D3.js: Get an array of the data attached to a selection?

Question

I\'d like to get an array of all the data attached to a selection in D3.

I\'m working with the example from the General Update pattern, and trying this:

Answer 1

This is an old question but I was also wondering about it. The state passed in through selection.data is not lost but it is dispersed across the update and enter groups. It can be retrieved, in tact, reasonably reliably with this function...

function getData2(/*this is update*/) {
    if (this.enter /*quick duck type test...*/) {
        var enter = this.enter(), retVal = []

        for (var i = 0; i < this.length; i++) {

            retVal.push([])

            for (var j = 0; j < enter.length; j++) {
                retVal[i].push(enter[i][j] || enter[i].update[j])
                retVal[i][j] = retVal[i][j] && retVal[i][j].__data__
                if (!retVal[i][j]) {
                    retVal[i].pop()
                } 
            }

        }
        return (this.length > 1 ? retVal : retVal[0])
    }
}

usage...

console.log(getData2.call(update))

OR...

d3.selection.prototype.data2 = getData2
// ...
console.log(update.data2())

where update is the update collection returned by selection.data(array)