How to determine if Javascript array contains an object with an attribute that equals a given value?

February 19, 2021 by admin

I have an array like

vendors = [{
    Name: 'Magenic',
    ID: 'ABC'
  },
  {
    Name: 'Microsoft',
    ID: 'DEF'
  } // and so on... 
];

How do I check this array to see if "Magenic" exists? I don’t want to loop, unless I have to. I’m working with potentially a couple thousand records.

33 thoughts on “How to determine if Javascript array contains an object with an attribute that equals a given value?”

Unless you want to restructure it like this:

vendors = {
    Magenic: {
      Name: 'Magenic',
      ID: 'ABC'
     },
    Microsoft: {
      Name: 'Microsoft',
      ID: 'DEF'
    } and so on... 
};

to which you can do if(vendors.Magnetic)

You will have to loop

Admin

February 19, 2021 at 6:00 pm
You have to loop, there is no way around it.
```
function seekVendor(vendors, name) {
  for (var i=0, l=vendors.length; i<l; i++) {
    if (typeof vendors[i] == "object" && vendors[i].Name === name) {
      return vendors[i];
    }
  }
}
```
Of course you could use a library like linq.js to make this more pleasing:
```
Enumerable.From(vendors).Where("$.Name == 'Magenic'").First();
```
(see jsFiddle for a demo)

I doubt that linq.js will be faster than a straight-forward loop, but it certainly is more flexible when things get a little more complicated.
Reply

The accepted answer still works but now we have an ECMAScript 6 native method [Array.find][1] to achieve the same effect.

Quoting MDN:

The find() method returns the value of the first element in the array
that satisfies the provided testing function. Otherwise undefined is
returned.

var arr = []; 
var item = {
  id: '21',
  step: 'step2',
  label: 'Banana',
  price: '19$'
};

arr.push(item);
/* note : data is the actual object that matched search criteria 
  or undefined if nothing matched */
var data = arr.find( function( ele ) { 
    return ele.id === '21';
} );

if( data ) {
 console.log( 'found' );
 console.log(data); // This is entire object i.e. `item` not boolean
}

See my jsfiddle link There is a polyfill for IE provided by mozilla

Admin

February 19, 2021 at 6:00 pm
2018 edit: This answer is from 2011, before browsers had widely supported array filtering methods and arrow functions. Have a look at CAFxX’s answer.

There is no “magic” way to check for something in an array without a loop. Even if you use some function, the function itself will use a loop. What you can do is break out of the loop as soon as you find what you’re looking for to minimize computational time.
```
var found = false;
for(var i = 0; i < vendors.length; i++) {
    if (vendors[i].Name == 'Magenic') {
        found = true;
        break;
    }
}
```
Reply

I would rather go with regex.

If your code is as follows,

vendors = [
    {
      Name: 'Magenic',
      ID: 'ABC'
     },
    {
      Name: 'Microsoft',
      ID: 'DEF'
    }
];

I would recommend

/"Name":"Magenic"/.test(JSON.stringify(vendors))

No need to reinvent the ~~wheel~~ loop, at least not explicitly (using arrow functions, modern browsers only):

if (vendors.filter(e => e.Name === 'Magenic').length > 0) {
  /* vendors contains the element we're looking for */
}

or, better yet:

if (vendors.some(e => e.Name === 'Magenic')) {
  /* vendors contains the element we're looking for */
}

EDIT: If you need compatibility with lousy browsers then your best bet is:

if (vendors.filter(function(e) { return e.Name === 'Magenic'; }).length > 0) {
  /* vendors contains the element we're looking for */
}

Admin

February 19, 2021 at 6:00 pm
No loop necessary. Three methods that come to mind:

Array.prototype.some()

This is the most exact answer for your question, i.e. “check if something exists”, implying a bool result. This will be true if there are any ‘Magenic’ objects, false otherwise:
```
let hasMagenicVendor = vendors.some( vendor => vendor['Name'] === 'Magenic' )
```
Array.prototype.filter()

This will return an array of all ‘Magenic’ objects, even if there is only one (will return a one-element array):
```
let magenicVendors = vendors.filter( vendor => vendor['Name'] === 'Magenic' )
```
If you try to coerce this to a boolean, it will not work, as an empty array (no ‘Magenic’ objects) is still truthy. So just use magenicVendors.length in your conditional.

Array.prototype.find()

This will return the first ‘Magenic’ object (or undefined if there aren’t any):
```
let magenicVendor = vendors.find( vendor => vendor['Name'] === 'Magenic' );
```
This coerces to a boolean okay (any object is truthy, undefined is falsy).

Note: I’m using vendor[“Name”] instead of vendor.Name because of the weird casing of the property names.

Note 2: No reason to use loose equality (==) instead of strict equality (===) when checking the name.
Reply
Admin

February 19, 2021 at 6:00 pm

As per ECMAScript 6 specification, you can use findIndex.

const magenicIndex = vendors.findIndex(vendor => vendor.Name === 'Magenic');

magenicIndex will hold either 0 (which is the index in the array) or -1 if it wasn’t found.
Reply
Admin

February 19, 2021 at 6:00 pm
Correct me if i’m wrong..
i could have used forEach method like this,
```
var found=false;
vendors.forEach(function(item){
   if(item.name === "name"){
       found=true;

   }
});
```
Nowadays i’m used to it ,because of it simplicity and self explanatory word.
Thank you.
Reply
Admin

February 19, 2021 at 6:00 pm
You cannot without looking into the object really.

You probably should change your structure a little, like
```
vendors = {
    Magenic:   'ABC',
    Microsoft: 'DEF'
};
```
Then you can just use it like a lookup-hash.
```
vendors['Microsoft']; // 'DEF'
vendors['Apple']; // undefined
```
Reply

You can use lodash. If lodash library is too heavy for your application consider chunking out unnecessary function not used.

let newArray = filter(_this.props.ArrayOne, function(item) {
                    return find(_this.props.ArrayTwo, {"speciesId": item.speciesId});
                });

This is just one way to do this. Another one can be:

var newArray=  [];
     _.filter(ArrayOne, function(item) {
                        return AllSpecies.forEach(function(cItem){
                            if (cItem.speciesId == item.speciesId){
                            newArray.push(item);
                          }
                        }) 
                    });

console.log(arr);

The above example can also be rewritten without using any libraries like:

var newArray=  [];
ArrayOne.filter(function(item) {
                return ArrayTwo.forEach(function(cItem){
                    if (cItem.speciesId == item.speciesId){
                    newArray.push(item);
                  }
                }) 
            });
console.log(arr);

Hope my answer helps.

Admin

February 19, 2021 at 6:00 pm

var without2 = (arr, args) => arr.filter(v => v.id !== args.id);
Example:

without2([{id:1},{id:1},{id:2}],{id:2})

Result:
without2([{id:1},{id:1},{id:2}],{id:2})
Reply

Alternatively you can do:

const find = (key, needle) => return !!~vendors.findIndex(v => (v[key] === needle));

Admin

February 19, 2021 at 6:00 pm
Here’s the way I’d do it
```
const found = vendors.some(item => item.Name === 'Magenic');
```
array.some() method checks if there is at least one value in an array that matches criteria and returns a boolean.
From here on you can go with:
```
if (found) {
// do something
} else {
// do something else
}
```
Reply

Many answers here are good and pretty easy. But if your array of object is having a fixed set of value then you can use below trick:

Map all the name in a object.

vendors = [
    {
      Name: 'Magenic',
      ID: 'ABC'
     },
    {
      Name: 'Microsoft',
      ID: 'DEF'
    }
];

var dirtyObj = {}
for(var count=0;count<vendors.length;count++){
   dirtyObj[vendors[count].Name] = true //or assign which gives you true.
}

Now this dirtyObj you can use again and again without any loop.

if(dirtyObj[vendor.Name]){
  console.log("Hey! I am available.");
}

Admin

February 19, 2021 at 6:00 pm
if you’re using jquery you can take advantage of grep to create array with all matching objects:
```
var results = $.grep(vendors, function (e) {
    return e.Name == "Magenic";
});
```
and then use the results array:
```
for (var i=0, l=results.length; i<l; i++) {
    console.log(results[i].ID);
}
```
Reply
Admin

February 19, 2021 at 6:00 pm
As the OP has asked the question if the key exists or not.

A more elegant solution that will return boolean using ES6 reduce function can be
```
const magenicVendorExists =  vendors.reduce((accumulator, vendor) => (accumulator||vendor.Name === "Magenic"), false);
```
Note: The initial parameter of reduce is a false and if the array has the key it will return true.

Hope it helps for better and cleaner code implementation
Reply

To compare one object to another, I combine a for in loop (used to loop through objects) and some().
You do not have to worry about an array going out of bounds etc, so that saves some code. Documentation on .some can be found here

var productList = [{id: 'text3'}, {id: 'text2'}, {id: 'text4', product: 'Shampoo'}]; // Example of selected products
var theDatabaseList = [{id: 'text1'}, {id: 'text2'},{id: 'text3'},{id:'text4', product: 'shampoo'}];    
var  objectsFound = [];

for(let objectNumber in productList){
    var currentId = productList[objectNumber].id;   
    if (theDatabaseList.some(obj => obj.id === currentId)) {
        // Do what you need to do with the matching value here
        objectsFound.push(currentId);
    }
}
console.log(objectsFound);

An alternative way I compare one object to another is to use a nested for loop with Object.keys().length to get the amount of objects in the array. Code below:

var productList = [{id: 'text3'}, {id: 'text2'}, {id: 'text4', product: 'Shampoo'}]; // Example of selected products
var theDatabaseList = [{id: 'text1'}, {id: 'text2'},{id: 'text3'},{id:'text4', product: 'shampoo'}];    
var objectsFound = [];

for(var i = 0; i < Object.keys(productList).length; i++){
        for(var j = 0; j < Object.keys(theDatabaseList).length; j++){
        if(productList[i].id === theDatabaseList[j].id){
            objectsFound.push(productList[i].id);
        }       
    }
}
console.log(objectsFound);

To answer your exact question, if are just searching for a value in an object, you can use a single for in loop.

var vendors = [
    {
      Name: 'Magenic',
      ID: 'ABC'
     },
    {
      Name: 'Microsoft',
      ID: 'DEF'
    } 
];

for(var ojectNumbers in vendors){
    if(vendors[ojectNumbers].Name === 'Magenic'){
        console.log('object contains Magenic');
    }
}

Testing for array elements:

JS Offers array functions which allow you to achieve this relatively easily. They are the following:

Array.prototype.filter: Takes a callback function which is a test, the array is then iterated over with is callback and filtered according to this callback. A new filtered array is returned.
Array.prototype.some: Takes a callback function which is a test, the array is then iterated over with is callback and if any element passes the test, the boolean true is returned. Otherwise false is returned

The specifics are best explained via an example:

Example:

vendors = [
    {
      Name: 'Magenic',
      ID: 'ABC'
     },
    {
      Name: 'Microsoft',
      ID: 'DEF'
    } //and so on goes array... 
];

// filter returns a new array, we instantly check if the length 
// is longer than zero of this newly created array
if (vendors.filter(company => company.Name === 'Magenic').length ) {
  console.log('I contain Magenic');
}

// some would be a better option then filter since it directly returns a boolean
if (vendors.some(company => company.Name === 'Magenic')) {
  console.log('I also contain Magenic');
}

Browser support:

These 2 function are ES6 function, not all browsers might support them. To overcome this you can use a polyfill. Here is the polyfill for Array.prototype.some (from MDN):

if (!Array.prototype.some) {
  Array.prototype.some = function(fun, thisArg) {
    'use strict';

    if (this == null) {
      throw new TypeError('Array.prototype.some called on null or undefined');
    }

    if (typeof fun !== 'function') {
      throw new TypeError();
    }

    var t = Object(this);
    var len = t.length >>> 0;

    for (var i = 0; i < len; i++) {
      if (i in t && fun.call(thisArg, t[i], i, t)) {
        return true;
      }
    }

    return false;
  };
}

You can try this its work for me.

const _ = require('lodash');

var arr = [
  {
    name: 'Jack',
    id: 1
  },
  {
    name: 'Gabriel',
    id: 2
  },
  {
    name: 'John',
    id: 3
  }
]

function findValue(arr,value) {
  return _.filter(arr, function (object) {
    return object['name'].toLowerCase().indexOf(value.toLowerCase()) >= 0;
  });
}

console.log(findValue(arr,'jack'))
//[ { name: 'Jack', id: 1 } ]

My approach to solving this problem is to use ES6 and creating a function that does the check for us. The benefit of this function is that it can be reusable through out your project to check any array of objects given the key and the value to check.

ENOUGH TALK, LET’S SEE THE CODE

Array

const ceos = [
  {
    name: "Jeff Bezos",
    company: "Amazon"
  }, 
  {
    name: "Mark Zuckerberg",
    company: "Facebook"
  }, 
  {
    name: "Tim Cook",
    company: "Apple"
  }
];

Function

const arrayIncludesInObj = (arr, key, valueToCheck) => {
  return arr.some(value => value[key] === valueToCheck);
}

Call/Usage

const found = arrayIncludesInObj(ceos, "name", "Tim Cook"); // true

const found = arrayIncludesInObj(ceos, "name", "Tim Bezos"); // false

Admin

February 19, 2021 at 6:00 pm
May be too late, but javascript array has two methods some and every method that returns a boolean and can help you achieve this.

I think some would be most appropriate for what you intend to achieve.
```
vendors.some( vendor => vendor['Name'] !== 'Magenic' )
```
Some validates that any of the objects in the array satisfies the given condition.
```
vendors.every( vendor => vendor['Name'] !== 'Magenic' )
```
Every validates that all the objects in the array satisfies the given condition.
Reply

const VENDORS = [{ Name: 'Magenic', ID: 'ABC' }, { Name: 'Microsoft', ID: 'DEF' }];

console.log(_.some(VENDORS, ['Name', 'Magenic']));

<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/lodash@4.17.20/lodash.min.js"></script>

Admin

February 19, 2021 at 6:00 pm
You can use includes from the Ramda library:

i.e:
```
R.includes({ name: 'Fred' }, [{ name: 'Fred' }]); //=> true
```
Source: https://ramdajs.com/docs/#includes
Reply
Admin

February 19, 2021 at 6:00 pm
```
const check = vendors.find((item)=>item.Name==='Magenic')

console.log(check)
```
Try this code.

If the item or element is present then the output will show you that element. If it is not present then the output will be ‘undefined’.
Reply

const a = [{one:2},{two:2},{two:4}]
const b = a.filter(val => "two" in val).length;
if (b) {
   ...
}

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