How to use jQuery to render a JSON tree as nested HTML using divs?

Question

I am looking for a way to render a JSON tree using nested <div> as mentioned in the title. Here is a sample of the data (there is a max of 8 levels in the tree):

{
    "children": {
        "Bacteria": {
            "children":{
                "Verrucomicrobia":{
                    "children":{
                        "Methylacidiphilae":{
                            "children":{
                                "Methylacidiphilales":{
                                    "children":{},
                                    "count":2,
                                    "level":"order",
                                    "name":"Methylacidiphilales",
                                    "score":1.46
                                }
                            },
                            "count":2,
                            "level":"class",
                            "name":"Methylacidiphilae",
                            "score":1.46
                        }
                    },
                    "count":2,
                    "level":"phylum",
                    "name":"Verrucomicrobia",
                    "score":1.46
                }
            },
            "count":2,
            "level":"kingdom",
            "name":"Bacteria",
            "score":1.46
        }
    },
    "count":0,
    "level":"root",
    "name":"Root",
    "score":0.0
}

I can get/parse the JSON tree and save it to a variable. Now I need to traverse the tree recursively and either:

Make each node into something that can be rendered as HTML.
Create a new div node and add to a new tree.

But how?

I have noted Node.js, but would like to avoid that for now in order to learn some more jQuery. — maasha
– maasha, Commented Nov 12, 2012 at 16:11
1. Please edit the question and format the JSON so it visibly resembles what you want. 2. What have you tried so far? — Chris Hayes
– Chris Hayes, Commented Nov 12, 2012 at 16:12
I have tried this: pastie.org/5370834. Layout is OK, but the toggle affects the wrong node. I am afraid the code is clumsy. — maasha
– maasha, Commented Nov 13, 2012 at 10:46

Niet the Dark Absol · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-12 16:14:30Z

You could do this in raw JS with little to no difficulty:

function json2html(json) {
    var i, ret = "";
    ret += "<ul>";
    for( i in json) {
        ret += "<li>"+i+": ";
        if( typeof json[i] === "object") ret += json2html(json[i]);
        else ret += json[i];
        ret += "</li>";
    }
    ret += "</ul>";
    return ret;
}

Just call that function with your object, and it will return the HTML as a set of nested lists - you can of course change it to use just <div>s if you prefer.

EDIT: And here's a version that uses DOM elements and returns a node that can be inserted with appendChild or similar:

function json2html(json) {
    var i, ret = document.createElement('ul'), li;
    for( i in json) {
        li = ret.appendChild(document.createElement('li'));
        li.appendChild(document.createTextNode(i+": "));
        if( typeof json[i] === "object") li.appendChild(json2html(json[i]));
        else li.firstChild.nodeValue += json[i];
    }
    return ret;
}

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