Get all paths to custom JSON object

Question

I need help to come up with a solution to retrieve all possible paths to an array containing several JSON objects containing the two keys: name[String] and children [Array]. For any given JSON input, I need an array of strings with all routes in the JSON, returning only the name of each item. The input array object can contain any number of nested children.

For example:

Obj = [
 { name: ‘name1’ },
 { name: ‘name2’ },
 { name: ‘name3’, children:[
   { name: name3Child1 },
   { name: name3Child2 },
   { name: name3Child3, children:[{ name: 'name3Child3Child1' }] }
  ]
 },
 { name: ‘name4’ },
]

With the above example, the output I'll need is:

result = [
 'name1',
 'name2',
 'name3',
 'name3.name3Child1',
 'name3.name3Child2',
 'name3.name3Child3.name3Child3Child1',
 'name4',
]

If you can provide ES6+ examples, I'd really appreciate it. I've searched online but many examples relate to standard JSON objects, where as this is in a custom format.

Thanks

In summary you want to flatten the array using a dot notation ? — Lk77, Aug 29 '22 at 11:53
@Lk77 Yes, in short. However the amount of potentially nested children is infinte — Chris, Aug 29 '22 at 11:58
Does this help? [Flattern / Unflattern JavaScript Object](https://stackoverflow.com/a/19101235/979052). — Alicia Sykes, Aug 29 '22 at 11:59

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 29 '22 at 12:10

const obj = [
    { name: 'name1' },
    { name: 'name2' },
    {
        name: 'name3',
        children: [
            { name: 'name3Child1' },
            { name: 'name3Child2' },
            { name: 'name3Child3', children: [{ name: 'name3Child3Child1' }] },
        ],
    },
    { name: 'name4' },
]

const Recursive = (data, prefix = []) =>
    data.reduce((acc, val) => {
        acc.push(
            `${prefix.join('.')}${prefix.length > 0 ? '.' : ''}${val.name}`
        )

        if (val.children?.length > 0)
            acc.push(...Recursive(val.children, [...prefix, val.name]))

        return acc
    }, [])

console.log(Recursive(obj))

Thanks alot, this seems to do the trick – Chris Aug 29 '22 at 13:13 — Chris, Aug 29 '22 at 13:13

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 29 '22 at 12:06

Use a recursive function to iterate children:

Obj = [
 { name: 'name1' },
 { name: 'name2' },
 { name: 'name3', children:[
   { name: 'name3Child1' },
   { name: 'name3Child2' },
   { name: 'name3Child3', children:[{ name: 'name3Child3Child1' }] }
  ]
 },
 { name: 'name4' },
]


const result = []

// ITERATE ALL ITEMS IN Obj
for (let row of Obj) {

  // PUSH Name
  result.push(row.name)
  
  // IF THERE ARE CHILDREN, CALL THE RECURSIVE FUNCTION
  if (row.hasOwnProperty('children')) {
    recursiveFunct(row.children, row.name)
  }
}


console.log(result)



function recursiveFunct(item, parentName) {
  // ITERATE ALL CHILDREN
  for (let subItem of item) {
    // PUSH ParentName.ItemName
    result.push(parentName + '.' + subItem.name)
    
    // CALL THIS FUNCTION AGAIN IF THERE ARE FURTHER CHILDREN
    if (subItem.hasOwnProperty('children')) {
      recursiveFunct(subItem.children, parentName + '.' + subItem.name)
    }
  }
}

score -1 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 29 '22 at 12:22

function t(obj) {
  let results = [];
  obj.forEach((item) => {
    results.push(item.name);
    if (item instanceof Object && Object.keys(item).length > 1) {
      t(item.children).forEach((i) => {
        results.push(item.name + '.' + i);
      });
    }
  });
  return results;
}

Get all paths to custom JSON object

3 Answers3