Node JS: Make a flat json from a tree json - json

Question

I was writing a node.js script to combine all the json files in a directory and store the result as a new json file. I tried do the job to a great extent but it has few flaws.
A.json
[
{
"id": "addEmoticon1",
"description": "Message to greet the user.",
"defaultMessage": "Hello, {name}!"
},
{
"id": "addPhoto1",
"description": "How are youu.",
"defaultMessage": "How are you??"
}
]
B.json
[
{
"id": "close1",
"description": "Close it.",
"defaultMessage": "Close!"
}
]
What I finally need is:
result.json
{
"addEmoticon1": "Hello, {name}!",
"addPhoto1": "How are you??",
"close1": "Close!"
}
I wrote a node.js script:
var fs = require('fs');
function readFiles(dirname, onFileContent, onError) {
fs.readdir(dirname, function(err, filenames) {
if (err) {
onError(err);
return;
}
filenames.forEach(function(filename) {
fs.readFile(dirname + filename, 'utf-8', function(err, content) {
if (err) {
onError(err);
return;
}
onFileContent(filename, content);
});
});
});
}
var data = {};
readFiles('C:/node/test/', function(filename, content) {
data[filename] = content;
var lines = content.split('\n');
lines.forEach(function(line) {
var parts = line.split('"');
if (parts[1] == 'id') {
fs.appendFile('result.json', parts[3]+': ', function (err) {});
}
if (parts[1] == 'defaultMessage') {
fs.appendFile('result.json', parts[3]+',\n', function (err) {});
}
});
}, function(err) {
throw err;
});
It extracts the 'id' and 'defaultMessage' but is not able to append correctly.
What I get:
result.json
addEmoticon1: addPhoto1: Hello, {name}!,
close1: How are you??,
Close!,
This output is different every time I run my script.
Aim 1: Surround items in double quotes,
Aim 2: Add curly braces at the top and at the end
Aim 3: No comma at the end of last element
Aim 4: Same output every time I run my script

Answer 1

I'll start with the finished solution...
There's a big explanation at the end of this answer. Let's try to think big-picture for a little bit first tho.
readdirp('.')
.fmap(filter(match(/\.json$/)))
.fmap(map(readfilep))
.fmap(map(fmap(JSON.parse)))
.fmap(concatp)
.fmap(flatten)
.fmap(reduce(createMap)({}))
.fmap(data=> JSON.stringify(data, null, '\t'))
.fmap(writefilep(resolve(__dirname, 'result.json')))
.then(filename=> console.log('wrote results to %s', filename), err=>console.error(err));
Console output
wrote results to /path/to/result.json
result.json (I added a c.json with some data to show that this works with more than 2 files)
{
"addEmoticon1": "Hello, {name}!",
"addPhoto1": "How are you??",
"close1": "Close!",
"somethingelse": "Something!"
}
Implementation
I made Promise-based interfaces for readdir and readFile and writeFile
import {readdir, readFile, writeFile} from 'fs';
const readdirp = dir=>
new Promise((pass,fail)=>
readdir(dir, (err, filenames) =>
err ? fail(err) : pass(mapResolve (dir) (filenames))));
const readfilep = path=>
new Promise((pass,fail)=>
readFile(path, 'utf8', (err,data)=>
err ? fail(err) : pass(data)));
const writefilep = path=> data=>
new Promise((pass,fail)=>
writeFile(path, data, err=>
err ? fail(err) : pass(path)));
In order to map functions to our Promises, we needed an fmap utility. Notice how we take care to bubble errors up.
Promise.prototype.fmap = function fmap(f) {
return new Promise((pass,fail) =>
this.then(x=> pass(f(x)), fail));
};
And here's the rest of the utilities
const fmap = f=> x=> x.fmap(f);
const mapResolve = dir=> map(x=>resolve(dir,x));
const map = f=> xs=> xs.map(x=> f(x));
const filter = f=> xs=> xs.filter(x=> f(x));
const match = re=> s=> re.test(s);
const concatp = xs=> Promise.all(xs);
const reduce = f=> y=> xs=> xs.reduce((y,x)=> f(y)(x), y);
const flatten = reduce(y=> x=> y.concat(Array.isArray(x) ? flatten (x) : x)) ([]);
Lastly, the one custom function that does your work
const createMap = map=> ({id, defaultMessage})=>
Object.assign(map, {[id]: defaultMessage});
And here's c.json
[
{
"id": "somethingelse",
"description": "something",
"defaultMessage": "Something!"
}
]
"Why so many little functions ?"
Well despite what you may think, you have a pretty big problem. And big problems are solved by combining several small solutions. The most prominent advantage of this code is that each function has a very distinct purpose and it will always produce the same results for the same inputs. This means each function can be used other places in your program. Another advantage is that smaller functions are easier to read, reason with, and debug.
Compare all of this to the other answers given here; #BlazeSahlen's in particular. That's over 60 lines of code that's basically only usable to solve this one particular problem. And it doesn't even filter out non-JSON files. So the next time you need to create a sequence of actions on reading/writing files, you'll have to rewrite most of those 60 lines each time. It creates lots of duplicated code and hard-to-find bugs because of exhausting boilerplate. And all that manual error-handling... wow, just kill me now. And he/she thought callback hell was bad ? haha, he/she just created yet another circle of hell all on his/her own.
All the code together...
Functions appear (roughly) in the order they are used
import {readdir, readFile, writeFile} from 'fs';
import {resolve} from 'path';
// logp: Promise<Value> -> Void
const logp = p=> p.then(x=> console.log(x), x=> console.err(x));
// fmap : Promise<a> -> (a->b) -> Promise<b>
Promise.prototype.fmap = function fmap(f) {
return new Promise((pass,fail) =>
this.then(x=> pass(f(x)), fail));
};
// fmap : (a->b) -> F<a> -> F<b>
const fmap = f=> x=> x.fmap(f);
// readdirp : String -> Promise<Array<String>>
const readdirp = dir=>
new Promise((pass,fail)=>
readdir(dir, (err, filenames) =>
err ? fail(err) : pass(mapResolve (dir) (filenames))));
// mapResolve : String -> Array<String> -> Array<String>
const mapResolve = dir=> map(x=>resolve(dir,x));
// map : (a->b) -> Array<a> -> Array<b>
const map = f=> xs=> xs.map(x=> f(x));
// filter : (Value -> Boolean) -> Array<Value> -> Array<Value>
const filter = f=> xs=> xs.filter(x=> f(x));
// match : RegExp -> String -> Boolean
const match = re=> s=> re.test(s);
// readfilep : String -> Promise<String>
const readfilep = path=>
new Promise((pass,fail)=>
readFile(path, 'utf8', (err,data)=>
err ? fail(err) : pass(data)));
// concatp : Array<Promise<Value>> -> Array<Value>
const concatp = xs=> Promise.all(xs);
// reduce : (b->a->b) -> b -> Array<a> -> b
const reduce = f=> y=> xs=> xs.reduce((y,x)=> f(y)(x), y);
// flatten : Array<Array<Value>> -> Array<Value>
const flatten = reduce(y=> x=> y.concat(Array.isArray(x) ? flatten (x) : x)) ([]);
// writefilep : String -> Value -> Promise<String>
const writefilep = path=> data=>
new Promise((pass,fail)=>
writeFile(path, data, err=>
err ? fail(err) : pass(path)));
// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
// createMap : Object -> Object -> Object
const createMap = map=> ({id, defaultMessage})=>
Object.assign(map, {[id]: defaultMessage});
// do it !
readdirp('.')
.fmap(filter(match(/\.json$/)))
.fmap(map(readfilep))
.fmap(map(fmap(JSON.parse)))
.fmap(concatp)
.fmap(flatten)
.fmap(reduce(createMap)({}))
.fmap(data=> JSON.stringify(data, null, '\t'))
.fmap(writefilep(resolve(__dirname, 'result.json')))
.then(filename=> console.log('wrote results to %s', filename), err=>console.error(err));
Still having trouble following along?
It's not easy to see how these things work at first. This is a particularly squirrely problem because the data gets nested very quickly. Thankfully that doesn't mean our code has to be a big nested mess just to solve the problem ! Notice the code stays nice and flat even when we're dealing with things like a Promise of an Array of Promises of JSON...
// Here we are reading directory '.'
// We will get a Promise<Array<String>>
// Let's say the files are 'a.json', 'b.json', 'c.json', and 'run.js'
// Promise will look like this:
// Promise<['a.json', 'b.json', 'c.json', 'run.js']>
readdirp('.')
// Now we're going to strip out any non-JSON files
// Promise<['a.json', 'b.json', 'c.json']>
.fmap(filter(match(/\.json$/)))
// call `readfilep` on each of the files
// We will get <Promise<Array<Promise<JSON>>>>
// Don't freak out, it's not that bad!
// Promise<[Promise<JSON>, Promise<JSON>. Promise<JSON>]>
.fmap(map(readfilep))
// for each file's Promise, we want to parse the data as JSON
// JSON.parse returns an object, so the structure will be the same
// except JSON will be an object!
// Promise<[Promise<Object>, Promise<Object>, Promise<Object>]>
.fmap(map(fmap(JSON.parse)))
// Now we can start collapsing some of the structure
// `concatp` will convert Array<Promise<Value>> to Array<Value>
// We will get
// Promise<[Object, Object, Object]>
// Remember, we have 3 Objects; one for each parsed JSON file
.fmap(concatp)
// Your particular JSON structures are Arrays, which are also Objects
// so that means `concatp` will actually return Promise<[Array, Array, Array]
// but we'd like to flatten that
// that way each parsed JSON file gets mushed into a single data set
// after flatten, we will have
// Promise<Array<Object>>
.fmap(flatten)
// Here's where it all comes together
// now that we have a single Promise of an Array containing all of your objects ...
// We can simply reduce the array and create the mapping of key:values that you wish
// `createMap` is custom tailored for the mapping you need
// we initialize the `reduce` with an empty object, {}
// after it runs, we will have Promise<Object>
// where Object is your result
.fmap(reduce(createMap)({}))
// It's all downhill from here
// We currently have Promise<Object>
// but before we write that to a file, we need to convert it to JSON
// JSON.stringify(data, null, '\t') will pretty print the JSON using tab to indent
// After this, we will have Promise<JSON>
.fmap(data=> JSON.stringify(data, null, '\t'))
// Now that we have a JSON, we can easily write this to a file
// We'll use `writefilep` to write the result to `result.json` in the current working directory
// I wrote `writefilep` to pass the filename on success
// so when this finishes, we will have
// Promise<Path>
// You could have it return Promise<Void> like writeFile sends void to the callback. up to you.
.fmap(writefilep(resolve(__dirname, 'result.json')))
// the grand finale
// alert the user that everything is done (or if an error occurred)
// Remember `.then` is like a fork in the road:
// the code will go to the left function on success, and the right on failure
// Here, we're using a generic function to say we wrote the file out
// If a failure happens, we write that to console.error
.then(filename=> console.log('wrote results to %s', filename), err=>console.error(err));
All done !

Answer 2

Assumed files is list of arrays; [a, b, ...];
var res = {};
files.reduce((a, b) => a.concat(b), []).forEach(o => res[o.id] = o.defaultMessage);
But you need not to get all files at once.
Just add this code to onFileContent callback.
JSON.parse(fileContent).forEach(o => res[o.id] = o.defaultMessage);
Also, you should to add any final callback to your readFiles.
And in this callback:
fs.writeFile('result.json', JSON.stringify(res));
So, final solution for you:
var fs = require('fs');
function task(dir, it, cb) {
fs.readdir(dir, (err, names) => {
if (err) return cb([err]);
var errors = [], c = names.length;
names.forEach(name => {
fs.readFile(dir + name, 'utf-8', (err, data) => {
if (err) return errors.push(err);
try {
it(JSON.parse(data)); // We get a file data!
} catch(e) {
errors.push('Invalid json in ' + name + ': '+e.message);
}
if (!--c) cb(errors); // We are finish
});
});
});
}
var res = {};
task('C:/node/test/', (data) => data.forEach(o => res[o.id] = o.defaultMessage), (errors) => {
// Some files can be wrong
errors.forEach(err => console.error(err));
// But we anyway write received data
fs.writeFile('C:/node/test/result.json', JSON.stringify(res), (err) => {
if (err) console.error(err);
else console.log('Task finished. see results.json');
})
});

Answer 3

this should do it once you have your json in variables a and b:
var a = [
{
"id": "addEmoticon1",
"description": "Message to greet the user.",
"defaultMessage": "Hello, {name}!"
},
{
"id": "addPhoto1",
"description": "How are youu.",
"defaultMessage": "How are you??"
}
];
var b = [
{
"id": "close1",
"description": "Close it.",
"defaultMessage": "Close!"
}
];
var c = a.concat(b);
var res = []
for (var i = 0; i < c.length; i++){
res[ c[i].id ] = c[i].defaultMessage;
}
console.log(res);

Answer 4

Here's my solution:
function readFiles(dirname, onFileContent, onError) {
fs.readdir(dirname, function(err, filenames) {
/**
* We'll store the parsed JSON data in this array
* #type {Array}
*/
var fileContent = [];
if (err) {
onError(err);
} else {
filenames.forEach(function(filename) {
// Reading the file (synchronously) and storing the parsed JSON output (parsing from string to JSON object)
var jsonObject = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(dirname + filename, 'utf-8'));
// Pushing the parsed JSON output into array
fileContent.push(jsonObject);
});
// Calling the callback
onFileContent(fileContent);
}
});
}
readFiles('./files/',function(fileContent) {
/**
* We'll store the final output object here
* #type {Object}
*/
var output = {};
// Loop over the JSON objects
fileContent.forEach(function(each) {
// Looping within each object
for (var index in each) {
// Copying the `id` as key and the `defaultMessage` as value and storing in output object
output[each[index].id] = each[index].defaultMessage;
}
});
// Writing the file (synchronously) after converting the JSON object back to string
fs.writeFileSync('result.json', JSON.stringify(output));
}, function(err) {
throw err;
});
Notable difference is that I've not used the asynchronous readFile and writeFile functions as they'd needlessly complicate the example. This example is meant to showcase the use of JSON.parse and JSON.stringify to do what OP wants.
UPDATE:
var fs = require('fs');
function readFiles(dirname, onEachFilename, onComplete) {
fs.readdir(dirname, function(err, filenames) {
if (err) {
throw err;
} else {
// Prepending the dirname to each filename
filenames.forEach(function(each, index, array) {
array[index] = dirname + each;
});
// Calling aync.map which accepts these parameters:
// filenames <-------- array of filenames
// onEachFilename <--- function which will be applied on each filename
// onComplete <------- function to call when the all elements of filenames array have been processed
require('async').map(filenames, onEachFilename, onComplete);
}
});
}
readFiles('./files/', function(item, callback) {
// Read the file asynchronously
fs.readFile(item, function(err, data) {
if (err) {
callback(err);
} else {
callback(null, JSON.parse(data));
}
});
}, function(err, results) {
/**
* We'll store the final output object here
* #type {Object}
*/
var output = {};
if (err) {
throw err;
} else {
// Loop over the JSON objects
results.forEach(function(each) {
// Looping within each object
for (var index in each) {
// Copying the `id` as key and the `defaultMessage` as value and storing in output object
output[each[index].id] = each[index].defaultMessage;
}
});
// Writing the file (synchronously) after converting the JSON object back to string
fs.writeFileSync('result.json', JSON.stringify(output));
}
});
This is a simple asynchronous implementation of the same, using readFile. For more information, async.map.