Converting string to variable name. (JavaScript)

Question

I did look at the previous questions, but they are for integer values and I need an answer for text values.

I asked a question relevant to this earlier in the week, but here goes. As seen below, I have Make[x] equal to some string value (Acura, Honda, Toyota). When I pass that Make[x] into the function Models(Make), how can I get that string to become a variable name, for the variables Acura, Honda and Toyota within the Models(Make) function?

function Models(Make){
var Acura=['RSX','NSX','Integra',];
var Honda=['Accord','Civic','Prelude',];
var Toyota=['MR2','Celica','Camry',];
var holder = Make;
var Model = holder[Math.floor(Math.random()*holder.length)];
return Model;
}

function main(){
var Makes=['Acura','Honda','Toyota',];
var Make = Makes[Math.floor(Math.random() * Makes.length)];
var Model = Models(Make);
var Out = Make + " " + Model;
return Out;
}

document.write(main());

If run, you will get the name of the Make, but instead of a model it spits out a letter from the name of the Model in place of the make.

I think you're going the wrong way about this. An object seems to be what you need. var cars = {acura: [], honda: [], ...}... — elclanrs
– elclanrs, Commented Feb 21, 2013 at 5:38

Explosion Pills · Accepted Answer · 2013-02-21 05:38:41Z

2

You can't do what you're asking with what you have currently, but it would make more sense to create an object of the models anyway

function Models(Make) {
    var Models = {"Acura": ['RSX','NSX','Integra'] /* snip */};
    return Models[Make][random()];
}

answered Feb 21, 2013 at 5:38

Explosion Pills

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4 Comments

Garrett Michael Gritz Stelly Over a year ago

I feared that, but why are you returning Make as an index to Models? Make is a string at this time, wouldn't you need an interger for indexing?

Explosion Pills Over a year ago

@GarrettMichaelGritzStelly not if it's an object. Only arrays need to be integer-indexed; objects can be string indexed (well, technically they have to be)

Explosion Pills Over a year ago

@GarrettMichaelGritzStelly be careful going down that road; the example I gave you is essentially just a simple string-based hash/dictionary (it's just that in JavaScript this data structure is called an "Object), but Objects in JS have a ton of other capabilities of varying complexity including use of the prototype and methods

Lance Caraccioli Over a year ago

Another thing to be aware of is that Object literals {} have no explicit order. If order matters you'll need an array [] as part of your solution.

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