Accessing an objects property via a variable in Javascript

Question

I have an object in Javascript. For example...:

vehicle.image.jpg.large = "mylargejpg.jpg";

or

vehicle.image.jpg.small = "mysmalljpg.jpg";

I then have a variable

var imageType = "jpg.small";

How can I dynamically return the value of that object using the "imageType" variable??

IE: vehicle.image\imageType; or whatever would return "mysmalljpg.jpg"

possible duplicate of JavaScript object: access variable property by name as string - This has been answered so many times it's ridiculous. — Pointy
– Pointy, Commented Sep 26, 2013 at 3:06
again, notice that my item is TWO levels deep. It would work with a simple [varname] if it were the next item in the object tree, BUT, I'm trying to go two levels deep via the imageType value — Nathan Leggatt
– Nathan Leggatt, Commented Sep 26, 2013 at 3:09
Well yes, but the answer still involves just applying that basic technique. — Pointy
– Pointy, Commented Sep 26, 2013 at 13:17

Andy Jones · Accepted Answer · 2013-09-26 03:27:04Z

4

You want to traverse your object...

// Takes an object and a path to some element and traverses the object
function traverse(obj, path) {
  // split the path into pieces 
  var links = path.split(".");

  // traverse the object - one level at a time 
  for (var x = 0; x < links.length; ++x) 
    obj = obj[links[x]];

  return obj;
}

traverse(vehicle.image, "jpg.small");

edited Sep 26, 2013 at 3:27

answered Sep 26, 2013 at 3:12

Andy Jones

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1 Comment

Nathan Leggatt Over a year ago

very close... here's the corrected code that appears to have worked: function traverse(obj, path) { var links = path.split("."); for (var x = 0; x < links.length; ++x) { obj = obj[links[x]]; } return obj; }

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