How do you pass a boolean value to wp_localize_script [duplicate]

What is the best way to pass a boolean into wp_localize_script as from what I can see everything is interpretted as strings.

I have a backend user options form for a plugin, when the values are returned I am using them for a jQuery script, one of them is a boolean, the user selects true or false from a dropdown, using wp_localize_script outputs these as strings (not booleans) “true” or “false” which will fail that parameter in the script.

<?php

  $options = get_option('ng_slicknavmenu');
  // Add PHP plugin variables to the $params[] array to pass to jQuery
  $data = array (
    'ng_slicknav_menu'         => $options['ng_slicknav_menu'],
    'ng_slicknav_parent_links' => $options['ng_slicknav_parent_links'], // this is a boolean true/false
    'ng_slicknav_speed'        => $options['ng_slicknav_speed'] ,
  );

  // Pass PHP variables to jQuery script
  wp_localize_script( 'slickinit', 'phpVars', $data );

This is how I am doing it at the moment in my js init file

   if( phpVars.ng_slicknav_parent_links === "true" )
        $links = true;
    else
        $links = false;


jQuery(document).ready(function($){

ng_slicknav_speedInt = parseInt(phpVars.ng_slicknav_speed, 10);

jQuery(document).ready(function($) {
            $(phpVars.ng_slicknav_menu).slicknav({
                allowParentLinks: $links,
                duration:ng_slicknav_speedInt,
            });
            });
 });

But is there a better way?

I have tried some solutions from Passing boolean values with wp_localize_script …

'ng_slicknav_parent_links' => ($options['ng_slicknav_parent_links']) ? true : false,

and

'ng_slicknav_parent_links' => (bool)$options['ng_slicknav_parent_links'],

But the answer does not work. The answers there for both result in a string of “1” for both values which is incorrect.

Unfortunately wp_localize_script() casts all scalars (simple types) in the passed-in array to strings (and then runs html_entity_decode() on them?!), so the casts mentioned by the answer you quote & @TheDeadMedic will get stringified “1”https://wordpress.stackexchange.com/”” if boolean, and number strings if ints, which won’t work with javascript plugins that demand exact values.

A way around it is to put your arguments in an array within the passed-in array, then they don’t get mangled, eg:

$data = array (
    'ng_slicknav' => array(
        'menu'         => $options['ng_slicknav_menu'],
        'parent_links' => (bool) $options['ng_slicknav_parent_links'],
        'speed'        => (int) $options['ng_slicknav_speed'] ,
    ),
);

And you can reference them directly in your javascript:

jQuery(document).ready(function($) {
    $(phpVars.ng_slicknav.menu).slicknav({
        allowParentLinks: phpVars.ng_slicknav.parent_links,
        duration:phpVars.ng_slicknav.speed,
    });
});