Transform a string into array using javascript

Question

I have a string like this:

string = "locations[0][street]=street&locations[0][street_no]=
         34&locations[1][street]=AnotherStreet&locations[1][street_no]=43";

What must I do with this string so i can play with locations[][] as I wish?

Where do you get the string from? It may be easier to create a proper JS object from the beginning. — Felix Kling
– Felix Kling, Commented Aug 1, 2011 at 13:05
Looks like you'll have to use split using & as delimeter then use eval to evaluate each part. Can't you have more "proper" data source though? — user447356
– user447356, Commented Aug 1, 2011 at 13:06
This is how i get my data and i can't do anything to change that unfortunately. Need to parse this as it is and right now i just can't thing at a way. — Leth
– Leth, Commented Aug 1, 2011 at 13:15

Brian · Accepted Answer · 2011-08-01 14:37:28Z

1

You could write a parser:

var myStr = "locations[0][street]=street&locations[0][street_no]=34&locations[1][street]=AnotherStreet&locations[1][street_no]=43";


function parseArray(str) {
    var arr = new Array();
    var tmp = myStr.split('&');
    var lastIdx;
    for (var i = 0; i < tmp.length; i++) {
        var parts = tmp[i].split('=');
        var m = parts[0].match(/\[[\w]+\]/g);
        var idx = m[0].substring(1, m[0].length - 1);
        var key = m[1].substring(1, m[1].length - 1);
        if (lastIdx != idx) {
            lastIdx = idx;
            arr.push({});
        }
        arr[idx * 1][key] = parts[1];
    }
    return arr;
}

var myArr = parseArray(myStr);

edited Aug 1, 2011 at 14:37

answered Aug 1, 2011 at 13:26

Brian

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6 Comments

Joe Over a year ago

+1 nice solution, although I think you meant push and not add

Brian Over a year ago

@Joey - push is the instance method, which also would work. Array.add(instance, value) is adds a new index to an array.

Leth Over a year ago

it throws this: Uncaught TypeError: Object function Array() { [native code] } has no method 'add', tried push, same error

Joe Over a year ago

I'm just not sure you're getting much browser coverage with that, but either way.

Brian Over a year ago

@Joey - touche! Gomoi got precisely what you were talking about... will update w/ push, not .add..

|

Py. · Accepted Answer · 2011-08-01 13:27:49Z

0

As Shadow wizard said, using split and eval seems to be the solution. You need to initialize locations first, if you want to avoid an error.

stringArray=string.split("&");
for (var i=0;i<stringArray.length;i++){
    eval(stringArray[i]);
}

However, you might need to pay attention to what street and street_no are. As is, it will produce an error because street is not defined.

Edit: and you'll need to fully initialize locations with as many item as you'll have to avoid an error.

edited Aug 1, 2011 at 13:27

answered Aug 1, 2011 at 13:21

Py.

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2 Comments

James Montagne Over a year ago

Be very careful using eval like this with a string coming from an external source. Unless the source is 100% trusted this is very dangerous.

Py. Over a year ago

Yeah, i know this is some dangerous stuff, I try to avoid using it unless it's the only way (or if it's easier than the rest by far). Using regexp like Brian did seems a safer (and cleaner) way but a longer one.

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