Description:

Literally pass your strings into objects, laterally, with ObjectLateral.js. To see it in action on this page, open Firebug and reload.

Additionally, we're open to changing the ObjectLateral.js project to something else entirely. Please email suggestions to: rick at bocoup dot com. Suggestion box coming soon (sweet couchdb app! )

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Usage:

var string = "{ A: { pet:'dog', aArr: ['i', 'am', 'an', 'array'] }, B:{ pet:'cat', bObj: { a: 'foo', b:'bar', c:'baz' } },C:{ pet:'dinosaur', cMeth: function() { return 'a method' } }}";

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Git:

http://github.com/rwldrn/ObjectLateralJS | git://github.com/rwldrn/ObjectLateralJS.git

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Source:

(function () {
  var ObjectLateral = function () {}, 
      Lateral;

  ObjectLateral.prototype = {
    /**
      Private Methods
    */
    _inArray: function( arg, _arr ) {
      var i = 0, _len = _arr.length;
      for ( ; i < _len; i++ ) {
        if ( _arr.indexOf(arg) >= 0 ) {
          return true; // || index?
        }        
      }
      return false;
    },
    _unique: function(_arr) {
      var i = 0, _len = _arr.length, _ret = [];
      for ( ; i < _len; i++ ) {
        if ( !this._inArray(_arr[i], _ret) ) {
          _ret.push(_arr[i]);
        }          
      }        
      return _ret;
    },
    _merge: function( _a, _b ) {
      var i = 0, _len = _b.length;

      for ( ; i < _len ; i++ ) {
        _a.push(_b[i]);
      }
      return this._unique(_a);
    },
    _extend:   function(_obj, _new) { 
      for (var _n in _new) { 
        if (_new.hasOwnProperty(_n)) { 
          var _nProp  = _new[_n],
              _oProp  = _obj[_n]; 
        } 
        _obj[_n] = (_oProp && typeof _nProp == 'object' && typeof _oProp == 'object') ? 
                      this._merge(_oProp, _nProp) : _nProp; 
      } 
      return _obj; 
    },
    _parser:  function  (_str) {
      //  Even scarier then before.
      var _arr  = eval('[' + _str + ']'), i = 0, _len = _arr.length, _ret  = {};  
      //  It's especially great because it doesnt waste ANY time checking ANYTHING ;)

      for ( ; i < _len; i++ ) {
        this._extend(_ret, _arr[i]);
      }
      return _ret;
    },
    /**
      Public Methods
    */
    //  Convert a string into an object... duh.
    toObject: function (_str) {
      return this._parser(_str);
    },
    //  Merge two objects... n00b.
    extendLaterals: function(_objA, _objB) {
      return this._extend(_objA, _objB);
    },
    eventLateral:   function (_evt, _el, _obj) {
      //maybe this could suck less...
      var siblings  = _el.parentNode.childNodes, 
          i         = 0, 
          _len      = siblings.length, 
          _lateralTag   = _el.tagName;
      
      
      for(  ; i<_len; i++) {
        if ( _lateralTag == siblings[i].tagName) {
          siblings[i].addEventListener(_evt, function (e) {
            if ( e.target.tagName == _el.tagName && e.target !== _el ) {
              this.lateral  = objectA;
              
              //  This crap is for demo purpose only. whatever.
              console.group('Object laterally passed to:');
              console.log(this);
              console.log('Right click the above element and click "Inspect in DOM tab, scroll down to the "lateral" member');
              console.log(this.lateral);
              console.log('Click the element above to view the contents of the "lateral" member in the DOM tab');
              //console.log('Right click the above element and click "Inspect in DOM tab, scroll down to the "lateral" member');
              console.groupEnd();
            }
    
          }, false);
          
        }
      }
    },
    toss: function (_evt, _el, _obj) {
      return this.eventLateral(_evt, _el, _obj);
    }
  };
  window.Lateral = new ObjectLateral();
})();

//  USAGE:
//  A string... Pointlessly formatted as JSON... But who cares, its just for fun right?
//  after all, this is just a crummy json parser wanna-be.
var string       = "{ A: { pet:'dog', aArr: ['i', 'am', 'an', 'array'] }, B:{ pet:'cat', bObj: { a: 'foo', b:'bar', c:'baz' } },C:{ pet:'dinosaur', cMeth: function() { return 'a method' } }}"; 
//  http://getfirebug.com or go home.
console.log( Lateral.toObject(string) );


NEW:
var objectA = { foo:'bar' }, 
    objectB = { zoo:'baz' };

console.log( Lateral.extendLaterals(objectA, objectB) );


NEWER:
document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function () {
  
  var pres  = document.getElementsByTagName('pre');
  for( var i = 0, _len = pres.length; i<_len; i++ ) {
    Lateral.eventLateral('click', pres[i], objectA);
  }
}, false);

console.log('Click anywhere in the light blue code sections to pass some objects around laterally!');