I am faced with the challenge of reordering a JSON array to mimic a conversation thread structure using Javascript. The initial array looks like this:
var all_messages = [{
name: 'user1',
replying_to: '',
message: 'xxxxx'
},
{
name: 'user3',
replying_to: 'user4',
message: 'xxxxx'
},
{
name: 'user2',
replying_to: 'user1',
message: 'xxxxxx'
},
{
name: 'user5',
replying_to: '',
message: 'xxxxxx'
},
{
name: 'user1',
replying_to: 'user2',
message: 'xxxxx'
}]
The desired output is an array sorted based on name and replying_to, structured like a conversation thread. Here is how the array should look after sorting:
var sorted_messages = [{
name: 'user1',
replying_to: '',
message: 'xxxxx'
},
{
name: 'user2',
replying_to: 'user1',
message: 'xxxxx'
},
{
name: 'user1',
replying_to: 'user2',
message: 'xxxxxx'
},
{
name: 'user3',
replying_to: 'user4',
message: 'xxxxx'
},
{
name: 'user5',
replying_to: '',
message: 'xxxxx'
}]
I have attempted creating a nested loop in Javascript to achieve this, but I am facing challenges such as duplicate messages and difficulties in updating the array properly.
var names = [];
var sorted_comments = [];
//extract names for filtering
for (var i = 0; i < all_messages.length; i++) {
names.push(all_messages[i].name);
//implement logic to eliminate duplicate names...
}
for (var i = 0; i < all_messages.length; i++) {
for (var j = 0; j < names.length; j++) {
if (names[j] == all_messages[i].name) {
sorted_comments.push(all_messages[i]);
} else if (names[j] == all_messages[i].replying_to) {
sorted_comments.push(all_messages[i])
}
}
}
I am seeking a more elegant solution to efficiently filter and reorder this array. Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.