So, JSON.stringify provides a great way to turn a JS object like:

var baz = {foo:1, bar:someFunction};

in to a JSON string like:

{foo:1}

It does this with an optional second argument that controls which fields should be serialized:

JSON.stringify(baz, [foo]);

That's great, but there's a problem. Let's say your baz is actually the property of another object, and you want to serialize that other object:

someObject.baz = {foo:1, bar:someFunction};

JSON.stringify(someObject, [baz]);

Well, normally you would just define a toJSON method on baz, eg.:

someObject.baz = {foo:1, bar:someFunction};

someObject.baz.toJSON = function() { /* logic to toJSON baz*/ }

JSON.stringify(someObject, [baz]);

Now, as I mentioned earlier, we have the perfect logic to toJSON baz already:

someObject.baz.toJSON = function() {

    return JSON.stringify(baz, [foo]);

}

but if you try putting that in to your toJSON, you'll get a recursion error, because stringify will trigger the toJSON, which will trigger the stringify, which will ... :-(

You can work around this with a hack:

someObject.baz.toJSON = function() {

    var oldToJON = this.toJSON;

    this.toJSON = null;

    var ret = JSON.stringify(baz, [foo]);

    this.toJSON = oldToJON;

    return ret;

}

But ... that just seems wrong. So, my question is: is there any way you can utilize the nifty built-in serialization power of JSON.stringify inside a toJSON method of an object (without having to hide the toJSON method itself during the stringify operation)?