Deep copy an array in Angular 2 + TypeScript

I have an array of objects that is an input. Lets call it content.

When trying to deep copy it, it still has a reference to the previous array.

I need to duplicate that input array, and change one property of the duplicated part.

So long I've tried different methods that weren't successful.

ES6 way:

public duplicateArray() {
  arr = [...this.content]
  arr.map((x) => {x.status = DEFAULT});
  return this.content.concat(arr);
}

The slice way:

public duplicateArray() {
  arr = this.content.slice(0);
  arr.map((x) => {x.status = DEFAULT});
  return this.content.concat(arr);
}

In both of them all the objects inside the array have status: 'Default'.

What's the best approach to deep copy the array in Angular 2?

Check this:

  let cloned = source.map(x => Object.assign({}, x));

Simple:

let objCopy  = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(obj));

This Also Works (Only for Arrays)

let objCopy2 = obj.slice()

This is working for me:

this.listCopy = Object.assign([], this.list);

The only solution I've found (almost instantly after posting the question), is to loop through the array and use Object.assign()

Like this:

public duplicateArray() {
  let arr = [];
  this.content.forEach((x) => {
    arr.push(Object.assign({}, x));
  })
  arr.map((x) => {x.status = DEFAULT});
  return this.content.concat(arr);
}

I know this is not optimal. And I wonder if there's any better solutions.

This is Daria's suggestion (see comment on the question) which works starting from TypeScript 2.1 and basically clones each element from the array:

this.clonedArray = theArray.map(e => ({ ... e }));

A clean way of deep copying objects having nested objects inside is by using lodash's cloneDeep method.

For Angular, you can do it like this:

Install lodash with yarn add lodash or npm install lodash.

In your component, import cloneDeep and use it:

import * as cloneDeep from 'lodash/cloneDeep';
...
clonedObject = cloneDeep(originalObject);

It's only 18kb added to your build, well worth for the benefits.

I've also written an article here, if you need more insight on why using lodash's cloneDeep.

I found deep copy method in angular devkit, It's very normal, so... maybe you can just implement yourself or use that.

I prefer to use loadash, there a lot of objects and array operation methods that can use.

import { deepCopy } from '@angular-devkit/core/src/utils/object';

export class AppComponent {
  source = {
    ....
  }
  constructor() {
     const newObject = deepCopy(this.source);
  }
}

Package                           Version
-----------------------------------------------------------
@angular-devkit/architect         0.1000.8
@angular-devkit/build-angular     0.1000.8
@angular-devkit/build-optimizer   0.1000.8
@angular-devkit/build-webpack     0.1000.8
@angular-devkit/core              10.0.8
@angular-devkit/schematics        10.0.8
@angular/cli                      10.0.8
@ngtools/webpack                  10.0.8
@schematics/angular               10.0.8
@schematics/update                0.1000.8
rxjs                              6.5.5
typescript                        3.9.7
webpack                           4.43.0

Here is my own. Doesn't work for complex cases, but for a simple array of Objects, it's good enough.

  deepClone(oldArray: Object[]) {
    let newArray: any = [];
    oldArray.forEach((item) => {
      newArray.push(Object.assign({}, item));
    });
    return newArray;
  }

Alternatively, you can use the GitHub project ts-deepcopy, which is also available on npm, to clone your object, or just include the code snippet below.

/**
 * Deep copy function for TypeScript.
 * @param T Generic type of target/copied value.
 * @param target Target value to be copied.
 * @see Source project, ts-deepcopy https://github.com/ykdr2017/ts-deepcopy
 * @see Code pen https://codepen.io/erikvullings/pen/ejyBYg
 */
export const deepCopy = <T>(target: T): T => {
  if (target === null) {
    return target;
  }
  if (target instanceof Date) {
    return new Date(target.getTime()) as any;
  }
  if (target instanceof Array) {
    const cp = [] as any[];
    (target as any[]).forEach((v) => { cp.push(v); });
    return cp.map((n: any) => deepCopy<any>(n)) as any;
  }
  if (typeof target === 'object' && target !== {}) {
    const cp = { ...(target as { [key: string]: any }) } as { [key: string]: any };
    Object.keys(cp).forEach(k => {
      cp[k] = deepCopy<any>(cp[k]);
    });
    return cp as T;
  }
  return target;
};

you can use use JQuery for deep copying :

var arr =[['abc'],['xyz']];
var newArr = $.extend(true, [], arr);
newArr.shift().shift();

console.log(arr); //arr still has [['abc'],['xyz']]