How can I convert a TypeScript object to a plain object?

Question

I'm using a JS library, specifically select2 that acts a tad differently than I'd like if the objects I'm passing it aren't plain objects. This is all checked by using jQuery's isPlainObject function.

Does TypeScript have a cast I'm unaware of that would achieve this without resorting to writing my own?

class Opt {     constructor(public id, public text) {      }      toPlainObj(): Object {         return {             id: this.id,             text: this.text         }     } }  let opts = [     new Opt(0, 'foo'),     new Opt(1, 'bar') ];  console.clear()  console.log('both should be false') $.map(opts, opt => {     console.log($.isPlainObject(opt)) })  console.log('both should be true') $.map(opts, opt => {     console.log($.isPlainObject(opt.toPlainObj())) }) 

Answer 1

You can use Object.assign():

class Point {     private x: number;     private y: number;      constructor(x: number, y: number) {         this.x = x;         this.y = y;     }      getX(): number {         return this.x;     }      getY(): number {         return this.y;     } }  let p1 = new Point(4, 5); let p2 = Object.assign({}, p1); 

p1 is the class instance, and p2 is just { x: 4, y: 5 }.

And with the toPlainObj method:

class Point {     private x: number;     private y: number;      constructor(x: number, y: number) {         this.x = x;         this.y = y;     }      getX(): number {         return this.x;     }      getY(): number {         return this.y;     }      toPlainObj(): { x: number, y: number } {         return Object.assign({}, this);     } } 

If this is something you need in more classes then you can have a base class which has this method:

class BaseClass<T> {     toPlainObj(): T {         return Object.assign({}, this);     } }  class Point extends BaseClass<{ x: number, y: number }> {     private x: number;     private y: number;      constructor(x: number, y: number) {         super();          this.x = x;         this.y = y;     }      getX(): number {         return this.x;     }      getY(): number {         return this.y;     } }