javascript - remove object from nested array

Question

I have a familytree looking like this:

{

    "children": [{
        "name": "bob",
        "children": [{
            "name": "sam",
            "children": [{
                "name": "mike",
                "children": [{
                    "name": "elias",
                    "children": []
                }, {
                    "name": "rodriguez",
                    "children": []
                }]
            }]
        }]
    }]
}

The main "children" is an array containing nested child-arrays. How can I remove an object from an array like this? Lets say I want to remove the object with the name "sam", that should leave me with the following:

{
    "children": [{
        "name": "bob",
        "children": []
    }]
}

Its the nesting that trips me up and i do not understand how to start.

Any help or directions to a tutorial that deals with similar issues are appreciated.

Answer 1

Recursion is a good tool to work with trees.

var tree = {

    "children": [{
        "name": "bob",
        "children": [{
            "name": "sam",
            "children": [{
                "name": "mike",
                "children": [{
                    "name": "elias",
                    "children": []
                }, {
                    "name": "rodriguez",
                    "children": []
                }]
            }]
        }]
    }]
}

function removeFromTree(parent, childNameToRemove){
  parent.children = parent.children
      .filter(function(child){ return child.name !== childNameToRemove})
      .map(function(child){ return removeFromTree(child, childNameToRemove)});
  return parent;
}
tree = removeFromTree(tree, 'elias')         
console.log(tree);
document.write(JSON.stringify(tree));