How to check if value exists in this JavaScript array?

by

I have a JavaScript array, where each new item added to the array gets the next incremental number. An example would be as follows (I hope Im writing this correctly):

ArrayofPeople[0] = [{"id": "529", "name": "Bob"}];
ArrayofPeople[1] = [{"id": "820", "name": "Dave"}];
ArrayofPeople[2] = [{"id": "235", "name": "John"}];

The array is named ArrayofPeople, storing multiple data points for each person.

I need to know if an element with id of 820 exists in the array or not. How would this be done?

46 thoughts on “How to check if value exists in this JavaScript array?”

  1. Something like this:

    function in_array(array, id) {
    for(var i=0;i<array.length;i++) {
        return (array[i][0].id === id)
    }
    return false;
}

var result = in_array(ArrayofPeople, 235);
    Reply

  2. You should iterate over the array and manually check if you have a matching id:

    function getPersonById(id){
    for(var i=0,l=ArrayofPeople.length;i<l;i++)
       if(ArrayofPeople[i][0].id == id)
           return ArrayofPeople[i];
    return null;
}

    Of course, this is pretty inefficient. I suggest you store your objects into an associative array (a.k.a. an object) indexed by the person’s id. Then, the access to a person with a certain id is immediate since objects are nothing than hash-tables:

    ArrayofPeople = {};
ArrayofPeople[529] = {"id": "529", "name": "Bob"};
ArrayofPeople[820] = {"id": "820", "name": "Dave"};
ArrayofPeople[235] = {"id": "235", "name": "John"};

 function getPersonById(id){
   return id in ArrayofPeople
       ? ArrayofPeople[id]
       : null;
}
    Reply

  3. You can use the relatively new Array.prototype.some() to find whether an item exists (a shim is provided in the documentation):

    var ArrayofPeople = [];
ArrayofPeople[0] = [{"id": "529", "name": "Bob"}];
ArrayofPeople[1] = [{"id": "820", "name": "Dave"}];
ArrayofPeople[2] = [{"id": "235", "name": "John"}];

function in_array(array, id) 
{
    return array.some(function(item) {
        return item[0].id === id;
    });
}

console.log(in_array(ArrayofPeople, '820')); // true
    Reply 
  4. function IsIdInArray(array, id) {
  for (var i = 0; i < array.length; i++) {
    if (array[i].id === id)
      return true;
  }
  return false;
}

var result = IsIdInArray(ArrayofPeople, 820);
    Reply 
  5. ArrayofPeople = new Array();
ArrayofPeople[0] = [{"id": "529", "name": "Bob"}];
ArrayofPeople[1] = [{"id": "820", "name": "Dave"}];
ArrayofPeople[2] = [{"id": "235", "name": "John"}];

var str = '820';
var is_found = 'not found';
for(item in ArrayofPeople){
    target = ArrayofPeople[item][0];
    if(target['id'] === str)
        is_found = 'found';
}
alert(is_found);
    Reply

Leave a Comment