[javascript] How to remove undefined and null values from an object using lodash?

I have a Javascript object like:

var my_object = { a:undefined, b:2, c:4, d:undefined };

How to remove all the undefined properties? False attributes should stay.

This question is related to javascript object lodash

The answer is


Just:

_.omit(my_object, _.isUndefined)

The above doesn't take in account null values, as they are missing from the original example and mentioned only in the subject, but I leave it as it is elegant and might have its uses.

Here is the complete example, less concise, but more complete.

var obj = { a: undefined, b: 2, c: 4, d: undefined, e: null, f: false, g: '', h: 0 };
console.log(_.omit(obj, function(v) { return _.isUndefined(v) || _.isNull(v); }));

According to lodash docs:

_.compact(_.map(array, fn))

Also you can filter out all nulls


Taking in account that undefined == null we can write as follows:

let collection = {
  a: undefined,
  b: 2,
  c: 4,
  d: null,
}

console.log(_.omit(collection, it => it == null))
// -> { b: 2, c: 4 }

JSBin example


The correct answer is:

_.omitBy({ a: null, b: 1, c: undefined, d: false }, _.isNil)

That results in:

{b: 1, d: false}

The alternative given here by other people:

_.pickBy({ a: null, b: 1, c: undefined, d: false }, _.identity);

Will remove also false values which is not desired here.


Since some of you might have arrived at the question looking to specifically removing only undefined, you can use:

  • a combination of Lodash methods

    _.omitBy(object, _.isUndefined)
    
  • the rundef package, which removes only undefined properties

    rundef(object)
    

If you need to recursively remove undefined properties, the rundef package also has a recursive option.

rundef(object, false, true);

See the documentation for more details.


To omit all falsey values but keep the boolean primitives this solution helps.

_.omitBy(fields, v => (_.isBoolean(v)||_.isFinite(v)) ? false : _.isEmpty(v));

_x000D_
_x000D_
let fields = {_x000D_
str: 'CAD',_x000D_
numberStr: '123',_x000D_
number  : 123,_x000D_
boolStrT: 'true',_x000D_
boolStrF: 'false',_x000D_
boolFalse : false,_x000D_
boolTrue  : true,_x000D_
undef: undefined,_x000D_
nul: null,_x000D_
emptyStr: '',_x000D_
array: [1,2,3],_x000D_
emptyArr: []_x000D_
};_x000D_
_x000D_
let nobj = _.omitBy(fields, v => (_.isBoolean(v)||_.isFinite(v)) ? false : _.isEmpty(v));_x000D_
_x000D_
console.log(nobj);
_x000D_
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/[email protected]/lodash.min.js"></script>
_x000D_
_x000D_
_x000D_


Here's the lodash approach I'd take:

_(my_object)
    .pairs()
    .reject(function(item) {
        return _.isUndefined(item[1]) ||
            _.isNull(item[1]);
    })
    .zipObject()
    .value()

The pairs() function turns the input object into an array of key/value arrays. You do this so that it's easier to use reject() to eliminate undefined and null values. After, you're left with pairs that weren't rejected, and these are input for zipObject(), which reconstructs your object for you.


I would use underscore and take care of empty strings too:

_x000D_
_x000D_
var my_object = { a:undefined, b:2, c:4, d:undefined, k: null, p: false, s: '', z: 0 };_x000D_
_x000D_
var result =_.omit(my_object, function(value) {_x000D_
  return _.isUndefined(value) || _.isNull(value) || value === '';_x000D_
});_x000D_
_x000D_
console.log(result); //Object {b: 2, c: 4, p: false, z: 0}
_x000D_
_x000D_
_x000D_

jsbin.


If you don't want to remove false values. Here is an example:

obj = {
  "a": null,
  "c": undefined,
  "d": "a",
  "e": false,
  "f": true
}
_.pickBy(obj, x => x === false || x)
> {
    "d": "a",
    "e": false,
    "f": true
  }

pickBy uses identity by default:

_.pickBy({ a: null, b: 1, c: undefined, d: false });

With lodash (or underscore) You may do

var my_object = { a:undefined, b:2, c:4, d:undefined, e:null };

var passedKeys = _.reject(Object.keys(my_object), function(key){ return _.isUndefined(my_object[key]) || _.isNull(my_object[key]) })

newObject = {};
_.each(passedKeys, function(key){
    newObject[key] = my_object[key];
});

Otherwise, with vanilla JavaScript, you can do

var my_object = { a:undefined, b:2, c:4, d:undefined };
var new_object = {};

Object.keys(my_object).forEach(function(key){
    if (typeof my_object[key] != 'undefined' && my_object[key]!=null){
        new_object[key] = my_object[key];
    }
});

Not to use a falsey test, because not only "undefined" or "null" will be rejected, also is other falsey value like "false", "0", empty string, {}. Thus, just to make it simple and understandable, I opted to use explicit comparison as coded above.


For deep nested object and arrays. and exclude empty values from string and NaN

function isBlank(value) {
  return _.isEmpty(value) && !_.isNumber(value) || _.isNaN(value);
}
var removeObjectsWithNull = (obj) => {
  return _(obj).pickBy(_.isObject)
    .mapValues(removeObjectsWithNull)
    .assign(_.omitBy(obj, _.isObject))
    .assign(_.omitBy(obj, _.isArray))
    .omitBy(_.isNil).omitBy(isBlank)
    .value();
}
var obj = {
  teste: undefined,
  nullV: null,
  x: 10,
  name: 'Maria Sophia Moura',
  a: null,
  b: '',
  c: {
    a: [{
      n: 'Gleidson',
      i: 248
    }, {
      t: 'Marta'
    }],
    g: 'Teste',
    eager: {
      p: 'Palavra'
    }
  }
}
removeObjectsWithNull(obj)

result:

{
   "c": {
      "a": [
         {
            "n": "Gleidson",
            "i": 248
         },
         {
            "t": "Marta"
         }
      ],
      "g": "Teste",
      "eager": {
         "p": "Palavra"
      }
   },
   "x": 10,
   "name": "Maria Sophia Moura"
}

if you are using lodash, you can use _.compact(array) to remove all falsely values from an array.

_.compact([0, 1, false, 2, '', 3]);
// => [1, 2, 3]

https://lodash.com/docs/4.17.4#compact


To remove undefined, null, and empty string from object

_.omitBy(object, (v) => _.isUndefined(v) || _.isNull(v) || v === '');

To complete the other answers, in lodash 4 to ignore only undefined and null (And not properties like false) you can use a predicate in _.pickBy:

_.pickBy(obj, v !== null && v !== undefined)

Example below :

_x000D_
_x000D_
const obj = { a: undefined, b: 123, c: true, d: false, e: null};_x000D_
_x000D_
const filteredObject = _.pickBy(obj, v => v !== null && v !== undefined);_x000D_
_x000D_
console.log = (obj) => document.write(JSON.stringify(filteredObject, null, 2));_x000D_
console.log(filteredObject);
_x000D_
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/lodash.js/4.17.10/lodash.js"></script>
_x000D_
_x000D_
_x000D_


with pure JavaScript: (although Object.entries is ES7, Object.assign is ES6; but equivalent ES5 uses Object.keys only should be also doable); also notice v != null checks for both null and undefined;

> var d = { a:undefined, b:2, c:0, d:undefined, e: null, f: 0.3, s: "", t: false };
undefined
> Object.entries(d)
    .filter(([ k, v ]) => (v != null))
    .reduce((acc, [k, v]) => Object.assign(acc, {[k]: v}), {})
{ b: 2, c: 0, f: 0.3, s: '', t: false }

Edit: this below is the version with ES5 Object.keys only: but generally with ES7 in Node v8 is pretty much enjoyable ;-)

> Object.keys(d)
    .filter(function(k) { return d[k] != null; })
    .reduce(function(acc, k) { acc[k] = d[k]; return acc; }, {});
{ b: 2, c: 0, f: 0.3, s: '', t: false }

Update in October 2017: with Node v8 (since v8.3 or so) now it has object spreading construct:

> var d = { a:undefined, b:2, c:0, d:undefined,
    e: null, f: -0.0, s: "", t: false, inf: +Infinity, nan: NaN };
undefined
> Object.entries(d)
    .filter(([ k, v ]) => (v != null))
    .reduce((acc, [k, v]) => ({...acc, [k]: v}), {})
{ b: 2, c: 0, f: -0, s: '', t: false, inf: Infinity, nan: NaN }

or within one reduce only:

> Object.entries(d)
   .reduce((acc, [k, v]) => (v==null ? acc : {...acc, [k]: v}), {})
{ b: 2, c: 0, f: -0, s: '', t: false, inf: Infinity, nan: NaN }

Update: someone want recursive? isn't that hard either, just need an additional check of isObject, and recursively call itself:

> function isObject(o) {
    return Object.prototype.toString.call(o) === "[object Object]"; }
undefined
> function dropNullUndefined(d) {
    return Object.entries(d)
      .reduce((acc, [k, v]) => (
        v == null ? acc :
         {...acc, [k]: (isObject(v) ? dropNullUndefined(v) : v) }
      ), {});
  }
> dropNullUndefined({a: 3, b:null})
{ a: 3 }
> dropNullUndefined({a: 3, b:null, c: { d: 0, e: undefined }})
{ a: 3, c: { d: 0 } }

my conclusion: if pure Javascript can do, I would avoid any third party library dependencies:


I like using _.pickBy, because you have full control over what you are removing:

var person = {"name":"bill","age":21,"sex":undefined,"height":null};

var cleanPerson = _.pickBy(person, function(value, key) {
  return !(value === undefined || value === null);
});

Source: https://www.codegrepper.com/?search_term=lodash+remove+undefined+values+from+object


var my_object = { a:undefined, b:2, c:4, d:undefined };

var newObject = _.reject(my_collection, function(val){ return _.isUndefined(val) })

//--> newCollection = { b: 2, c: 4 }

For those of you getting here looking to remove from an array of objects and using lodash you can do something like this:


 const objects = [{ a: 'string', b: false, c: 'string', d: undefined }]
 const result = objects.map(({ a, b, c, d }) => _.pickBy({ a,b,c,d }, _.identity))

 // [{ a: 'string', c: 'string' }]

Note: You don't have to destruct if you don't want to.


I encountered a similar problem with removing undefined from an object (deeply), and found that if you are OK to convert your plain old object and use JSON, a quick and dirty helper function would look like this:

function stripUndefined(obj) {
  return JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(obj));
}

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/JSON/stringify#Description

"...If undefined, a function, or a symbol is encountered during conversion it is either omitted (when it is found in an object) or censored to null (when it is found in an array)."


Shortest way (lodash v4):

_.pickBy(my_object)

You can simply chain _.omit() with _.isUndefined and _.isNull compositions, and get the result with lazy evaluation.

Demo

var result = _(my_object).omit(_.isUndefined).omit(_.isNull).value();

Update March 14, 2016:

As mentioned by dylants in the comment section, you should use the _.omitBy() function since it uses a predicate instead of a property. You should use this for lodash version 4.0.0 and above.

DEMO

var result = _(my_object).omitBy(_.isUndefined).omitBy(_.isNull).value();

Update June 1, 2016:

As commented by Max Truxa, lodash already provided an alternative _.isNil, which checks for both null and undefined:

var result = _.omitBy(my_object, _.isNil);

For deep nested object you can use my snippet for lodash > 4

const removeObjectsWithNull = (obj) => {
    return _(obj)
      .pickBy(_.isObject) // get only objects
      .mapValues(removeObjectsWithNull) // call only for values as objects
      .assign(_.omitBy(obj, _.isObject)) // save back result that is not object
      .omitBy(_.isNil) // remove null and undefined from object
      .value(); // get value
};