how to get value for different field types when using CSOM

Question

I'm using the below code to get the fields for a view, then all the rows for a list and saving the value of those fields. My issue is that some fields will return an object and I'm trying to figure out how I get the value from those objects.

The code:

var out = [];

ExecuteOrDelayUntilScriptLoaded(function()
{
    var clientContext = SP.ClientContext.get_current();
    var list = clientContext.get_web().get_lists().getByTitle("Meeting Agenda Items");
    var view = list.get_views().getByTitle("test");
    this.viewFields = view.get_viewFields();

    clientContext.load(viewFields);

    clientContext.executeQueryAsync(Function.createDelegate(this, viewFieldsLoaded), Function.createDelegate(this, function(){alert("error 1");}));
}, "sp.js");

function viewFieldsLoaded()
{
    this.fields = [];

    var fieldEnumerator = this.viewFields.getEnumerator();

    while(fieldEnumerator.moveNext())
    {
        this.fields.push(fieldEnumerator.get_current());
    }

    var clientContext = SP.ClientContext.get_current();
    var oList = clientContext.get_web().get_lists().getByTitle('Meeting Agenda Items');

    var camlQuery = new SP.CamlQuery();
    camlQuery.set_viewXml('<View><Query><Where><Geq><FieldRef Name=\'ID\'/><Value Type=\'Number\'>5</Value></Geq></Where></Query><RowLimit>10</RowLimit></View>');
    this.collListItem = oList.getItems(camlQuery);

    clientContext.load(collListItem, 'Include(' + fields.join(',') + ',EffectiveBasePermissions)');

    clientContext.executeQueryAsync(Function.createDelegate(this, rowsLoaded), Function.createDelegate(this, function(){alert("error 2");}));
}

function rowsLoaded()
{
    var listItemInfo = '';

    var listItemEnumerator = collListItem.getEnumerator();

    while (listItemEnumerator.moveNext())
    {
        var thisRow = {};
        var oListItem = listItemEnumerator.get_current();

        for(var i = 0; i < fields.length; ++i)
        {
            thisRow[fields[i]] = oListItem.get_item(fields[i]);
        }
        out.push(thisRow);
    }
}

At this point, as an example, out is;

out = [
    {
        "Title" : "some string",
        "ID" : 1,
        "People Lookup" : [{...}, {...}, {...}, {...}, ...]
    }
];

That People Lookup field is an array of objects. This is just one example. Different fields will have different types so the result might be different.

I'm a little lost here.

I'm trying to make a generic function that'll take a list name and a view name and render an HTML table with the data for that list...

Answer 1

There is no simple generic way. Even SharePoint uses diffrent renderer for each fieldtype (here's a list CSR View Fields dynamic with Field names from View?)

        Computed: new ComputedFieldRenderer(field.Name),
        Attachments: new AttachmentFieldRenderer(field.Name),
        User: new UserFieldRenderer(field.Name),
        UserMulti: new UserFieldRenderer(field.Name),
        URL: new UrlFieldRenderer(field.Name),
        Note: new NoteFieldRenderer(field.Name),
        Recurrence: new RecurrenceFieldRenderer(field.Name),
        CrossProjectLink: new ProjectLinkFieldRenderer(field.Name),
        AllDayEvent: new AllDayEventFieldRenderer(field.Name),
        Number: new NumberFieldRenderer(field.Name),
        BusinessData: new BusinessDataFieldRenderer(field.Name),
        Currency: new NumberFieldRenderer(field.Name),
        DateTime: new DateTimeFieldRenderer(field.Name),
        Text: new TextFieldRenderer(field.Name),
        Lookup: new LookupFieldRenderer(field.Name),
        LookupMulti: new LookupFieldRenderer(field.Name),
        WorkflowStatus: new RawFieldRenderer(field.Name)

You could also build several renderer since there arent that many types.

But if you want to render an HTML table with the data for that list - you know that a ListViewWebPart does exactly that?