Vanilla JavaScript code that utilizes regex to transform JSON data into an array of blocks, while disregarding any

Question

Vanilla JavaScript code that utilizes regex to transform JSON data into an array of blocks, while disregarding any

As I searched through various resources on converting JSON into arrays using JavaScript, none of the results matched my specific requirements (outlined below).

I am in need of a RegEx that can transform JSON into an array containing all characters such as commas, curly brackets for objects, brackets for arrays, colons, escape characters, null values, etc., while disregarding any whitespace.

Pseudocode for the RegEx:

The RegEx should match any curly bracket character (both open and closed), any word enclosed in parenthesis, colon character, comma character, bracket character (both open and closed), numbers, and null values.

Sample Input String (JSON will vary)

{ 
   "hello":"world",
   "\"foo\"":"bar",
   "my_object":{
     "my_array": [
        1,
        null,
        { "my_key":"my_value" }
     ]
   }
}

Desired Output From RegEx

[ 
   "{", "hello", ":", "world", ",", "\"foo\"", ":", "bar", ",", "my_object",":", "{", "my_array", ":", "[", 1, ",", null, ",", "{", "my_key", ":", "my_value", "}", "]", "}", "}"
]

Appreciate your help!

javascript json regex

Answer 1

Answer №1

Regular expressions are versatile and can handle various tasks effectively, but I strongly advise against using them with structured data formats such as JSON (or even XML/HTML).

Instead of relying on RegExp for this purpose, consider implementing a recursive function to manipulate the data structure in JavaScript:

const jsdoc = {
  "hello": "world",
  "\"foo\"": "bar",
  "my_object": {
    "my_array": [
      1,
      null,
      {
        "my_key": "my_value"
      }
    ]
  }
}

const parseToArray = obj => {
  var res = [];
  if (Array.isArray(obj)) {
    res.push('[');
    for (entry of obj) {
      var parsed = parseToArray(entry);
      //while (Array.isArray(parsed)) parsed = parseToArray(entry);
      res.push(parsed, ',');
    }
    res.splice(-1);
    res = [...res, ']', ','];
  }
  else if (obj && typeof obj === 'object') {
    obj = Object.entries(obj);
    res.push("{");
    for (entry of obj) {
      res = [...res, entry[0], ":", ...parseToArray(entry[1]), ','];
    }
    res.splice(-1);
    res.push("}");
  } else {
    res = typeof obj === 'string' ? [obj] : obj;
  }
  return Array.isArray(res) ? res.flat() : res;
}

console.log(parseToArray(jsdoc));

IMPORTANT: The method used by this script for handling commas may not be compliant with JSON standards; it could potentially include unnecessary commas in the output. Further refinement is needed to address this issue.

ANOTHER IMPORTANT POINT: This code is more of a proof-of-concept rather than production-ready - it's not optimized and lacks efficiency. There are likely many improvements that can be implemented to enhance its performance. It's important to note that this solution may not scale well without significant modifications. However, it showcases an alternative approach to flattening JSON data that avoids the complexities associated with using regular expressions.

Answer 2

Regular expressions are versatile and can handle various tasks effectively, but I strongly advise against using them with structured data formats such as JSON (or even XML/HTML).

Instead of relying on RegExp for this purpose, consider implementing a recursive function to manipulate the data structure in JavaScript:

const jsdoc = {
  "hello": "world",
  "\"foo\"": "bar",
  "my_object": {
    "my_array": [
      1,
      null,
      {
        "my_key": "my_value"
      }
    ]
  }
}

const parseToArray = obj => {
  var res = [];
  if (Array.isArray(obj)) {
    res.push('[');
    for (entry of obj) {
      var parsed = parseToArray(entry);
      //while (Array.isArray(parsed)) parsed = parseToArray(entry);
      res.push(parsed, ',');
    }
    res.splice(-1);
    res = [...res, ']', ','];
  }
  else if (obj && typeof obj === 'object') {
    obj = Object.entries(obj);
    res.push("{");
    for (entry of obj) {
      res = [...res, entry[0], ":", ...parseToArray(entry[1]), ','];
    }
    res.splice(-1);
    res.push("}");
  } else {
    res = typeof obj === 'string' ? [obj] : obj;
  }
  return Array.isArray(res) ? res.flat() : res;
}

console.log(parseToArray(jsdoc));

IMPORTANT: The method used by this script for handling commas may not be compliant with JSON standards; it could potentially include unnecessary commas in the output. Further refinement is needed to address this issue.

ANOTHER IMPORTANT POINT: This code is more of a proof-of-concept rather than production-ready - it's not optimized and lacks efficiency. There are likely many improvements that can be implemented to enhance its performance. It's important to note that this solution may not scale well without significant modifications. However, it showcases an alternative approach to flattening JSON data that avoids the complexities associated with using regular expressions.

Vanilla JavaScript code that utilizes regex to transform JSON data into an array of blocks, while disregarding any

Answer №1

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