Building JavaScript objects representing a tree

Question

function createObjects(element, depth){
    element.label = element.getElementsByTagName("label")[0].firstChild.nodeValue;
    element.url = element.getElementsByTagName("url")[0].firstChild.nodeValue;
    element.depth = depth;
    if(treeWidths[depth] == undefined){
            treeWidths[depth] = 1;
    } else {
            treeWidths[depth]++;
    }

    element.children = new Array();
    allNodes.push(element);

    var children = element.getElementsByTagName("children")[0].childNodes;
    for(var i=0; i<children.length; i++){
            if(children[i].nodeType != 3 && children[i].tagName == "node"){
                    element.children.push(createObjects(children[i], depth+1));
            }
    }

    element.expanded = false;
    element.visible = false;
    element.moved = false;
    element.x = 0;
    element.y = 0;

    if (getNodeWidth() < element.label.length * 10)
            element.width = element.label.length * 10;
    else
            element.width = getNodeWidth();
    element.height = getNodeHeight();
    return element; }

Having problems with Firefox, it says that 'element.children.push' is not a function but works (only) in Google Chrome...

Any clue?

What's going on with those "getElementsByTagName()" calls, where the tag names are "url" and "children"? What sort of content is that? What is "element"? — Pointy
– Pointy, Commented Jul 18, 2011 at 18:19
@Pointy: the tag names are from an XML file which is phrased (with JS), here ( 4shared.com/file/5kD6WzWr/Tree.html ) are the zipped files — el.severo
– el.severo, Commented Jul 18, 2011 at 20:20
OK so what does "element" refer to? If it's an HTML DOM node, then the reason Firefox complains because it's not letting you set the "children" attribute in the first place; that's a built-in read-only attribute of all HTML element nodes. — Pointy
– Pointy, Commented Jul 18, 2011 at 20:26
Well it's hard to say because it's unclear what you're doing. Your question title is about "JavaScript objects", but it looks like you're actually trying to build the DOM. If that's what you want to do, then you have to use the DOM APIs as @citizen conn described in that answer. — Pointy
– Pointy, Commented Jul 18, 2011 at 20:40

citizen conn · Accepted Answer · 2011-07-18 18:10:09Z

1

element.children = new Array();

I wouldn't add an array as a property of an element. If you want to add children to an element, this is not the right way. Also if you want to just use an array to manage data, this is not the right way either.

If you want to add child elements use:

element.appendChild(createObjects(children[i], depth + 1));

answered Jul 18, 2011 at 18:10

citizen conn

15.4k3 gold badges61 silver badges80 bronze badges

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

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Building JavaScript objects representing a tree

1 Answer 1

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related