search by specific key of nested object/array javascript

Question

I would like to search by specific key on nested array/ object on javascript and need to return all hierarchy structure, include it's parent until root parent and also it's child. Here is the sample json:

 let array = [
 { 
 "no": "1",
 "name": "abc",
 "child" : [
 { 
 "no": "1.1",
 "name": "def",
 "child" : [
 {
 "no": "1.1.1",
 "name": "Foo"
 },
 {
 "no": "1.1.2",
 "name": "jkl"
 }
 ] 
 },
 { 
 "no": "1.2",
 "name": "Foo",
 "child" : [
 {
 "no": "1.2.1",
 "name": "Foo"
 },
 {
 "no": "1.2.2",
 "name": "aaaaaaa"
 }
 ] 
 }
 ]
 },
 { 
 "no": "2",
 "name": "abc2",
 "child" : [
 { 
 "no": "2.1",
 "name": "Foo",
 "child" : [
 {
 "no": "1.1.1",
 "name": "ghi"
 },
 {
 "no": "1.1.2",
 "name": "jkl"
 }
 ] 
 },
 { 
 "no": "2.2",
 "name": "ghssssi",
 "child" : [
 {
 "no": "2.2.1",
 "name": "ghssssi"
 }, 
 {
 "no": "2.2.2",
 "name": "asass"
 }
 ] 
 }
 ]
 }
 ];

And when we want to search by key ='Foo', the result would be something like this:

 array_result = [
 { 
 "no": "1",
 "name": "abc",
 "child" : [
 { 
 "no": "1.1",
 "name": "def",
 "child" : [
 {
 "no": "1.1.1",
 "name": "Foo"
 }
 ] 
 },
 { 
 "no": "1.2",
 "name": "Foo",
 "child" : [
 {
 "no": "1.2.1",
 "name": "Foo"
 }
 ] 
 }
 ]
 },
 { 
 "no": "2",
 "name": "abc2",
 "child" : [
 { 
 "no": "2.1",
 "name": "Foo",
 "child" : [
 {
 "no": "1.1.1",
 "name": "ghi"
 },
 {
 "no": "1.1.2",
 "name": "jkl"
 }
 ] 
 }
 ]
 }
 ];

I'm sure it will need recursive function. Anyone got idea? Thanks!

• MeanGreen: What have you tried yourself so far? Show us your code so someone can point out the problem. This is not the place to get complete code answers.
• Nina Scholz: would you like to get a copy of the original data without mutating the original?

Answer 1

You could take a copy from the original array and filter the array, if it has the wanted value or the children have the value.

var array = [{ no: "1", name: "abc", children: [{ no: "1.1", name: "def", children: [{ no: "1.1.1", name: "Foo" }, { no: "1.1.2", name: "jkl" }] }, { no: "1.2", name: "Foo", children: [{ no: "1.2.1", name: "Foo" }, { no: "1.2.2", name: "aaaaaaa" }] }] }, { no: "2", name: "abc2", children: [{ no: "2.1", name: "Foo", children: [{ no: "1.1.1", name: "ghi" }, { no: "1.1.2", name: "jkl" }] }, { no: "2.2", name: "ghssssi", children: [{ no: "2.2.1", name: "ghssssi" }, { no: "2.2.2", name: "asass" }] }] }],
 find = 'Foo',
 result = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(array)).filter(function search(a) {
 var children;
 if (a.name === find) {
 return true;
 }
 if (!Array.isArray(a.children)) {
 return false;
 }
 children = a.children.filter(search);
 if (children.length) {
 a.children = children;
 return true;
 }
 });
console.log(result);

.as-console-wrapper { max-height: 100% !important; top: 0; }

• ipeh: thanks @nina, it helped me a lot. I've modified the code based on my need.