Create HTML List From Javascript Array/Object (Simple Examples)

Welcome to a tutorial on how to create an HTML list from a Javascript array or object. Need to display an array of data nicely?

That covers the basics, read on for more examples!

 

 

TLDR – QUICK SLIDES

Fullscreen Mode – Click Here

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

 

1) CREATE & APPEND HTML ELEMENTS

<!-- (A) DIV CONTAINER -->
<div id="demoA"></div>
 
<!-- (B) JAVASCRIPT -->
<script>
// (B1) DUMMY ARRAY
var arr = ["Apple", "Banana", "Cherry"];

// (B2) CREATE LIST
var list = document.createElement("ol");
for (let i of arr) {
  let item = document.createElement("li");
  item.innerHTML = i;
  list.appendChild(item);
}

// (B3) APPEND LIST TO CONTAINER
document.getElementById("demoA").appendChild(list);
</script>

This is the “full version” of the snippet in the introduction – It should be pretty straightforward and self-explanatory.

• Create the list.
• Loop and append the list of items.
• Then attach the entire list to wherever you want.

 

 

2) MANUAL HTML STRING

<!-- (A) DIV CONTAINER -->
<div id="demoB"></div>
 
<!-- (B) JAVASCRIPT -->
<script>
// (B1) DUMMY ARRAY
var arr = ["Apple", "Banana", "Cherry"];

// (B2) CREATE LIST
var list = "<ol>";
for (let i of arr) {
  list += `<li>${i}</li>`;
}
list += "</ol>";

// (B3) APPEND LIST TO CONTAINER
document.getElementById("demoB").innerHTML = list;
</script>

If the above “object-oriented way” of creating HTML elements is not your cup of tea, here is the alternative – We manually generate a string of HTML list, then attach it to the container.

 

 

3) NESTED OBJECT

<!-- (A) DIV CONTAINER -->
<div id="demoC"></div>

<!-- (B) JAVASCRIPT -->
<script>
// (B1) DUMMY OBJECT
var obj = {
  "Fruits" : ["Apple", "Banana", "Cherry"],
  "Vegetables" : ["Celery", "Cabbage", "Carrot"]
};

// (B2) CREATE LIST
var list = document.createElement("ul");
for (let i in obj) {
  // (B2-1) SUB-LIST HEADING
  let item = document.createElement("li");
  let subitem = document.createElement("strong");
  subitem.innerHTML = i;
  list.appendChild(item);
  item.appendChild(subitem);

  // (B2-2) SUB-LIST ITEMS
  let sublist = document.createElement("ul");
  item.appendChild(sublist);
  for (let j of obj[i]) {
    subitem = document.createElement("li");
    subitem.innerHTML = j;
    sublist.appendChild(subitem);
  }
}

// (B3) APPEND LIST TO CONTAINER
document.getElementById("demoC").appendChild(list);
</script>

Finally, how do we deal with nested objects? This example is seemingly intimidating at first, but keep calm and look through slowly – We are pretty much doing the same thing, looping through the nested object and creating the necessary HTML elements.

 

 

 

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EXAMPLE CODE DOWNLOAD

Click here for the source code on GitHub gist, just click on “download zip” or do a git clone. I have released it under the MIT license, so feel free to build on top of it or use it in your own project.

 

 

LINKS & REFERENCES

• How To Create and Style HTML List – Code Boxx
• Responsive Horizontal List In HTML CSS – Code Boxx
• Sortable List – Code Boxx

 

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