javascript - updating global object variables via a function - javascript

Weird problem here, I'm trying to use a global function to update my settings object, example:
var Settings = new Object;
Settings.savepos = 'true';
function UpdateSetting(obj,value){
eval("Settings.obj = value");
alert(Settings.savepos);
}
The obj is the key of the object, meaning if I call the function with
UpdateSetting('savepos','false')
the alert will always just give me true, how do I convert that eval or any alternative so it will update settings object's key with the value?

You are setting Settings.obj, not setting.savepos.
Try this instead:
function UpdateSetting(obj,value){
Settings[obj] = value;
alert(Settings.savepos);
};

You are always changing the "obj" key of the object to equal value, which is likely to be undefined (or, at least, not defined to what you want) in the context eval() executes it in. So, you have two options. First, you can keep using eval() (although i don't recommend it because it's more pain than necessary):
var Settings = new Object;
Settings.savepos = 'true';
function UpdateSetting(obj,value){
eval("Settings."+obj+" = '"+value+"'");
alert(Settings.savepos);
}
Or, as numerous other have suggested, you can use the array operator[] to access the property by key:
var Settings = new Object;
Settings.savepos = 'true';
function UpdateSetting(obj,value){
Settings[obj] = value;
alert(Settings.savepos);
}

you dont need an eval
you're setting .obj, not .savepos (there is no interpolation for the string)
you may be calling it wrong.
I'm not exactly sure why you don't just set the value directly (eg. Settings.savepos=false;).
You can attach the function to that object to do something similar:
var Settings = new Object;
Settings.savepos = true;
Settings.UpdateSetting = function (prop,value){this[prop] = value;}
Settings.UpdateSetting('savepos',false);

You should be able to use array notation on the object. Underneath it's just a keyed hash.
Try:
Settings[obj] = value;
I'd also suggest passing values as they are, i.e. string, int, etc:
UpdateSetting('key_name', false);

Related

Convert var to const javascript

Is it possible to convert a var to a const?
Say in a scenario like this:
var appname = ''
function setAppName(name) {
appname = name // can I convert this to const now?
}
Basically, this is for a parameter level. Parameter needs to be accessible throughout the file and I want to make it const after first assignment. Is this possible?
To add: If there is any other way besides creating an object with to contain this parameter, it would be better (for a more straightforward solution). I will be working on multiple parameters like this and freezing an object will cause the entire object to freeze. I am hoping to do this on the parameter level.
So either change the parameter to become const. OR (this one I dont think is possible) change the scope of the paramter to global:
function setAppName(name) {
const appname = name // can I change the scope and make this global?
}
Thanks.
Put your app name in an object and freeze it.
let appSettings = { name: "" };
function setAppName(name) {
appSettings.name = name;
Object.freeze(appSettings);
}
Freezing prevents adding, removing and modifying the values of the properties in your object so you should call Object.freeze only once after all other settings (if there are more variables you want to make constant) have been set.
You can do this using a object.
const globals = {
appname: ''
}
function setAppName(name) {
globals.appname = name;
Object.freeze(globals)
// After this point, value of appname cannot be modified
}
Thank you for all your inputs.
I was able to find a workaround for what I was trying to achieve.
var appname = ''
function setAppName(name) {
if (appname === '') {
appname = name // can I convert this to const now?
}
}
Although this doesnt convert it to const, I just added a guard on the setter and it will not be able to overwrite the value now (unless otherwise I am going to initialize again to an empty string).
It is not fool-proof, but this will address my need.
Thanks all!

How to convert a string to a Javascript object with a property and a function reference?

I would like to produce a Javascript object which contains a property (onClick example) of type function (myClickHandler example) like this:
var options = {onClick: this.myClickHandler};
I want the object above to be created from a string because the options object can be different every time the app runs and I want it to be evaluated during runtime. (myClickHandler is an existing function). I want the options object created from a string because onClick property can be something else and its function can be something else also. These are determined from the string which is dynamic.
Looking for something like this:
var optionsString = "{onClick: this.myClickHandler}";
var options = JSON.parse(optionsString); //won't work. For illustration only.
This won't work naturally. Ideally, I want to convert the string in one go but I might have to parse it but optionString can contain one or more properties.
Try using eval as :
var myClickHandler = function(){ alert('i am evil'); };
var options = JSON.parse('{ "onClick": "this.myClickHandler" }');
// calling handler now
eval(options.onClick)();
You need some context where the function is bound to, so that you can access the function by key (which can be a string).
let context = {};
context.myclickhandler = () => {
console.log("### It clix ####")
}
let nameOfFunction = "myclickhandler"
let obj = {"onClick" : context[nameOfFunction]};
obj["onClick"]();
In the example the context is just an object , but it could also be the windows object or a instance of a constructor function.

Storing a pointer in javascript

Is it possible to keep an object reference without using an holder object in javascript?
Currently when an object gets overridden I sometimes lose the reference to the "current" object state illustrated in the snippet below;
Is there a way to put a "pointer" in an array or not?
EDIT
To the questions asked:
What I have in the objects I have are references to form fields. Some of these are text fields, some of them are textareas, some of them checkboxes.
I wish to keep a map next to the direct referene of what type they are.
basicaly it would be
obj {
this.text1 = createTextField();
this.text1.datepicker();
this.text2 = createTextField();
this.area1 = createArea();
this.check = createCheck();
this.datefields = [this.text1];
this.checkboxes = [this.check];
}
So I can use the datefields/checkboxes array as a checkpoint to validate against which type a field is/should behave.
Currently I use
function datefields() { return [this.text1]; };
But I'd like to know if there's a better way to do this than to intantiate a new array when I need to check it.
I know there is a way with observers to mimic pointer behaviour, and i've fiddled with those and have some good results with that, i'm just curious if there are other ways i'm not aware of.
function myObject() {
this.myvalue = null;
this.arr = [this.myvalue];
}
myObject.prototype.alter = function() {
this.myvalue = "hello";
}
var x = new myObject();
var elem = document.getElementById('results');
function log(message) {
elem.appendChild(document.createTextNode(message));
elem.appendChild(document.createElement('br'));
}
log("x.myvalue = "+x.myvalue);
log("x.arr[0] = "+x.arr[0]);
log("calling alter");
x.alter();
log("x.myvalue = "+x.myvalue);
log("x.arr[0] = "+x.arr[0]);
<div id="results"></div>
Simple answer: Only objects (including all subtypes) are passed by reference in JS. All other simple values are copied.
For a bit more detail I would recommend reading You Don't Know JS: Types & Grammer but specifically the section Value vs Reference in Chapter 2:
In JavaScript, there are no pointers, and references work a bit differently. You cannot have a reference from one JS variable to another variable. That's just not possible.
Quoting further on:
Simple values (aka scalar primitives) are always assigned/passed by value-copy: null, undefined, string, number, boolean, and ES6's symbol.
Compound values -- objects (including arrays, and all boxed object wrappers -- see Chapter 3) and functions -- always create a copy of the reference on assignment or passing.
There are plenty of examples included to show these points. I would highly recommend reading through to get a better understanding of how values/references work in JS.
There is no pointers in Javascript, though you could cheat a little using a wrapper object. Here is a minimal implementation of such an object:
var Wrapper = function (value) {
this.value = value;
};
Wrapper.prototype.valueOf = function () {
return this.value;
};
Then you may use it in place of the original value:
function myObject() {
this.myvalue = new Wrapper(null); // wrapper
this.arr = [this.myvalue];
}
myObject.prototype.alter = function() {
this.myvalue.value = "hello"; // notice the ".value"
}
The rest of your code needs no tweaks.

Get code of methods while iterating over object

I know in javascript I can iterate over an object to get all of it's properties. If one or more of the properties is a method, is it possible to see what code is in the method instead of just the method name? E.g.
var a = someobject;
for (property in a) {
console.log(property);
}
Is it possible to get method code in a way similar to this? Thank you in advance.
You need to use toString, per the standard. i.e:
//EX:
var a = {method:function(x) { return x; }};
//gets the properties
for (x in a) {
console.log(a[x].toString());
}
You can also use toSource but it is NOT part of the standard.
PS: attempting to reliably iterate through an object with a for : loop is nontrivial and dangerous (for..in only iterates over [[Enumerable]] properties, for one), try to avoid such constructs. I would ask why, exactly, are you doing this?
Yes. It actually works. Try:
var a = {};
a.id = 'aaa';
a.fun = function(){alert('aaa');}
for (x in a) {
var current = a[x].toString();
if(current.indexOf('function') == 0){
current = current.substring(current.indexOf('{')+ 1, current.lastIndexOf('}'));
}
console.log(current);
}
But it will not work for browser native code.
You can use the toString method on the function
i.e.
function hello() {
var hi = "hello world";
alert(hi);
}
alert(hello.toString());​
Update: The reason it wasn't working in JSFiddle was because I forgot to add the output inside of either console.log or alert - http://jsfiddle.net/pbojinov/mYqrY/
As long as a is an object, you should be able to use the square bracket notation and query a value from by argument with the same name as the objects property. For example:
a[ property ];
If you log typeof( property ), it will return "string" which is what we want.

JavaScript official keywords shortcuts

I've seen something similar to this code in the Google API JavaScript, I mean the r=Array part. Here is an example of what they have done:
var r = Array;
var t = new r('sdsd' , 'sdsd');
alert(t[0]);
Few questions about this:
Is it legal to write like this and won't cause any problems?
I can do something similar with other keywords like ´For´ loop or with the ´this´ keyword?
Can I have article about this JavaScript official keyword shortcuts etc..?
Thank you in advance.
That works because Array is an object. You can do that with any object. For example, the Date object:
var d = Date;
console.log((new d()).getTime()); //Prints time
You cannot do that for keywords such as for or while because they are language constructs that will be recognised by the interpreter.
You can do it with this:
document.getElementById("b").onclick = function() {
var x = this; //this holds a reference to the DOM element that was clicked
x.value = "Clicked!";
}
In fact, that can be very useful sometimes (to keep a reference to this so you can access it from an anonymous inner function for example). This also works because, to put it simply, this will be a reference to an object.
Yes
for - no. this - yes.
You can store references to any JavaScript object in a variable. String, Array, Object, etc. are JavaScript objects that are built-in to the language. for, if, while, etc. are are JavaScript statements, and cannot be stored or referenced any other way.
You can do it the other way around as well (and really mess yourself up in the process):
Array = 0;
var myArray = new Array("a", "b", "c"); // throws error
This is easily undone like this:
Array = [].constructor;
Edit: Being able to assign the value of this to a variable is essential when nesting functions that will execute in a different scope:
function Widget() {
var that = this;
this.IsThis = function() {
return isThis();
};
function isThis() {
return that == this;
}
}
new Widget().IsThis(); // false!
Maybe not the best example, but illustrates losing scope.
You cannot reassign the value of this:
function doSomething() {
this = 0; // throws error
}

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