How can I reference a variable by name using another variable in jQuery?

Question

I would like to be able to reference an array by using a string, as such:

var arrayName = "people";

var people = [
    'image47.jpeg',
    'image48.jpeg',
    'image49.jpeg',
    'image50.jpeg',
    'image52.jpeg',
    'image53.jpeg',
    'image54.jpeg',
    'image55.jpeg',
]

function myFunc (arrayName)
{
    //arrayName is actually just a string that evaluates to "people", which then in turn would reference the var people, which is passed in.
}

Any thoughts on how to do this? Sorry if I'm missing something obvious.

var arrayName[] = people[]; and this needs to come after var people [ ]. — Ohgodwhy
– Ohgodwhy, Commented Mar 20, 2012 at 2:09

phihag · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-20 03:50:30Z

2

You can simply create a global dictionary, like this:

var people = ['image47.jpeg', 'image48.jpeg'];
var cars = ['image3.png', 'image42.gif'];
var global_arrays = {
    people: people,
    cars: cars
};

function myFunc(arrayName) {
   var ar = global_arrays[arrayName];
   // Do something with ar
}

Note that the first line of myFunc makes it clear that this is just a complicated way of having myFunc accept the array itself in the first place. I strongly suggest that you do just that, like this:

function myFunc(ar) {
   // Do something with ar
}
myFunc(people);

This means that your code will be reusable by anyone else (say, a third-party plugin that wants to render giraffes) and not require any global variables.

edited Mar 20, 2012 at 3:50

answered Mar 20, 2012 at 2:12

phihag

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Comments

James Hay · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-20 02:15:27Z

1

If your array is declared outside of a function, you can access it using the this keyword like so:

function myFunc(arrayname) {
    var itemzero = this[arrayname][0];
}

answered Mar 20, 2012 at 2:15

James Hay

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Comments

Jason Gennaro · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-20 02:23:06Z

0

var arrayName = "people";

var people = [
    'image47.jpeg',
    'image48.jpeg',
    'image49.jpeg',
    'image50.jpeg',
    'image52.jpeg',
    'image53.jpeg',
    'image54.jpeg',
    'image55.jpeg',
]

function myFunc (arrayName)
{

 //Here you can use this or window obj To quote you array.
 //such as window[arrayName]

}

edited Mar 20, 2012 at 2:23

Jason Gennaro

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answered Mar 20, 2012 at 2:18

ygm

11 bronze badge

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