Fastest way to flatten / un-flatten nested JSON objects

Question

I threw some code together to flatten and un-flatten complex/nested JSON objects. It works, but it\'s a bit slow (triggers the \'long script\' warning).

For the flat

Answer 1

Use this library:

npm install flat

Usage (from https://www.npmjs.com/package/flat):

Flatten:

    var flatten = require('flat')


    flatten({
        key1: {
            keyA: 'valueI'
        },
        key2: {
            keyB: 'valueII'
        },
        key3: { a: { b: { c: 2 } } }
    })

    // {
    //   'key1.keyA': 'valueI',
    //   'key2.keyB': 'valueII',
    //   'key3.a.b.c': 2
    // }

Un-flatten:

var unflatten = require('flat').unflatten

unflatten({
    'three.levels.deep': 42,
    'three.levels': {
        nested: true
    }
})

// {
//     three: {
//         levels: {
//             deep: 42,
//             nested: true
//         }
//     }
// }

Answer 2

This code recursively flattens out JSON objects.

I included my timing mechanism in the code and it gives me 1ms but I'm not sure if that's the most accurate one.

            var new_json = [{
              "name": "fatima",
              "age": 25,
              "neighbour": {
                "name": "taqi",
                "location": "end of the street",
                "property": {
                  "built in": 1990,
                  "owned": false,
                  "years on market": [1990, 1998, 2002, 2013],
                  "year short listed": [], //means never
                }
              },
              "town": "Mountain View",
              "state": "CA"
            },
            {
              "name": "qianru",
              "age": 20,
              "neighbour": {
                "name": "joe",
                "location": "opposite to the park",
                "property": {
                  "built in": 2011,
                  "owned": true,
                  "years on market": [1996, 2011],
                  "year short listed": [], //means never
                }
              },
              "town": "Pittsburgh",
              "state": "PA"
            }]

            function flatten(json, flattened, str_key) {
                for (var key in json) {
                  if (json.hasOwnProperty(key)) {
                    if (json[key] instanceof Object && json[key] != "") {
                      flatten(json[key], flattened, str_key + "." + key);
                    } else {
                      flattened[str_key + "." + key] = json[key];
                    }
                  }
                }
            }

        var flattened = {};
        console.time('flatten'); 
        flatten(new_json, flattened, "");
        console.timeEnd('flatten');

        for (var key in flattened){
          console.log(key + ": " + flattened[key]);
        }

Output:

flatten: 1ms
.0.name: fatima
.0.age: 25
.0.neighbour.name: taqi
.0.neighbour.location: end of the street
.0.neighbour.property.built in: 1990
.0.neighbour.property.owned: false
.0.neighbour.property.years on market.0: 1990
.0.neighbour.property.years on market.1: 1998
.0.neighbour.property.years on market.2: 2002
.0.neighbour.property.years on market.3: 2013
.0.neighbour.property.year short listed: 
.0.town: Mountain View
.0.state: CA
.1.name: qianru
.1.age: 20
.1.neighbour.name: joe
.1.neighbour.location: opposite to the park
.1.neighbour.property.built in: 2011
.1.neighbour.property.owned: true
.1.neighbour.property.years on market.0: 1996
.1.neighbour.property.years on market.1: 2011
.1.neighbour.property.year short listed: 
.1.town: Pittsburgh
.1.state: PA

Answer 3

Here is some code I wrote to flatten an object I was working with. It creates a new class that takes every nested field and brings it into the first layer. You could modify it to unflatten by remembering the original placement of the keys. It also assumes the keys are unique even across nested objects. Hope it helps.

class JSONFlattener {
    ojson = {}
    flattenedjson = {}

    constructor(original_json) {
        this.ojson = original_json
        this.flattenedjson = {}
        this.flatten()
    }

    flatten() {
        Object.keys(this.ojson).forEach(function(key){
            if (this.ojson[key] == null) {

            } else if (this.ojson[key].constructor == ({}).constructor) {
                this.combine(new JSONFlattener(this.ojson[key]).returnJSON())
            } else {
                this.flattenedjson[key] = this.ojson[key]
            }
        }, this)        
    }

    combine(new_json) {
        //assumes new_json is a flat array
        Object.keys(new_json).forEach(function(key){
            if (!this.flattenedjson.hasOwnProperty(key)) {
                this.flattenedjson[key] = new_json[key]
            } else {
                console.log(key+" is a duplicate key")
            }
        }, this)
    }

    returnJSON() {
        return this.flattenedjson
    }
}

console.log(new JSONFlattener(dad_dictionary).returnJSON())

As an example, it converts

nested_json = {
    "a": {
        "b": {
            "c": {
                "d": {
                    "a": 0
                }
            }
        }
    },
    "z": {
        "b":1
    },
    "d": {
        "c": {
            "c": 2
        }
    }
}

into

{ a: 0, b: 1, c: 2 }

Answer 4

Here's mine. It runs in <2ms in Google Apps Script on a sizable object. It uses dashes instead of dots for separators, and it doesn't handle arrays specially like in the asker's question, but this is what I wanted for my use.

function flatten (obj) {
  var newObj = {};
  for (var key in obj) {
    if (typeof obj[key] === 'object' && obj[key] !== null) {
      var temp = flatten(obj[key])
      for (var key2 in temp) {
        newObj[key+"-"+key2] = temp[key2];
      }
    } else {
      newObj[key] = obj[key];
    }
  }
  return newObj;
}

Example:

var test = {
  a: 1,
  b: 2,
  c: {
    c1: 3.1,
    c2: 3.2
  },
  d: 4,
  e: {
    e1: 5.1,
    e2: 5.2,
    e3: {
      e3a: 5.31,
      e3b: 5.32
    },
    e4: 5.4
  },
  f: 6
}

Logger.log("start");
Logger.log(JSON.stringify(flatten(test),null,2));
Logger.log("done");

Example output:

[17-02-08 13:21:05:245 CST] start
[17-02-08 13:21:05:246 CST] {
  "a": 1,
  "b": 2,
  "c-c1": 3.1,
  "c-c2": 3.2,
  "d": 4,
  "e-e1": 5.1,
  "e-e2": 5.2,
  "e-e3-e3a": 5.31,
  "e-e3-e3b": 5.32,
  "e-e4": 5.4,
  "f": 6
}
[17-02-08 13:21:05:247 CST] done

Answer 5

ES6 version:

const flatten = (obj, path = '') => {        
    if (!(obj instanceof Object)) return {[path.replace(/\.$/g, '')]:obj};

    return Object.keys(obj).reduce((output, key) => {
        return obj instanceof Array ? 
             {...output, ...flatten(obj[key], path +  '[' + key + '].')}:
             {...output, ...flatten(obj[key], path + key + '.')};
    }, {});
}

Example:

console.log(flatten({a:[{b:["c","d"]}]}));
console.log(flatten([1,[2,[3,4],5],6]));

Answer 6

I'd like to add a new version of flatten case (this is what i needed :)) which, according to my probes with the above jsFiddler, is slightly faster then the currently selected one. Moreover, me personally see this snippet a bit more readable, which is of course important for multi-developer projects.

function flattenObject(graph) {
    let result = {},
        item,
        key;

    function recurr(graph, path) {
        if (Array.isArray(graph)) {
            graph.forEach(function (itm, idx) {
                key = path + '[' + idx + ']';
                if (itm && typeof itm === 'object') {
                    recurr(itm, key);
                } else {
                    result[key] = itm;
                }
            });
        } else {
            Reflect.ownKeys(graph).forEach(function (p) {
                key = path + '.' + p;
                item = graph[p];
                if (item && typeof item === 'object') {
                    recurr(item, key);
                } else {
                    result[key] = item;
                }
            });
        }
    }
    recurr(graph, '');

    return result;
}