If we have an array that does not exists and we check the value of the array it gives me an error. "variable is not defined"
for example I have:
var arr = new Array();
arr['house']['rooms'] = 2;
and I use
if ( typeof arr['plane']['room'] != 'undefined' ) )
it says arr['plane'] not defined...
I don't want to use this:
if ( typeof arr['plane'] != 'undefined' ) ) {
if ( typeof arr['plane']['room'] != 'undefined' ) {
}
}
In php I use isset that works nice for me, I searched a lot on google to find the answer but I can't...
The thing to realize is that there are no multi-dimensional arrays in javascript. It is easy to make an array element contain an array, and work with that, but then all references you make have to use that consideration.
So, you can do
arr = []; // or more appropriately {}, but I'll get to that soon
arr['house'] = [];
arr['house']['rooms'] = 2;
But doing
arr['house']['rooms'] = 2;
should give you an error unless you've already defined arr and arr['house'].
If you've defined arr but not arr['house'], it's valid syntax to reference arr['house'] - but the return value will (appropriately) be undefined.
And this is where you're at when you're looking at arr['plane']['room']. arr is defined, so that's ok, but arr['plane'] returns undefined, and referencing undefined.['room'] throws an error.
If you want to avoid the errors and have multiple levels of reference, you're going to have to make sure that all the levels but the lowest exist.
You're stuck with if (arr && arr['plane'] && arr['plane']['room']).
Or perhaps if (arr && arr['plane'] && room in arr['plane'] would be more accurate, depending on your needs. The first will check if arr['plane']['room'] has a truthy value, while the second will check if arr['plane']['room'] exists at all (and could have a falsey value).
Arrays vs objects
Arrays and objects are very similar and can both be accessed with [] notation, so it's slightly confusing, but technically, you're using the object aspect of the array for what you're doing. Remember, all arrays (and everything other than primitives - numbers, strings and booleans) are objects, so arrays can do everything objects can do, plus more. But arrays only work with numeric indices, i.e. arr[1][2]. When you reference an array with a string, you're attempting to access the member of the underlying object that matches that string.
But still in this case, it doesn't matter. There are no multi-dimensional arrays - or objects.
The [] notation with objects is simply a way to check for members of objects using a variable. arr['plane']['rooms'] is actually equivalent to arr.plane.rooms. but perhaps the arr.plane.room notation will help make it more clear why you have to first check arr.plane (and arr).
Use the following if you want to test for existence in an object:
if ( 'plane' in arr && 'room' in arr.plane ) {
// Do something
}
That's not an array, but an object, aka associative array. You can declare it like this:
var aarr = { house: { rooms: 2 } };
Now you can do:
if (aarr.house && aarr.house.rooms) {/* do stuff */ }
or uglier, but shorter:
if ((aarr.house || {}).rooms) {/* do stuff */ }
See also...
To more generally traverse an object to find a path in it you could use:
Object.tryPath = function(obj,path) {
path = path.split(/[.,]/);
while (path.length && obj) {
obj = obj[path.shift()];
}
return obj || null;
};
Object.tryPath(aarr,'house.rooms'); //=> 2
Object.tryPath(aarr,'house.cellar.cupboard.shelf3'); //=> null
JsFiddle
Related
Given two arrays myArray1 and myArray2, which may be null, how can I output a Boolean which tells me if at least one array is non-empty?
Assuming that I have the following variables:
myArray1 = ["one", "two", "three"]; //-> non-empty array
myArray2 = null; //-> not an array (in my case this happens from .match() returning no results)
I want an expression, such that myArray1 && myArray2 will be FALSE, but myArray1 || myArray2 will be TRUE.
I did look through other relevant Stack Overflow questions (see an abridged list below), but since I still struggled to figure out the solution, I thought I would post it as a separate question since answers might also benefit others.
The common way of testing for empty arrays is:
myBooleanOr = (myArray1.length || myArray2.length); //3
myBooleanAnd = (myArray1.length && myArray2.length); //Error
This works if both variables are arrays, but in this case, the second one will throw up Error: cannot read property length of 'null'. Using the Boolean() function does not solve the problem since the following also throws up the same error:
myBooleanAnd = (Boolean(myArray1.length) && Boolean(myArray2.length)); //error
A solution for testing empty arrays which was accepted in several Stack Overflow questions is to use typeof myArray !== "undefined", but that still does not solve the problem, because neither of the arrays match "undefined", so myBooleanAnd will still throw up an error:
var bool = (typeof myArray1 !== "undefined"); //true
var bool = (typeof myArray2 !== "undefined"); //true
var myBooleanAnd = ((typeof myArray1 !== "undefined" && myArray1.length) || (typeof myArray2 !== "undefined" && myArray2.length)); //Error: cannot read property length of null
Comparing the arrays against [], which also seems intuitive, also doesn't work, because neither of the arrays match []:
var bool = (myArray1 !== []); //true
var bool = (myArray2 !== []); //true
Other relevant posts
A number of other questions on Stack Overflow deal with testing for empty Javascript arrays, including:
Testing for empty arrays: Check if array is empty or exists
Testing for empty arrays (jQuery): Check if array is empty or null
Relative advantages of methods for testing empty arrays: Testing for an empty array
Testing for empty objects: How do I test for an empty JavaScript object?
And there are also questions about the truth value of empty arrays in Javascript:
JavaScript: empty array, [ ] evaluates to true in conditional structures. Why is this?
UPDATE
I have corrected the following errors posted in the original question (thanks to those who pointed them out). I am listing them here since they might also be helpful to others:
==! changed to !==
typeof x === undefined, changed to typeof x === "undefined"
I would suggest using a helper function to determine if a single array is non-empty, and then use that twice. This is simple and straightforward:
function isNonEmptyArray(arr) {
return !!(Array.isArray(arr) && arr.length);
}
var myBooleanAnd = isNonEmptyArray(myArray1) && isNonEmptyArray(myArray2);
var myBooleanOr = isNonEmptyArray(myArray1) || isNonEmptyArray(myArray2);
Ok, so, there're a bunch of errors in the code examples, i'll try to to explain them all:
myBooleanOr = (myArray1.length || myArray2.length); //3
myBooleanAnd = (myArray1.length && myArray2.length); //Error
Here, the first line returns the first truthy value it encounters. Since myArray1 has a length > 0, it returns that value and never evaluates the second part of the condition, that's why you're not getting the error. Swap the checks and it will break.
The second line combines the two values to give a result, so it will always give an error when one of the two variables are null.
var bool = (typeof myArray1 === undefined); //false
typeof returns a string, if you compare it to the undefined constant it will always be false, the correct statement is typeof myArray1 === "undefined" as written in most of the posts you linked
var bool = (myArray2 ==! null);
the "strictly not equal" operator is !== and NOT ==!. You're doing a different operation and that's why you get surprising results.
Putting the right spaces in the syntax, this is your code var bool = (myArray2 == !null);
So you boolean-flip the value of null, which is falsy by nature, getting true, and then compare if myArray2 is loosely-equal to true ... since myArray2 is null, and that is falsy as we said, the comparison gives back a false.
That said, for the solution to the question, I'd propose a slightly longer syntax that is more explicit, clear to understand, and you can scale to check how many arrays you like without adding more complexity:
var myArray1 = [1,2,3]
var myArray2 = null
var arrays = [myArray1, myArray2]
var oneNotEmpty = arrays.some( a => typeof a != "undefined" && a != null && a.length > 0)
console.log("At least one array non-empty?", oneNotEmpty)
You could use isArray to check something is an array or not. Most modern browsers supports it. https://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Array/isArray
And then you can combine isArray and array's length to check if something is a valid non empty array or not.
function isOneNotEmpty(arrayOne, arrayTwo){
return (Array.isArray(arrayOne)? arrayOne.length > 0 : false) || (Array.isArray(arrayTwo)? arrayOne.length > 0 : false)
}
console.log(isOneNotEmpty([],null));
console.log(isOneNotEmpty([1,2,3,4],null));
console.log(isOneNotEmpty([3,4,5],[1]));
Testing for an array is simple enough:
var blnIsPopulatedArray = (myArray != null
&& typeof myArray == "object"
&& typeof myArray.length == "number"
&& myArray.length > 0);
Will return false if 'myArray' isn't an array with at least one item, or true if it is an array with at least one item.
One solution is the following (with or without Boolean()):
Using Array.isArray() and array.length:
var myBooleanAnd = Boolean(Array.isArray(myArray2) && myArray2.length) && Boolean(Array.isArray(myArray1) && myArray1.length) ; //false -> OK
var myBooleanOr = Boolean(Array.isArray(myArray2) && myArray2.length) || Boolean(Array.isArray(myArray1) && myArray1.length) ; //true -> OK
It is also possible to use myArray1 !== null instead of Array.isArray(myArray1), but since the latter is a more specific test, the broader Array.isArray() method seems preferable.
UPDATE
I had previously suggested using the following:
var myBooleanAnd = Boolean(myArray1 && myArray2); //returns false -> OK
var myBooleanOr = Boolean(myArray1 || myArray2); //returns true -> OK
but since, as pointed out by #JLRishe, the following expression also returns TRUE, this is not a safe solution, since it will only work in situations where the arrays can never be empty.
var bool = Boolean([] && []); //returns true -> false positive
function arrayIsEmpty(array) {
if (!Array.isArray(array)) {
return false;
}
if (array.length == 0) {
return true;
}
}
Let's say I have an object:
var foo = {'bar1': {'baz1':1}};
And I try to access foo['bar2']['baz2']. If I was just trying to access foo['bar2'], JS would return undefined. But because I'm trying to get the next property after the undefined bar2, JS throws TypeError: Cannot read property 'baz2' of undefined.
Is there some automatic accessor for an object that first checks if baz2 exists in foo before trying to call its properties? I know I could use a try/catch block or an if statement, but I was hoping for a function along the lines of C++'s array::at, that would check for me.
You could write your own pretty easily:
function at(obj, property) {
var props = property.split('.');
for(var i = 0; i < props.length; i++) {
if (typeof obj === 'undefined') {
return;
}
obj = obj[props[i]];
}
return obj;
}
var foo = {'bar1': {'baz1':1}};
console.log(at(foo, 'bar1.baz1'));
// => 1
console.log(at(foo, 'bar2.baz2'));
// => undefined
Keep in mind this is ONLY for objects, like the one you have shown, and NOT for arrays (ie [0, 1, 2]) but my favorite is this one:
if ('bar1' in foo)
This is even useful for, say, HTML5 feature detection.
if ('localStorage' in window)
I could give you one for arrays too, but I feel like the more logical thing would be to compare its length to a given index. And...not insert undefined values into arrays. Y'know. =p
You can use the in operator:
if("bar2" in foo) {
//do stuff with foo['bar2']
}
or you can check to see if foo['bar2'] is undefined:
if(typeof foo['bar2'] !== "undefined") {
//do stuff with foo['bar2']
}
Also, what you're working with are objects and not arrays (well, they're associative arrays, but also objects in JavaScript).
foo['bar2'] && foo['bar2']['baz2'] will do the trick as well.
This question already has answers here:
Closed 10 years ago.
Possible Duplicate:
JavaScript compare arrays
var x = [""]
if (x === [""]) { alert("True!") }
else { alert("False!") }
For some reason, this alerts False. I cannot seem to figure out why. What can I do to make this alert True?
Two objects are equal if they refer to the exact same Object. In your example x is one Object and [""] is another. You cant compare Objects this way. This link maybe useful.
Compare values not whole arrays
...as they're objects and you're working with implicit references here. One object is stored in your x valiable which you're trying to compare (by reference) with an in-place created object (array with an empty string element). These are two objects each having it's own reference hence not equal.
I've changed your example to do what you're after while also providing the possibility to have an arbitrary number of empty strings in an array:
if (x.length && x.join && x.join("") === "")
{
alert("True!")
}
else
{
alert("False!")
}
This will return True! for any arrays like:
var x = [];
var x = [""];
var x = [null];
var x = [undefined];
var x = ["", null, undefined];
...
Arrays cannot be reliably compared this way unless they reference the same object. Do this instead:
if ( x[0] == "" )
or if you want it to be an array:
if ( x.length && x[0] == "" )
You could use toString in this case. Careful, there are some outliers where this will not work.
var x = [""]
alert(x.toString() == [""].toString()) // true
In JavaScript, two objects are equal only if they refer to the same object. Even [] == [] is false.
A probably slow but generic solution would be to compare the string representations of the two objects:
JSON.stringify(a1) == JSON.stringify(a2)
I'm trying to create a multi-dimensional array.
My assumption that the following structure stuff['mykey1']['mykey2']['mykey3'] can be interpreted as stuff is an array of two-dimensional arrays. And stuff['mykey1'] will return me a two dimensional array with following keys ['mykey2']['mykey3']
I try to create this structure like so:
var stuff = null;
if(stuff === null)
{
stuff = []; // stuff is []
}
if(stuff[userId] === undefined)
{
stuff[userId] = []; // stuff is [undefined, undefined, undefined, 888087 more...]
}
if(stuff[userId][objectId] === undefined)
{
stuff[userId][objectId] = [];
}
However, when I look at stuff array as I step through, I see that after stuff[userId] = []; stuff array is [undefined, undefined, undefined, 888087 more...]
I'm expecting [888087, []]
Where do the undefined values come from?
Where do the undefined values come from?
You are using Arrays, not objects. If you add a numerical property on an Array object, it's length will be updated and the other indices stay unitialized (sparse array), but are displayed as undefined (see What is "undefined x 1" in JavaScript?).
Instead, use normal objects, where numerical properties have no special behavior:
var stuff = null;
if(stuff === null)
{
stuff = {}; // stuff is an empty object
}
if(stuff[userId] === undefined)
{
stuff[userId] = {}; // stuff is now enriched with one property
}
if(stuff[userId][objectId] === undefined)
{
stuff[userId][objectId] = {}; // or maybe you really want an array here?
}
Its because of usage of arrays. The length of the remainin elements is made undefined.
For example if a(1) is specified, a(0) will be undefined
You are trying to create associative arrays, and in JavaScript this is done with... objects, not arrays!
So at each step you need to use {} instead of [] to create the next level. And you need to use a for...in loop to iterate through the keys.
For more details, search the Web for JavaScript associative arrays". For example:
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/JavaScript/Guide/Working_with_Objects
The question is long answered, but I want to chip in with this shorthand, that really makes it more compact and readable:
stuff = stuff || {};
// if stuff is already defined, just leave it be. If not (||), define it as object
stuff[userId] = stuff[userId] || {};
// if stuff[userId] is already defined, define it as self (let it be unchanged). If not defined ( the || -signs ), define it as object.
stuff[userId][objectId] = stuff[userId][objectId] || {};
// and so on :)
There seems to have many question asked similar on counting number of element already but I am failing to implement them with mine problem.
After jquery ajax I get JSON data returned which looks something like this
Object {0: Object, 1: Object , xxxx:"asdf" ,yyyy:"asdf", zzzz:"asdf"}
I want to get number of object between this { } braces ( not counting those xxx,yyy element )
I tried .length which doesn't work
I also tried using this Length of a JavaScript object but that return the number of element in each object. I just want the number of object
Thank You
Try this:
var json = { 0: {}, 1: {}, xxxx: "asdf", yyyy: "asdf", zzzz: "asdf" };
function typeOf( obj ) {
return ({}).toString.call( obj )
.match(/\s([a-zA-Z]+)/)[1].toLowerCase();
}
var total = 0;
for ( var o in json ) {
if ( typeOf( json[o] ) == 'object' ) {
total++;
}
}
console.log( total ); //=> 2
Everything is an object in JavaScript. The typeof operator is misleading and won't work in this case. You can use the typeOf function above that I extracted from this blog post: Fixing the JavaScript typeof operator (worth reading). There are other ways of doing it but this seems like the most straightforward.
If it's not just a coincidence that the objects are the ones with numeric property names, and the numeric properties count up sequentially, you could do something like this:
var obj = { /* your object here */ }
for (var i=0; i in obj; i++) {
// use obj[i] for something
}
// i is now equal to the number of numeric properties
This works because as soon as i is high enough that you've run out of properties the in operator will return false. Feel free to use .hasOwnProperty() instead if you prefer.
Obviously this is a specialised solution that doesn't test the type of the different properties at all. (To actually test the type see elclanrs' solution - and either way read the page he linked to.)
Say that the entire json is in a variable called json:
var total_objects = 0;
$.each(json, function () {
if (typeof this == 'object') {
total_objects++;
}
});
However, I am curious as to why you would need to know this.
You can use a customized version from the code of this question Length of Javascript Object (ie. Associative Array) and check for element's type using typeof operator and count only those which are an object (or an array).
Object.sizeObj = function(obj) {
var size = 0, key;
for (key in obj) {
if (typeof key[obj] === 'object' && obj.hasOwnProperty(key)) size++;
}
return size;
};
// Get the count of those elements which are an object
var objectsCount = Object.sizeObj(myArray);