How do I initialize a TypeScript object with a JSON object

Question

I receive a JSON object from an AJAX call to a REST server. This object has property names that match my TypeScript class (this is a follow-on to this question).

Wha

Answer 1

My approach is slightly different. I do not copy properties into new instances, I just change the prototype of existing POJOs (may not work well on older browsers). Each class is responsible for providing a SetPrototypes method to set the prototoypes of any child objects, which in turn provide their own SetPrototypes methods.

(I also use a _Type property to get the class name of unknown objects but that can be ignored here)

class ParentClass
{
    public ID?: Guid;
    public Child?: ChildClass;
    public ListOfChildren?: ChildClass[];

    /**
     * Set the prototypes of all objects in the graph.
     * Used for recursive prototype assignment on a graph via ObjectUtils.SetPrototypeOf.
     * @param pojo Plain object received from API/JSON to be given the class prototype.
     */
    private static SetPrototypes(pojo: ParentClass): void
    {
        ObjectUtils.SetPrototypeOf(pojo.Child, ChildClass);
        ObjectUtils.SetPrototypeOfAll(pojo.ListOfChildren, ChildClass);
    }
}

class ChildClass
{
    public ID?: Guid;
    public GrandChild?: GrandChildClass;

    /**
     * Set the prototypes of all objects in the graph.
     * Used for recursive prototype assignment on a graph via ObjectUtils.SetPrototypeOf.
     * @param pojo Plain object received from API/JSON to be given the class prototype.
     */
    private static SetPrototypes(pojo: ChildClass): void
    {
        ObjectUtils.SetPrototypeOf(pojo.GrandChild, GrandChildClass);
    }
}

Here is ObjectUtils.ts:

/**
 * ClassType lets us specify arguments as class variables.
 * (where ClassType == window[ClassName])
 */
type ClassType = { new(...args: any[]): any; };

/**
 * The name of a class as opposed to the class itself.
 * (where ClassType == window[ClassName])
 */
type ClassName = string & {};

abstract class ObjectUtils
{
/**
 * Set the prototype of an object to the specified class.
 *
 * Does nothing if source or type are null.
 * Throws an exception if type is not a known class type.
 *
 * If type has the SetPrototypes method then that is called on the source
 * to perform recursive prototype assignment on an object graph.
 *
 * SetPrototypes is declared private on types because it should only be called
 * by this method. It does not (and must not) set the prototype of the object
 * itself - only the protoypes of child properties, otherwise it would cause a
 * loop. Thus a public method would be misleading and not useful on its own.
 * 
 * https://stackoverflow.com/questions/9959727/proto-vs-prototype-in-javascript
 */
public static SetPrototypeOf(source: any, type: ClassType | ClassName): any
{
    let classType = (typeof type === "string") ? window[type] : type;

    if (!source || !classType)
    {
        return source;
    }

    // Guard/contract utility
    ExGuard.IsValid(classType.prototype, "type", type);

    if ((Object).setPrototypeOf)
    {
        (Object).setPrototypeOf(source, classType.prototype);
    }
    else if (source.__proto__)
    {
        source.__proto__ = classType.prototype.__proto__;
    }

    if (typeof classType["SetPrototypes"] === "function")
    {
        classType["SetPrototypes"](source);
    }

    return source;
}

/**
 * Set the prototype of a list of objects to the specified class.
 * 
 * Throws an exception if type is not a known class type.
 */
public static SetPrototypeOfAll(source: any[], type: ClassType): void
{
    if (!source)
    {
        return;
    }

    for (var i = 0; i < source.length; i++)
    {
        this.SetPrototypeOf(source[i], type);
    }
}
}

Usage:

let pojo = SomePlainOldJavascriptObjectReceivedViaAjax;

let parentObject = ObjectUtils.SetPrototypeOf(pojo, ParentClass);

// parentObject is now a proper ParentClass instance