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Generate JSON using SortableJS Drag and Drop

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Published: Sep 16, 2019 - Updated: Mar 16, 2022

In this guide, I’m going to show you how to generate JSON using Sortable drag and drop. Let begin:

Table of Contents

  1. Introduce with SortableJS
  2. Make a Simple List
  3. Define Sortable Class
  4. Convert Products Array to JSON
  5. The Full Code
  6. The Output

Step 1 : Introduce with SortableJS

In short, SortableJS is a JavaScript library for reorderable drag-and-drop lists. It works in Meteor, AngularJS, React, Polymer, Vue, Ember, Knockout and any CSS library.

In this tutorial, I will use their CDN. Here’s the CDN URL:

<script src="https://raw.githack.com/SortableJS/Sortable/master/Sortable.js"></script>

Step 2 : Make a Simple List

Let’s make a simple list. I’m going to make a simple product list. Here’s the code:

<div id="productList" class="list-group list-group-flush">
  <li class="list-group-item d-flex justify-content-between align-items-center">
    <span><span class="font-weight-bold">1</span>. <span id="title[]">£50 PSN PlayStation Network Card UK</span></span>
    <span class="badge badge-primary badge-pill">21</span>
  </li>
  <li class="list-group-item d-flex justify-content-between align-items-center">
    <span><span class="font-weight-bold">2</span>. <span id="title[]">Microsoft Office 2019 Professional Plus</span></span>
    <span class="badge badge-primary badge-pill">35</span>
  </li>
  <li class="list-group-item d-flex justify-content-between align-items-center">
    <span><span class="font-weight-bold">3</span>. <span id="title[]">FIFA 20 Standard Edition Xbox One</span></span>
    <span class="badge badge-primary badge-pill">45</span>
  </li>
  <li class="list-group-item d-flex justify-content-between align-items-center">
    <span><span class="font-weight-bold">4</span>. <span id="title[]">Apex Legends 6700 Coins PS4</span></span>
    <span class="badge badge-primary badge-pill">17</span>
  </li>
</div>

Step 3 : Define Sortable Class

We have created a product list with ID productList. Let’s define the simple Sortable class:

<script>
// sortable
Sortable.create(productList, {
  group: "sorting",
  sort: true
});
</script>

Step 4 : Convert Products Array to JSON

Sortable doesn’t require jQuery. I’m going to include jQuery to convert Array to JSON. Here’s my jQuery code:

<script>
// generate product JSON
$('#generateJSON').click(function() {

  let data = {};

  var titles = $('span[id^=title]').map(function(idx, elem) {
    return $(elem).text();
  }).get();

  data['products'] = titles;

  // encode to JSON format
  var products_json = JSON.stringify(data,null,'\t');
  $('#printCode').html(products_json);
});
</script>

Step 5 : The Full Code

index.html
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, shrink-to-fit=no">
    <title>Hello, world!</title>
    <!-- Bootstrap CSS -->
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/4.0.0/css/bootstrap.min.css">
    <!-- Latest Sortable -->
    <script src="https://raw.githack.com/SortableJS/Sortable/master/Sortable.js"></script>
    <!-- jQuery -->
    <script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.4.1/jquery.min.js"></script>

    <style>
    body {
      padding: 20px;
    }
    .list-group-item {
      cursor: move;
      cursor: -webkit-grabbing;
    }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>

  <div class="container">
    <div class="row">
      <div class="col-md-6">

        <h4 class="text-center">Products</h4>

        <!-- product list -->
        <div id="productList" class="list-group list-group-flush">
          <li class="list-group-item d-flex justify-content-between align-items-center">
            <span><span class="font-weight-bold">1</span>. <span id="title[]">£50 PSN PlayStation Network Card UK</span></span>
            <span class="badge badge-primary badge-pill">21</span>
          </li>
          <li class="list-group-item d-flex justify-content-between align-items-center">
            <span><span class="font-weight-bold">2</span>. <span id="title[]">Microsoft Office 2019 Professional Plus</span></span>
            <span class="badge badge-primary badge-pill">35</span>
          </li>
          <li class="list-group-item d-flex justify-content-between align-items-center">
            <span><span class="font-weight-bold">3</span>. <span id="title[]">FIFA 20 Standard Edition Xbox One</span></span>
            <span class="badge badge-primary badge-pill">45</span>
          </li>
          <li class="list-group-item d-flex justify-content-between align-items-center">
            <span><span class="font-weight-bold">4</span>. <span id="title[]">Apex Legends 6700 Coins PS4</span></span>
            <span class="badge badge-primary badge-pill">17</span>
          </li>
        </div>
        <br>
        <div class="text-center">
          <button type="button" id="generateJSON" class="btn btn-info">Generate JSON</button>
        </div>
      </div>

      <div class="col-md-6">
        <h4 class="text-center">JSON</h4>
        <pre id="printCode"></pre>
      </div>

    </div>
  </div>

  <script>
  // generate product JSON
  $('#generateJSON').click(function() {

    let data = {};

    var titles = $('span[id^=title]').map(function(idx, elem) {
      return $(elem).text();
    }).get();

    data['products'] = titles;

    // encode to JSON format
    var products_json = JSON.stringify(data,null,'\t');
    $('#printCode').html(products_json);
  });
  </script>

  <script>
  // sortable
  Sortable.create(productList, {
    group: "sorting",
    sort: true
  });
  </script>

  </body>
</html>

Step 6 : The Output

Let’s run this file and see the output:

The topic is over. You will find more information from GitHub. Thank you. ?
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