form-to-object (formToObject.js)

Convert HTML forms with all their fields and values to multidimensional JavaScript objects

Install

As a npm package:

npm install form_to_object

import formToObject from 'form_to_object';
// or
const formToObject = require('form_to_object');

As a JS script:

<!-- Include minified script (~6kb) -->
<script src="build/formToObject.js"></script>

<!-- jsdelivr (CDN) -->
<script src="
https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/form_to_object@3.1.0/build/bundle/formToObject.min.js
"></script>

Example

• Using the DOM node id: formToObject('myFormId');
• Using the actual DOM Node reference: formToObject(document.getElementById('myFormId'));

Resulted value:

{
  "saveSettings": "Save",
  "name": "Serban",
  "race": "orc",
  "settings": {
     "input": "keyboard",
     "video": {
        "resolution": "1024x768",
        "vsync": "on"
     }
  }
}

Good to know:

1. If <form> fields are found, but they lack of name attribute property, the result will be {} (empty object).
2. If <form> contains only disabled fields, the result will be {} (empty object). If you force includeDisabledFields then key:value pairs will be returned.
3. An empty <form> will throw an Error.
4. In case of an error like non-existing form or invalid selector, an Error will be thrown.

TypeScript

The library includes TypeScript definitions. Use generics to get typed results:

import formToObject from 'form_to_object';

// Define your form data interface
interface UserSettingsForm {
  name: string;
  email: string;
  settings: {
    theme: 'light' | 'dark';
    notifications: boolean;
  };
}

// Pass the interface as a generic type parameter
const data = formToObject<UserSettingsForm>('settingsForm');

if (data) {
  console.log(data.name);           // string
  console.log(data.settings.theme); // 'light' | 'dark'
}

You can also use CSS selectors (class, attribute, etc.):

// By ID (with or without #)
formToObject('#myForm');
formToObject('myForm');

// By class
formToObject('.registration-form');

// By attribute
formToObject('form[data-type="checkout"]');

// By DOM reference
const form = document.querySelector('form') as HTMLFormElement;
formToObject<MyFormData>(form);

Options

Option name	Default	Description
includeEmptyValuedElements	boolean (default false)	Return field names as keys with empty value "" instead of just ignoring them.
w3cSuccessfulControlsOnly	boolean (default false)	TBA, WIP
selectNameWithEmptyBracketsReturnsArray	boolean (default true)	<select> field names like name="select[]" always return an array [a,b] instead or array of arrays [0: [a,b]].
checkBoxNameWithEmptyBracketsReturnsArray	boolean (default true)	<input> checkboxes with field names like name=checkbox[] always return an array [a,b] instead or array of arrays [0: [a,b]].

Browser support

IE 8, Firefox 3.5, Chrome, Safari, Opera 10, every mobile browser.

Example