Get random element from associative array in javascript? - javascript

I am building a playlist of songs in javascript. I have used an associative array foo -- the structure of my object looks akin to:
foo[songID] = songURL;
I am trying to build in shuffling functionality. I would like to select a song at random from this list. Is there a simple way to do this -- the array is not indexed.

You can use the function Object.keys(object) to get an array of the keys of an object. Very good documentation for this function can be found at MDN.
You also seem to have two different but related questions.
Your topic asks how to get a random element from an object. For that,
var randomProperty = function (object) {
var keys = Object.keys(object);
return object[keys[Math.floor(keys.length * Math.random())]];
};
But you also ask in the body of your question how to shuffle the array. For that, you'll want a shuffle function of some sort (most probably an implementation of Fischer-Yates), and do that directly.
var objectKeysShuffled = function (object) {
return shuffle(Object.keys(object));
};

This is the function I made to play a random background song from a hash of audio elements.
this.bgm = {} //I later added audio elements to this
this.playRandomBGM = function()
{
var keys = Object.keys(this.bgm);
self.currentBGM = keys[Math.floor(keys.length * Math.random())];
console.log("Playing random BGM: " + self.currentBGM);
self.bgm[self.currentBGM].play();
}

function fetchRandom(arr) {
var ret,
i = 0;
for (var key in arr){
if (Math.random() < 1/++i){
ret = key;
}
}
return ret;
}
var randomSong = foo[fetchRandom(foo)];
You should use an object for this. Then use an indexed array of objects for randomization, but this should answer your question.

An inefficient method is:
function randomProperty(obj) {
var a = [];
for (var p in obj) {
if (obj.hasOwnProperty(p)) {
a.push(p);
}
}
return a.length? obj[ a[a.length * Math.random() | 0]] : void 0;
}
As others have said, much more efficient store the property name array and re-use it than to make it each time.

You could try something like this:
var obj = {
'song1': 'http://...1',
'song2': 'http://...2',
'song3': 'http://...3',
'song4': 'http://...4',
'song5': 'http://...5',
'song6': 'http://...6',
}, tempArr = [], len, rand, song;
for ( var key in obj )
if ( obj.hasOwnProperty(key) )
tempArr.push( obj[key] );
len = tempArr.length;
rand = Math.floor( Math.random() * len );
song = tempArr[rand];
document.write(song);
Note that this is really just a hacky way of skirting around the fact that this stuff should probably be in an array with a structure like this:
var songs = [
{title: 'Song1', url: 'http://...1.mp3'},
{title: 'Song2', url: 'http://...2.mp3'},
{title: 'Song3', url: 'http://...3.mp3'}
];

Related

How to write a function, which creates an array of objects of certain length? Object has custom generated data

I have an object with randomly generated data:
var obj = {
price: getRandomNumberRange(10, 200),
rooms: getRandomNumberRange(1, 5)
};
where
var getRandomNumberRange = function (min, max) {
return Math.floor(Math.random() * (max - min) + min);
};
I keep trying and failing to write a function, which will allow to create an array of 4 objects, so each objects' data will be regenerated at the time of creation. My function:
var createArr = function () {
var arr = [];
for (var i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
arr.push(obj);
}
return arr;
};
In other words I expect to get this kind of array:
var arr = [{price:40, rooms:2}, {price:23, rooms:4}, {price:99, rooms:2}, {price:191, rooms:3}];
But I keep getting this:
var arr = [{price:40, rooms:2}, {price:40, rooms:2}, {price:40, rooms:2}, {price:40, rooms:2}];
Will appreciate your help!
UPD. Thanks to everyone who suggested more complex way to solve my problem. As soon as I progress in JS I will recheck this thread again!
It looks like you reuse the object for pushing over and over and because of the same object, it pushes the same object reference with the latest values.
To overcome this, you need to create a new object for each loop and assign the random values with short hand properties.
// inside the loop
let price = getRandomNumberRange(10, 200),
rooms = getRandomNumberRange(1, 5);
array.push({ price, rooms }); // short hand properties

Getting value from json/javascript array of name/value pairs?

I have a JSON array of name/value pairs and I'm looking at a sensible way to be able to adjust the value for a particular name in the array. e.g.
var myArr = [{"name":"start","value":1},{"name":"end","value":15},{"name":"counter","value":"6"},{"name":"user","value":"Bert"}]
I can use
$.each(myArr, function (key, pair) {
if (pair.name == 'user')
{
pair.value = 'bob';
}
});
but in reality my object has tens of values and I would like to be able to change them much more simply than adding an if for each one.
Ideally myArr['user'].value = 'bob'; or something similar.
You have an array of objects in an array. An array does not have any indexing method that gives you direct lookup like you asked for;
myArr['user'].value = 'bob';
To get that, you would need to restructure your data so that you had an object where the name was the main key and inside that key was another object with the rest of your data for that user like this:
var myData = {
"start": {value: 1},
"end": {value: 15},
"user": {value: Bert}
};
The, you could directly access by name as in:
myData['user'].value = 'bob;
If you wanted to stick with your existing data structure, then the simplest thing I can think of is to make a simple function that finds the right object:
function findUser(data, nameToFind) {
var item;
for (var i = 0; i < myArr.length; i++) {
item = nameToFind[i];
if (item.name === nameToFind) {
return item;
}
}
}
var myArr = [{"name":"start","value":1},{"name":"end","value":15},{"name":"counter","value":"6"},{"name":"user","value":"Bert"}]
Then, you could do something like this:
findUser(myArr, "user").value = "bob";
This assumes you're only looking for data that is in the array because otherwise, this will create an error unless you add error checking to it.
If you just really want to turn the whole thing into a function that finds and changes the name, it can be like this:
function changeUser(data, nameToFind, newName) {
var item;
for (var i = 0; i < myArr.length; i++) {
item = nameToFind[i];
if (item.name === nameToFind) {
item.name = newName;
return;
}
}
}
I will award the points for the best answer, but I actually solved it a completely different way:
First build up a list of "names" in the order they appear:
var keys = [];
$.each(myArr, function (key, pair) {
keys.push(pair.name);
});
then I can use:
myArr[keys.indexOf('sEcho')].value = 'whatever';
Try This
$.grep(myArr,function(e){return e.name=="user"})[0].value="ppp"
You can use the $.greb() of jquery.
Add this function:
function SetArrayValue(arr, key, value, stopOnFirstMatch) {
for (var i=0; i<arr.length; i++) {
if (arr[i].name === key) {
arr[i].value = value
if (stopOnFirstMatch !== undefined && stopOnFirstMatch) return
}
}
}
Then use it this way:
SetArrayValue(myArr, 'user', 'bob')

Manipulation of Javascript objects

I have an object in my javascript which looks like this:
{"data":[{"t":{
"level":"35",
"longtitude":"121.050321666667",
"latitude":"14.6215366666667",
"color":"#040098"}},
{"t":{
"level":"31",
"longtitude":"121.050316666667",
"latitude":"14.621545",
"color":"#040098"}},
{"t":{
"level":"29",
"longtitude":"121.050323333333",
"latitude":"14.62153",
"color":"#040098"}},
// .....
What I would like to do is to iterate thru the contents of my object so that I will be able to push them to their respective arrays independently.
I have an array for longitude, latitude, color and level.
So I have tried the following:
var size = 0, key;
for (key in result) {
if (result.hasOwnProperty(key)) size++;
alert(result.data[size]);
}
-->But this only alerts me "[object Object]"
success: function(result){
var size = 0, key;
for (key in result) {
for(var attr in key){
alert(attr['latitude']);
}
}
}
-->This gives me Undefined result[key]
I have checked that the size of my object is only 1 thru these codes
var size = 0, key;
for (key in result) {
if (result.hasOwnProperty(key)) size++;
}
alert(size);
I believe that only "data" is being read. And others that are inside "data" are disregarded.
I have read this, this, enter link description here, and this but they sall seem to deal with a different structure of objects. Thanks for the help in advanced.
UPDATE
Using the console.log(), I have confirmed, if im not mistaken that only the first attribute is being fetched
t
Object { level="35", longtitude="121.0508", latitude="14.6204083333333", more...}
color "#040098"
latitude "14.6204083333333"
level "35"
longtitude "121.0508"
I tried this
for (key in result) {
if (result.hasOwnProperty(key)) size++;
console.log(result.data[size]['level']);
}
--> but it says undefined
based on the structure of my object which is
data:[{"t":{'others'},'others'...]
How am I to read everything inside "data"? Each "data" has "t".
Update: Using the for...in construct for iterating over arrays isn't recommended. The alternative is a regular for loop (each method of course having their respective advantages):
for(var i=0; i<results.data.length; i++){
alert(results.data[i]['t']['latitude']);
// etc...
}
Be careful with the structure of your JSON. Also note that the javascript foreach loop iterates over keys/indices -- not values. See demo: http://jsfiddle.net/g76tN/
success: function(result){
var latitudes = [];
// and so on...
for (var idx in result.data ) {
if( result.data.hasOwnProperty(idx) ){
alert( result.data[idx]['t']['latitude'] );
// So you would do something like this:
latitudes.push ( result.data[idx]['t']['latitude'] );
// and so on...
}
}
}​
Note for collecting properties of objects in an array, jQuery $.map() -- or native js array map for that matter -- is a neat, useful alternative.
var latitudes = $.map( result.data, function(n){
return n['t']['latitude'];
});
// and so on...
Assuming result is your object, this should just be a matter of iterating over your data array:
for (var i = 0; i < result.data.length; ++i) {
console.log(result.data[i].t.latitude);
...
}
It's not hard to do, as shown below. But why would you want to take useful objects like your t's and turn them into such arrays?
var levels = [], longitudes= [], latitudes = [], colors = [];
var result = {"data":[{"t":{
"level":"35",
"longtitude":"121.050321666667",
"latitude":"14.6215366666667",
"color":"#040098"}},
{"t":{
"level":"31",
"longtitude":"121.050316666667",
"latitude":"14.621545",
"color":"#040098"}},
{"t":{
"level":"29",
"longtitude":"121.050323333333",
"latitude":"14.62153",
"color":"#040098"}}
]};
var data = result.data;
var i, len, t;
for (i = 0, len = data.length; i < len; i++) {
t = data[length].t;
levels[i] = t.level;
longitudes[i] = t.longtitude;
latitudes[i] = t.latitude;
colors[i] = t.color;
}
See http://jsfiddle.net/VGmee/, which keeps the hasOWnProperty (which is important), and your misspelling of "longitude", which is not.
var data = input.data,
result = {level: [], longtitude: [], latitude: [], color: []};
for (var i = 0, n = data.length; i < n; i += 1) {
var info = data[i].t;
for (var property in info) {
if (info.hasOwnProperty(property)) {
result[property].push(info[property]);
}
}
}
console.log(result.level);
console.log(result.latitude);
console.log(result.longtitude);
console.log(result.color);
This requires the result arrays to actually have the properties in your input array, but you can add error handling as desired.

How to "clean" an array in javascript?

I am stuck here. How can I clean this array:
{"data":[{"id":"5201521d42"},{"id":"52049e2591"},{"id":"52951699w4"}]}
So that it looks like:
["5201521d42","52049e2591","52951699w4"]
I am using Javascript.
You just need to iterate over the existing data array and pull out each id value and put it into a new "clean" array like this:
var raw = {"data":[{"":"5201521d42"},{"id":"52049e2591"},{"id":"52951699w4"}]};
var clean = [];
for (var i = 0, len = raw.data.length; i < len; i++) {
clean.push(raw.data[i].id);
}
Overwriting the same object
var o = {"data":[{"id":"5201521d42"},{"id":"52049e2591"},{"id":"52951699w4"}]};
for (var i = o.data.length; i--; ){
o.data[i] = o.data[i].id;
}
What you're doing is replacing the existing object with the value of its id property.
If you can use ES5 and performance is not critical, i would recommend this:
Edit:
Looking at this jsperf testcase, map vs manual for is about 7-10 times slower, which actually isn't that much considering that this is already in the area of millions of operations per second. So under the paradigma of avoiding prematurely optimizations, this is a lot cleaner and the way forward.
var dump = {"data":[{"id":"5201521d42"},{"id":"52049e2591"},{"id":"52951699w4"}]};
var ids = dump.data.map(function (v) { return v.id; });
Otherwise:
var data = dump.data;
var ids = [];
for (var i = 0; i < data.length; i++) {
ids.push(data[i].id);
}
Do something like:
var cleanedArray = [];
for(var i=0; i<data.length; i++) {
cleanedArray.push(data[i].id);
}
data = cleanedArray;
Take a look at this fiddle. I think this is what you're looking for
oldObj={"data":[{"":"5201521d42"},{"id":"52049e2591"},{"id":"52951699w4"}]};
oldObj = oldObj.data;
myArray = [];
for (var key in oldObj) {
var obj = oldObj[key];
for (var prop in obj) {
myArray.push(obj[prop]);
}
}
console.log(myArray)
Use Array.prototype.map there is fallback code defined in this documentation page that will define the function if your user's browser is missing it.
var data = {"data":[{"":"5201521d42"},{"id":"52049e2591"},{"id":"52951699w4"}]};
var clean_array = [];
for( var i in data.data )
{
for( var j in data.data[i] )
{
clean_array.push( data.data[i][j] )
}
}
console.log( clean_array );
You are actually reducing dimension. or you may say you are extracting a single dimension from the qube. you may even say selecting a column from an array of objects. But the term clean doesn't match with your problem.
var list = [];
var raw = {"data":[{"id":"5201521d42"},{"id":"52049e2591"},{"id":"52951699w4"}]};
for(var i=0; i < raw.data.length ; ++i){
list.push(raw.data[i].id);
}
Use the map function on your Array:
data.map(function(item) { return item.id; });
This will return:
["5201521d42", "52049e2591", "52951699w4"]
What is map? It's a method that creates a new array using the results of the provided function. Read all about it: map - MDN Docs
The simplest way to clean any ARRAY in javascript
its using a loop for over the data or manually, like this:
let data = {"data":[{"id":"5201521d42"},{"id":"52049e2591"},
{"id":"52951699w4"}]};
let n = [data.data[0].id,data.data[1].id, data.data[2].id];
console.log(n)
output:
(3) ["5201521d42", "52049e2591", "52951699w4"]
Easy and a clean way to do this.
oldArr = {"data":[{"id":"5201521d42"},{"id":"52049e2591"},{"id":"52951699w4"}]}
oldArr = oldArr["data"].map(element => element.id)
Output: ['5201521d42', '52049e2591', '52951699w4']

javascript removing items from array

I have "scene" with graphics "objects"...
Scene.prototype.objects=new Array();
Scene.prototype.add=function(obj){
var last=this.objects.length;
this.objects[last]=obj}
Scene.prototype.remove=function(obj){
this.objects.splice(obj.id,1)}
Scene.prototype.advance=function(){
for (var id in this.objects){
var obj=this.objects[id];
obj.id=id;
obj.advance();
}
}
Scene.prototype.paint=function(context){...}
each time creating and deleting many objects. Array.prototype.splice re-index array right? Does anyone know a better technique (adding and removing on javascript Array)?
In my opinion, is another possibility to do that something like
Scene.prototype.remove=function(obj){
delete this.objects[obj.id]; // don,t care about this.objects.length
delete obj; // not necessary...
}
I have not tried it yet...
I need a good book about JavaScript :)
Your delete method wouldn't work, because objects is an Array, and obj.id is the id of the object reference stored in an element in that Array. splice would be the method to use, but you'll have to know the index of the element in the Array. Maybe you should 'remeber' it this way:
Scene.prototype.add=function(obj){
var last=this.objects.length;
obj.objectsIndex = last;
this.objects[last]=obj
}
After which you can:
Scene.prototype.remove=function(obj){
this.objects.splice(obj.objectsIndex,1)};
//reindex the objects within the objects Array
for (var i=0; i<this.objects.length;i++){
this.objects[i].objectsIndex = i;
}
}
Note: Adding the objects Array to the prototype of your Scene constructor means it will be the same for all instances (static), is that what you want?
It seems you don't actually need an array for your objects. You can use another object has hash table:
(function() {
var i = 0;
Scene.prototype.objects = {};
Scene.prototype.add = function(obj) {
var id = i++;
this.objects[id] = obj;
obj.id = id;
};
Scene.prototype.remove = function(obj){
if(obj.id in this.objects) {
delete this.objects[obj.id];
}
};
Scene.prototype.advance=function(){
for (var id in this.objects){
var obj=this.objects[id];
obj.id=id;
obj.advance();
}
};
Scene.prototype.paint=function(context){...}
}());
I'd rather avoid using new Array() instead use [] (page 114 of book I mentioned in comment - 'JavaScript: The Good Parts' by Douglas Crockford ;)).
What's more, I don't think adding objects array to Scene prototype will work as you expect. You probably want to achieve some Object-Oriented structure, which requires some acrobatic skills in JavaScript, as it uses prototypal inheritance as it is class-free.
Try something like this:
var Scene = function(initial_objects) {
this.objects = initial_objects || [];
};
Scene.prototype.add = function(obj) {
this.objects.push(obj);
};
Scene.prototype.remove_by_index = function(index) {
this.objects.splice(index, 1);
};
Scene.prototype.remove = function(obj) {
var index = this.objects.indexOf(obj);
if (index > -1) {
this.objects.splice(index, 1);
}
};
Read also this: http://javascript.crockford.com/inheritance.html

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