Query-string encoding of a Javascript Object

Question

Do you know a fast and simple way to encode a Javascript Object into a string that I can pass via a GET Request?

No jQuery, no other frameworks - just plain Javascript :)

Answer 1

like this?

serialize = function(obj) {
  var str = [];
  for (var p in obj)
    if (obj.hasOwnProperty(p)) {
      str.push(encodeURIComponent(p) + "=" + encodeURIComponent(obj[p]));
    }
  return str.join("&");
}

console.log(serialize({
  foo: "hi there",
  bar: "100%"
}));
// foo=hi%20there&bar=100%25

Edit: this one also converts recursive objects (using php "array" notation for the query string)

serialize = function(obj, prefix) {
  var str = [],
    p;
  for (p in obj) {
    if (obj.hasOwnProperty(p)) {
      var k = prefix ? prefix + "[" + p + "]" : p,
        v = obj[p];
      str.push((v !== null && typeof v === "object") ?
        serialize(v, k) :
        encodeURIComponent(k) + "=" + encodeURIComponent(v));
    }
  }
  return str.join("&");
}

console.log(serialize({
  foo: "hi there",
  bar: {
    blah: 123,
    quux: [1, 2, 3]
  }
}));
// foo=hi%20there&bar%5Bblah%5D=123&bar%5Bquux%5D%5B0%5D=1&bar%5Bquux%5D%5B1%5D=2&bar%5Bquux%5D%5B2%5D=3

Answer 2

Just use URLSearchParams This works in all current browsers

new URLSearchParams(object).toString()

Answer 3

jQuery has a function for this, jQuery.param(), if you're already using it you can use that: http://api.jquery.com/jquery.param/

example:

var params = { width:1680, height:1050 };
var str = jQuery.param( params );

str now contains width=1680&height=1050

Answer 4

Object.keys(obj).reduce(function(a,k){a.push(k+'='+encodeURIComponent(obj[k]));return a},[]).join('&')

Edit: I like this one-liner, but I bet it would be a more popular answer if it matched the accepted answer semantically:

function serialize( obj ) {
    let str = '?' + Object.keys(obj).reduce(function(a, k){
        a.push(k + '=' + encodeURIComponent(obj[k]));
        return a;
    }, []).join('&');
    return str;
}

Answer 5

Here's a one liner in ES6:

Object.keys(obj).map(k => `${encodeURIComponent(k)}=${encodeURIComponent(obj[k])}`).join('&');

Answer 6

I suggest using the URLSearchParams interface:

const searchParams = new URLSearchParams();
const params = {foo: "hi there", bar: "100%" };
Object.keys(params).forEach(key => searchParams.append(key, params[key]));
console.log(searchParams.toString())

Or by passing the search object into the constructor like this:

const params = {foo: "hi there", bar: "100%" };
const queryString = new URLSearchParams(params).toString();
console.log(queryString);

Answer 7

With Node.js v6.6.3

const querystring = require('querystring')

const obj = {
  foo: 'bar',
  baz: 'tor'
}

let result = querystring.stringify(obj)
// foo=bar&baz=tor

Reference: https://nodejs.org/api/querystring.html

Answer 8

A small amendment to the accepted solution by user187291:

serialize = function(obj) {
   var str = [];
   for(var p in obj){
       if (obj.hasOwnProperty(p)) {
           str.push(encodeURIComponent(p) + "=" + encodeURIComponent(obj[p]));
       }
   }
   return str.join("&");
}

Checking for hasOwnProperty on the object makes JSLint/JSHint happy, and it prevents accidentally serializing methods of the object or other stuff if the object is anything but a simple dictionary. See the paragraph on for statements in this page: http://javascript.crockford.com/code.html

Answer 9

Rails / PHP Style Query Builder

This method converts a Javascript object into a URI Query String. Also handles nested arrays and objects (in Rails / PHP syntax):

function serializeQuery(params, prefix) {
  const query = Object.keys(params).map((key) => {
    const value  = params[key];

    if (params.constructor === Array)
      key = `${prefix}[]`;
    else if (params.constructor === Object)
      key = (prefix ? `${prefix}[${key}]` : key);

    if (typeof value === 'object')
      return serializeQuery(value, key);
    else
      return `${key}=${encodeURIComponent(value)}`;
  });

  return [].concat.apply([], query).join('&');
}

---

Example Usage:

let params = {
  a: 100,
  b: 'has spaces',
  c: [1, 2, 3],
  d: { x: 9, y: 8}
}

serializeQuery(params)
// returns 'a=100&b=has%20spaces&c[]=1&c[]=2&c[]=3&d[x]=9&d[y]=8

Answer 10

Well, everyone seems to put his one-liner here so here goes mine:

const encoded = Object.entries(obj).map(([k, v]) => `${k}=${encodeURIComponent(v)}`).join("&");

Answer 11

Do you need to send arbitrary objects? If so, GET is a bad idea since there are limits to the lengths of URLs that user agents and web servers will accepts. My suggestion would be to build up an array of name-value pairs to send and then build up a query string:

function QueryStringBuilder() {
    var nameValues = [];

    this.add = function(name, value) {
        nameValues.push( {name: name, value: value} );
    };

    this.toQueryString = function() {
        var segments = [], nameValue;
        for (var i = 0, len = nameValues.length; i < len; i++) {
            nameValue = nameValues[i];
            segments[i] = encodeURIComponent(nameValue.name) + "=" + encodeURIComponent(nameValue.value);
        }
        return segments.join("&");
    };
}

var qsb = new QueryStringBuilder();
qsb.add("veg", "cabbage");
qsb.add("vegCount", "5");

alert( qsb.toQueryString() );

Answer 12

Here's the coffeescript version of accepted answer. This might save time to someone.

serialize = (obj, prefix) ->
  str = []
  for p, v of obj
    k = if prefix then prefix + "[" + p + "]" else p
    if typeof v == "object"
      str.push(serialize(v, k))
    else
      str.push(encodeURIComponent(k) + "=" + encodeURIComponent(v))

  str.join("&")

Answer 13

Here's a concise & recursive version with Object.entries. It handles arbitrarily nested arrays, but not nested objects. It also removes empty elements:

const format = (k,v) => v !== null ? `${k}=${encodeURIComponent(v)}` : ''

const to_qs = (obj) => {
    return [].concat(...Object.entries(obj)
                       .map(([k,v]) => Array.isArray(v) 
                          ? v.map(arr => to_qs({[k]:arr})) 
                          : format(k,v)))
           .filter(x => x)
           .join('&');
}

E.g.:

let json = { 
    a: [1, 2, 3],
    b: [],              // omit b
    c: 1,
    d: "test&encoding", // uriencode
    e: [[4,5],[6,7]],   // flatten this
    f: null,            // omit nulls
    g: 0
};

let qs = to_qs(json)

=> "a=1&a=2&a=3&c=1&d=test%26encoding&e=4&e=5&e=6&e=7&g=0"

Answer 14

This one skips null/undefined values

export function urlEncodeQueryParams(data) {
    const params = Object.keys(data).map(key => data[key] ? `${encodeURIComponent(key)}=${encodeURIComponent(data[key])}` : '');
    return params.filter(value => !!value).join('&');
}

Answer 15

In ES7 you can write this in one line:

const serialize = (obj) => (Object.entries(obj).map(i => [i[0], encodeURIComponent(i[1])].join('=')).join('&'))

Answer 16

Single line to convert Object into Query String in case somebody need it again

let Objs = { a: 'obejct-a', b: 'object-b' }

Object.keys(objs).map(key => key + '=' + objs[key]).join('&')

// result will be a=object-a&b=object-b

Answer 17

I have a simpler solution that does not use any third-party library and is already apt to be used in any browser that has "Object.keys" (aka all modern browsers + edge + ie):

In ES5

function(a){
    if( typeof(a) !== 'object' ) 
        return '';
    return `?${Object.keys(a).map(k=>`${k}=${a[k]}`).join('&')}`;
}

In ES3

function(a){
    if( typeof(a) !== 'object' ) 
        return '';
    return '?' + Object.keys(a).map(function(k){ return k + '=' + a[k] }).join('&');
}

Answer 18

If you want to convert a nested object recursively and the object may or may not contain arrays (and the arrays may contain objects or arrays, etc), then the solution gets a little more complex. This is my attempt.

I've also added some options to choose if you want to record for each object member at what depth in the main object it sits, and to choose if you want to add a label to the members that come from converted arrays.

Ideally you should test if the thing parameter really receives an object or array.

function thingToString(thing,maxDepth,recordLevel,markArrays){
    //thing: object or array to be recursively serialized
    //maxDepth (int or false):
    // (int) how deep to go with converting objects/arrays within objs/arrays
    // (false) no limit to recursive objects/arrays within objects/arrays
    //recordLevel (boolean):
    //  true - insert "(level 1)" before transcript of members at level one (etc)
    //  false - just 
    //markArrays (boolean):
    //  insert text to indicate any members that came from arrays
    var result = "";
    if (maxDepth !== false && typeof maxDepth != 'number') {maxDepth = 3;}
    var runningDepth = 0;//Keeps track how deep we're into recursion

    //First prepare the function, so that it can call itself recursively
    function serializeAnything(thing){
        //Set path-finder values
        runningDepth += 1;
        if(recordLevel){result += "(level " + runningDepth + ")";}

        //First convert any arrays to object so they can be processed
        if (thing instanceof Array){
            var realObj = {};var key;
            if (markArrays) {realObj['type'] = "converted array";}
            for (var i = 0;i < thing.length;i++){
                if (markArrays) {key = "a" + i;} else {key = i;}
                realObj[key] = thing[i];
            }
            thing = realObj;
            console.log('converted one array to ' + typeof realObj);
            console.log(thing);
        }

        //Then deal with it
        for (var member in thing){
            if (typeof thing[member] == 'object' && runningDepth < maxDepth){
                serializeAnything(thing[member]);
                //When a sub-object/array is serialized, it will add one to
                //running depth. But when we continue to this object/array's
                //next sibling, the level must go back up by one
                runningDepth -= 1;
            } else if (maxDepth !== false && runningDepth >= maxDepth) {
                console.log('Reached bottom');
            } else 
            if (
                typeof thing[member] == "string" || 
                typeof thing[member] == 'boolean' ||
                typeof thing[member] == 'number'
            ){
                result += "(" + member + ": " + thing[member] + ") ";
            }  else {
                result += "(" + member + ": [" + typeof thing[member] + " not supported]) ";
            }
        }
    }
    //Actually kick off the serialization
    serializeAnything(thing);

    return result;

}

Answer 19

Addition for accepted solution, this works with objects & array of objects:

parseJsonAsQueryString = function (obj, prefix, objName) {
    var str = [];
    for (var p in obj) {
        if (obj.hasOwnProperty(p)) {
            var v = obj[p];
            if (typeof v == "object") {
                var k = (objName ? objName + '.' : '') + (prefix ? prefix + "[" + p + "]" : p);
                str.push(parseJsonAsQueryString(v, k));
            } else {
                var k = (objName ? objName + '.' : '') + (prefix ? prefix + '.' + p : p);
                str.push(encodeURIComponent(k) + "=" + encodeURIComponent(v));
                //str.push(k + "=" + v);
            }
        }
    }
    return str.join("&");
}

Also have added objName if you're using object parameters like in asp.net mvc action methods.

Answer 20

A little bit look better

objectToQueryString(obj, prefix) {
    return Object.keys(obj).map(objKey => {
        if (obj.hasOwnProperty(objKey)) {
            const key = prefix ? `${prefix}[${objKey}]` : objKey;
            const value = obj[objKey];

            return typeof value === "object" ?
                this.objectToQueryString(value, key) :
                `${encodeURIComponent(key)}=${encodeURIComponent(value)}`;
        }

        return null;
    }).join("&");
}

Answer 21

I made a comparison of JSON stringifiers and the results are as follows:

JSON:    {"_id":"5973782bdb9a930533b05cb2","isActive":true,"balance":"$1,446.35","age":32,"name":"Logan Keller","email":"[email protected]","phone":"[phone]","friends":[{"id":0,"name":"Colon Salazar"},{"id":1,"name":"French Mcneil"},{"id":2,"name":"Carol Martin"}],"favoriteFruit":"banana"}
Rison:   (_id:'5973782bdb9a930533b05cb2',age:32,balance:'$1,446.35',email:'[email protected]',favoriteFruit:banana,friends:!((id:0,name:'Colon Salazar'),(id:1,name:'French Mcneil'),(id:2,name:'Carol Martin')),isActive:!t,name:'Logan Keller',phone:'[phone]')
O-Rison: _id:'5973782bdb9a930533b05cb2',age:32,balance:'$1,446.35',email:'[email protected]',favoriteFruit:banana,friends:!((id:0,name:'Colon Salazar'),(id:1,name:'French Mcneil'),(id:2,name:'Carol Martin')),isActive:!t,name:'Logan Keller',phone:'[phone]'
JSURL:   ~(_id~'5973782bdb9a930533b05cb2~isActive~true~balance~'!1*2c446.35~age~32~name~'Logan*20Keller~email~'logankeller*40artiq.com~phone~'*2b1*20*28952*29*20533-2258~friends~(~(id~0~name~'Colon*20Salazar)~(id~1~name~'French*20Mcneil)~(id~2~name~'Carol*20Martin))~favoriteFruit~'banana)
QS:      _id=5973782bdb9a930533b05cb2&isActive=true&balance=$1,446.35&age=32&name=Logan Keller&[email protected]&phone=[phone]&friends[0][id]=0&friends[0][name]=Colon Salazar&friends[1][id]=1&friends[1][name]=French Mcneil&friends[2][id]=2&friends[2][name]=Carol Martin&favoriteFruit=banana
URLON:   $_id=5973782bdb9a930533b05cb2&isActive:true&balance=$1,446.35&age:32&name=Logan%20Keller&[email protected]&phone=+1%20(952)%20533-2258&friends@$id:0&name=Colon%20Salazar;&$id:1&name=French%20Mcneil;&$id:2&name=Carol%20Martin;;&favoriteFruit=banana
QS-JSON: isActive=true&balance=%241%2C446.35&age=32&name=Logan+Keller&email=logankeller%40artiq.com&phone=%2B1+(952)+533-2258&friends(0).id=0&friends(0).name=Colon+Salazar&friends(1).id=1&friends(1).name=French+Mcneil&friends(2).id=2&friends(2).name=Carol+Martin&favoriteFruit=banana

The shortest among them is URL Object Notation.

Answer 22

ES6 SOLUTION FOR QUERY STRING ENCODING OF A JAVASCRIPT OBJECT

const params = {
  a: 1,
  b: 'query stringify',
  c: null,
  d: undefined,
  f: '',
  g: { foo: 1, bar: 2 },
  h: ['Winterfell', 'Westeros', 'Braavos'],
  i: { first: { second: { third: 3 }}}
}

static toQueryString(params = {}, prefix) {
  const query = Object.keys(params).map((k) => {
    let key = k;
    const value = params[key];

    if (!value && (value === null || value === undefined || isNaN(value))) {
      value = '';
    }

    switch (params.constructor) {
      case Array:
        key = `${prefix}[]`;
        break;
      case Object:
        key = (prefix ? `${prefix}[${key}]` : key);
        break;
    }

    if (typeof value === 'object') {
      return this.toQueryString(value, key); // for nested objects
    }

    return `${key}=${encodeURIComponent(value)}`;
  });

  return query.join('&');
}

toQueryString(params)

"a=1&b=query%20stringify&c=&d=&f=&g[foo]=1&g[bar]=2&h[]=Winterfell&h[]=Westeros&h[]=Braavos&i[first][second][third]=3"

Answer 23

This is a solution that will work for .NET backends out of the box. I have taken the primary answer of this thread and updated it to fit our .NET needs.

function objectToQuerystring(params) {
var result = '';

    function convertJsonToQueryString(data, progress, name) {
        name = name || '';
        progress = progress || '';
        if (typeof data === 'object') {
            Object.keys(data).forEach(function (key) {
                var value = data[key];
                if (name == '') {
                    convertJsonToQueryString(value, progress, key);
                } else {
                    if (isNaN(parseInt(key))) {
                        convertJsonToQueryString(value, progress, name + '.' + key);
                    } else {
                        convertJsonToQueryString(value, progress, name + '[' + key+ ']');
                    }
                }
            })
        } else {
            result = result ? result.concat('&') : result.concat('?');
            result = result.concat(`${name}=${data}`);
        }
    }

    convertJsonToQueryString(params);
    return result;
}

Answer 24

The above answers fill not work if you have a lot of nested objects. Instead you can pick the function param from here - https://github.com/knowledgecode/jquery-param/blob/master/jquery-param.js It worked very well for me!

    var param = function (a) {
    var s = [], rbracket = /\[\]$/,
        isArray = function (obj) {
            return Object.prototype.toString.call(obj) === '[object Array]';
        }, add = function (k, v) {
            v = typeof v === 'function' ? v() : v === null ? '' : v === undefined ? '' : v;
            s[s.length] = encodeURIComponent(k) + '=' + encodeURIComponent(v);
        }, buildParams = function (prefix, obj) {
            var i, len, key;

            if (prefix) {
                if (isArray(obj)) {
                    for (i = 0, len = obj.length; i < len; i++) {
                        if (rbracket.test(prefix)) {
                            add(prefix, obj[i]);
                        } else {
                            buildParams(prefix + '[' + (typeof obj[i] === 'object' ? i : '') + ']', obj[i]);
                        }
                    }
                } else if (obj && String(obj) === '[object Object]') {
                    for (key in obj) {
                        buildParams(prefix + '[' + key + ']', obj[key]);
                    }
                } else {
                    add(prefix, obj);
                }
            } else if (isArray(obj)) {
                for (i = 0, len = obj.length; i < len; i++) {
                    add(obj[i].name, obj[i].value);
                }
            } else {
                for (key in obj) {
                    buildParams(key, obj[key]);
                }
            }
            return s;
        };

    return buildParams('', a).join('&').replace(/%20/g, '+');
};

Answer 25

ok, it's a older post but i'm facing this problem and i have found my personal solution.. maybe can help someone else..

     function objToQueryString(obj){
        var k = Object.keys(obj);
        var s = "";
        for(var i=0;i<k.length;i++) {
            s += k[i] + "=" + encodeURIComponent(obj[k[i]]);
            if (i != k.length -1) s += "&";
        }
        return s;
     };

Answer 26

Just use the following:

encodeURIComponent(JSON.stringify(obj))

// elastic search example
let story ={
  "query": {
    "bool": {
      "must": [
        {
          "term": { 
            "revision.published": 0, 
          }
        },
        {
          "term": { 
            "credits.properties.by.properties.name": "Michael Guild"
          }
        },
        {
          "nested": {
            "path": "taxonomy.sections",
            "query": {
              "bool": {
                "must": [
                  {
                    "term": {
                      "taxonomy.sections._id": "/science"
                    }
                  },
                  {
                    "term": {
                      "taxonomy.sections._website": "staging"
                    }
                  }
                ]
              }
            }
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}


const whateva = encodeURIComponent(JSON.stringify(story))
console.log(whateva)

Answer 27

I've written a package just for that: object-query-string :)

Supports nested objects, arrays, custom encoding functions etc. Lightweight & jQuery free.

// TypeScript
import { queryString } from 'object-query-string';

// Node.js
const { queryString } = require("object-query-string");

const query = queryString({
    filter: {
        brands: ["Audi"],
        models: ["A4", "A6", "A8"],
        accidentFree: true
    },
    sort: 'mileage'
});

returns

filter[brands][]=Audi&filter[models][]=A4&filter[models][]=A6&filter[models][]=A8&filter[accidentFree]=true&sort=milage

Answer 28

To do it in better way.

It can handle recursive objects or arrays in the STANDARD query form like a=val&b[0]=val&b[1]=val&c=val&d[some key]=val, here's the final function.

Logic, Functionality

const objectToQueryString = (initialObj) => {
  const reducer = (obj, parentPrefix = null) => (prev, key) => {
    const val = obj[key];
    key = encodeURIComponent(key);
    const prefix = parentPrefix ? `${parentPrefix}[${key}]` : key;

    if (val == null || typeof val === 'function') {
      prev.push(`${prefix}=`);
      return prev;
    }

    if (['number', 'boolean', 'string'].includes(typeof val)) {
      prev.push(`${prefix}=${encodeURIComponent(val)}`);
      return prev;
    }

    prev.push(Object.keys(val).reduce(reducer(val, prefix), []).join('&'));
    return prev;
  };

  return Object.keys(initialObj).reduce(reducer(initialObj), []).join('&');
};

Example

const testCase1 = {
  name: 'Full Name',
  age: 30
}

const testCase2 = {
  name: 'Full Name',
  age: 30,
  children: [
    {name: 'Child foo'},
    {name: 'Foo again'}
  ],
  wife: {
    name: 'Very Difficult to say here'
  }
}

console.log(objectToQueryString(testCase1));
console.log(objectToQueryString(testCase2));

Live Test

Expand the snippet below to verify the result in your browser -

const objectToQueryString = (initialObj) => {
  const reducer = (obj, parentPrefix = null) => (prev, key) => {
    const val = obj[key];
    key = encodeURIComponent(key);
    const prefix = parentPrefix ? `${parentPrefix}[${key}]` : key;

    if (val == null || typeof val === 'function') {
      prev.push(`${prefix}=`);
      return prev;
    }

    if (['number', 'boolean', 'string'].includes(typeof val)) {
      prev.push(`${prefix}=${encodeURIComponent(val)}`);
      return prev;
    }

    prev.push(Object.keys(val).reduce(reducer(val, prefix), []).join('&'));
    return prev;
  };

  return Object.keys(initialObj).reduce(reducer(initialObj), []).join('&');
};

const testCase1 = {
  name: 'Full Name',
  age: 30
}

const testCase2 = {
  name: 'Full Name',
  age: 30,
  children: [
    {name: 'Child foo'},
    {name: 'Foo again'}
  ],
  wife: {
    name: 'Very Difficult to say here'
  }
}

console.log(objectToQueryString(testCase1));
console.log(objectToQueryString(testCase2));

Things to consider.

• It skips values for functions, null, undefined
• It skips keys and values for empty objects and arrays.
• It doesn't handle Number or String Objects made with new Number(1) or new String('my string') because NO ONE should ever do that

Answer 29

After going through some top answers here, I have wrote another implementation that tackles some edge cases as well

function serialize(params, prefix) {                
    return Object.entries(params).reduce((acc, [key, value]) => {
        // remove whitespace from both sides of the key before encoding
        key = encodeURIComponent(key.trim());

        if (params.constructor === Array ) {
          key = `${prefix}[]`;
        } else if (params.constructor === Object) {
          key = (prefix ? `${prefix}[${key}]` : key);
        }

        /**
         *  - undefined and NaN values will be skipped automatically
         *  - value will be empty string for functions and null
         *  - nested arrays will be flattened
         */
        if (value === null || typeof value === 'function') {
            acc.push(`${key}=`);
        } else if (typeof value === 'object') {
            acc = acc.concat(serialize(value, key));
        } else if(['number', 'boolean', 'string'].includes(typeof value) && value === value) { // self-check to avoid NaN
            acc.push(`${key}=${encodeURIComponent(value)}`);
        }

        return acc;
    }, []);
}

function objectToQueryString(queryParameters) {
    return queryParameters ? serialize(queryParameters).join('&'): '';
}

let x = objectToQueryString({
    foo: 'hello world',
    bar: {
      blah: 123,
      list: [1, 2, 3],
        'nested array': [[4,5],[6,7]] // will be flattened
    },
    page: 1,
    limit: undefined, // field will be ignored
    check: false,
    max: NaN, // field will be ignored
    prop: null,
    ' key value': 'with spaces' // space in key will be trimmed out
});
  
console.log(x); // foo=hello%20world&bar[blah]=123&bar[list][]=1&bar[list][]=2&bar[list][]=3&bar[nested%20array][][]=4&bar[nested%20array][][]=5&bar[nested%20array][][]=6&bar[nested%20array][][]=7&page=1&check=false&prop=&key%20value=with%20spaces

Answer 30

Just another way (no recursive object):

   getQueryString = function(obj)
   {
      result = "";

      for(param in obj)
         result += ( encodeURIComponent(param) + '=' + encodeURIComponent(obj[param]) + '&' );

      if(result) //it's not empty string when at least one key/value pair was added. In such case we need to remove the last '&' char
         result = result.substr(0, result.length - 1); //If length is zero or negative, substr returns an empty string [ref. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/0esxc5wy(v=VS.85).aspx]

      return result;
   }

alert( getQueryString({foo: "hi there", bar: 123, quux: 2 }) );