Dumping whole array: console.log and console.dir output "... NUM more items]"

Question

I am trying to log a long array so I can copy it quickly in my terminal. However, if I try and log the array it looks like:

['item',
 'item',
  >>more items<<<
  ... 399 more items ]

How can I log the entire array so I can copy it really quickly?

Solution 1

Setting maxArrayLength

There are a few methods all of which require setting maxArrayLength which otherwise defaults to 100.

1. Provide the override as an option to console.dir

   console.dir(myArry, {'maxArrayLength': null});
   

2. Set util.inspect.defaultOptions.maxArrayLength = null; which will impact all calls to console.log and util.format

3. Call util.inspect yourself with options.

   const util = require('util')
   console.log(util.inspect(array, { maxArrayLength: null }))
   

Solution 2

Michael Hellein's answer didn't work for me, but a close version did:

console.dir(myArray, {'maxArrayLength': null})

This was the only solution that worked for me as JSON.stringify() was too ugly for my needs and I didn't need to write the code to print it out one at a time.

Solution 3

Using console.table

Available in Node v10+, and all modern web-browsers, you can use console.table() instead, which will output a beautiful utf8 table where each row represents an element of the array.

> console.table([{ a: 1, b: 'Y' }, { a: 'Z', b: 2 }], ['a']);

┌─────────┬─────┐
│ (index) │  a  │
├─────────┼─────┤
│    0    │  1  │
│    1    │ 'Z' │
└─────────┴─────┘

Solution 4

Just found that option maxArrayLength works well with console.dir too:

console.dir(array, {depth: null, colors: true, maxArrayLength: null});

Solution 5

What's wrong with myArray.forEach(item => console.log(item))?

View more solutions

Comments

[Sebastian Simon]

Try console.log(JSON.stringify(arr, null, 1));.

[jfriend00]

So, why not just create your own loop and output it exactly the way you want one at a time? You are in complete control of the output when you do it that way.

[Evan Carroll]

If I can I would advice changing the marked answer to stackoverflow.com/a/41669062/124486 as it's a much better solution if you're on Node v10+

[squiroid]

Here is the support. developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Console/table

[Anthony]

Don't want a different package sorry, hoping to do this with native node

[Anthony]

I want to add these items to an existing array.

[George]

if you want to add one array to another, why not use Array.concat?

[Magnus Bodin]

Specifically I like also to do console.log(util.inspect(arrayofObjects, {maxArrayLength: null, depth:null })) to go deep into objects as well.

[Anthony]

Just had a chance to check this, saving as the proper answer

[Evan Carroll]

@Antoine it's now in Node v10 you may consider reassessing the question. This is a better method =)

[Big Money]

@MichaelHellein passing maxArrayLength as an option to console.log just ends up printing it as well. ... 267 more items ] { maxArrayLength: 500 }. I had to use console.dir instead of console.log in order to get it to work.

[Michael Hellein]

Just a note for posterity: the answer that I gave has been so significantly edited, I don't think it's fair call it mine anymore. I would have preferred that such a substantial edit were provided as a separate answer.

[Lincoln]

same here, the other option would print the same thing

[nonopolarity]

I think he may want to existing structure, rather than item by item. It also is a problem when each item is an array which is "too long"

[Kamafeather]

console.table function is pretty useful, but the OP asked for a function that prints out and allow them to copy the output quickly; supposedly still in JS format (to paste somewhere else or to cache the result). Hence console.dir() from the top answer satisfies better the question.