feat: add preserve empty array option

README.md

@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ console.log(removeUndefinedObjects({ key: [], key2: 123 }));
 
 ## Behavior
 
-Any items with the following value will be removed:
+Any items with the following value will be removed by default:
 
 - Empty object, `{}`
 - Empty array, `[]`
@@ -34,6 +34,26 @@ The following items will NOT be removed:
 
 ## Options
 
+### `preserveEmptyArray`
+
+Optional boolean.
+If provided, empty arrays `[]` will not get removed
+
+```js
+import removeUndefinedObjects from 'remove-undefined-objects';
+
+console.log(removeUndefinedObjects({ key1: [], key2: [undefined], nested: { key3: 'a', key4: [] } }));
+// { nested: { key3: 'a' } }
+
+console.log(
+  removeUndefinedObjects(
+    { key1: [], key2: [undefined], nested: { key3: 'a', key4: [] } },
+    { preserveEmptyArray: true },
+  ),
+);
+// { key1: [], key2: [], nested: { key3: 'a', key4: [] } }
+```
+
 ### `removeAllFalsy`
 
 Optional boolean.
@@ -42,6 +62,6 @@ If provided, the empty string `''` and `null` will be removed as well.
 ```js
 import removeUndefinedObjects from 'remove-undefined-objects';
 
-console.log(removeUndefinedObjects({ key1: null, key2: 123, key3: '' }), { removeAllFalsy: true });
+console.log(removeUndefinedObjects({ key1: null, key2: 123, key3: '' }, { removeAllFalsy: true }));
 // { key2: 123 }
 ```

src/index.ts

@@ -3,10 +3,15 @@ function isObject(obj: unknown) {
 }
 
 function isEmptyObject(obj: unknown) {
-  return typeof obj === 'object' && obj !== null && !Object.keys(obj).length;
+  return typeof obj === 'object' && obj !== null && !Array.isArray(obj) && !Object.keys(obj).length;
+}
+
+function isEmptyArray(arr: unknown) {
+  return Array.isArray(arr) && arr.length === 0;
 }
 
 interface RemovalOptions {
+  preserveEmptyArray?: boolean;
   removeAllFalsy?: boolean;
 }
 
@@ -42,6 +47,8 @@ function stripEmptyObjects(obj: any, options: RemovalOptions = {}) {
 
       if (isEmptyObject(value)) {
         delete cleanObj[key];
+      } else if (isEmptyArray(value) && !options.preserveEmptyArray) {
+        delete cleanObj[key];
       } else {
         cleanObj[key] = value;
       }
@@ -57,6 +64,8 @@ function stripEmptyObjects(obj: any, options: RemovalOptions = {}) {
 
       if (isEmptyObject(value)) {
         delete cleanObj[idx];
+      } else if (isEmptyArray(value) && !options.preserveEmptyArray) {
+        delete cleanObj[idx];
       } else {
         cleanObj[idx] = value;
       }
@@ -84,8 +93,9 @@ export default function removeUndefinedObjects<T>(obj?: T, options?: RemovalOpti
   // Then we recursively remove all empty objects and nullish arrays.
   withoutUndefined = stripEmptyObjects(withoutUndefined, options);
 
-  // If the only thing that's leftover is an empty object then return nothing.
-  if (isEmptyObject(withoutUndefined)) return undefined;
+  // If the only thing that's leftover is an empty object or empty array then return nothing.
+  if (isEmptyObject(withoutUndefined) || (isEmptyArray(withoutUndefined) && !options?.preserveEmptyArray))
+    return undefined;
 
   return withoutUndefined;
 }

test/index.test.ts

@@ -34,6 +34,36 @@ test("should also remove '' and null values when removeAllFalsy is true", () =>
   expect(removeUndefinedObjects({ value: undefined }, { removeAllFalsy: true })).toBeUndefined();
 });
 
+test('should not remove empty arrays when preserveEmptyArray is true', () => {
+  expect(removeUndefinedObjects({ value: [] }, { preserveEmptyArray: true })).toStrictEqual({ value: [] });
+  expect(removeUndefinedObjects({ value: [undefined] }, { preserveEmptyArray: true })).toStrictEqual({ value: [] });
+  expect(
+    removeUndefinedObjects(
+      { key1: [], key2: [undefined], nested: { key3: 'a', key4: [] } },
+      { preserveEmptyArray: true },
+    ),
+  ).toStrictEqual({ key1: [], key2: [], nested: { key3: 'a', key4: [] } });
+  expect(
+    removeUndefinedObjects(
+      { value: { a: 'a', nested: { b: 'b', nested2: { c: [undefined], d: [] } } } },
+      { preserveEmptyArray: true },
+    ),
+  ).toStrictEqual({ value: { a: 'a', nested: { b: 'b', nested2: { c: [], d: [] } } } });
+});
+
+test('should leave alone non-falsey values when preserveEmptyArray is true', () => {
+  expect(removeUndefinedObjects({ value: { a: [1, 2, 3] }, b: null }, { preserveEmptyArray: true })).toStrictEqual({
+    value: { a: [1, 2, 3] },
+    b: null,
+  });
+  expect(
+    removeUndefinedObjects(
+      { value: { a: [1, undefined], nested: { b: 'b', c: [undefined], d: [] } } },
+      { preserveEmptyArray: true },
+    ),
+  ).toStrictEqual({ value: { a: [1], nested: { b: 'b', c: [], d: [] } } });
+});
+
 test('should remove empty objects with only empty properties', () => {
   const obj = {
     a: {