Javascript: Is it possible to call an object from array by its name?

Question

I have created an array like this

contacts = [bob,ryan,468]

Assume that bob and ryan are objects having more than one properties. I know I can call an array by its position, say, contacts[1] or contacts[0].

Is it possible to call the bob object by its name? Is there any default method to do this in javascript or should I write my own solution?

PS: I am totally new to Javascript.

@Anonymous Platypus What do you mean by name of an object? The variable it's stored in? Please clarify. — tim-we
– tim-we, Commented May 21, 2015 at 9:07
@tim-we I meant the variable that holds the object. Say bob in the question. I don't know whether I have a misconception about this as I am new to JS. :( — Anonymous Platypus
– Anonymous Platypus, Commented May 21, 2015 at 9:11

tim-we · Accepted Answer · 2015-05-21 09:06:21Z

1

Well to be able to do this:

contacts = [bob,ryan,468]

bob and ryan have to be defined somewhere before that line. Something like this:

var bob = {
      name: 'Bob',
      age: 42
    };

var ryan = { name: 'Ryan' };

var contacts = [bob,ryan,468];

Instead of using contacts[0] and contacts[1] you could also just use bob and ryan to access them.

You are asking for 'call the bob object by its name'. Objects in JavaScript don't have a name. You can have a variable that contains the object (or at least a reference to it) like var bob = {};. Or what do you mean by it's name?

Hope this helps :)

edited May 21, 2015 at 9:06

answered May 21, 2015 at 9:00

tim-we

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5 Comments

Anonymous Platypus Over a year ago

I wanted to call them from array. When I try console.log(contacts[bob]) it returns undefined. I mean by the variable name.

tim-we Over a year ago

There are no associative arrays in JS, so all you can do is contacts[0], contacts[1], and so on. You can use plain objects though,have a look at this link: less-broken.com/blog/2010/12/…

Anonymous Platypus Over a year ago

I hope this comment solved my doubt :) I am accepting this answer. Thank you

tim-we Over a year ago

Well thanks for accepting my answer. Were JavaScript Objects (key-value-pairs) the thing you've been looking for?

Anonymous Platypus Over a year ago

Not really. Associative arrays was the one I was looking for. Since it doesn't exist for JS my problem is solved :)

appersiano · Accepted Answer · 2015-05-21 09:26:53Z

1

Example:

var as = { "bob": bob, "ryan":ryan, "468":468 };

//as["bob"] -> bob object

edited May 21, 2015 at 9:26

answered May 21, 2015 at 9:02

appersiano

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1 Comment

tim-we Over a year ago

This is actually an object, not an associative array. There is no such thing in JS. However this might still be what @Anonymous Platypus was asking for. developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/…

omikes · Accepted Answer · 2015-05-21 09:01:00Z

0

what you might want here is a hash...

var contacts = {
  first: 'bob',
  last: 'ryan',
  number: 468
};

alert(contacts['last']);

answered May 21, 2015 at 9:01

omikes

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1 Comment

Anonymous Platypus Over a year ago

I think u called a property from an object. I am looking to call an object from an array with its variable name. I am not sure whether I went wrong

Sameer Azazi · Accepted Answer · 2015-05-21 09:10:02Z

0

You can use filter function from array prototype to query your array.

var vals = [
    {
        "name":"bob",
        "age":50
    },
    {
        "name":"brayan",
        "age":51
    },
    567
];

var query = vals.filter(function(obj){
    if (typeof(obj) === 'object' && 'name' in obj &&     typeof(obj.name) === 'string') {
        if(obj.name === 'bob')
            return true;
    }
    return false;
});

alert(query[0].age);

You can modify your query operation with suitable condition.

Here is a working fiddle.

answered May 21, 2015 at 9:10

Sameer Azazi

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Comments

Sukrit Gupta · Accepted Answer · 2015-05-21 09:14:36Z

0

In javascript object we generally keep values in Key: Value pairs.

You can use like:

var contacts = {"obj_ryan":{"fname":"ryan","lname":"bob","phone":468},
                "obj_mark":{"fname":"mark","lname":"filip","phone":467}
               };

//use them like
alert(contacts.obj_ryan.fname);
alert(contacts.obj_mark.phone);

Hope it helps

answered May 21, 2015 at 9:14

Sukrit Gupta

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2 Comments

Anonymous Platypus Over a year ago

This is just an object rite? Not an array. Correct me if I am wrong

Sukrit Gupta Over a year ago

Yes, This is an Object. In JS Array is a type of object only. They both work on concept of Key : Value pair. The difference is only that in objects we explicitly specify both Key and Value(like var x = {"fname":"mark"}), but in Arrays JS Automatically indexes key with numbers starting with 0( like var x= ["mark"] ). We would access them like x.fname || x["fname"] and x[0] resp.

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