Convert variable name to string in Javascript? - javascript

I've seen a few other posts about this on Stack Overflow, but the answer always seems to be to create an object with key / value pairs. This doesn't seem to be what I need in my current situation. What I'm wanting to do: I have different arrays which could possibly contain a username. I want to check each array and see if the username is present as a value in them. If it is, I'd like a string representation of a name of the array variable. Example:
var array = ['apple', 'orange', 'grape'];
var array2 = ['apple', 'pear', 'plumb']
member_arrays = new Array();
// I'd like this block to be dynamic in that i don't have to specify the array name
// in the inArray or member_arrays[member_arrays.length+1] (just loop through my arrays
// and add a string representation of the array name to the member_arrays array)
if ($.inArray( 'apple', array ) != -1)
member_arrays[member_arrays.length] = 'array';
if ($.inArray( 'apple', array2) != -1)
member_arrays[member_arrays.length] = 'array2';
// etc...

You cannot do that in JavaScript. That's why people suggest using an object and keeping your "variables" as properties in the object.
By the way, when you're appending to an array, you want just the length, not length + 1:
member_arrays[member_arrays.length] = 'array';
Arrays are zero-based, so the "next" slot is always the "length" value.
edit — well, there is a case where you can do that: when your variables are global. Any global variable named "x" can also be referred to as a property of "window" (for code in a web browser):
var x = 3;
alert(window['x']); // alerts "3"
Please avoid global variables for this purpose :-)

I'm not sure why you'd want to do things this way, but putting that aside, here's an approach that approximates what you seem to be looking for. It does use an object, as others have recommended, but you end up with the "answer array" containing the names of the candidate arrays passing the test.
You do use jQuery in your sample, so I've done so as well. But you can also use the plain JavaScript .indexOf() the same way.
var candidates = {
'array' : ['apple', 'orange', 'grape'],
'array2' : ['apple', 'pear', 'plumb']
};
var member_arrays = [];
for( var test in candidates ){
if( $.inArray( 'apple', candidates[test] ) !== -1 ){ // could use .indexOf()
member_arrays.push( test ); // use push; no need to specify an index
}
}
console.log( member_arrays ); // -> ["array","array2"]

Related

How can i understand this topic better, to be a better Programmer

i have a Question. I was thinking long Time about it, but poorly i don´t find a answer.
I know the every method.
My Question is about this code section:
var tr = order.every((i) => stock[i[0]] >= i[1]);
My Questions are:
stock is an Object. Why i must write as an array?
Why it is i[0] in stock and then i[1] ?
Why this code checks the nested Arrays in const order ?
const order = [
["shirt", 5],
["shoes", 2]
];
const stock = {
shirt: 50,
height: 172,
mass: 120,
shoes: 6
};
var tr = order.every((i) => stock[i[0]] >= i[1]); /// return true
console.log(`tr:`,tr)
So, the square brackets can be used to access element inside the array by passing it's index e.g:
const arr = ["first", "second"];
const secondElement = arr[1] // index 1 means seconds element
and also square brackets can be used to access element inside the object by passing it's key e.g:
const obj = { first: 1, second: 2 };
const secondElement = object.second // Normal way to access value in object
const secondElementWithAnotherSyntax = object['second'] // another syntax, same thing
the cool thing about the other syntax shown is that you can pass variable to it, e.g :
const objKey = 'second'
const secondElement = obj[objKey]
Now let's look at your example, i is one element of the array order, which carries arrays itself, so i is also one of the two small arrays, i[0] is the string word in the beginning of the small arrays, so:
i[0] // is either 'shirt' or 'shoes'
and since stocks is an object that has those keys, you can access for example the value 50 by saying stocks['shirt'] or as in your case, stock[i[0]] ;)
now your second question: why should it be >= i[1] ?
because the order second item , aka i[1] is the number of items required/ordered, so this should always be less that your stock, you can't by 5 shirts from a place that has only 3 in the stock :)
1. stock is an Object. Why i must write as an array?
You can access properties of objects using brackets [].
Why do we need this?
To be able to access properties of objects dynamically, e.g. when you are looping though keys and want to get the values
Object.keys(data).forEach(function(key) {
console.log('Key : ' + key + ', Value : ' + data[key])
})
Sometimes there is no other way to access the value:
const json = {
"id":"1",
"some key with spaces": "48593"
};
console.log(json.some key with spaces); // obviously throws error
console.log(json['some key with spaces']); // prints "48593"
2. Why it is i[0] in stock and then i[1] ?
3. Why this code checks the nested Arrays in const order ?
The code goes through the orders, each order is an array so i[0] is the type of the order and i[1] is the quantity. the code checks if there are enough items in stock. To check if there are enough shirts you would do:
console.log(stock["shirts"] >= 5
Thats what the code in your example does, it just passes the key ("shirts") and quantity (5) dynamically.
May I suggest to try to use more expressive naming of the variables ?
An object property can be accessed through bracket notation, as in stock[orderedProductName] when using a variable - Property accessors
A concise but imho more readable version can be written using destructuring assignment
const order = [
["shirt", 5],
["shoes", 2]
];
const stock = {
shirt: 50,
height: 172,
mass: 120,
shoes: 6,
};
// original version
let inStock = order.every((i) => stock[i[0]] >= i[1]); /// return true
// more verbose version
// check if every item in array order satisfies the condition
// let's cycle over the array calling the element we're working on
// orderItem
inStock = order.every( orderItem => {
const orderedProductName = orderItem[0];
const orderedProductQuantity = orderItem[1];
// to access an object property we can use bracket notation
const stockProductQuantity = stock[orderedProductName];
// the condition to check: do we have enough products in stock ?
return stockProductQuantity >= orderedProductQuantity;
});
// a concise variation could make use of destructuring assignment.
// Here, when we take the order item array, we immediately assign
// each of its elements to the appropriate variable
//
// orderItem[0] or first array element -> productName
// orderItem[1] or second array element -> orderedQuantity
inStock = order.every(([productName, orderedQuantity]) =>
stock[productName] >= orderedQuantity
);
if(inStock) {
console.log('pack and ship');
}
else {
console.log('need to restock');
}
The every() method tests whether all elements in the array pass the test implemented by the provided function. It returns a Boolean value. If you want to read more Array.prototype.every()
In your code snippet you are checking that every item in order array has quantity less than the quantity available in stock.
To access the properties of a object you can use square notation also like arrays. To read more Bracket Notation
If you assigned more meaningful variables to the code you'd probably understand how this works better.
In one order (an array) we have two nested arrays. The first describes shirt/value, the other shoes/value. every is going to see if there is enough stock for both shirt and shoes by checking that the stockValue >= the items in the order.
When you every over the order array the callback for each iteration is one orderItem (['shirt', 5] first, then ['shoes', 2] for the second). We can assign the first element of each array to a variable called itemType, and the second to a variable called itemQty.
So when you see stock[i][0] we can translate that in the new code as stock[orderType] which is using bracket notation to locate the property value associated by that key in the stock object. We then check to see if that value >= than the itemQty.
const order=[["shirt",5],["shoes",2]],stock={shirt:50,height:172,mass:120,shoes:6};
const result = order.every(orderItem => {
const itemType = orderItem[0];
const itemQty = orderItem[1];
return stock[itemType] >= itemQty;
});
console.log(result);

JS Variable pulling other variables into it

I know the heading of this questions seems vague - but it's because I simply don't know how to summarize it appropriately.
I'm working on a project where I enter some text, and it's translated into something else.
There's a fiddle here.
If I enter 4, it translates to the word for.
If I enter b4, it should translate to before.
Instead, it translates to bfor, because it's capturing the variable 4 as a separate variable.
I've tried changing the order, but it doesn't work. Is this a regex problem?
My variables are identified in the JS.
var replaceValues = {
'4' : 'for',
'b4' : 'before'
}
$('.bs-text').keyup(function (event) {
newText = event.target.value;
for (var txt in replaceValues) {
var temp = new RegExp(txt, 'gim');
newText = newText.replace(temp, replaceValues[txt]);
}
$('.human-text').text(newText);
});
As I noted in the comments, JS objects does not have defined order of its keys, so it is not a good idea to count on this when you know the dictionary will get much bigger.
More about this in another SO question: Does JavaScript Guarantee Object Property Order?
Instead, use simple array that will have the order you define. Sorting of this dictionary array can be done in JS too, you do not need to handle this by your own.
var replaceValues = [
{key: '4', value: 'for'},
{key: 'b4', value: 'before'},
];
// sort the values so longer keys go first
replaceValues.sort((a, b) => b.key.length - a.key.length);
$('.bs-text').keyup(function (event) {
var newText = event.target.value;
for (var txt in replaceValues) {
var replacement = replaceValues[txt];
var temp = new RegExp(replacement.key, 'gim');
newText = newText.replace(temp, replacement.value);
}
$('.human-text').text(newText);
});
You could also use ES6 Map, it should have order guarantied. But be aware that it is not enough to create Map from Object:
A Map object iterates its elements in insertion order — a for...of loop returns an array of [key, value] for each iteration.
It should be noted that a Map which is a map of an object, especially a dictionary of dictionaries, will only map to the object's insertion order—which is random and not ordered.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Map#Objects_and_maps_compared
As mentioned in the comments, you have to look for the longest match first. One option is to generate a single regular expression from the search words, ordered by length, and use a callback to get the correct replacement value.
var replaceValues = {
'4': 'for',
'b4': 'before'
};
// generates something equivalent to `/b4|4/gmi`
var pattern = new RegExp(
Object.keys(replaceValues)
.sort((a, b) => b.length - a.length)
.join('|'),
'gmi'
);
var newText = '4 me b4 me';
console.log(newText.replace(pattern, match => replaceValues[match]));
This works because the regex engine matches alternatives from left to right (i.e. if b4 matches it won't try to match 4). Not sure how this solution scales with more searchwords, but it might actually better because you are only matching the string once instead of n times, i.e. the regex engine doesn't have to traverse the whole string multiple times.
The object property has ":" character within property value
$('.bs-text').keyup(function (event) {
var newText = event.target.value;
if (replaceValues[newText]) {
$('.human-text').text(replaceValues[newText])
};
});
jsfiddle http://jsfiddle.net/je89deam/5/

Count the recurrence of a word

I am writing a function called "countWords".
Given a string, "countWords" returns an object where each key is a word in the given string, with its value being how many times that word appeared in th given string.
Notes:
* If given an empty string, it should return an empty object.
function countWords(str) {
var obj = {};
var split = str.split(" ");
return split;
}
var output = countWords('ask a bunch get a bunch');
console.log(output); // --> MUST RETURN {ask: 1, a: 2, bunch: 2, get: 1}
Have any idea?
I wont give you finished code ( thats not the sense of a homework) , but i try to get you to solve the problem on your own.
So far you've already got an array of words.
Next lets declare an object we can assign the properties later.
Then we'll iterate over our array and if the array element doesnt exist in our object as key yet ( if(!obj[array[i]])) well create a new property, with elements name and the value 1.( obj[array[i]=1; )
If the element is a key of that object, lets increase its value.
( obj[array[i]]++;)
Then return the object.
So you could use a javascript Map for this like so:
var myMap = new Map();
myMap.set(keyString, count);
and access the value of the key like so:
myMap.get(keyString);
For more information you can read up here https://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Map

How to remove all undefined keys from a javascript array (hopefully when creating the array?)

I have placed my frustrations into a jsfiddle to observe here: http://jsfiddle.net/8ShFr/1/
var brand_new_array = new Array();
brand_new_array[10] = "random array value";
alert('why does this array have a length of ' + brand_new_array.length + '???');
I am doing some calculations client side that require me to set javascript array keys of 1M+ in number.
Not knowing exactly what that number is demands that I iterate through the first 1M+ empty array values before getting to an array key that holds data.
I simply want to set a single large key value for a javascript array without creating a bunch of empty keys before it?
I am using jQuery.each to iterate over the array, and it keeps going through array[0], array[1], array[2], etc... when I only set array[123125] for example.
Just filter out the undefineds.
brand_new_array = brand_new_array.filter(function(n){return n !== undefined});
The reason for the length being 10 is that an array's length is set to the largest index number in the array. However, this does not mean there are 9 other values in there because in javascript an array is at its base an object.
The length is just a property in the object. Arrays in javascript are at their core objects (Array Object 1). They merely act like arrays through an api.
"Whenever a property is added whose name is an array index, the length property is changed, if necessary, to be one more than the numeric value of that array index" 1
1. ECMAScript Language Specification 15.4 Array Objects
You probably want to just use an object with strings for keys (the keys can be the toString() of Numbers, which will happen automatically if you try to use numbers).
var sparse_array_obj = {};
sparse_array_obj[10003210234] = 4; // Fair dice roll
sparse_array_obj[5] = 17; // Truly random number
sparse_array_obj[900] = Math.random(); // Pseudorandom number
for(var i in sparse_array_obj)
console.log(sparse_array_obj[i]);
The downside is that Javascript provides no guarantees about the iteration order through an object (since its keys are unordered by definition). There are however ways around this, such as:
// Sort the keys in numeric order
var sorted_keys = Object.keys(sparse_array_obj).sort(function(a, b){ return a - b; });
for(var i = 0; i < sorted_keys.length; i++)
console.log(sparse_array_obj[sorted_keys[i]]);
Object.keys needs to be shimmed in older browsers.
var brand_new_array = new Array();
brand_new_array[10] = "random array value";
var result = brand_new_array.filter(function(e) { return e != undefined;})[0];
alert(brand_new_array.indexOf(result));
Travis J is right. The array in your example only contains one entry, but your use of jQuery.each() is making you think there are 10 entries because it iterates from 0 up to the highest index number of the array (defines the length). This is from the jQuery.each() API documentation.
A generic iterator function, which can be used to seamlessly iterate over both objects and arrays. Arrays and array-like objects with a length property (such as a function's arguments object) are iterated by numeric index, from 0 to length-1. Other objects are iterated via their named properties.
Going back to your example:
var brand_new_array = new Array();
brand_new_array[10] = "random array value";
This will result in only one console.log output:
for(var i in brand_new_array)
console.log(brand_new_array[i]);
This will result in 10 console.log outputs:
$(brand_new_array).each( function(i,e) { console.log(e) })
Similarly, this will result in 10 console.log outputs:
for (var i=0;i<brand_new_array.length;i++)
console.log(brand_new_array[i]);
If you really want to stick with using .each() then you can skip the undefined indices like so:
$(brand_new_array).each( function(i,e) {
if (this.hasOwnProperty(i)){ console.log(e) }
})
Filter the falsy items - including undifined:
var a=[1,2,"b",0,{},"",NaN,3,undefined,null,5];
var b=a.filter(Boolean); // [1,2,"b",{},3,5]
The length is 11 because the index starts at 0.
x[0] = undefined
x[1] = undefined
x[2] = undefined
x[3] = undefined
x[4] = undefined
x[5] = undefined
x[6] = undefined
x[7] = undefined
x[8] = undefined
x[9] = undefined
x[10] = "random array value"

Associate Array / Key Pair Array In Javascript arranged in with random order of keys.

Is it possible to have an Associate Array / Key Pair Array arranged in with random order of keys. Whenever, I am adding a new element, javascript is automatically sorting the keys.
For example,
When I'm creating an array as
a[T1001] ="B"
a[T1005] = "A"
a[T1003] ="C"
and later the array list is verified, I'm seeing that the array is automatically ordered as :
a[T1001]
a[T1003]
a[T1005]
Is it possible to retain the same order in which I am assigning the values to the array ?. I cannot use the Push method.. It creates an indexed array with the individual objects added as its values.
Objects in JavaScript (and your "array" is just an object here) have no inherent order of their properties you can rely on.
As a workaround, you could store the order of keys in a separate array:
var order = [];
a['T1001'] = "B";
order.push( 'T1001' );
a['T1005'] = "A";
order.push( 'T1005' );
a['T1003'] = "C";
order.push( 'T1003' );
If you then traverse the order array, you can get your required order:
for( var i=0; i<order.length; i++ ) {
console.log( a[ order[i] ] );
}
EDIT
Removing elements from the first list would require the use of indexOf and splice():
function delElement( arr, order, index ) {
// get the position of the element within the order
var position = order.indexOf( key );
// delete element from list
delete arr[ order[ pos ] ];
// remove from ordering array
order.splice( pos, 1 );
}
Looks to me as if your using an object. The sorting of an object's properties is never guaranteed. I don't think internet explorer (at least the old versions) sorts the properties but chrome does by default.
Your code is invalid, it should have the properties as strings if they are not numbers. And you would have to use an object
a = {};
a["T1001"] ="B"
a["T1005"] = "A"
a["T1003"] ="C"
You can either use two arrays to store your properties and the value if you want to preserve the ordering, or you cannot guarantee the ordering if you insist on using an object.
Two arrays
a1 = []; a2 = []
a1[0] = "T1001"; a2[0] = "B";
a1[1] = "T1005"; a2[1] = "A";
a1[2] = "T1003"; a2[2] = "C";
EDIT: Unless I guessed at what you meant wrong and that T1001, etc are variables containing numbers.

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