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String to JSON Path (JavaScript)

I am trying to create a JavaScript function where I want to modify the object that I pass in and return that. I am able to create a string of the full path of the content that needs to be changed, but this is string. How can I change this so that it recognises that it is a JSON Path?
Currently, it fails my if check as it's checking as a string, when I need it to check as a JSON Path.
var modifiedObj = function (content) {
for (var i = 0; i < content.length; i++) {
var pathMaker = ["randonPath.one", "randonPath.two", "randonPath.three", "randonPath.four", "randonPath.five"];
for (var j = 0; j < pathMaker.length; j++) {
var pathValid = "content[" + i + "]." + pathMaker[j] + ".valid";
var pathNotValid = "content[" + i + "]." + pathMaker[j] + ".notValid";
if (pathValid !== undefined && pathNotValid == undefined) {
pathNotValid = content.referenceAnotherField;
};
};
};
return content;
};
Any advise?

Splitting out xml result into dropdownlist

Hope someone can help - I'm new to js/jQuery so I'm hoping it's something really simple I'm missing here.
I'm trying to populate a dropdownlist with the xml result from below. The parseXML function works great and the result.push(valueid + "," + value) leaves me with the following:
1,Service
2,Breakdown
How do I get this into a dropdownlist please? Using the below, I get the error "Object doesn't support property or method 'split'"
Many thanks
leddy
function testFunction() {
var jobresults = "<resultset morerecords='0'> " +
"<result> " +
"<itt_jobtypeid>1</itt_jobtypeid> " +
"<itt_name>Service</itt_name> " +
"</result> " +
"<result> " +
"<itt_jobtypeid>2</itt_jobtypeid> " +
"<itt_name>Breakdown</itt_name> " +
"</result> " +
"</resultset> ";
var xml = parseXML(jobresults);
var jobid = xml.getElementsByTagName("itt_jobtypeid");
var jobname = xml.getElementsByTagName("itt_name");
var result = [];
for (var i = 0; i < jobid.length; i++) {
var valueid = jobid[i].childNodes[0].nodeValue;
var value = jobname[i].childNodes[0].nodeValue;
// add longitude value to "result" array
result.push(valueid + "," + value);
}
var jobtype = $("#ddlJobType");
$.each(result, function () {
var arr = result.split(',');
for (var i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {
jobtype.append($("<option />").val(arr[0]).text(arr[1]));
}
});
}
function parseXML(text) {
if (window.DOMParser) {
parser = new DOMParser();
doc = parser.parseFromString(text, "text/xml");
}
else { // Internet Explorer
doc = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLDOM");
doc.async = "false";
doc.loadXML(text);
}
return doc;
}

It can be simpler and cleaner if you optimize data structure for result array. Push an object with value and label so that you can simply use attr method directly after:
for (var i = 0; i < jobid.length; i++) {
var valueid = jobid[i].childNodes[0].nodeValue;
var value = jobname[i].childNodes[0].nodeValue;
// add longitude value to "result" array
result.push({value: valueid, label: value});
}
var jobtype = $("#ddlJobType");
$.each(result, function (i, obj) {
$('<option>').attr(obj).appendTo(jobtype);
});

See https://api.jquery.com/jquery.each/. The callback function gets each jobtype as parameter to the function.
Try changing the code to:
$.each(result, function (idx, value) {
var arr = value.split(',');
for (var i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {
jobtype.append($("<option />").val(arr[0]).text(arr[1]));
}
});

passing page scraped data in the URL

In my Chrome extension, I'm trying to scrape information from the current tab (in content.js) and send it as parameter to the provided URL (background.js). It seems like I can scrape everything from the tab and append it to the URL except the values of input tags. Here's my code:
content.js:
var elements = new Array("form","h1","input","td","textarea","time","title","var");
//declare an array for found elements
var foundElements = new Array();
//declare an array for found ids
var foundIds = new Array();
//this counter is used to hold positions in the element array.
var elementCounter = 0;
//this counter is used to hold positions in the foundIds array
var idsCounter = 0;
//this counter is used to hold positions in the classCounter array.
var classCounter = 0;
//and we're going to output everything in a giantic string.
var output = "URL=" + document.URL;
//scrape the page for all elements
for (var i = 0; i < elements.length; i++)
{
var current = document.getElementsByTagName(elements[i]);
if(current.length>0)
{
for (var z=0; z<current.length; z++)
{
var inTxt = current[z].innerText;
output += "&" + elements[i] + "=" + inTxt;
}
elementCounter++;
//now that we have an array of a tag, check it for IDs and classes.
for (var y = 0; y<current.length; y++)
{
//check to see if the element has an id
if(current[y].id)
{
//these should be unique
var hit = false;
for (var x = 0; x<foundIds.length; x++)
{
if(foundIds[x]==current[y].id)
{
hit=true;
}
}
//if there was no hit...
if(!hit)
{
foundIds[idsCounter]=current[y].id;
idsCounter++;
var currVal = current[y].value;
output+="&" + current[y].id + "=" + currVal;
}
}
//now we pull the classes
var classes = current[y].classList;
if(classes.length>0)
{
for (var x = 0; x<classes.Length; x++)
{
var hit = false;
for (var z = 0; z<foundClasses.length; z++)
{
if(foundClasses[z]==classes[x])
{
hit=true;
}
}
//if there was not a hit
if(!hit)
{
foundClasses[classCounter]=classes[x];
classCounter++;
output+="&" + classes[x] + "=";
}
}
}
}
}
}
chrome.runtime.sendMessage({data: output});
background.js:
var output2;
chrome.extension.onMessage.addListener(function(request, sender, sendResponse) {
output2 = "text_input1=";
output2 += request.data;
});
chrome.browserAction.onClicked.addListener(function() {
chrome.tabs.create({url: "http://www.google.com?" + output2}, function(tab) {
chrome.tabs.executeScript(tab.id, {file: "content.js"}, function() {
sendMessage();
});
});
});
Does anyone know why the input tags values are passed as blank?

Because you're trying to get the input text by using current[z].innerText.
However, you have to use current[z].value for inputs.

adding variable into an array in a function

I have a problem with putting a variable into my array. Here is my code:
var info = new Array();
google.load("feeds", "1");
function initialize() {
var feed = new google.feeds.Feed("http://www.ntvmsnbc.com/id/24927681/device/rss/rss.xml");
feed.setNumEntries(6);
feed.load(function(result) {
if (!result.error) {
var container = document.getElementById("feed");
var html = '';
for (var i = 0; i < result.feed.entries.length; i++) {
var entry = result.feed.entries[i];
var a = " " ;
a += entry.title;
info[i] = a
html += '<p>' + entry.publishedDate + '&nbsp' + entry.title;
}
container.innerHTML = html;
}
alert(info[0]);
});
//alert(info[0]);
}
//alert(info[0]);
google.setOnLoadCallback(initialize);
You see an array called info. I'm trying to add entry.title into it. You can see some places are commented out. There my info[0] is empty. I can display my result only in function(result), except that it doesn't display anything like I never put anything inside my array. I didn't understand why.
Updated:
var info = new Array();
google.load("feeds", "1");
function initialize(cb) {
var feed = new google.feeds.Feed("http://www.ntvmsnbc.com/id/24927681/device/rss/rss.xml");
feed.setNumEntries(6);
feed.load(function(result) {
if (!result.error) {
var container = document.getElementById("feed");
var html = '';
for (var i = 0; i < result.feed.entries.length; i++) {
var entry = result.feed.entries[i];
html += '<p>' + entry.publishedDate + '&nbsp' + entry.title;
cb(entry.title);
}
container.innerHTML = html;
}
});
}
google.setOnLoadCallback(function(){
initizalize(processInfo);}
);
function processInfo(information){
info[info.length] = information;
alert(info[info.length]);
}
Last Version
var info = new Array();
google.load("feeds", "1");
function initialize(cb) {
var feed = new google.feeds.Feed("http://www.ntvmsnbc.com/id/24927681/device/rss/rss.xml");
feed.setNumEntries(6);
feed.load(function(result) {
if (!result.error) {
var container = document.getElementById("feed");
var html = '';
for (var i = 0; i < result.feed.entries.length; i++) {
var entry = result.feed.entries[i];
var a= " ";
a += entry.title;
info[i] = a;
html += '<p>' + entry.publishedDate + '&nbsp' + entry.title;
}
container.innerHTML = html;
}
cb(info);
});
}
google.setOnLoadCallback(function(){
initizalize(processInfo);}
);
function processInfo(info){
alert(info[0]);
}

That's because AJAX is Asynchronous, basically meaning it won't run until at least the rest of the code has been run. Anything that relies on stuff that's defined an an AJAX call (or any other asynchronous callback) MUST be inside that callback, or itself deferred until later.

Make sure result.feed.entries.length is non-zero and that you are actually executing the for loop. Also (but minor) it wouldn't hurt to have a ; after the info[i] = a

You can't display info in those points because the call to feed.load() is asynchronous, and hasn't finished by that point.
You need to make all processing continue in the .load callback function, e.g. something like:
function initialize(cb) {
feed.load(function(result) {
...
cb(info); // only call the callback once the data is loaded
});
}
// call the above function, passing a callback handler
google.setOnLoadCallback(function() {
initialize(processInfo);
}));
// defer all of your data processing to here
function processInfo(info) {
...
}

building a database string

I'm trying to build a database based on some arbitrary data on a website. It's complex and changes for each site so I'll spare the details. Here's basically what I'm trying to do
function level0(arg) { textarea.innerHTML += arg + ' = {'; }
function level1(arg) { textarea.innerHTML += '\n\t' + arg + ': ['; }
function level2(arg) { textarea.innerHTML += arg + ', '; }
And so on. The thing is some level1's don't have any children and I can't get the formatting right.
My three problems are as follows.
The ending commas are going to break in IE (thank you MS)
Empty level1's shouldn't be printed if they don't have any children
Closing /curly?brackets/
HERE'S A DEMO of what I have so far. Notice the ending commas, the empty sub2 which shouldn't be printed, and no closing brackets or braces
Do I need to redesign the entire thing?
Is there also a way to have this all in one function so I don't have to worry if I add another layer?
EDIT
This needs to be done in a string format, I can't build an object and then stringify it, mostly because I need to know which element I'm in the middle of adding to.

Overall it looks that you still might want to build an object, but in case you insist on not building it - here is some sample solution:
function Printer() {
var result = '',
lastLevel = null,
close = {0:'\n}', 1:']', 2:''},
delimiter = {0: ',\n', 1:',\n', 2:','};
function closeLevel(level, noDelimiter) {
if(lastLevel === null)
return;
var l = lastLevel, d = level == lastLevel;
while(l >= level) {
result += close[l] + (l == level && !noDelimiter ? delimiter[l]:'');
l--;
}
}
this.level0 = function(arg) {
closeLevel(0);
result += arg + ' = {\n';
lastLevel = 0;
};
this.level1 = function(arg) {
closeLevel(1);
result += '\t' + arg + ': [';
lastLevel = 1;
};
this.level2 = function(arg) {
closeLevel(2);
result += arg;
lastLevel = 2;
};
this.getResult = function() {
closeLevel(lastLevel, true);
return result;
}
}
var p = new Printer();
p.level0('head');
p.level1('sub1');
p.level2('item1');p.level2('item2');p.level2('item3');
p.level1('sub2');
p.level1('sub3');
p.level2('newthing');
p.level0('head2');
document.getElementById('textarea').value = p.getResult();
You could see it in action here.

I'm not sure why you're building what looks like objects with nested arrays, using string concatenation. Something like this would be much simpler, since it wouldn't require fixing trailing commas, etc:
Edit: I've updated the code to make it keep track of the last level put in.
function Db() {
var level0, level1;
var data = new Object();
this.level0 = function(arg) {
level0 = new Object();
data[arg] = level0;
}
this.level1 = function(arg) {
level1 = new Array();
level0[arg] = level1;
}
this.level2 = function(arg) {
level1.push(arg);
}
this.toString = function() {
var s = '';
for(i in data) {
s += i + '\n';
for(j in data[i]) {
if(data[i][j].length>0) {
s += '\t' + j + ': [' + data[i][j] + ']\n' ;
}
}
}
return s;
}
}
Use like this:
var db = new Db();
db.level0('head');
db.level1('sub1');
db.level2('item1');db.level2('item2');db.level2('item3');
I've tested this in the demo you linked and it works just fine.