Object UtilitiesAPI reference for object manipulation functionsboxAPI Reference
Categories

Object Utilities

The Object utilities provide a set of functions for working with objects in JavaScript. These functions help in manipulating, transforming, and querying objects efficiently.

Addressing a value by string path — get, set, unset, and the keyed [#id] grammar the changesets on this page emit — lives in Path Utilities.

Functions

keys

function keys(obj)

Return keys from an object.

Parameters

Name Type Description
obj object The object to get keys from

Returns

An array of the object’s keys, or undefined if the input is not an object.

Example

import { keys } from '@semantic-ui/utils';
const obj = { a: 1, b: 2, c: 3 };
console.log(keys(obj)); // ['a', 'b', 'c']

values

function values(obj)

Return values from an object.

Parameters

Name Type Description
obj object The object to get values from

Returns

An array of the object’s values, or undefined if the input is not an object.

Example

import { values } from '@semantic-ui/utils';
const obj = { a: 1, b: 2, c: 3 };
console.log(values(obj)); // [1, 2, 3]

filterObject

function filterObject(obj, callback)

Filter an object based on a callback function.

Parameters

Name Type Description
obj object The object to filter
callback function The callback function to test each key-value pair

Returns

A new object with the key-value pairs that passed the test.

Example

import { filterObject } from '@semantic-ui/utils';
const obj = { a: 1, b: 2, c: 3, d: 4 };
const result = filterObject(obj, (value) => value % 2 === 0);
console.log(result); // { b: 2, d: 4 }

mapObject

function mapObject(obj, callback)

Transform an object’s values based on a callback function.

Parameters

Name Type Description
obj object The object to transform
callback function The callback function to transform each value

Returns

A new object with transformed values.

Example

import { mapObject } from '@semantic-ui/utils';
const obj = { a: 1, b: 2, c: 3 };
const result = mapObject(obj, (value) => value * 2);
console.log(result); // { a: 2, b: 4, c: 6 }

trackWrites

function trackWrites(value, callback, { strategy = 'auto', returnPaths = true, keyed = true, fields = elementKey.config.fields, onWrite, clone, equality } = {})

Runs a callback against a value and reports whether the callback changed it, with the changed fields as dot paths. Useful for running a user callback against a data structure and determining mutations.

Strategy - The default strategy ‘auto’ will use snapshot for small data structures and proxy for larger. Snapshot improves debugging by passing you a real copy, while proxy preserves performance at the cost of passing you a proxyObject inside your callback. Keyed paths (the default) come from the snapshot diff, so when they are wanted 'auto' yields to snapshot even for a large value — an explicit 'proxy' strategy keeps the no-clone path at the cost of positional paths.

Parameters

Name Type Description
value any The value the callback may change
callback function Receives the value (or its tracked wrapper)
options object Optional configuration
Options
Name Type Default Description
strategy string ‘auto’ 'auto', 'snapshot', or 'proxy'
returnPaths boolean true Return changed fields as dot paths. Pass false to skip collection on hot paths that only read changed
keyed boolean true Id-address paths for keyed arrays (todos[#id].complete instead of todos.0.complete). Forces the snapshot strategy when paths are wanted, since keyed paths come from the snapshot diff. Pass false to keep the proxy’s no-clone behaviour on a large value
fields string[] elementKey.config.fields Identity fields for keyed paths, first present wins
onWrite function undefined (path, target, key) fires per observed write with the key path from the root. Implies the proxy strategy under 'auto', so its paths are positional
clone function clone Clone used for snapshots
equality function isEqual Equality deciding what counts as a change, across the path diff, the returnPaths: false fast path, and exotic snapshots

Returns

{ changed, paths, result } — whether the value changed, the changed fields as dot paths, and the callback’s return value.

Notes

paths is a covering set resolvable through get. The snapshot strategy reports net leaf differences via detectChanges and id-addresses keyed arrays by default (field[#id]). The proxy strategy reports the paths written (pruned so a written parent subsumes its children) and these are always positional — the proxy only sees the index a write went through. A wholesale change to a non-container value reports path ''. Under the proxy strategy the tracked wrapper is only valid inside the callback — using one after it returns throws.

Example

import { trackWrites, get } from '@semantic-ui/utils';
const doc = { meta: { count: 0 } };
const { changed, paths } = trackWrites(doc, (value) => {
value.meta.count++;
});
console.log(changed); // true
console.log(paths); // ['meta.count']
// paths resolve against the value, e.g. for state sync
paths.forEach((path) => sync(path, get(doc, path)));
// keyed paths by default — a field edit across a collection reads back per
// record, not by index, with zero configuration
const db = { todos: [{ id: 'a', complete: false }, { id: 'b', complete: false }] };
const completeAll = trackWrites(db, (d) => {
for (const todo of d.todos) { todo.complete = true; }
});
console.log(completeAll.paths); // ['todos[#a].complete', 'todos[#b].complete']
// the proxy strategy is the positional opt-out (no element identity)
trackWrites(db, mutator, { strategy: 'proxy' }); // paths like ['todos.0.complete']
// skip path collection on hot paths
trackWrites(doc, mutator, { returnPaths: false }); // { changed, result }

trackReads

function trackReads(value, callback, { returnPaths = true, keyed = true, fields = elementKey.config.fields, onRead } = {})

Runs a callback against a value and reports which paths it read — the read companion to trackWrites. Where trackWrites answers “what did this change”, trackReads answers “what did this depend on”: collecting a computed function’s dependencies, deriving a memoization key from the values it touched, auditing least-privilege access, or learning what to prefetch.

Proxy only - Reads are observable only through a proxy (there is no before/after to diff, so unlike trackWrites there is no snapshot strategy). The value is wrapped read-only: the callback may read any depth, but a write through the wrapper throws, so the input is never mutated. The wrapper is only valid inside the callback — using one after it returns throws.

Parameters

Name Type Description
value any The value the callback reads from
callback function Receives the value (or its read-only tracked wrapper) and returns anything
options object Optional configuration
Options
Name Type Default Description
returnPaths boolean true Return the read paths. Pass false to skip collection and rely on onRead
keyed boolean true Id-address paths for keyed arrays (todos[#id].done instead of todos.0.done), the same convention as trackWrites. Pass false for positional paths
fields string[] elementKey.config.fields Identity fields for keyed paths, first present wins
onRead function undefined (path, type, target, key) fires per read with its type ('value', 'has', or 'structure') — the unpruned live stream for dependency collectors and auditors

Returns

{ reads, structure, result } — the value paths read, the container shapes read, and the callback’s return value.

Notes

Two dependency kinds come back, kept apart because they invalidate on different writes:

  • reads — value paths (todos[#id].done), resolvable through get, pruned so a deeper read subsumes its ancestors. Pairs with detectChanges changed.
  • structure — container paths whose shape was read: an array’s .length, iteration, spread, or Object.keys. Pairs with detectChanges added/removed.

Surfacing structure separately is the array-growth case: reading an array’s length leaves no value path behind, so a value-only dependency set would silently miss a push. Reading a method (.reduce) is not itself a dependency — the property reads that method then performs are. An exotic (Date/Map/Set/RegExp) is a single read with no recursion into its internals. A frozen subtree is immutable, so it has no dependencies and is read only at its boundary.

Example

import { trackReads, get } from '@semantic-ui/utils';
const state = { todos: [{ id: 'a', done: false }, { id: 'b', done: true }] };
const { reads, structure } = trackReads(state, (value) =>
value.todos.map((todo) => todo.done));
console.log(reads); // ['todos[#a].done', 'todos[#b].done']
console.log(structure); // ['todos']
// reads resolve back through get(), e.g. for a memoization key — and the keyed
// paths survive a reorder of the list
reads.map((path) => get(state, path)); // [false, true]
// pair with the write side: re-run when a read value changes (changed) or when
// a read container grows or shrinks (added/removed)
// reads ↔ detectChanges.changed
// structure ↔ detectChanges.added / removed
// onRead streams each read live, typed, for dependency collectors
trackReads(state, (value) => value.todos.length, {
onRead: (path, type) => console.log(type, path), // 'value' todos, 'structure' todos
});
// positional opt-out, and hot-path streaming without collection
trackReads(state, reader, { keyed: false }); // paths like ['todos.0.done']
trackReads(state, reader, { returnPaths: false, onRead });

detectChanges

function detectChanges(before, after, {
keyed = true,
fields = elementKey.config.fields,
equality = isEqual,
ignoreKeys = null,
collapseKeys = null,
} = {})

Structural diff between two values, reported as dot paths from before to after — added (in after only), removed (in before only), and changed (in both, different values).

Parameters

Name Type Description
before any The value to diff from
after any The value to diff to
options object Optional configuration
Options
Name Type Default Description
keyed boolean true Diff arrays of uniquely-keyed objects by element identity instead of by index. Pass false for the legacy positional walk
fields string[] elementKey.config.fields Identity fields a keyed element is matched on
equality function isEqual Comparator deciding whether two leaf values count as changed. The same option trackWrites takes — pass a looser rule (==, an epsilon) for loosely-typed data
ignoreKeys string[] null Key names dropped from the result at any depth — a volatile or local-only field (updatedAt, a client annotation) never reaches the changeset
collapseKeys string[] null Key names diffed as one whole value, never descended into, at any depth. The key reports as a single path when it changes

Returns

{ added, removed, changed } — arrays of dot paths.

Notes

Objects recurse to leaf paths. Values that can’t be walked (Map, Set, Date, class instances) compare by deep equality and report their own path. Differing non-container roots report path ''.

By default, an array whose elements are each uniquely keyed (see elementKey) diffs by identity instead of position. It emits field[#identity] paths — field[#z] for a whole-element add, remove, or replace, field[#b].qty for a field change — so a prepend or reorder is one add by key, not a positional cascade of index rewrites. An id may be any string without ] — emails and compound ids included, users[#jack@semantic-ui.com].role emits and parses back. Any array that isn’t cleanly keyed (a scalar or unkeyed element, a duplicate key, or a key value carrying ]) falls back to the positional walk, so an emitted keyed path always parses back through get / set / unset. Pass { keyed: false } for the legacy positional output, where arrays diff by index and a shifted array reports every moved position.

collapseKeys gives a plain-object key the same whole-value treatment a Map or Date already gets — the walk stops at the key and reports it as one path instead of descending. This is for a subtree whose own keys aren’t addressable wire paths, like a map keyed by dynamic contacts[#id].field strings that would mis-parse if emitted nested. A wholesale add or remove of the key still reports as add or remove, and a change anywhere inside reports the key as changed. ignoreKeys is the complement — those keys leave the changeset entirely.

Example

import { detectChanges } from '@semantic-ui/utils';
const before = { name: 'a', temp: true, count: 1 };
const after = { name: 'b', count: 1, nickname: 'al' };
console.log(detectChanges(before, after));
// { added: ['nickname'], removed: ['temp'], changed: ['name'] }
// arrays of keyed objects diff by identity — a prepend plus an edit is one add
const cartBefore = { lineItems: [{ id: 'a', qty: 1 }, { id: 'b', qty: 1 }] };
const cartAfter = { lineItems: [{ id: 'z', qty: 9 }, { id: 'a', qty: 1 }, { id: 'b', qty: 5 }] };
console.log(detectChanges(cartBefore, cartAfter));
// { added: ['lineItems[#z]'], removed: [], changed: ['lineItems[#b].qty'] }
// scalar arrays (no element identity) fall back to the positional walk
console.log(detectChanges({ items: [1, 2, 3] }, { items: [1, 9] }));
// { added: [], removed: ['items.2'], changed: ['items.1'] }
// { keyed: false } restores the positional cascade for keyed objects too
console.log(detectChanges(cartBefore, cartAfter, { keyed: false }));
// { added: ['lineItems.2'], removed: [], changed: ['lineItems.0.id', 'lineItems.0.qty', 'lineItems.1.id'] }
// equality swaps the comparator — '1' and 1 are not a change under ==
console.log(detectChanges({ a: 1 }, { a: '1' }, { equality: (x, y) => x == y }));
// { added: [], removed: [], changed: [] }
// ignoreKeys drops a field at any depth; collapseKeys reports a subtree whole
console.log(detectChanges(
{ name: 'a', _overrides: { 'contacts[#1].field': true }, updatedAt: 1 },
{ name: 'b', _overrides: { 'contacts[#1].field': false }, updatedAt: 2 },
{ ignoreKeys: ['updatedAt'], collapseKeys: ['_overrides'] },
));
// { added: [], removed: [], changed: ['name', '_overrides'] }

extend

function extend(obj, ...sources)

Extend an object with properties from other objects, properly handling getter/setters.

Parameters

Name Type Description
obj object The target object to extend
sources …object One or more source objects

Returns

The extended object.

Example

import { extend } from '@semantic-ui/utils';
const obj1 = { a: 1, b: 2 };
const obj2 = { c: 3 };
const obj3 = { d: 4 };
const result = extend(obj1, obj2, obj3);
console.log(result); // { a: 1, b: 2, c: 3, d: 4 }

assignInPlace

function assignInPlace(target, source, { preserveExistingKeys = false, preserveGetters = false, returnChanged = false } = {})

Mutates the target object in place so its contents match the source, without replacing the object reference. Deletes keys not present in source (unless preserveExistingKeys is true), then assigns all source properties.

Parameters

Name Type Description
target object The object to update in place
source object The object whose properties to apply
options object Optional configuration
Options
Name Type Default Description
preserveExistingKeys boolean false Keep keys in target that are not in source
preserveGetters boolean false Skip own getter descriptors when deleting keys not in source. Useful when target carries computed properties that shouldn’t be torn down by syncs
returnChanged boolean false Return whether any properties changed instead of the target

Returns

The mutated target object. If returnChanged is true, returns a boolean indicating whether any properties were added, removed, or changed.

Example

import { assignInPlace } from '@semantic-ui/utils';
const config = { host: 'localhost', port: 3000, debug: true };
assignInPlace(config, { host: 'production.app', port: 443 });
console.log(config); // { host: 'production.app', port: 443 } — debug removed
// Preserve existing keys
const settings = { theme: 'light', lang: 'en' };
assignInPlace(settings, { theme: 'dark', fontSize: 14 }, { preserveExistingKeys: true });
console.log(settings); // { theme: 'dark', lang: 'en', fontSize: 14 }
// Preserve computed properties
const view = { name: 'Alice' };
Object.defineProperty(view, 'greeting', { get() { return `Hi, ${this.name}`; }, enumerable: true });
assignInPlace(view, { name: 'Bob' }, { preserveGetters: true });
console.log(view.greeting); // 'Hi, Bob' — getter intact
// Detect changes
const state = { count: 5 };
assignInPlace(state, { count: 5 }, { returnChanged: true }); // false
assignInPlace(state, { count: 10 }, { returnChanged: true }); // true

deepExtend

function deepExtend(obj, ...sources, options)

Deep extends an object with properties from other sources, recursively merging nested plain objects and cloning non-plain objects.

Parameters

Name Type Description
obj object The target object to extend
sources …object One or more source objects to merge from
options object Optional configuration object
Options
Name Type Default Description
preserveNonCloneable boolean true Keep a class instance as is instead of flattening it to a plain object
preserveDOM boolean true Keep a DOM node as is instead of walking it

Returns

The modified target object with deep merged properties.

Example

import { deepExtend } from '@semantic-ui/utils';
const target = {
user: { name: 'Alice', age: 30 },
settings: { theme: 'light' }
};
const source = {
user: { role: 'admin' },
settings: { notifications: true }
};
deepExtend(target, source);
console.log(target);
// {
// user: { name: 'Alice', age: 30, role: 'admin' },
// settings: { theme: 'light', notifications: true }
// }

pick

function pick(obj, ...keys)

Create a new object with only the specified keys from the original object.

Parameters

Name Type Description
obj object The source object
keys …string The keys to pick

Returns

A new object with only the specified keys.

Example

import { pick } from '@semantic-ui/utils';
const obj = { a: 1, b: 2, c: 3, d: 4 };
const result = pick(obj, 'a', 'c');
console.log(result); // { a: 1, c: 3 }

arrayFromObject

function arrayFromObject(obj)

Convert an object to an array of key-value pairs.

Parameters

Name Type Description
obj object The object to convert

Returns

An array of key-value pair objects.

Example

import { arrayFromObject } from '@semantic-ui/utils';
const obj = { a: 1, b: 2, c: 3 };
const result = arrayFromObject(obj);
console.log(result); // [{ key: 'a', value: 1 }, { key: 'b', value: 2 }, { key: 'c', value: 3 }]

proxyObject

function proxyObject(sourceObj = noop, referenceObj = {})

Create a proxy object that combines properties from a source object and a reference object.

Parameters

Name Type Description
sourceObj function A function that returns the source object
referenceObj object The reference object

Returns

A proxy object combining properties from both objects.

Example

import { proxyObject } from '@semantic-ui/utils';
const source = () => ({ a: 1, b: 2 });
const reference = { c: 3 };
const proxy = proxyObject(source, reference);
console.log(proxy.a); // 1
console.log(proxy.c); // 3

onlyKeys

function onlyKeys(obj, keysToKeep)

Create a new object with only the specified keys from the original object.

Parameters

Name Type Description
obj object The source object
keysToKeep array The keys to keep in the new object

Returns

A new object with only the specified keys.

Example

import { onlyKeys } from '@semantic-ui/utils';
const obj = { a: 1, b: 2, c: 3, d: 4 };
const result = onlyKeys(obj, ['a', 'c']);
console.log(result); // { a: 1, c: 3 }

hasProperty

function hasProperty(obj, prop)

Check if an object has a non-inherited property.

Parameters

Name Type Description
obj object The object to check
prop string The property name to check for

Returns

True if the object has the property, false otherwise.

Example

import { hasProperty } from '@semantic-ui/utils';
const obj = { a: 1, b: 2 };
console.log(hasProperty(obj, 'a')); // true
console.log(hasProperty(obj, 'toString')); // false

reverseKeys

function reverseKeys(obj)

Reverse the keys and values of an object.

Parameters

Name Type Description
obj object The object to reverse

Returns

A new object with reversed keys and values.

Example

import { reverseKeys } from '@semantic-ui/utils';
const obj = { a: '1', b: ['2', '3'] };
const result = reverseKeys(obj);
console.log(result); // { '1': 'a', '2': 'b', '3': 'b' }

These object utilities provide a robust set of tools for working with objects in JavaScript, enhancing productivity and code readability.

weightedObjectSearch

function weightedObjectSearch(query, objectArray, { returnMatches = false, matchAllWords = true, propertiesToMatch = [] } = {})

Performs a weighted search across an array of objects, with matches prioritized by where they occur in the text.

Search Priority Results are sorted by match quality, with highest priority given to exact start of string matches (e.g., searching “cat” matching “category”), followed by word-start matches (e.g., “category” in “my category”), then substring matches anywhere, and finally partial word matches. When searching multiple words, matches are weighted by how many words were found in the text.

Parameters

Name Type Description
query string The search query
objectArray array Array of objects to search
options object Search configuration
Options
Name Type Default Description
returnMatches boolean false Include match details in results
matchAllWords boolean true Require all words to match
propertiesToMatch array [] Properties to search within objects

Understanding Matches When returnMatches is true, each result is a spread copy of the original object with an added matches array property. The original objects are never mutated. Each match has the shape { field, type, score, value } where type is one of 'startsWith', 'wordStartsWith', 'anywhere', or 'anyWord'.

Returns

Array of matching objects sorted by relevance. When returnMatches is true, each result is a shallow copy with an additional matches property containing an array of match details.

Example

import { weightedObjectSearch } from '@semantic-ui/utils';
const items = [
{ title: 'Hello World', desc: 'A greeting' },
{ title: 'World News', desc: 'Current events' }
];
// Basic search
const results = weightedObjectSearch('world', items, {
propertiesToMatch: ['title', 'desc']
});
// With match details (does not mutate originals)
const detailed = weightedObjectSearch('world', items, {
propertiesToMatch: ['title', 'desc'],
returnMatches: true,
});
// detailed[0].matches → [{ field: 'title', type: 'startsWith', score: 1, value: 'World News' }]
Previous
Numbers
Next
Paths