DataObject Parser

A nodejs module designed to parse an Object hash transposing between dot-notation and a structured heirarchy of Objects/Arrays.

TL;DR

String programming should be avoided.

This module generally exists as a quick work around. We original developed it to store our MongoDb documents in Backbone.js models. Our Backbonejs.model dispatched events from data in a complex hierarchal structure.

Using this tool simplified our models so that we could just use one model with the subdocuments laid out in a hash with dot-notation. In our application we've overwritten the Backbonejs.sync to parse the data before sending/receiving.

Installation

$ npm install dataobject-parser

Quick Start

Instantiate a new instance of DataObjectParser to manage an object:

var d = new DataObjectParser();

Set using dot-notation:

d.set("caravan.personel.leader","Travis");
d.set("caravan.personel.cook","Brent");

Also set using array notation:

d.set("location.rooms[0]", "kitchen");
d.set("location.rooms[1]", "bathroom");

The Object returned should be the equivalent structured object:

var obj = d.data();

That is, where obj is equivalent to:

var obj = {
	caravan:{
		personel:{
			leader: "Travis",
			cook: "Brent"
		}
	},
	location: {
		rooms: ["kitchen", "bathroom"]
	}
};

transpose() and untranspose() methods can transform the data between the two formats (e.g. - An Object hash with properties using dot-notation and a heirchy structured Object or Object(s)/Arrays(s))

flat = DataObjectParser.untranspose(structured)

structured = DataObjectParser.transpose(flat)

Where the equivalent results would be:

var structured = {
	location: {
		city:{
			name: "House on cliff",
			geo: '45, 23'
		}
	},
	time: {
		hour: '0',
		minute: '0'
	},
	duration: '4 hours',
	record: 'Beetles'
};

var flat = {
	'location.city.name': 'House on cliff',
	'location.city.geo': '45, 23',
	'time.hour': '0',
	'time.minute': '0',
	duration: '4 hours',
	record: 'Beetles'
};

Please take a look at the test: test/utils-dataobject-parser.js for more code examples.

Contributors

License

The MIT License (MIT)

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.