prototype-json

• adds prototypal inheritance into JSON object
• supports two types of parent - deep and shallow
• shallow parent adds YAML-like functionality into native JSON

usage and options:

• prototypeJSON(o, options) - takes two arguments - object name and options
• returns undefined and updates prototypes of object 'o' based on specified parents
• options with their defaults:

let options = {
  deepParent: 'DEEP_PARENT',		//deep parent property name
  shallowParent: 'SHALLOW_PARENT',	//shallow parent property name
  warningAlreadyAssignedF: false,	//if warning should be displayed for already assigned child prototype
  protoMethod: 'assignCreate',		//method of setting prototype - 'proto', 'setPrototypeOf', 'assignCreate'
  maxRecursion: 500,			//0=disabled, otherwise max recursion depth to 'detect' circular references
  childPath:''				//if non-empty, then only specified child reference will be parsed
}

Additional information:

• parents can be chained - one parent can point to another parent
• deep and shallow parents can be combined within the same JSON object
• parents can use 'deep' references with dot - such as 'default.stooges'
• arrays are supported in parent references - for example 'x.1.b' - will reference 'b' in {x:[ {a:1}, {b:2} ]}
• deep parent will set prototypes in objects inside array as well, but arrays themselves won't have their prototype changed

Deep parent example:

let customer = {
  shipping_details: {   street:       'London Road',
                        house_number: '1a',
                        post_code:    'WX1 ABC',
                        phone_numbers:  {
                          home: '1234',
                          office: '4321'
                        }
  },
  billing_details:  {   phone_numbers: {
                          work: '678'
                        },
                        DEEP_PARENT:  'shipping_details' 
  }
}

prototypeJSON(customer);

console.log(customer.billing_details.house_number);
//response: '1a'

console.log(customer.billing_details.phone_numbers.home);
//response: '1234' - works because parent is 'deep'

Shallow parent example / Yaml-like references in JSON using prototypeJSON:

• No anchors needed - any key within the object can be a parent (=anchor)

let x = {
        'default': {
          URL: 'stooges.com',
          throw_pies: true,
          stooges: {
                      larry: 'first_stooge',
                      moe: 'second_stooge'
          }
        },
        'development': {
          SHALLOW_PARENT: 'default',
          URL: 'stooges.local',
          stooges: {
                     shemp: 'fourth_stooge'
          }
        },
        'test': {
          SHALLOW_PARENT: 'default',
          URL: 'test.stooges.qa',
          stooges: {
                     SHALLOW_PARENT: 'default.stooges',
                     larry: 'larrys_stooge'
          } 
        }
}

prototypeJSON(x);

console.log(x.development.stooges.moe);
//response: undefined - because parent is shallow

console.log(x.test.stooges.moe);
//response: 'second_stooge' - because test.stooges has parent defined as well