object-list

Treat arrays of objects like a db you can query. A single object from an object-list is called a record.

A common API for object collections

You may be scratching your head right now and wondering how this is different from Underscore, Lodash, or Rx Observables. Astute observations. The implementation will likely lean heavily on both Lodash and Rx Observables.

The difference is that this is intended to provide a universal facade for many types of object collections. It is an interface contract that will hopefully support a number of modular collection adapters. Read on for more details.

Status

Developer preview.

API Design Goals

Only a few of these design goals have been met in the current implementation, so read this section like everything is prefixed with "eventually..." See future.

• A common API for object collections (e.g. arrays of objects). Adapters for:
  • Array
  • Immutable.js List
  • Rx Observable
  • Siren-Resource API
  • Mongo client
  • Redis client
• object-lists are immutable. Instead of mutating the source data, a new object-list will be returned.
• Completely modular. Enable require() at the function level similar to require('lodash/object/assign'), etc... Compatibility transforms for things that aren't required for hard dependencies should also be separate modules. Minimize browserify bundle weight.
• Node or Browser.
• Provide ES6 Array.prototype compatible API. Almost anything that takes an array as input should be able to take an object-list, as well, provided the API does not rely on array mutation.
• Use ES6 and make compiled ES5 version available on npm.
• Compatible with infinite streams and generators.
• Should be capable of sync or async. Add .subscribe() method for async results.

Getting Started

Install:

$ npm install object-list

Use:

var list = require('object-list');

var records = [{a: 'a'}, {b: 'b'},{c: 'c'}];

list(records).getByKey('a'); // -> 'a'

.getByKey()

Take a key name and return the first value found. Returns a single value, not an array.

Usage

list(records).getByKey(key) -> val

var
records = [
  {a: 'a'},
  {b: 'b'},
  {c: 'c'}
],
expected = 'a',
copy = slice.call(records),

val = list(records).getByKey('a');

assert.equal(val, expected,
'should return the first value it finds.');

assert.equal(Array.isArray(val), false,
'should only return a single result, not an array.');

assert.deepEqual(records, copy,
'should not alter original list.');

.whitelist()

Take a list of keys and return a filtered list of records which contain those keys. Exclude any records that don't contain any of the whitelisted keys.

Usage

list(records).whitelist(whitelist) -> records

var
records = [
  {a: 'a'},
  {b: 'b'},
  {c: 'c'},
  {d: 'd', a: 'a'}
],
copy = slice.call(records),

whitelisted = list(records).whitelist(['a', 'c']),

expected = [
  {a: 'a'},
  {c: 'c'},
  {d: 'd', a: 'a'}
],

missing = list(expected).getByKey('b');

assert.deepEqual(whitelisted, expected,
'should contain all the expected keys.');

assert.strictEqual(missing, undefined,
'should not contain excluded keys');

assert.deepEqual(records, copy,
'should not alter original list.');

.concat()

Mix a list into a single record.

Usage

list(records).concat() -> record

var
records = [
  {a: 'a'},
  {b: 'b'},
  {c: 'c'},
  {c: 'override'}
],
copy = slice.call(records),

record = list(records).concat(),

expected = {
  a: 'a',
  b: 'b',
  c: 'override'
};

assert.deepEqual(record, expected,
'should combine records similar to Object.assign()');

assert.deepEqual(records, copy,
'should not alter original list.');

.where()

Select all records which match the given predicate pair.

Usage

list(records).where({key: value}) -> records

// Find all orders by customer email
var records = [
    {
      "id": "ci6r6aliv00007poxc2zgnjvf",
      "date": "2014-12-30 05:29:28",
      "billingEmail": "[email protected]",
      "firstName": "Dennis",
      "lastName": "Chambers",
      "lineItems": {
        "name": "Zildjian K Custom Organic Ride - 21\"",
        "sku": "h617xrh",
        "quantity": "1",
        "total": "379.95"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "ci6r6aliv00007poxc2zgnjvf",
      "date": "2014-12-30 05:29:28",
      "billingEmail": "[email protected]",
      "firstName": "Carlos",
      "lastName": "Santana",
      "lineItems": {
        "name": "Gibson Memphis 1963 ES-335 TD - '60s Cherry 2014",
        "sku": "sc37x3m",
        "quantity": "1",
        "total": "3999.00"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "ci6r6aliv00007poxc2zgnjvf",
      "date": "2014-12-30 05:29:28",
      "billingEmail": "[email protected]",
      "firstName": "Dennis",
      "lastName": "Chambers",
      "lineItems": {
        "name": "DW Collector's Series Metal Snare - 6.5\"x14\" Titanium 1mm",
        "sku": "sc37x3m",
        "quantity": "1",
        "total": "379.95"
      }
    }
  ],
  copy = slice.call(records),

  result = list(records).where({
    billingEmail: '[email protected]'
  }),

  expected = [
    {
      "id": "ci6r6aliv00007poxc2zgnjvf",
      "date": "2014-12-30 05:29:28",
      "billingEmail": "[email protected]",
      "firstName": "Dennis",
      "lastName": "Chambers",
      "lineItems": {
        "name": "Zildjian K Custom Organic Ride - 21\"",
        "sku": "h617xrh",
        "quantity": "1",
        "total": "379.95"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "ci6r6aliv00007poxc2zgnjvf",
      "date": "2014-12-30 05:29:28",
      "billingEmail": "[email protected]",
      "firstName": "Dennis",
      "lastName": "Chambers",
      "lineItems": {
        "name": "DW Collector's Series Metal Snare - 6.5\"x14\" Titanium 1mm",
        "sku": "sc37x3m",
        "quantity": "1",
        "total": "379.95"
      }
    }
  ];


assert.deepEqual(result, expected,
  'should contain all the expected records.');

assert.equal(result.length, 2,
  'should not contain excluded records.');

assert.deepEqual(records, copy,
  'should not alter original list.');

Courses

This was written for the "Learn JavaScript with Eric Elliott" course series.

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