VirtualMV/JavaScript/Arrays
Introduction
Overview
- An array is an object used to store a set of values under a single variable name
By the end of this page you will be able to:
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Creating an array
- Array elements are referred to by an index staring at 0
- Arrays are created using the new keyword
var arrParts= new Array(); // create an array of no fixed size var computers=new Array(5); //Create an array containing 5 rows (0..4)
- Data can be assigned to arrays by index or assignment (arrComputers1) or in one line (arrComputers2)
var arrComputers1=new Array(5); arrComputers1[0]="dell"; arrComputers1[1]="ibm"; arrComputers1[2]="apple"; arrComputers1[3]="hp" arrComputers1[4]="compaq" var arrComputers2 =new Array("dell","ibm","apple","hp","compaq");
This can be handy when you want to convert a month number to a month name e.g.
var arrMonth =new Array("", "Jan","Feb","Mar","Apr","May","Jun","Jul","Aug","Sep","Oct","Nov","Dec");
Question: Why is the first value ""?
Online tutorials
- JavaScript Array Object (w3schools, 2009a).[1] http://www.w3schools.com/JS/js_obj_array.asp
- JavaScript Array Object Reference. (w3schools, 2009b).[2] http://www.w3schools.com/jsref/jsref_obj_array.asp
Simple array example (js7_01)
<html> <head><title>JavaScript (js7_01)</title></head> <body> <script type="text/javascript"> var arrName = new Array(6); arrName[0] = "Steve"; arrName[1] = "David"; arrName[2] = "Frina"; arrName[3] = "Michael"; arrName[4] = "John"; arrName[5] = "Kim"; for (intI=0; intI<6; intI++){ document.write(intI+":"+ arrName[intI] + "<br />"); } document.write("--------------"+ "<br />"); for (intI=5; intI>=0; intI--){ document.write(intI+":"+ arrName[intI] + "<br />"); } </script> </body> </html>
Example js7_01
Array properties
Property | Meaning (Returns ...) |
length | the number of elements in an array. This property is assigned a value when an array is created |
concat() | an array concatenated of two arrays |
join() | a string of all the elements of an array concatenated together |
reverse() | the array reversed |
slice() | a specified part of the array |
sort() | a sorted array |
Math and array example (js7_02)
<html><head><title>JavaScript Array (js7_02)</title> <script type="text/javascript"> function fnNumOrdA(a, b){ return (a-b); } // Chapman(2008)- numerical sort function fnCalc() { frmRef=document.frmSort; var arrNum = new Array(3); arrNum[0] = parseFloat(frmRef.num1.value); arrNum[1] = parseFloat(frmRef.num2.value); arrNum[2] = parseFloat(frmRef.num3.value); arrSorted=arrNum.sort(); frmRef.sort.value=arrSorted; arrSorted = arrNum.sort( fnNumOrdA ); frmRef.sortN.value=arrSorted; intMiddle=(Math.floor(arrNum.length/2)); vntMedian=arrSorted[intMiddle]; frmRef.median.value=vntMedian; } </script> </head> <body><h4>Enter three numbers</h4> <form name="frmSort"> Number 1:<input name="num1" type="number" />21<br> Number 2:<input name="num2" type="number" />1<br> Number 3:<input name="num3" type="number" />7<br> <input type="button" value="Calculate" onClick="fnCalc()" /><br /> Text Sort:<input name="sort" type="number" /> (sorts 1,21,7)<br /> Number Sort:<input name="sortN" type="number" /> (sorts 1,7,21)<br /> Median:<input name="median" type="number" /> </form></body></html>
Ref: Chapman (2008)[3]
Example js7_02
Array split method
The array split method allows you to take a string and split it into an array based on a specified character. In the example following I will use the comma (,) to split a name in lastname, firstname format and reverse the order. I have also added something a little special :)
Array.split .. example (jsArr_Split.htm)
<html> <head> <title>JavaScript Array Split example</title> </head> <body> <div style="color: #0000FF"> <script type="text/javascript"> var strText = "Bunny, Floptical"; var arrName = strText.split(","); document.write('Hi '+arrName[1] +" " +arrName[0] + " " + "\u2740"); </script> </div> </body> </html>
Note: Just to show you how I have asked a unicode character to be displayed (\u2740) which is a flower. Unicode Inc (2009)[4]gives pdf files for all the unicode characters (I used the Dingbats one for the flower).
Example jsArr_Split.htm ?????????????????????????????????????????? (upload) ?????????
: Inverting a date to standard date formatUse the array split method to convert a date entered as dd/mm/yyyy to yyyymmdd. |
Solution |
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<html> <head> <title>JavaScript Array Split example</title> </head> <body> <div style="color: #0000FF"> <script type="text/javascript"> var strDate = "12/5/2010"; var arrDate = strDate.split("/"); //correct if only one number entered for day or month if (arrDate[0].length == 1) {arrDate[0] = "0"+arrDate[0];} // or we could use the JS conditional assignment arrDate[1] = (parseInt(arrDate[1]) < 10) ? '0' + arrDate[1] : arrDate[1]; document.write("International date for ["+strDate+ "] = "+arrDate[2] +arrDate[1] + arrDate[0]); </script> </div> </body> </html> |
Array multi-dimension
A two-dimensional array is created simply by building on a "normal" array. Constructing a two-dimensional array requires that we declare another array on top of EACH of the "stems" (myarray[0], myarray[1]...)
var arrRow=new Array(3) // creates 3 rows (0,1,2) for (intI=0; intI < 3; intI++) arrRow[intI]=new Array(2) // creates 2 columns (0,1)
As you can see, what we need to do is declare a new array on top of each individual array "stem". The translation of this idea to actual codes, as you will see, is actually very simple
Multidimensional array example 1(js7_03)
<html> <head><title>JavaScript multidimensional array (js7_03) </title></head> <body> <script type="text/javascript"> var intCol1 = 0 var intCol2 = 1 var arrRow = new Array(3) // create 3 rows(0,1,2) for (i=0; i <3; i++){ arrRow[i] = new Array(2) // create 2 columns (0,1) } arrRow[0][0] = "(1,1)"; arrRow[0][1] = "(1,2)"; arrRow[1][0] = "(2,1)"; arrRow[1][1] = "(2,2)"; arrRow[2][0] = "(3,1)"; arrRow[2][1] = "(3,2)"; for (i = 0; i < arrRow.length; i++) { document.write(arrRow[i] [intCol1]); document.write(arrRow[i] [intCol2]); document.write("<br />"); } </script> </body> </html>
Result
(1,1) | (1,2) |
(2,1) | (2,2) |
(3,1) | (3,2) |
Example js7_03
Multidimensional array example 2(js7_04)
<html> <head> <title>JavaScript Multi-dimensional Array (js7_04)</title> </head> <body> <script language="JavaScript"> /* First make up an array for each row ----------------*/ part1 = new Array("Brake pads","39D48G",78); part2 = new Array("Brake shoes","7D9UK3",45); part3 = new Array("Rotors","97WOST",14); part4 = new Array("Seals","2DPLUG",15); /* Now join up all the row arrays into one big array -- */ brakeParts = new Array(part1,part2,part3,part4); /* Now print them out in a table ----------------------- */ document.write('<table border=1>') for (intI=0;intI<4;intI++){ document.write('<tr>') for (intJ=0;intJ<3;intJ++) { document.write('<td width="150">' + brakeParts[intI][intJ] +'</td>') } document.write('</tr>') } document.write('</table>') </script> </body> </html>
Result
Brake pads | 39D48G | 78 |
Brake shoes | 7D9UK3 | 45 |
Rotors | 97WOST | 14 |
Seals | 2DPLUG | 15 |
Example js7_04
References
- ↑ w3schools (2009).JavaScript Array Object. Retrieved May 5, 2009 from http://www.w3schools.com/JS/js_obj_array.asp
- ↑ w3schools (2009).JavaScript Array Object Reference. Retrieved May 5, 2009 from http://www.w3schools.com/jsref/jsref_obj_array.asp
- ↑ Chapman, S. (2008) Numeric Array Sort. Retrieved May 15, 2008, from http://javascript.about.com/library/blsort.htm
- ↑ Unicode, Inc (2009) Unicode 5.2 Character Code Charts. Retrieved November 1, 2009 from http://unicode.org/charts/
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VirtualMV/JavaScript/Arrays. (2024). In WikiEducator/VirtualMV wiki. Retrieved November 5, 2024, from http:https://wikieducator.org/VirtualMV/JavaScript/Arrays (zotero)
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