Building an object from array in javascript

Question

What I have is an array like this: ['foo','bar'] and I want to turn it into an object that looks like this:

{
     foo:{
          bar:{
               etc:{}
          }
     }
}

I've tried with two loops but I can get it to work if there is three values in the array.

What do you want it to look like with three values in the array? — Shmiddty
– Shmiddty, Commented Jan 31, 2013 at 19:30
Will there always be two values? What should it look like if not? — Danny
– Danny, Commented Jan 31, 2013 at 19:31
not parsing json, updating what it should be if there is more values — locrizak
– locrizak, Commented Jan 31, 2013 at 19:34

Joseph Silber · Accepted Answer · 2013-01-31 19:43:35Z

5

var obj = {};
var pointer = obj;

array.forEach(function (item) {
    pointer = pointer[item] = {};
});

Here's the fiddle: http://jsfiddle.net/h67ts/

If you have to support IE < 9, you can either use a regular loop, or use this polyfill:

if ( !Array.prototype.forEach ) {
  Array.prototype.forEach = function(fn, scope) {
    for(var i = 0, len = this.length; i < len; ++i) {
      fn.call(scope, this[i], i, this);
    }
  }
}

edited Jan 31, 2013 at 19:43

answered Jan 31, 2013 at 19:30

Joseph Silber

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1 Comment

Derek 朕會功夫 Over a year ago

IE says he does not like forEach.

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