jQuery Searching an Array of Arrays?

Question

I have the following and I am trying to figure out how to search the array of objects - the call() function is called multiple times ?

var arr = [];
var newData;

function call() {
    newData = $('a').attr('href');

    if($.inArray(newData, arr) == -1) {
      $.post('/blah', function(data) {
          arr.push(data);
      });
    }
}

data is like [object{ }] so arr becomes [[object{id='1', myUrl=''}], [object{id='2', myUrl='' }]].

What I am trying to figure is out whether newData is contained within the arr ?

mm if arr = [] and without populating it, you are trying to search $.inArray(newData, arr) which I think will always return you -1 — Selvakumar Arumugam
– Selvakumar Arumugam, Commented Apr 5, 2012 at 14:36
yeah I want to check if newData exists in the arr - that is, whether it's one of the myUrl ? — Andy
– Andy, Commented Apr 5, 2012 at 14:40

gen_Eric · Accepted Answer · 2012-04-05 14:53:04Z

1

If the array contains objects, $.inArray will not work. This is because objects are only equal if they are the same object, not just contain the same values.

$.inArray won't work here also because newData is a string. It's not gonna search inside each object for you, you need to that yourself, with your own loop.

Something like this:

newData = $('a').attr('href');
$.each(arr, function(){
    if(this.myUrl === newData){
        $.post('/blah', function(data) {
            arr.push(data);
        });
        return false; // break once a match is found
    }
});

answered Apr 5, 2012 at 14:53

gen_Eric

228k42 gold badges304 silver badges343 bronze badges

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

1 Comment

Andy Over a year ago

one quick question - the data returns like [object{id='1', myUrl=''}] so using this.MyUrl doesn't seem to work ? Think it needs this[0].myUrl ?

Kris Krause · Accepted Answer · 2012-04-05 14:50:51Z

0

The Array arr will contain a list of objects. Why would newData be "contained" within the arr? They are two separate variables.

Update - Upon further inspection this line is no good:

if($.inArray(newData, arr) == -1) {

You are essentially saying look for newData in the arr (which is empty).

Update - Here is some sample code that should work. Here I am treating data as a plain old object (not an array of objects) with a property named "url".

http://jsfiddle.net/nWh6N/

edited Apr 5, 2012 at 14:50

answered Apr 5, 2012 at 14:36

Kris Krause

7,3162 gold badges25 silver badges26 bronze badges

2 Comments

Andy Over a year ago

sure so I am trying to see whether newData is within the array - as myUrl contains urls and I want to try to see if newData is one of these ?

Andy Over a year ago

well -1 just says it's not in the array - therefore it will push data to the array and then when it's called again it can search ? however, I'm unsure how to search the updated array of objects like [[object{id='1', myUrl=''}], [object{id='2', myUrl='' }]]

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

jQuery Searching an Array of Arrays?

2 Answers 2

1 Comment

2 Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

1 Comment

2 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related