Converting an object of nested objects / arrays into something array like in javascript

Question

First off, I don't have an array of objects, or just one object with no depth. I have the following structure, basically a tree of folders and files.

    {
    "C:": {
        "files": [],
        "DataStore": {
            "files": ["Continuous_2016-02-26_15.08.11.dat",
                        "Continuous_2016-02-26_15.38.10.dat",
                        "Continuous_2016-02-26_16.08.09.dat",],
            "c4": {
                "160226": {
                    "files": [
                        "Continuous231.dat",
                        "Continuous_2016-02-26_16.21.58.dat",
                        "Continuous_2016-02-26_16.31.58.dat",
                        "Continuous_2016-02-26_16.41.58.dat",
                        "Continuous_2016-02-26_16.51.58.dat",
                        "Continuous_2016-02-26_17.01.58.dat",
                        "Continuous_2016-02-26_17.11.57.dat",
                        "Continuous_2016-02-26_17.21.57.dat",
                        "Continuous_2016-02-26_17.31.57.dat",
                        "Continuous_2016-02-26_17.41.57.dat"
                    ]
                },
                "files": []
            }
        }
    }
}

I'd like to get this into an array so I can build a template in Angular to show these files/folders.

Something like :

[{
    "name": "c:",
    "files": ["test.dat"],
    "directories": [{
        "name": "DataStore",
        "files": [],
        "directories": [{
            "name": "c4",
            "files": [{
                "name": "filename.dat"
            }, {
                "name": "filename.dat"
            }, {
                "name": "filename.dat"
            }, {
                "name": "filename.dat"
            }, {
                "name": "filename.dat"
            }],
            "directories": []
        }]
    }]

}]

I'd obviously rather have the server return me a workable array like object, but thats a no go right now.

I tried using an Object.keys map function, that only got me through the first node. From this thread : http://stackoverflow.com/questions/20881213/converting-json-object-into-javascript-array — Jason, Apr 11 '16 at 15:02

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 11 '16 at 15:25

You should try a recursive function to iterate over your directories. Yo create a node for each directory and you call the same function for it's child directories.

function constructDirecory(directory, name) {
  // create list of files
  var files = [];
  if (directory.files) {
    directory.files.forEach(function(fileName) {
      files.push({
        name: fileName
      });
    });
  }
  // loop list directories
  var directories = [];
  for (var childDirectoryName in directory) {
    if (directory.hasOwnProperty(childDirectoryName)) {
      if (childDirectoryName !== 'files') {
        // it's a directory, see what's inside
        var childDirectoryData = directory[childDirectoryName];
        var directoryData = constructDirecory(childDirectoryData, childDirectoryName);
        directories.push(directoryData);
      }
    }
  }
  return {
    name: name || 'root',
    files: files,
    directories: directories
  };
}

var data = {
  "C:": {
    "files": [],
    "DataStore": {
      "files": ["Continuous_2016-02-26_15.08.11.dat",
        "Continuous_2016-02-26_15.38.10.dat",
        "Continuous_2016-02-26_16.08.09.dat",
      ],
      "c4": {
        "160226": {
          "files": [
            "Continuous231.dat",
            "Continuous_2016-02-26_16.21.58.dat",
            "Continuous_2016-02-26_16.31.58.dat",
            "Continuous_2016-02-26_16.41.58.dat",
            "Continuous_2016-02-26_16.51.58.dat",
            "Continuous_2016-02-26_17.01.58.dat",
            "Continuous_2016-02-26_17.11.57.dat",
            "Continuous_2016-02-26_17.21.57.dat",
            "Continuous_2016-02-26_17.31.57.dat",
            "Continuous_2016-02-26_17.41.57.dat"
          ]
        },
        "files": []
      }
    }
  }
};

var result = constructDirecory(data);
$('#result').text(JSON.stringify(result, null, 2))

<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<pre id='result'></pre>

And here is a demo fiddle.

Converting an object of nested objects / arrays into something array like in javascript

1 Answers1