Passing object in javascript function - javascript

Say I already have many objects, like obj1, obj2, .....obj30.....
Now I am trying to write a function like this:
function blar(N){
do something to objN
}
blar('4');
So far it seems that the only way to do it is
function blar(thisObj){
do something to thisObj
}
blar(obj4);
I wonder what is the right way to pass the N such that the function can use that N value to process objN.
Hope I make myself clear.
PS: I even try something like blar(obj+N) but apparently it's wrong too, as the system tries to find obj, which doesn't exist.

Use square bracket notation.
window['obj' + N];
This depends on them dangling off the window object and not being nicely scoped though.
… but if you have a bunch of objects, which are identified by being the same except for a number, then you should probably be storing them in an array in the first place. Then you would just:
myArray[N];

Use eval:
function blar(N) {
var obj = eval("obj"+N);
}
Or, if you can put those objects into an object, you can use []
function blar(N) {
var obj = tracker["obj" + N];
}

It's pretty simple:
function blar(objectNo) {
var obj = eval('obj' + objectNo);
alert(obj);
}
To give you some keywords for talking with others about this: what you want to do is to access an object by its name, in the current scope.
But note that the following doesn't work:
function main() {
var a = 1, b = 2, c = 3;
blar('a'); // doesn't work
doSomething(eval('a')); // works
}
This is because the variable a is only visible in the main function, but not in blar. That is, the eval must be called in a scope where the variable is visible.

Related

JavaScript - How to modify 'variable' inside function so that it does not revert to original value after function termination?

I have a script like this:
function changeValue(x){
x = 30;
}
let a = 3;
changeValue(a);
console.log(a);
The above code outputs 3, but the expected output is 30. Now I'm aware why this is happening, but how do I modify my code so that the changes made do not revert after the changeValue function ends?
I have read that there are no explicit pointers in JS and I don't want to alter the value using the global variable name or by using the object approach. Is there any other way to solve the problem?
Thank you
The best way would be to use return, because x isn't an object, it's just a variable. It is discarded after the function.
Using Return:
function changeValue(x){
return 30;
}
let a = changeValue(3);
changeValue(a);
console.log("Output Is:", a);
In JavaScript, all primitive types (integers, floats, etc) are passed by value, so as other people said, for your specific use case, it's better to return the value like this:
function returnValue(x) {
return x * 10
}
let a = 3;
a = returnValue(a);
console.log(a);
However, if you really want to change the argument and NOT return, you need to do it with pass by reference. As I said above, it's not possible with primitive data types but is possible with objects:
function changeValue(x) {
x.value = x.value * 10;
}
let a = { value: 3 };
changeValue(a);
console.log(a.value);

Trying to pass a name of some existing variable in order to read it's value [duplicate]

I used C++ before and I realized that pointers were very helpful. Is there anything in javascript that acts like a pointer? Does javascript have pointers? I like to use pointers when I want to use something like:
var a = 1;
var b = "a";
document.getElementById(/* value pointed by b */).innerHTML="Pointers";
I know that this is an extremely simple example and I could just use a, but there are several more complex examples where I would find pointers very useful. Any ideas?
No, JS doesn't have pointers.
Objects are passed around by passing a copy of a reference. The programmer cannot access any C-like "value" representing the address of an object.
Within a function, one may change the contents of a passed object via that reference, but you cannot modify the reference that the caller had because your reference is only a copy:
var foo = {'bar': 1};
function tryToMungeReference(obj) {
obj = {'bar': 2}; // won't change caller's object
}
function mungeContents(obj) {
obj.bar = 2; // changes _contents_ of caller's object
}
tryToMungeReference(foo);
foo.bar === 1; // true - foo still references original object
mungeContents(foo);
foo.bar === 2; // true - object referenced by foo has been modified
You bet there are pointers in JavaScript; objects are pointers.
//this will make object1 point to the memory location that object2 is pointing at
object1 = object2;
//this will make object2 point to the memory location that object1 is pointing at
function myfunc(object2){}
myfunc(object1);
If a memory location is no longer pointed at, the data there will be lost.
Unlike in C, you can't see the actual address of the pointer nor the actual value of the pointer, you can only dereference it (get the value at the address it points to.)
I just did a bizarre thing that works out, too.
Instead of passing a pointer, pass a function that fills its argument into the target variable.
var myTarget;
class dial{
constructor(target){
this.target = target;
this.target(99);
}
}
var myDial = new dial((v)=>{myTarget = v;});
This may look a little wicked, but works just fine. In this example I created a generic dial, which can be assigned any target in form of this little function "(v)=>{target = v}". No idea how well it would do in terms of performance, but it acts beautifully.
due to the nature of JS that passes objects by value (if referenced object is changed completely) or by reference (if field of the referenced object is changed) it is not possible to completely replace a referenced object.
However, let's use what is available: replacing single fields of referenced objects. By doing that, the following function allows to achieve what you are asking for:
function replaceReferencedObj(refObj, newObj) {
let keysR = Object.keys(refObj);
let keysN = Object.keys(newObj);
for (let i = 0; i < keysR.length; i++) {
delete refObj[keysR[i]];
}
for (let i = 0; i < keysN.length; i++) {
refObj[keysN[i]] = newObj[keysN[i]];
}
}
For the example given by user3015682 you would use this function as following:
replaceReferencedObj(foo, {'bar': 2})
Assigning by reference and arrays.
let pizza = [4,4,4];
let kebab = pizza; // both variables are references to shared value
kebab.push(4);
console.log(kebab); //[4,4,4,4]
console.log(pizza); //[4,4,4,4]
Since original value isn't modified no new reference is created.
kebab = [6,6,6,6]; // value is reassigned
console.log(kebab); //[6,6,6,6]
console.log(pizza); //[4,4,4,4]
When the compound value in a variable is reassigned, a new reference is created.
Technically JS doesn't have pointers, but I discovered a way to imitate their behavior ;)
var car = {
make: 'Tesla',
nav: {
lat: undefined,
lng: undefined
}
};
var coords: {
center: {
get lat() { return car.nav.lat; }, // pointer LOL
get lng() { return car.nav.lng; } // pointer LOL
}
};
car.nav.lat = 555;
car.nav.lng = 777;
console.log('*** coords: ', coords.center.lat); // 555
console.log('*** coords: ', coords.center.lng); // 777

JavaScript Function arguments

I am trying to create a function that deserialises a JSON object and creates some functions, but I want to be able to specify a variable set of arguments.
For example, in JSON I want to specify something like:
{
"handler" :
{
"args" : ["evt","value"],
"content" : "console.log(value);"
}
}
And when I parse the object, I will do something like:
var myFunction = new Function(handler.args,handler.content);
But the challenge is that each argument is supposed to be a n strings followed by the content of the function as the last argument. Is there any easy way of specifying n number of arguments in a new Function()?
To solve the technically issue: You can use apply [docs].
handler.args.push(handler.content);
var myFunction = Function.apply(null, handler.args);
However the question is why you are doing something like this? What is the context? Spontaneously I would say you should consider another solution for whatever problem you are trying to solve ;)
According to MDN
Parameters
arg1, arg2, ... argN
Names to be used by the function as formal argument names. Each must be
a string that corresponds to a valid
JavaScript identifier or a list of
such strings separated with a comma;
for example "x", "theValue", or "a,b".
So the arguments list can either be one or more strings seperated by commas, or just one string with each identifier in it seperated by commas.
Also since
['evt', 'value'].toString() == 'evt,value'
Simply passing your handler.args array as the first argument to the new Function constructor should work exactly as you want it to
new Function(handler.args, handler.content);
Internally, new Function casts every argument to a string if it is not already one. So conceivably something like this would also work
new Function({ toString: function() { return 'a,b,c' } }, 'return a+b+c');
Not that I'm suggesting you do anything silly like that.
This works in every browser I've tried including IE
I think the simplest route would be to combine the 2 properties. Then use apply to construct the function.
var x = {
"handler" :
{
"constructorArgs" : [
"evt",
"value",
"alert(value);"
]
}
};
var f = Function.apply(undefined, x.handler.constructorArgs);
f(1, 2);
To keep it similar you can use Array.prototype.concat.
var x = {
"handler" :
{
args: [ "evt", "value" ],
content : "alert(value);"
}
};
var f = Function.apply(undefined, x.handler.args.concat(x.handler.content));
f(1, 2);
Can;t you just make the body of your functions work with the arguments property?
http://jsfiddle.net/9XcEb/
var add = new Function(
"var total=0;"+
"for (var i=0; i < arguments.length; i++) {"+
"total+=arguments[i]"+
"};"+
" return total"
);
alert(add(3,4,5,6));

Accessing array elements from the array name received as a String in Javascript?

I have a function that receives an array of Strings. These are the names of variables I'm supposed to concat together.
Something like:
function createArray(varNames){
varNames.each( function(varName){
someArray = someArray.concat(varName.items);
});
}
createArray(["array1", "array2"]);
I don't know how to take a string and select the variable named after it. Any way of doing this in Javascript?
Depends of the scope where the variable was defined. If it was defined in the global scope (inside a browser) you could access it via the window object.
For example:
var arr1 = [1,2,3,4,5];
window['arr1']; // 1,2,3,4,5
try window[varName] - drop the .items
for example
function createArray(varNames,theScope){
theScope = theScope || window;
varNames.each( function(varName){
someArray = someArray.concat(theScope[varName]);
});
}
createArray(["array1", "array2"]);
if you have
var array1=[...];
var array2=[...];
or
createArray(["array1", "array2"],myScope);
if you have
var myScope = {
"array1":[...],
"array2":[...],
}
You can pass variables in an array rather than passing a string.

Determine original name of variable after its passed to a function

I've got a feeling this might not be possible, but I would like to determine the original variable name of a variable which has been passed to a function in javascript. I don't know how to explain it any better than that, so see if this example makes sense.
function getVariableName(unknownVariable){
return unknownVariable.originalName;
}
getVariableName(foo); //returns string "foo";
getVariableName(bar); //returns string "bar";
This is for a jquery plugin i'm working on, and i would like to be able to display the name of the variable which is passed to a "debug" function.
You're right, this is very much impossible in any sane way, since only the value gets passed into the function.
This is now somehow possible thanks to ES6:
function getVariableName(unknownVariableInAHash){
return Object.keys(unknownVariableInAHash)[0]
}
const foo = 42
const bar = 'baz'
console.log(getVariableName({foo})) //returns string "foo"
console.log(getVariableName({bar})) //returns string "bar"
The only (small) catch is that you have to wrap your unknown variable between {}, which is no big deal.
As you want debugging (show name of var and value of var),
I've been looking for it too, and just want to share my finding.
It is not by retrieving the name of the var from the var but the other way around : retrieve the value of the var from the name (as string) of the var.
It is possible to do it without eval, and with very simple code, at the condition you pass your var into the function with quotes around it, and you declare the variable globally :
foo = 'bar';
debug('foo');
function debug(Variable) {
var Value = this[Variable]; // in that occurrence, it is equivalent to
// this['foo'] which is the syntax to call the global variable foo
console.log(Variable + " is " + Value); // print "foo is bar"
}
Well, all the global variables are properties of global object (this or window), aren't they?
So when I wanted to find out the name of my variables, I made following function:
var getName = function(variable) {
for (var prop in window) {
if (variable === window[prop]) {
return prop;
}
}
}
var helloWorld = "Hello World!";
console.log(getName(helloWorld)); // "helloWorld"
Sometimes doesn't work, for example, if 2 strings are created without new operator and have the same value.
Global w/string method
Here is a technique that you can use to keep the name and the value of the variable.
// Set up a global variable called g
var g = {};
// All other variables should be defined as properties of this global object
g.foo = 'hello';
g.bar = 'world';
// Setup function
function doStuff(str) {
if (str in g) {
var name = str;
var value = g[str];
// Do stuff with the variable name and the variable value here
// For this example, simply print to console
console.log(name, value);
} else {
console.error('Oh snap! That variable does not exist!');
}
}
// Call the function
doStuff('foo'); // log: foo hello
doStuff('bar'); // log: bar world
doStuff('fakeVariable'); // error: Oh snap! That variable does not exist!
This is effectively creating a dictionary that maps variable names to their value. This probably won't work for your existing code without refactoring every variable. But using this style, you can achieve a solution for this type of problem.
ES6 object method
In ES6/ES2015, you are able to initialize an object with name and value which can almost achieve what you are trying to do.
function getVariableName(unknownVariable) {
return Object.keys(unknownVariable)[0];
}
var foo = 'hello';
var output = getVariableName({ foo }); // Note the curly brackets
console.log(output);
This works because you created a new object with key foo and value the same as the variable foo, in this case hello. Then our helper method gets the first key as a string.
Credit goes to this tweet.
Converting a set of unique variable into one JSON object for which I wrote this function
function makeJSON(){ //Pass the variable names as string parameters [not by reference]
ret={};
for(i=0; i<arguments.length; i++){
eval("ret."+arguments[i]+"="+arguments[i]);
}
return ret;
}
Example:
a=b=c=3;
console.log(makeJSON('a','b','c'));
Perhaps this is the reason for this query
I think you can use
getVariableName({foo});
Use a 2D reference array with .filter()
Note: I now feel that #Offermo's answer above is the best one to use. Leaving up my answer for reference, though I mostly wouldn't recommend using it.
Here is what I came up with independently, which requires explicit declaration of variable names and only works with unique values. (But will work if those two conditions are met.)
// Initialize some variables
let var1 = "stick"
let var2 = "goo"
let var3 = "hello"
let var4 = "asdf"
// Create a 2D array of variable names
const varNames = [
[var1, "var1"],
[var2, "var2"],
[var3, "var3"]
]
// Return either name of variable or `undefined` if no match
const getName = v => varNames.filter(name => name[0] === v).length
? varNames.filter(name => name[0] === v)[0][1]
: undefined
// Use `getName` with OP's original function
function getVariableName(unknownVariable){
return getName(unknownVariable)
}
This is my take for logging the name of an input and its value at the same time:
function logVariableAndName(unknownVariable) {
const variableName = Object.keys(unknownVariable)[0];
const value = unknownVariable[variableName];
console.log(variableName);
console.log(value);
}
Then you can use it like logVariableAndName({ someVariable })

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