Object.prototype.readNestedProperty = function(key) {
	key = key.replace(/\[(\w+)\]/g, '.$1'); // convert indexes to properties
	key = key.replace(/^\./, '');           // strip a leading dot
	var keyArray = key.split('.');
	var refVal = this;
	for (var i = 0, n = keyArray.length; i < n; ++i) {
	    var singleKey = keyArray[i];
	    if (singleKey in refVal) {
	        refVal = refVal[singleKey];
	    } else {
	        return;
	    }
	}
	return refVal;
};