

var stringify = require('json-stringify-safe');
var circularObj = {};
circularObj.circularRef = circularObj;
circularObj.list = [ circularObj, circularObj ];
console.log(stringify(circularObj, null, 2));

// Output:

{
  "circularRef": "[Circular]",
  "list": [
    "[Circular]",
    "[Circular]"
  ]
}

how to stringify circular JSON object?

4 Answers4