Javascript-Serializer

This is a javascript serializer. The serialize function can convert almost any variable into a string representation of itself. It's useful for logs and debugging.

Usage

var obj = {
  callMe: "function ishmael() { return 'whale'; }",
  arrayStorage: [
    "Infinity",
    -Infinity,
    [ /regexp/g, new Date(), () => { return 0; }, [1,"2",3e4] ]
  ],
  mapStorage: new Map([ 
    [ () => { return 'mapper'; }, NaN ],
  ])
};

// returns string representation of object
var seralizedObj = serialize(obj); 

// it can be deserialized back to an object
var deserializedObj = deserialized(seralizedObj);

Supported Types

Type	Examples
null	null
undefined	undefined
number	Infinity, -Infinity, NaN, 123.456, 789, 1e4, 1.2e+5
string	'hello world', "hello world", hello ${world}
boolean	true, false
symbol	Symbol("hello world")
regexp literal	/hello.*world/g
date	new Date()
error	new Error()
array	['hello','world']
iterable	Map, Set
named function	function hello() { return 'world'; }
anonymous function	function() { return 'goodbye world'; }
arrow function	(result) => { return result; }
native function on the window	Boolean, Date, Map, Number, Object, etc.
native object on the window	Math, JSON, etc.
object that has Object prototype	{ key: 123 }. If you amended its prototype, those edits will be lost
object that has Node in its prototype chain	document, document.createElement('div'). The node will be checked for invalid XML. If it has any, you will not get something that deserializes back into a node. Instead, you will get the constructor name and a string version of it, like HTMLElement, <div>something invalid</div>. Also, if you get the string version, all newlines will have been stripped and template string interpolation will not process.

Possibly Supported Types

Type	Explanation
object with unique toString()	If an object's toString method returns a unique string (in that it doesn't print [object Object]), serialize() attempts to give you a string that will eval back to the object using that unique string.

Unsupported Types:

Type	Explanation
objects with a common toString() method, a prototype different from Object, that don't have Node in its prototype chain, and that are not iterable	Since it's not possible to get something that will deserialize back into the original value, you'll get something that deserializes into a string that has the constructor name and any exposed properties, like: Example, {key: 123} ...here is a list of some example objects in this category: Promise, WeakMap, WeakSet, ArrayBuffer, DataView, etc.
native functions that are nested properties of the window	You will get undefined for any of these. In theory, they could be serialized, if I chose to recursively search the window for them, but that's sounds crazy... the window can get massive. I might later add an option to turn a recursive search on for those who are daring ...here is a list of some example functions in this cateogry: Math.abs, JSON.stringify

Other Notes

• errors: If you eval the serialized error, it will be thrown.
• numbers: There is no way to keep a number in scientific notation because they're always turned into fixed notation. (1e4 -> 1000)
• Proxy: For some reason, a Proxy object's __proto__.constructor.name is equal to Object, so proxies become empty objects {}, instead of the string: [object Proxy]

Deserialize/Unserialize

The deserialize and unserialize functions are exactly the same. All they do, is wrap your serialized variable in parentheses and pass them to javascript's eval function. I think it goes without saying that you should not run eval on any serialized object that may have been modified by a user if you don't understand the risks.

Runtime Considerations

Obviously, your object must exist before you can serialize it, so any resolving functions and variables will have their resolutions serialized.

Examples:

• any_var: you get whatever any_var is equal to
• (function(){ return true; })() : you get true
• some_function() : you get whatever is returned from this
• new Date() : you get the date object returned

Scoping Considerations

Functions don't resolve variables until they're called, so if your object has functions that use externally declared variables, you'll have to redeclare them after unserializing to properly use those functions.

Examples:

var myVar = "myStr";
var toast = {
   print: () => { console.log(myVar); }
   iAm: toast
}

If you unserialize toast somewhere else and try to use it, make sure myVar is declared in scope if you want the print function to work.

Also keep in mind, that technically the variable name toast is also external to the object itself, so if you unserialize an object into a different variable name like var newObj = toast, toast still needs to be defined for newObj's iAm method to work.

License

MIT License, use however you like.