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up vote 1 down vote favorite

I have 'multidimensional associative' javascript array (which in fact is object with properties as JS can't have native associative array):

var multiArray={ AAA:"one", BBB:"two", CCC:{ 0:"xxx", 1:"yyy", 2:"zzz"} };

And i need to get such string from this array:

'AAA=one & BBB=two & CCC=xxx,yyy,zzz'

How do I do that?

If i use two simple loops like this:

for(var key in multiArray)
{
        for(var subkey in multiArray[key])
        {
            string = string + multiArray[key][subkey]+",";
        }
}

I get something like this:

'AAA = o,n,e & BBB = t,w,o & CCC = xxx, yyy,zzz'

Which is not what i need.

Any solutions using Javascript only?

share|improve this question
    
Why is multiArray['CCC'] not an array? –  kojiro May 19 '12 at 15:20
    
as JS can't have native associative array Interesting. Could you elaborate? –  KooiInc May 19 '12 at 15:37
    
@KooiInc Javascript has indexed arrays and objects. That's probably what Andrew means. –  inhan May 19 '12 at 15:42
    
@inhan - yes indeed –  Andrew May 19 '12 at 15:59

2 Answers 2

up vote 1 down vote accepted

I would use a function like

var multiArray={ AAA:"one", BBB:"two", CCC:{ 0:"xxx", 1:"yyy", 2:"zzz"} };

function objToStr(o,delim) {
    if (/^(string|boolean|number)$/.test(typeof o)) return o;
    delim = delim || '&'; // delimiter
    var arr = [], isArray = true;
    for (var j in o) {
        if (isNaN(parseInt(j))) { isArray = false; break; }
    }
    if (isArray) {
        for (var j in o) arr[j] = objToStr(o[j],delim);
        return arr.join(',');
    }
    for (var j in o) {
        if (typeof o[j] != 'object') arr.push(j+'='+o[j]);
        else arr.push(j+'='+objToStr(o[j],delim));
    }
    return arr.join(delim);
}
console.log(objToStr(multiArray,'&'))

EDIT: You will need to escape necessary characters here if this is going to be a GET query. Also, I'm not sure what you're expecting as the result of the following array so I couldn't write the best code that will suit your needs.

var multiArray={ AAA:"one", BBB:"two", CCC:{ 0:"xxx", 1:"yyy", 2:{a:1, b:2}} };
share|improve this answer
    
Although Parth's answer has correct key point, his result string is not exactly correct. Your function returns what I exactly wanted. Thank you. –  Andrew May 19 '12 at 16:53
    
You're welcome. Though it's not final because of those 2 points I mentioned in the lower, edit section. –  inhan May 20 '12 at 5:43
up vote 2 down vote

Ok, i've created a fiddle over here: http://jsfiddle.net/bJ6HH/. It works for any depth of nestedness.

share|improve this answer
    
Yes, this answer works. The key here is to check if property is object: 'if(typeof o[k] == 'object')' ; –  Andrew May 19 '12 at 16:47
    
then why did someone downvote this? I know inhan's answer is more involved and detailed, but for this simple scenario, i found my method simpler... –  Parth Thakkar May 19 '12 at 16:49
    
I don't know... –  Andrew May 19 '12 at 17:50
    
Yeah I agree, your code is actually better. I just added the array functionality in my suggestion. I wouldn't downvote your solution. Somebody must have mistakenly done that. –  inhan May 20 '12 at 5:46
    
@Andrew typeof o[k] == 'object' in a way accomplishes that. But it it were an indexed array you would need to use o[k] instanceof Array instead since the Array class extends Object. –  inhan May 20 '12 at 5:48

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