Javascript - Loading XML into Multidimensional array

Question

I have been creating a game in HTML5 and javascript and have came across a problem.

The game uses a tile system to load the map. Currently my map is saved within a multidimensional array and looks like this:

var map = [ [1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1],
            [1, 3, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1],
            [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1],
            [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1],
            [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1],
            [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1],
            [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 4, 1],
            [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 4, 1],
            [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 4, 1],
            [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 4, 1],
            [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 4, 1],
            [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1],
            [1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1]]

I would like to add move levels by using a XML file to update the array.

My XML file currently looks like this:

<TileMaps>
<Level level="1">
<map>[  [1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1],
    [1, 3, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 4, 0, 1],
    [1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1]]
</map>
</Level>
<Level level="2">
<map>[  [1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1],
    [1, 3, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1],
    [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1],
    [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1],
    [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1],
    [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1],
    [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 4, 1],
    [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 4, 1],
    [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 4, 1],
    [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 4, 1],
    [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 4, 1],
    [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1],
    [1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1]]
</map>
</Level>
</TileMaps>

If anyone could help me load level="1" into my map variable that would be great.

Thanks

I think you should abstract your map so that it more fits into your xml ( instead of just throwing it in). It might also be a good idea to use json instead, it will save you some work from having to use an xml parsing library or parse the xml manually. — Willem D'Haeseleer
– Willem D'Haeseleer, Commented Jul 30, 2012 at 10:31

Geuis · Accepted Answer · 2012-07-30 11:09:26Z

0

Don't use xml, use json. Here's a link to what its about, http://www.json.org/.

While not entirely precise, its pretty safe to think of json as a subset of javascript.

For example:

{
    "levels":[ 
        [    
            [1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1],
            [1, 3, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 4, 0, 1],
            [1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1]
        ],


        [
            [1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1],
            [1, 3, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1],
            [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1],
            [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1],
            [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1],
            [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1],
            [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 4, 1],
            [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 4, 1],
            [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 4, 1],
            [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 4, 1],
            [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 4, 1],
            [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1],
            [1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1]
        ]
    ]
}

Use http://jsonlint.org to validate json.

answered Jul 30, 2012 at 11:09

Geuis

42.5k57 gold badges164 silver badges223 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

3 Comments

Glen Robson Over a year ago

Ok so where do i save this Json code? can you save it in a file like XML or does it have to go within the HTML page? Also how would i use this code to add the information into an array?

Geuis Over a year ago

Forget about xml completely. It has no place in this problem. JSON can be delivered to the browser in a few different ways. The first thing you should notice is that the example I gave you is a syntactically correct javascript literal object. If you want to include it directly in the page, put it in a script tag and assign it to a variable. You can also load it via an ajax request, or via a JSONP request. I would suggest that you step back from your game for a bit and read more about json itself. You can use a library like jQuery too, which has nice handlers for dealing with JSON requests.

Glen Robson Over a year ago

Thanks for explaining that to me, my only problem is that i need to get this prototype finished by the end of today. I dont really have much time to read up on this. Would you be able to give me a quick rundown on what exactly i would need to do or maybe provide some sample code so i can get my head around it?

Glen Robson · Accepted Answer · 2012-07-31 08:53:53Z

0

For anyone who wanted to know i fixed this by using the following code:

req=new XMLHttpRequest();
req.open("GET","my.xml",false);
req.send();
xmlDoc = req.responseXML;
map = JSON.parse(xmlDoc.getElementsByTagName('map')[0].firstChild.nodeValue);

answered Jul 31, 2012 at 8:53

Glen Robson

9382 gold badges20 silver badges42 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Javascript - Loading XML into Multidimensional array

2 Answers 2

3 Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

3 Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related