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set attributes of elements stored in variables

Is there anyway to use jQuery to dynamically set the attributes of HTML elements that are stored in variables?
For example, at one point in my application, a user creates a varying number of select input fields. For eventual processing by PHP, the elements need to be named in the format name='input'+siteNumber+'['+x+']', where x is the number of elements created in a for loop.
Here's a rough sketch of what I'm thinking needs to be done - THIS IS NOT FUNCTIONAL CODE, IT IS ONLY AN ILLUSTRATION.
$(".number_select").change(function(){
numberFound = $(this).val();
siteNumber = $(this).parent().attr('data-site_number');
//HERE'S THE INPUT TO BE NAMED
selectInput = "<select></select>";
this['inputArray' + siteNumber] = [];
for(x = 1; x <= numberFound; x++){
//THIS IS WHAT I'D LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH - SETTING THE ATTRIBUTE - THOUGH THIS UNDERSTANDABLY DOES NOT WORK IN THIS PARTICULAR FORMAT
this['inputArray' + siteNumber].push(selectInput.attr("name", "species"+siteNumber+"["+x+"]"));
};
$(this).parent().append(this['inputArray' + siteNumber]);
};
Thank you.

Thanks everyone - I actually ended up deciding to handle this a little differently, but it works perfectly - rather than storing the elements in variables, I used a function instead...
function inputs(siteNumber, x){
return ("<select name='selectInput"+siteNumber+"["+x+"]'>"+list+"</select>");
};
$(".number_select").change(function(){
numberFound = $(this).val();
siteNumber = $(this).parent().attr('data-site_number');
this['inputArray' + siteNumber] = [];
for(x = 1; x <= numberFound; x++){
this['inputArray' + siteNumber].push(inputs(siteNumber, x));
};
$(this).parent().append(this['inputArray' + siteNumber]);
};
Don't know why I didn't think of this in the first place, it seems obvious to me now. Oh well, live and learn.

To vaguely answer your question, you can dynamically generate an element and use jQuery's attr for adjusting the name attribute pretty easily like so.
var select = $('<select>').attr('name', 'add-name-here');
$('<option>').attr('value', 'some-value').text('Option').appendTo(select);
$('#wrapper').html(select);
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<div id="wrapper"></div>
Which outputs
<select name="add-name-here">
<option value="some-value">Option</option>
</select>
In your case, instead of adding it to #wrapper you would build up the select box as you need and append it to whichever select box has the change? Not sure your specific use case. Hope it helps.

Run 4 individual form submit functions from a single button click using Javascript

I am currently attempting to make a page that would allow for users to search multiple knowledge bases from a single field.
Currently, I have been able to build this tool out so that clicking the corresponding button will search the designated tool, but I am trying to get a single button to search all 4.
Where I am stuck is the function tied to the All button. When I click it, it only appears to be running the last function in the group rather than opening 4 browser tabs with all 4 results.
I have attached a JSFiddle, in case my explanation is poor.
Note: The page is not pretty as I am trying to get it working before I add any CSS. I really just need JS advice. I am still somewhat of a novice with JS, so if anyone can provide a fairly simple solution, that would be most ideal.
Super Search Fiddle:

This is just to give an idea on how it might work depending on you needs. Ill assume that all the searches return a boolean value. So the code would go something like this:
function doAll() {
var msg = ["google","payroll","inquira","sdfc"]
var retvalue = [googleSearch(),payrollSearch(),inquiraSearch(),sfdcSearch()];
for (var i = 0; i < retvalue.length; i++){
if(retvalue[i] == false){
console.log(msg[i]+" search returned false");
}
}
}
It will do all the searches first and after it finishes, it will give out which searches failed, but you can change that functionality according to your needs.
Hope it helps
Update/Alternative(Almost same code):
function doAll() {
var msg = ["google","payroll","inquira","sdfc"]
var retvalue1 = googleSearch();
var retvalue2 = payrollSearch();
var retvalue3 = inquiraSearch();
var retvalue4 = sfdcSearch();
var retvalue = [retvalue1,retvalue2,retvalue3,retvalue4];
//var retvalue = [googleSearch(),payrollSearch(),inquiraSearch(),sfdcSearch()];
for (var i = 0; i < retvalue.length; i++){
if(retvalue[i] == false){
console.log(msg[i]+" search returned false");
}
}
}

Javascript not checking whether a checkbox was selected or not

I'm trying to build a quiz with multiple choice questions, one of which has multiple correct answers. So I'm trying to check which checkboxes in my questions have been selected by a student in order to give the right feedback. my code is:
for(var i = 0; i< input1.length; i++)
{
if(input1[0].checked && input1[1].checked)
{
submit_answer.onclick = showFeedback1;
}
else
{
submit_answer.onclick = false1;
}
}
It never takes the first if, even if I select those two only. No matter what I put in the if statement, it only takes the else.
and this is just a part of my .js
var quiz = document.getElementById('quiz');
var questions = quiz.getElementsByTagName('p');
input1 = questions[0].getElementsByTagName('input');
var submit_answer = document.getElementById('submit_answers'); // this is the submit button

I cannot make proper assumption of what you are trying to do.
FIRST PROBLEM
Your for loop is incrementing on 1, so on the each next iteration it is comparing using same previously used value.
SECOND PROBLEM
Your structure is horrible, your script fetches up all the input elements inside every p. You should properly organize your element in groups and then match whether or not they are checked.

Calculating the total of an online order form using javascript

I'm working on a basic order form and I would like to see if I can build it from stratch.
I have a form which is made up of a table with 12 items listed and text input fields for item quantity. What I would like to do is have the code run through the form to check for any quantities that have been entered, then relate these values to the prices in an array.
So far I have the array:
var juicePrice = new Array();
juicePrice["citrusZing"]=20.00;
juicePrice["strawberrySmooth"]=22.00;
juicePrice["carrotSpin"]=21.50;
juicePrice["Tropical"]=20.75;
...
and a way to run through the form:
calculateTotal()
{
var juiceForm = document.forms["juiceform"];
//Get a reference to the juice the user Chooses name=selectedJuiceQty":
var selectedJuiceQty = juiceForm.elements["selectedJuiceQty"];
for(var i = 0; i < selectedJuiceQty.length; i++);
but I'm not quite sure how to connect the information from the form to calculate the totals. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Is it something like this?
for(var i = 0; i < selectedJuiceQty.length; i++){
var juiceTotal = 0;
if(selectedJuiceQty[i]>0) {
juiceTotal += juicePrice[selectedJuiceQty[i].value]*selectedJuiceQty;
//If we get a match then we break out of this loop
break;
}
return total;
}
Is it possible to use the same name tag for each field or should I just use citrusZingQty = parseInt(document.getElementById("citrusZing").value); for each item? Then I would have to list all of the items, which doesn't seem a very elegant way. What would happen if multiple items are selected?
Any help anyone can give to point me in the right direction would be great.

So you can do what you want. Michael pointed this out in the comments but it may have been overlooked.
var myPrices = new Object();
myPrices['eggs'] = 1.50;
myPrices['bread'] = 1.00;
// ...
Then you can loop through your form fields and check against your 'myPrices' object.
EDIT
To answer your question in the comments - I would not use the same name for all of my input fields. It does make looping through the form easier perhaps. However, using the id/class of the input tag is not a nice solution in my opinion. HTML id/class are there for CSS/Javascript manipulation and using it to identify which fruit the input represents will not be apparent to other developers working on the project (I realize this may be a small project for you but it's best not to start any bad habits). I would name each input after the juice/drink it represents.

How to reference an array in a function argument

I have a series of arrays that contain words I want to use as text in various HTML divs (there are about 35 of these, I included only a few for brevity).
var bodyplan = ['Anguilliform', 'Compressiform', 'Depressiform', 'Filiform', 'Fusiform', 'Globiform', 'Sagittiform', 'Taeniform'];
var mouthposition = ["Inferior", "Jawless", "Subterminal", "Superior", "Terminal"];
var barbels = ['1', '2', '4 or more'];
var caudalshape = ['Continuous', 'Emarginate', 'Forked', 'Lunate', 'Rounded', 'Truncate'];
I have a switch function that is supposed to change the text based on user selections:
switch(n){
case 1:
changelabels(bodyplan, 8);
break;
case 2:
changelabels(mouthposition, 5);
break;
case 3:
changelabels(barbels, 3);
break;
case 4:
changelabels(caudalshape, 6);
break;
case 5:
changelabels(dorsalspines, 8);
break;
default:
alert("handquestsel error")}};
Finally, I have the function which I would like to make the changes (except it doesn't):
function changelabels(opt1,opt2){
var i = opt2;
var im = opt2 - 1;
var c = 1;
var index = 0;
while (i>=c){
var oldlbl = document.getElementById("rb" + c + "lbl");
var newlbla = opt1.slice(im,i);
var newlblb = opt1.toString();
oldlbl.innerHTML = newlblb;
c = c + 1
index = index + 1
}};
I know the code for my function is just plain wrong at this point, but I have altered it so many times that I'm not sure what's going on anymore. At one point I did have the function able to change the text, but it did so incorrectly (it parsed the name of the array, not extracted a value from the array as I wished). Please help. I know I am overlooking some fundamental concepts here, but am not sure which ones. I've lost count of the hours I've spent trying to figure this out. It's seems like it should be so simple, yet in all my chaotic attempts to make it work, I have yet to stumble on an answer.
EDIT: I want my switch statement to call the function and pass to the function, the appropriate array from which to pull the labels from. The purpose of the app is to help a user learn to identify fish. When the user makes selections on the page, a series of pictures will be shown for various character states with an accompanying label describing the state. For example, when the user selects Mouth Position a series of divs will show the different mouth positions that fish have and have a label below the picture to tell the user what that certain character state is called. I can get the pictures to change just fine, but I am having a hell of a time with the labels.

Why not just something along the lines of:
document.getElementById("bodyplan_label").innerHTML = bodyplan[bodyplan_index];
You seem trying to put everything in really abstract data structures, I see no reason to. Just keep it simple.
Also bodyplan has only 8 elements, so bodyplan[8] will give you an out of bounds exception because arrays start at 0 as is common in all modern programming languages.

If I'm reading your requirement and code correctly, in your switch statement you are passing both a reference to the appropriate array and that array's expected length - you don't need the second parameter because all JavaScript arrays have a .length property.
You don't want to use .slice() to get the individual values out of the array, because that returns a new array copied out of the original - just use arrayVariable[index] to get the individual item at index.
So, putting that together try something like this (with your existing array definitions):
switch(n){
case 1:
changelabels(bodyplan);
break;
case 2:
changelabels(mouthposition);
// etc.
}
function changelabels(data) {
var i,
lbl;
for (i = 0; i < data.length; i++) {
lbl = document.getElementById("rb" + (i+1) + "lbl");
lbl.innerHTML = data[i];
}
}
Notice how much simpler that is than your code? I'm assuming here the elements you are updating have an id in the format "rb1lbl", "rb2lbl", etc, with numbering starting at 1: I'm getting those ids using (i+1) because JavaScript array indexes start at zero. Note also that you don't even need the lbl variable: you could just say document.getElementById("rb" + (i+1) + "lbl").innerHTML = data[i] - however I've left it in so that we have something to expand on below...
Within your function you seem to be changing the labels on a set of elements (radio button labels?), one per value in the array, but you stop when you run out of array items which means any leftover elements will still hold the values from the previous selection (e.g., if the previous selection was "bodyplan" with 8 options and you change to "mouthposition" with only 5 - you probably should hide the 3 leftover elements that would otherwise continue to display the last few "bodyplan" items. One way to do that is instead of setting your loop up based on the array length you could loop over the elements, and if the current element has an index beyond the end of the array hide it, something like this:
function changelabels(data) {
var i,
lbl,
elementCount = 20; // or whatever your element count is
for (i = 0; i < elementCount; i++) {
lbl = document.getElementById("rb" + (i+1) + "lbl");
if (i < data.length) {
lbl.innerHTML = data[i];
lbl.style.display = "";
} else {
lbl.innerHTML = "";
lbl.style.display = "none";
}
}
}
If these elements are labels for radio buttons (just a guess based on the ids) then you'd also want to hide or show the corresponding radio buttons, but I hope you can figure out how to add a couple of lines to the above to do that.
(As mentioned above, be careful about having element ids count up from 1 when the array indexes start at 0.)
If the above doesn't work please post (at least some of) the relevant HTML - obviously I've just had to guess at what it might be like.

SOLUTION: Changed the scope of the array variables to local by moving them into the function where they are used, instead of having them as global variables at the top of the page. I don't understand as I was following every rule of variable declaration. But for some unknown reason, global variables in javascript are abhorrent.
Solution Edit: Found an error in declaring my global variables. This may have been the source of my problem of why I could not access them. But it is a non-issue at this point since I corrected my code.

I don't understand what your trying to achieve exactly with your code. But to pass a variable (in this case an array) by reference you just have to add "&" before the variable.
function the_name(&$var_by_ref, $var_by_value) {
// Here if you modify $var_by_ref this will change the variable passed to the function.
}
More: http://php.net/manual/en/language.references.pass.php
Hope that helps.