Get four unique items and add them to an array - javascript

I’m 100% certain this code has been working before. Now it strangely doesn’t.
The goal is to create a multiple choice quiz for a flashcard. I create an array to store the card's ids: the first one goes the current card id, then three other random ones. My goal is to make sure they don’t repeat either the first card or themselves.
This is how I do it:
// Array of cards’ ids to use
var randomCardsIds = [];
// Get the active card’s element id, add it to the array
randomCardsIds[0] = this.activeCardId;
// Get the current cards collection
var allCurrentCards = this.carouselEl.items.items;
// Get three random ids of other cards
var i = 0
while (i<3) {
// Get a random card element
var randomCardEl = allCurrentCards[Math.floor(Math.random() * allCurrentCards.length)];
// Get its id
var randomCardElId = randomCardEl.body.down('.card').id;
randomCardElId = randomCardElId.substring(randomCardElId.indexOf('_')+1);
console.log(randomCardElId, randomCardsIds, randomCardsIds.indexOf(randomCardElId));
// Make sure it is not in the array yet, and then add it
if (randomCardsIds.indexOf(randomCardElId) == -1) {
randomCardsIds.push(randomCardElId);
i++;
}
// Otherwise, the loop will have to run again
}
Basically, in a loop, for each item I check whether it already exists in the array or not. If it doesn’t, push it to the array, otherwise, run the loop again. Here is the console logging result:
Well, the first thing: it always shows the final state of the array: as if it is already filled with the results, which is weird. But the most important thing: the script does not recognise a duplicate (e.g. in the first result, 74 is repeated, and in the second to last, 47).
It only returns something different then -1, when it finds a match in the second position (returns 1, obviously). When a match is in a different position in the array, it always returns -1.
What am I doing wrong here?

Are you testing this in IE6? The problem is indexOf doesnot work with IE6.
For alternative you can check Best way to find if an item is in a JavaScript array?

A variation on a shuffling algoruthm seems to be the best bet here.

Related

How to output random array entry -- then remove that item from the array afterwards?

In my program, when the user clicks a button, an item (a string) from an array gets randomly selected, and is then outputted to the user.
My goal is to introduce some kind of "remove this item from the array after displaying to the user" functionality, to prevent repeat outputs. That way, each time they're viewing a fresh item, and not seeing the same ones over and over again.
Here is my v1 version of coding this:
Array1 = [] // the full array of all items is contained in here.
Array2 = [] // this is the post-display holding bay for items the user has seen already.
After outputting an item to the user from Array 1? That item will be added to Array 2. BEFORE displaying any array items to a user? It will cross-reference the randomly selected item against the full list of items in Array2, basically using IF/ELSE IF logic. Something like this:
for (let i = 0; i < NumberOfArray2Items; i++) {
if (Array1ItemToDisplay === Array2[i]) {
NumberOfMatches = j++ // basically, increment a numerical variable, so that any value
// greater than 0 indicates, yes, it's been outputted to the user before
}
}
if (NumberOfMatches === 0) {
DisplayCurrentArrayItem();
} else if (NumberOfMatches > 0) {
SelectAnotherArrayItemToDisplay();
}
That's a rough version of what I have in mind, and frankly it sounds like a terrible solution because it requires two very lengthy programmatic steps:
Looping over every single item in Array2 for cross-referencing
Potentially running that dozens, maybe hundreds of times, if it continues to find matches each time it runs that block of code.
Is there some simpler, faster method of cross-refencing an item against an entire array? Or perhaps cross-referencing both arrays against each other, to only leave the remaining items that don't match, and then select from that intermediate list of items that hasn't yet been displayed?
These arrays will contain tens of thousands of items, so my concern is, as presently written, this code will take forever to execute. Is there some simpler, faster, more efficient solution I'm not seeing?
Here you go, each time the button is clicked a random element from the array is shown. That element is then removed - so no duplicates are shown.
const data = ['foo', 'bar', 'bat', 'baz'];
document.getElementById('btn').addEventListener("click", e => {
if(!data.length) return;
const idx = Math.floor(Math.random() * data.length);
console.log(data[idx]);
data.splice(idx, 1);
});
<button id=btn>click</button>
I also added a check to make sure that when there are no unique items left nothing happens, not sure if this is what you wanted or not. If not - remove the line if(!data.length) return;

insertBefore function for arrays and/or HTMLCollections?

Does there exist a function in vanilla JavaScript or jQuery that operates similarly to Node.insertBefore(), but for arrays and/or HTMLCollections?
An example could look something like:
var list = document.getElementsByClassName("stuff");
var nodeToMove = list[0];
var otherNode = list[4];
list.insertBefore(nodeToMove, otherNode);
Basically I'm trying to perform insertBefore() without manipulating the actual DOM, as I want the changes to only be applied to the DOM under certain conditions. If those conditions are met, then I would perform insertBefore() on the actual nodes.
To clarify, I'm looking for a function that would insert an element before a target element at a given index in an array, not necessarily at a given index. Examples I've seen using splice() usually insert an element at a given index, which sometimes puts the element before the target element, and sometimes after, depending on where the element to be moved originally was in the array. I'm looking for something that would reliably put the element to be moved before the target element.
HTMLCollection does not have an insertBefore method. jQuery can apply any jQuery methods both to a single element being selected, as well as many.
https://api.jquery.com/insertBefore/
There is no single method to do this in one step, but there doesn't need to be. If you convert the collection to an Array, you can call the Array.prototype.splice() method to achieve the same result.
Here's an example:
let ary = [1,2,3,4,5];
// Swap 2 and 3
// Start at the 3rd item and remove one item (3).
// Store the removed item
let removed = ary.splice(2,1);
// Start at the second item, don't remove anything, insert the removed
// item at that position
ary.splice(1,null,removed[0]);
// Log the result
console.log(ary);
And, with that knowledge, you can create your own more easily callable function:
let ary = [1,2,3,4,5];
function insertBefore(ary, newItem, target){
ary.splice(target,null,newItem);
}
// Insert 999 before the 3rd array item
insertBefore(ary,999,2)
console.log(ary);
You need to get the index you want, then use Array.splice.
Myself I would do something like this :
const myArr = ['Aurore', 'Dimitri', 'Alban', 'Frédéric'];
const insertBeforeThis = 'Alban';
const eltToInsert = 'Laura';
const index = myArr.findIndex(name => name === insertBeforeThis);
myArr.splice(index, 0, eltToInsert);
Please feel free to try it out in your browser's console. Note i used const for my array, as it fixes the type of the variable as an array but allow me to manipulate it.
MDN: Array.prototype.findIndex()
stackoverflow: How to insert an item into an array at a specific index (JavaScript)?
Have a happy coding time!

Do undefined elements in an array have an impact in JS? [duplicate]

This question already has answers here:
Deleting array elements in JavaScript - delete vs splice
(29 answers)
Closed 4 years ago.
I couldn't find a question that specifically targets the issue I'm having hence this question is being asked.
I have an array that holds 5 numbers:
var numbers = [0,1,2,3,4];
Once a number is clicked on the frontend (website), the number is removed from the array using the below code:
delete numbers[1];
This removes the correct number but leaves a space where the number was (the space is undefined). I believe this is causing an issue. After a number is removed from the array, I use another function to randomly pick any of the remaining numbers in the array however it sometimes fails. After much thought, I've realized it may be because there are empty spaces in the array after a number is removed and as a result, the code fails to work due to the undefined element.
Is my analogy correct or am I mistaken?
(I have also attempted to use the splice method to remove the number however that then causes an issue with the length of my array because if I later want to remove another number, it removes the wrong one due to the numbers moving around etc).
What you'd want to use is splice
In your specific case, numbers.splice(1,1)
You're correct that delete replaces one of the values in the array with undefined, and does not change the array length. Later on when you randomly choose an element from the array, you can wind up getting that undefined value, because it's still taking up a slot in the array:
var numbers = [0,1,2,3,4];
delete numbers[3];
console.log(numbers)
Instead use splice, which removes the item from the array completely:
var numbers = [0,1,2,3,4];
numbers.splice(3,1) /// remove one element starting at index 3
console.log(numbers)
if I later want to remove another number, it removes the wrong one due to the numbers moving around
You do need to choose one behavior or the other. If you need to preserve indexes as is, then continue to use delete, leaving the undefined values in the array, and rewrite your "choose one at random" function to never pick undefined values:
// start with some undefined values:
var numbers = [0, 1, undefined, undefined, undefined, 5]
var pickRandom = function(numbers) {
// make a copy of the array, removing undefined elements:
var definedValues = numbers.filter(function(item) {
return item !== undefined;
});
if (definedValues.length === 0) {return false}
//choose one at random:
return definedValues[Math.floor(Math.random() * definedValues.length)]
}
// test it:
console.log(pickRandom(numbers));
console.log(pickRandom(numbers));
console.log(pickRandom(numbers));
console.log(pickRandom(numbers));
(...but note that this suggests that a simple array is the wrong data structure to use here; you may be better off with an array of objects each with an explicit ID, so you can reference specific ones as needed without worrying about keeping the array index the same.)
If you mean to actually remove the element from the array, leaving your array with 4 elements, then you can use
numbers.splice(1);
This will remove the element in the index 1 from the array and return the section of the new array.

JavaScript - Arrays - Deleting elements from an array

I've looked up arrays and how they work, looked at a lot of other stackoverflow questions on this same topic but the answer still doesn't remain clear. How can I remove a specified element from an array?
I've tried:
array.splice(5);
array.splice(i, 5);
delete array[5]; //doesn't actually delete - I know
1 of 2 things happen every time. 1. The whole array is deleted with either of the first 2 methods mentioned above. or 2. Everything before/after the element specified is removed.
For example, I had an array that contained a Clash Royale deck:
var deck = ["Barbarians", "Goblin_Barrel", "Inferno_Tower", "Fireball", "Zap", "Hog_Rider", "Spear_Goblins", "Minion_Horde"];
Then if I wanted to remove, lets say, Fireball, then I did:
deck.splice("Fireball");
And the array now looked like this:
deck = [];
So, to restate my question. How do I remove a specified, and only the specified, element from an array?
Check the usage for splice in a JavaScript reference. You need to pass in the index of the thing to delete, then how many things to delete.
First find the index of element then remove it using splice.
Find Index of element
var index = deck.indexOf("Fireball");
Now remove element using splice.
if (index > -1) {
deck.splice(index,1);
}
if duplicate values exists then
for(ind = 0 ; ind <deck.length; ind++){
if(deck[ind]=="Fireball"){
deck.splice(ind--,1);
}
}

Filter/Search JavaScript array of objects based on other array in Node JS

i have one array of ids and one JavaScript objects array. I need to filter/search the JavaScript objects array with the values in the array in Node JS.
For example
var id = [1,2,3];
var fullData = [
{id:1, name: "test1"}
,{id:2, name: "test2"}
,{id:3, name: "test3"}
,{id:4, name: "test4"}
,{id:5, name: "test5"}
];
Using the above data, as a result i need to have :
var result = [
{id:1, name: "test1"}
,{id:2, name: "test2"}
,{id:3, name: "test3"}
];
I know i can loop through both and check for matching ids. But is this the only way to do it or there is more simple and resource friendly solution.
The amount of data which will be compared is about 30-40k rows.
This will do the trick, using Array.prototype.filter:
var result = fullData.filter(function(item){ // Filter fulldata on...
return id.indexOf(item.id) !== -1; // Whether or not the current item's `id`
}); // is found in the `id` array.
Please note that this filter function is not available on IE 8 or lower, but the MDN has a polyfill available.
As long as you're starting with an unsorted Array of all possible Objects, there's no way around iterating through it. #Cerbrus' answer is one good way of doing this, with Array.prototype.filter, but you could also use loops.
But do you really need to start with an unsorted Array of all possible Objects?
For example, is it possible to filter these objects out before they ever get into the Array? Maybe you could apply your test when you're first building the Array, so that objects which fail the test never even become part of it. That would be more resource-friendly, and if it makes sense for your particular app, then it might even be simpler.
function insertItemIfPass(theArray, theItem, theTest) {
if (theTest(theItem)) {
theArray.push(theItem);
}
}
// Insert your items by using insertItemIfPass
var i;
for (i = 0; i < theArray.length; i += 1) {
doSomething(theArray[i]);
}
Alternatively, could you use a data structure that keeps track of whether an object passes the test? The simplest way to do this, if you absolutely must use an Array, would be to also keep an index to it. When you add your objects to the Array, you apply the test: if an object passes, then its position in the Array gets put into the index. Then, when you need to get objects out of the Array, you can consult the index: that way, you don't waste time going through the Array when you don't need to touch most of the objects in the first place. If you have several different tests, then you could keep several different indexes, one for each test. This takes a little more memory, but it can save a lot of time.
function insertItem(theArray, theItem, theTest, theIndex) {
theArray.push(theItem);
if (theTest(theItem)) {
theIndex.push(theArray.length - 1);
}
}
// Insert your items using insertItem, which also builds the index
var i;
for (i = 0; i < theIndex.length; i += 1) {
doSomething(theArray[theIndex[i]]);
}
Could you sort the Array so that the test can short-circuit? Imagine a setup where you've got your array set up so that everything which passes the test comes first. That way, as soon as you hit your first item that fails, you know that all of the remaining items will fail. Then you can stop your loop right away, since you know there aren't any more "good" items.
// Insert your items, keeping items which pass theTest before items which don't
var i = 0;
while (i < theArray.length) {
if (!theTest(theArray[i])) {
break;
}
doSomething(theArray[i]);
i += 1;
}
The bottom line is that this isn't so much a language question as an algorithms question. It doesn't sound like your current data structure -an unsorted Array of all possible items- is well-suited for your particular problem. Depending on what else the application needs to do, it might make more sense to use another data structure entirely, or to augment the existing structure with indexes. Either way, if it's planned carefully, will save you some time.

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