将具有对象和数组的JSON转换为String

Question

I have a JSON object which looks like this:

    {
        files: ['test.mp4'],
        name: ['testFile'],
        hints: ['%YES%_%MAYBE%_%NO%']
    }

And I need to convert it to a String so the output looks like this:

[{files=test, name=testFile, hints= %YES%_%MAYBE%_%NO%}]

Is this possible to achieve in Node JS? Thanks

I tried the following:

var x = {
    files: ['test.mp4'],
    name: ['testFile'],
    hints: ['%YES%_%MAYBE%_%NO%']
}
console.log(JSON.stringify(x));

But the output looks like this:

{"files":["test.mp4"],"name":["testFile"],"hints":["%YES%_%MAYBE%_%NO%"]}

Still with the square brackets. I may not 100% know the keys and values in the object above.

Answer 1

Try JSON.stringify(obj)

then you get a string with quotes etc.

Answer 2

JavaScript has JSON.stringify() method which can convert an object into string:

var x = {
    files: ['test.mp4'],
    name: ['testFile'],
    hints: ['%YES%_%MAYBE%_%NO%']
}
console.log(JSON.stringify(x));
// result: '{"files":["test.mp4"],"name":["testFile"],"hints":["%YES%_%MAYBE%_%NO%"]}'

This will result in a string which can be transformed back to JS object with JSON.parse() method. If you still want to remove all brackets and quotes, you can simply use JavaScript's replace() method (replacing characters [ , ] , and " with empty string), but this will replace those characters in all your values (if any) and will result in (sort of) non-reusable string.

Answer 3

TL;DR Don't do this unless you absolutely have to (ie. you're dealing with a messed up API written by someone else that must have the data in this format)

If you want exactly the format listed in your question, then you're going to have to write your own stringify function that recursively walks through the object you pass to it and applies whatever rules you want to use. You will have to consider all the possible permutations of your object and spell out those rules.

For example, you've converted arrays with single elements in the initial object into strings - what happens if there is more than one element in the array? Should it be delimited by a comma or some other character? Should we just throw away elements after the first?

And once you've written the stringify function, you'll also have to write the corresponding parse function to reverse it. And it should be mentioned that in your example, you're throwing away information (eg. the file extension on the .mp4 file) - how are you going to handle that?

A much, much better way to approach this would be to do what other people have suggested here: use JSON.stringify and rewrite your code to use standard JSON objects. Why? Because the format is well documented and well understood and because the functions to convert are well tested. You will save yourself a whole lot of time and pain if you don't try to reinvent the wheel here .