Pass in object and array variables

Question

I have dialog in a javascript object separated into objects and arrays (similar to JSON format).

I'd like to access these objects and arrays by passing in their respective variable names...

For example, how would I access the "parent_object_name" object and child array "array_name"? I've tried creating objects and arrays, then passing them in, as such:

var parent_object_name = npc_dialog.people[NPC_id].dialogs.answers;
var child_array_name = npc_dialog.people[NPC_id].dialogs.answers.AnswerOne;
cycleDialog(0, parent_object_name, child_array_name);

But that didn't work...

So then I tried passing the names in as strings:

cycleDialog(0, "parent_object_name", "child_array_name");

This also didn't work.

cycleDialog takes those variables and substitutes them in as such:

function cycleDialog(NPC_id, TYPE, SUBTYPE) {
    NPCs_ARRAY[NPC_id].children[1].text = npc_dialog.people[NPC_id].dialogs.TYPE.SUBTYPE[dialog_id];
}

Thank you

EDIT:

Data looks like:

"dialog" : 
{   
    "dialog_name" :
    [ 
              "dialog",
              "more text..."
    ]
},
"answers" : 
{   
    "answer_name" :
    [ 
              "answer text here",
              "more text..."
    ]
}

Is this any different than your other question?

James Montagne
– James Montagne

2013-08-26 03:14:40 +00:00
Commented Aug 26, 2013 at 3:14 — James Montagne
– James Montagne, Commented Aug 26, 2013 at 3:14

Claudiu · Accepted Answer · 2013-08-26 03:15:48Z

2

You probably want this:

function cycleDialog(NPC_id, TYPE, SUBTYPE) {
    NPCs_ARRAY[NPC_id].children[1].text = npc_dialog.people[NPC_id].dialogs[TYPE][SUBTYPE][dialog_id];
}

along with:

cycleDialog(0, parent_object_name, child_array_name);

The difference between .x and [x] is that .x looks up the key 'x', whereas [x] looks up the key that the variable x evaluates to:

> var array = {x: 100, foobar: 200}
> var x = 'foobar';
> array.x
100
> array[x]
200

answered Aug 26, 2013 at 3:15

Claudiu

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4 Comments

user3871 Over a year ago

So now when I pass in cycleDialog(0, "answers", "Mandarin");, dialogs should be able to look up the keys that match the strings "answers" and "Mandarin", right? It says Cannot read property 'answers' of undefined though

Claudiu Over a year ago

@Growler: That means that npc_dialog.people[NPC_id].dialogs is undefined instead of what you expect.

user3871 Over a year ago

Okay, thank you. That difference (.x and [x]) you mentioned above, in terms of accessing the key value vs accessing the key that the variable evaluates to... is that just used for objects, or can you have a similar structure with arrays to?

Claudiu Over a year ago

@Growler: that's the same for arrays also, although x.1 is invalid syntax so you can't do it that way for numbers

Dries Wielockx · Accepted Answer · 2013-08-26 03:17:48Z

0

You can't pass variables to a function by passing their names. The only way to do that would be to pass their address or value.

answered Aug 26, 2013 at 3:17

Dries Wielockx

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Comments

Stuart · Accepted Answer · 2013-08-26 03:42:14Z

0

Your function cycleDialog gets the data from the object npc_dialog.people[NPC_id].dialogs. If I understand correctly, all you need to do is pass it the names of the objects within that object that you want it to look up, and follow Claudiu's answer for altering the cycleDialog function.

e.g. cycleDialog(0, 'answers', 'answer_name');

would return [ "answer text here", "more text..." ]

using the example data you give (and assuming this data is found within npc_dialog.people[0].dialogs).

answered Aug 26, 2013 at 3:42

Stuart

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