index-array-by

A utility function to index arrays by any criteria.

indexBy(list, keyAccessors, multiItem = true)

Quick start

import indexBy from 'index-array-by';

or using a script tag

<script src="//unpkg.com/index-array-by"></script>

Usage example

Given an array

const people = [
    { name: 'Mary', surname: 'Jane', age: 28 },
    { name: 'John', surname: 'Smith', age: 24 },
    { name: 'John', surname: 'Doe', age: 32 }
];

Use indexBy to index it by a given attribute (string type keyAccessor) or any other custom criteria (function type keyAccessor). You can also pass an array of keyAccessors to retrieve a nested object recursively indexed by the multiple keys.

Use the third parameter (multiItem) to indicate whether each key should point to a single item (unadvised if the keys are not unique) or an array of multiple items (default behavior).

indexBy(people, 'surname', false);

// Result: 
{
 Doe: { name: 'John', age: 32 },
 Jane: { name: 'Mary', age: 28 },
 Smith: { name: 'John', age: 24 }
}

indexBy(people, 'name', true);

// Result: 
{
  Mary: [ { surname: 'Jane', age: 28 } ],
  John: [
    { surname: 'Smith', age: 24 },
    { surname: 'Doe', age: 32 }
  ]
}

indexBy(people, ({ name, surname }) => `${surname}, ${name}`, false);

// Result: 
{
 'Jane, Mary': { name: 'Mary', surname: 'Jane', age: 28 },
 'Smith, John': { name: 'John', surname: 'Smith', age: 24 },
 'Doe, John': { name: 'John', surname: 'Doe', age: 32 }
}

indexBy(people, ['name', 'surname'], false));

// Result: 
{
 Mary: { Jane: { age: 28 }},
 John: { Smith: { age: 24 }, Doe: { age: 32 }}
}

indexBy(people, ({ age }) => `${Math.floor(age / 10) * 10}s`, true);

// Result: 
{
  '20s': [
    { name: 'Mary', surname: 'Jane', age: 28 },
    { name: 'John', surname: 'Smith', age: 24 },
  ],
  '30s': [{ name: 'John', surname: 'Doe', age: 32 }]
}

The multiItem parameter also accepts a transformation function with the method to reduce multiple items into a single one. In this case, it's keeping only the max age.

indexBy(people, 'name', items => Math.max(...items.map(item => item.age)));

// Result:

{
  John: 32,
  Mary: 28
}

A fourth optional parameter (flattenKeys) (default: false) allows you to receive a flat array structure instead of the default nested format, with each item formatted as { keys: [<ordered unique keys for the item>], vals: <single or multiple item> }.

indexBy(people, ['name', 'surname'], true, true));

// Result: 
[
  { keys: ['Mary', 'Jane'], vals: [{ age: 28 }] },
  { keys: ['John', 'Smith'], vals: [{ age: 24 }] },
  { keys: ['John', 'Doe'], vals: [{ age: 32 }] }
]