typescript - cloning object

Question

I have a super class that is the parent (Entity) for many subclass (Customer, Product, ProductCategory...)

I'm looking to clone dynamically an object that contains different sub objects in Typescript.

In example : a Customer that has different Product who has a ProductCategory

var cust:Customer  = new Customer ();

cust.name = "someName";
cust.products.push(new Product(someId1));
cust.products.push(new Product(someId2));

In order to clone the whole tree of object I created a function in Entity

public clone():any {
    var cloneObj = new this.constructor();
    for (var attribut in this) {
        if(typeof this[attribut] === "object"){
           cloneObj[attribut] = this.clone();
        } else {
           cloneObj[attribut] = this[attribut];
        }
    }
    return cloneObj;
}

The new rises the following error when it is transpiled to javascript: error TS2351: Cannot use 'new' with an expression whose type lacks a call or construct signature.

Although the script works, I would like to get rid of the transpiled error

Answer 1

Solving The Specific Issue

You can use a type assertion to tell the compiler that you know better:

public clone(): any {
    var cloneObj = new (this.constructor() as any);
    for (var attribut in this) {
        if (typeof this[attribut] === "object") {
            cloneObj[attribut] = this[attribut].clone();
        } else {
            cloneObj[attribut] = this[attribut];
        }
    }
    return cloneObj;
}

Cloning

As of 2022, there is a proposal to allow structuredClone to deep copy many types.

const copy = structuredClone(value)

There are some limitations on what kind of thing you can use this on.

Bear in mind that sometimes it is better to write your own mapping - rather than being totally dynamic. However, there are a few "cloning" tricks you can use that give you different effects.

I will use the following code for all the subsequent examples:

class Example {
  constructor(public type: string) {

  }
}

class Customer {
  constructor(public name: string, public example: Example) {

  }

  greet() {
    return 'Hello ' + this.name;
  }
}

var customer = new Customer('David', new Example('DavidType'));

---

Option 1: Spread

Properties: Yes
Methods: No
Deep Copy: No

var clone = { ...customer };

alert(clone.name + ' ' + clone.example.type); // David DavidType
//alert(clone.greet()); // Not OK

clone.name = 'Steve';
clone.example.type = 'SteveType';

alert(customer.name + ' ' + customer.example.type); // David SteveType

---

Option 2: Object.assign

Properties: Yes
Methods: No
Deep Copy: No

var clone = Object.assign({}, customer);

alert(clone.name + ' ' + clone.example.type); // David DavidType
alert(clone.greet()); // Not OK, although compiler won't spot it

clone.name = 'Steve';
clone.example.type = 'SteveType';

alert(customer.name + ' ' + customer.example.type); // David SteveType

---

Option 3: Object.create

Properties: Inherited
Methods: Inherited
Deep Copy: Shallow Inherited (deep changes affect both original and clone)

var clone = Object.create(customer);
    
alert(clone.name + ' ' + clone.example.type); // David DavidType
alert(clone.greet()); // OK

customer.name = 'Misha';
customer.example = new Example("MishaType");

// clone sees changes to original 
alert(clone.name + ' ' + clone.example.type); // Misha MishaType

clone.name = 'Steve';
clone.example.type = 'SteveType';

// original sees changes to clone
alert(customer.name + ' ' + customer.example.type); // Misha SteveType

---

Option 4: Deep Copy Function

Properties: Yes
Methods: No
Deep Copy: Yes

function deepCopy(obj) {
    var copy;

    // Handle the 3 simple types, and null or undefined
    if (null == obj || "object" != typeof obj) return obj;

    // Handle Date
    if (obj instanceof Date) {
        copy = new Date();
        copy.setTime(obj.getTime());
        return copy;
    }

    // Handle Array
    if (obj instanceof Array) {
        copy = [];
        for (var i = 0, len = obj.length; i < len; i++) {
            copy[i] = deepCopy(obj[i]);
        }
        return copy;
    }

    // Handle Object
    if (obj instanceof Object) {
        copy = {};
        for (var attr in obj) {
            if (obj.hasOwnProperty(attr)) copy[attr] = deepCopy(obj[attr]);
        }
        return copy;
    }

    throw new Error("Unable to copy obj! Its type isn't supported.");
}

var clone = deepCopy(customer) as Customer;

alert(clone.name + ' ' + clone.example.type); // David DavidType
// alert(clone.greet()); // Not OK - not really a customer

clone.name = 'Steve';
clone.example.type = 'SteveType';

alert(customer.name + ' ' + customer.example.type); // David DavidType