In javascript how can we identify whether an object is a Hash or an Array?
JavascriptJavascript Problem Overview
The output of my JSON call can either be an Array or a Hash. How do I distinguish between these two?
Javascript Solutions
Solution 1 - Javascript
Modern browsers support the Array.isArray(obj)
method.
See MDN for documentation and a polyfill.
= original answer from 2008 =
you can use the constuctor property of your output:
if(output.constructor == Array){
}
else if(output.constructor == Object){
}
Solution 2 - Javascript
Is object:
function isObject ( obj ) {
return obj && (typeof obj === "object");
}
Is array:
function isArray ( obj ) {
return isObject(obj) && (obj instanceof Array);
}
Because arrays are objects you'll want to test if a variable is an array first, and then if it is an object:
if (isArray(myObject)) {
// do stuff for arrays
}
else if (isObject(myObject)) {
// do stuff for objects
}
Solution 3 - Javascript
Did you mean "Object" instead of "Hash"?
>>> var a = [];
>>> var o = {};
>>> a instanceof Array
true
>>> o instanceof Array
false
Solution 4 - Javascript
I made a function for determining if it's a dictionary.
exports.is_dictionary = function (obj) {
if(!obj) return false;
if(Array.isArray(obj)) return false;
if(obj.constructor != Object) return false;
return true;
};
// return true
test.equal(nsa_utils.is_dictionary({}), true);
test.equal(nsa_utils.is_dictionary({abc:123, def:456}), true);
// returns false
test.equal(nsa_utils.is_dictionary([]), false);
test.equal(nsa_utils.is_dictionary([123, 456]), false);
test.equal(nsa_utils.is_dictionary(null), false);
test.equal(nsa_utils.is_dictionary(NaN), false);
test.equal(nsa_utils.is_dictionary('hello'), false);
test.equal(nsa_utils.is_dictionary(0), false);
test.equal(nsa_utils.is_dictionary(123), false);
Solution 5 - Javascript
Check for "constructor" property on the object. It is Array - it is an array object.
var a = { 'b':{length:0}, 'c':[1,2] }
if (a.c.constructor == Array) for (var i = 0; i < a.c.length; i++) alert(a.c[i]); else for (var s in a.b); alert(a.b[s]);
Solution 6 - Javascript
For parsing json could come in handy :)
isArrayHashs = (attr) ->
!!attr && attr.constructor == Array && isHash(attr[0])
isHash = (attr) ->
!!attr && !$.isNumeric(attr) && attr.constructor == Object
attr[0].constructor must be:
- String
- Numeric
- Array
- Object
- Undefined
Solution 7 - Javascript
A more practical and precise term than object or hash or dictionary may be associative array. Object could apply to many undesirables, e.g. typeof null === 'object'
or [1,2,3] instanceof Object
. The following two functions work since ES3 and are mutually exclusive.
function is_array(z) {
return Object(z) instanceof Array;
}
console.assert(true === is_array([]));
console.assert(true === is_array([1,2,3]));
console.assert(true === is_array(new Array));
console.assert(true === is_array(Array(1,2,3)));
console.assert(false === is_array({a:1, b:2}));
console.assert(false === is_array(42));
console.assert(false === is_array("etc"));
console.assert(false === is_array(null));
console.assert(false === is_array(undefined));
console.assert(false === is_array(true));
console.assert(false === is_array(function () {}));
function is_associative_array(z) {
return String(z) === '[object Object]';
}
console.assert(true === is_associative_array({a:1, b:2}));
console.assert(true === is_associative_array(new function Legacy_Class(){}));
console.assert(true === is_associative_array(new class ES2015_Class{}));
console.assert(false === is_associative_array(window));
console.assert(false === is_associative_array(new Date()));
console.assert(false === is_associative_array([]));
console.assert(false === is_associative_array([1,2,3]));
console.assert(false === is_associative_array(Array(1,2,3)));
console.assert(false === is_associative_array(42));
console.assert(false === is_associative_array("etc"));
console.assert(false === is_associative_array(null));
console.assert(false === is_associative_array(undefined));
console.assert(false === is_associative_array(true));
console.assert(false === is_associative_array(function () {}));
Notice how this will treat the instance of a class as an associative array. (But not the instance of a built-in class, such as Date.)