How can I print a circular structure in a JSON-like format?
In Node.js, you can use util.inspect(object). It automatically replaces circular links with "[Circular]".
Albeit being built-in (no installation is required), you must import it
import * as util from 'util' // has no default exportimport { inspect } from 'util' // or directly// or var util = require('util')
To use it, simply callconsole.log(util.inspect(myObject))
Also be aware that you can pass options object to inspect (see link above)
inspect(myObject[, options: {showHidden, depth, colors, showProxy, ...moreOptions}])
Please, read and give kudos to commenters below...
Use JSON.stringify
with a custom replacer. For example:
// Demo: Circular referencevar circ = {};circ.circ = circ;// Note: cache should not be re-used by repeated calls to JSON.stringify.var cache = [];JSON.stringify(circ, (key, value) => { if (typeof value === 'object' && value !== null) { // Duplicate reference found, discard key if (cache.includes(value)) return; // Store value in our collection cache.push(value); } return value;});cache = null; // Enable garbage collection
The replacer in this example is not 100% correct (depending on your definition of "duplicate"). In the following case, a value is discarded:
var a = {b:1}var o = {};o.one = a;o.two = a;// one and two point to the same object, but two is discarded:JSON.stringify(o, ...);
But the concept stands: Use a custom replacer, and keep track of the parsed object values.
As a utility function written in es6:
// safely handles circular referencesJSON.safeStringify = (obj, indent = 2) => { let cache = []; const retVal = JSON.stringify( obj, (key, value) => typeof value === "object" && value !== null ? cache.includes(value) ? undefined // Duplicate reference found, discard key : cache.push(value) && value // Store value in our collection : value, indent ); cache = null; return retVal;};// Example:console.log('options', JSON.safeStringify(options))
I wonder why nobody posted the proper solution from MDN page yet...
const getCircularReplacer = () => { const seen = new WeakSet(); return (key, value) => { if (typeof value === "object" && value !== null) { if (seen.has(value)) { return; } seen.add(value); } return value; };};JSON.stringify(circularReference, getCircularReplacer());
Seen values should be stored in a set, not in array (replacer gets called on every element) and there is no need to try JSON.stringify
each element in the chain leading to a circular reference.
Like in the accepted answer, this solution removes all repeating values, not just the circular ones. But at least it does not have exponential complexity.