Convert Object to string in javascript without the quotes in key

Question

How can I convert an Object to a string so that output is something like this:

e.g. let a = {b: "c"}

Let's assume the above example is our sample Object. Now we can use JSON.stringify(a) to convert it to string but that outputs,

console.log(a) -> {"b": "c"} but I want something like this: {b: "c"} in the original Object format.

@mplungjan I need to pass this object as part of graphql query. Issue is I can only pass it like this: (a: "b", c: "d"). It throws error if string is like this: ("a": "b", "c":"d") — prisoner_of_azkaban, Aug 18 '19 at 17:29
That is unfortunate. Perhaps fix or ask to have the graphql code fixed — mplungjan, Aug 18 '19 at 17:35
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/11233498/json-stringify-without-quotes-on-properties/11233515 — , Aug 18 '19 at 17:44

Fullstack Guy · Answer 1 · 2019-08-18T17:43:00.687

5

You can try using a Reg-ex, where you replace only the first occurrence of "" with white space character using $1 in the String.prototype.replace call:

const a = JSON.stringify({a: "a", b: "b", c: "c"}).replace(/"(\w+)"\s*:/g, '$1:');
console.log(a);

edited Aug 18 '19 at 17:43

answered Aug 18 '19 at 17:37

Fullstack Guy

16,368
3
29
44

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 18 '19 at 17:33

2

You can try javascript-stringify npm package.

answered Aug 18 '19 at 17:33

redrick.tmn

96
6

user1984 · Accepted Answer · 2019-08-18T19:03:07.767

This code is taken from this answer.

There is a regex solution that is simpler but it has a shortcoming that is inherent to regex. For some edge cases in complex and nested objects it does not work.

const data = {a: "b", "b": "c",
              c: {a: "b", "c": "d"}}

console.log(stringify(data))

function stringify(obj_from_json){
    if(typeof obj_from_json !== "object" || Array.isArray(obj_from_json)){
        // not an object, stringify using native function
        return JSON.stringify(obj_from_json);
    }
    // Implements recursive object serialization according to JSON spec
    // but without quotes around the keys.
    let props = Object
        .keys(obj_from_json)
        .map(key => `${key}:${stringify(obj_from_json[key])}`)
        .join(",");
    return `{${props}}`;
}

Convert Object to string in javascript without the quotes in key

3 Answers3