Javascript: How to pass a single element from the array to a function

Question

I have an array:

var animals = ['cat', 'dog', 'horse', 'duck']

And want to pass only specified elements by index from the array (not the whole array) to a function:

function foobar(animals[1], animals[3])
{
     some function...
}

This doesn't work. The debugging tools are expecting a different syntax.

Why was my comment asking to disregard my flag removed from this post? The flag was "declined," I left the comment specifically so that would not happen. — Dagg Nabbit
– Dagg Nabbit, Commented Mar 6, 2012 at 19:56

dotoree · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-03 17:47:45Z

3

function foobar(a, b)
{
     some function...
}

foobar(animals[1], animals[3]);

answered Mar 3, 2012 at 17:47

dotoree

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Comments

mplungjan · Accepted Answer · 2022-04-06 05:45:26Z

3

function foobar(animal)
{
     some function...
}

foobar(animals[1]); // send dog to foobar - js arrays start at 0

or more than one (passing an array means only one parameter needed)

function foobar(subanimals)
{
     some function... 
}

foobar([animals[1],animals[3]]); // send dog and duck to foobar as an array

Lastly if you do not want to care if you receive an array or a single item

function foobar(subanimals)
{
     if (!Array.isArray(subanimals)) subanimals=[subanimals]; //force array

     some function... 
}


foobar(animals[2]); // send ONLY horse

Also look at array slice

In the last two functions you can do

  for (var i=0;i<subanimals.length;i++) {
    if (subanimals[i]=="duck") alert("fowl");
    else if (subanimals[i]=="horse") alert("ungulate");
    else alert("Neither fowl nor horse");
  }

edited Apr 6, 2022 at 5:45

answered Mar 3, 2012 at 17:47

mplungjan

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1 Comment

DominiqueBal Over a year ago

Thanks! On your example 2, how do I work inside the function with dog and duck if I don't know that the values are dog and duck? The array is dynamically generated on page load, in reality I don't know the value names, yet still need to use them in the function.

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