Parsing through an object array and adding an object array to the database

Welcome to the exciting world of no-code application development with Xano! In this blog post, we'll guide you through the process of parsing object arrays and storing specific fields in your database using Xano's intuitive visual interface. Let's dive in!

Step 1: Understand Your Data Structure

Before we begin, let's take a look at the sample data we'll be working with:

In this example, we have an array called `phoneNumbers` containing three objects, each representing a phone number with a `type` and a `number` property.

Our goal is to extract just the `number` field from each object and store it in an array within our database.

Step 2: Flatten the Object Array

The first step is to flatten the nested object array structure. We'll do this by creating a new variable (`var1`) and parsing through the original `phoneNumbers` array:

This will result in a new array `var1` containing the individual objects without the "phone numbers" hierarchy:

Step 3: Loop Through the Array and Extract the Numbers

Since we're dealing with an array, we need to loop through each item and extract the desired field. We'll use a `forEach` loop and create a new variable `var2` to store the extracted numbers:

In this code snippet, we're looping through `var1` and pushing a new object to `var2` that omits the `type` field, effectively leaving only the `number` property.

After this step, `var2` will contain an array of objects with just the phone numbers:

Step 4: Store the Data in Your Database

Now that we have the desired data structure, we can store it in our database. Assuming you have a `user` table with an `info` field that accepts an object array, you can simply update the record with `var2`:

This will update the `info` field of the `user` table with the `var2` array containing the phone numbers.

Step 5: Handle Different Field Names (Optional)

In some cases, the field names in your input data may differ from the ones in your database structure. For example, let's say your input data has the `number` field, but your database expects a `phoneNumber` field.

To handle this, you can modify the code in Step 3 as follows:

Here, we're creating a new object with the desired field name (`phoneNumber`) and assigning the value from the `number` field of the input data.

After this modification, `var2` will look like this:

Now, you can store this data in your database using the same command as in Step 4:

And that's it! You've successfully parsed an object array, extracted specific fields, and stored them in your database using Xano's powerful visual interface.

Remember, this is just one example of what you can achieve with Xano. The platform offers a wide range of features and tools to simplify and streamline your application development process. Happy coding (or should we say, happy no-coding)!