What is causing the error `string.split is not a function`?

Question

Why am I getting...

Uncaught TypeError: string.split is not a function

...when I run...

var string = document.location;
var split = string.split('/');

document.location is an object. Try: var string=document.location.href — Teemu
– Teemu, Commented Apr 13, 2012 at 18:04

2 revs, 2 users 64% user1106925 · Accepted Answer · 2012-04-13 18:10:59Z

278

Change this...

var string = document.location;

to this...

var string = document.location + '';

This is because document.location is a Location object. The default .toString() returns the location in string form, so the concatenation will trigger that.

You could also use document.URL to get a string.

edited Apr 13, 2012 at 18:10

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7 Comments

kapa Over a year ago

Would not it be cleaner to call toString() instead of hacky concatenation?

user1106925 Over a year ago

@bažmegakapa: Yeah, that's a matter of preference. The + '' is a pretty common trick for string coercion, but some people prefer the toString() method. I wouldn't consider it any more hacky than using the unary + for number conversion.

kapa Over a year ago

That is just as ugly. There is parseInt() and parseFloat(). There is also Number(). The + is shorter of course, but less readable for someone not used to hacky code or less experienced.

Martin Schneider Over a year ago

the + '' method doesn't change anything for me in Chrome Browser but toString() does.

user1106925 Over a year ago

@MA-Maddin: Did you do my_string + "".split()? If so, you need parens since + has a lower precedence than .. So like this: (my_string + "").split()

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dstarh · Accepted Answer · 2017-04-19 20:39:02Z

95

maybe

string = document.location.href;
arrayOfStrings = string.toString().split('/');

assuming you want the current url

edited Apr 19, 2017 at 20:39

dstarh

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answered Apr 13, 2012 at 18:05

chepe263

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Comments

Matt · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-16 19:31:58Z

14

run this

// you'll see that it prints Object
console.log(typeof document.location);

you want document.location.toString() or document.location.href

edited Nov 16, 2012 at 19:31

Matt

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answered Apr 13, 2012 at 18:07

dstarh

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1 Comment

sg552 Over a year ago

Thank you. I didn't realized I converted my var from string to object. Your solution gave me an idea to check back my code.

kapa · Accepted Answer · 2012-04-14 07:53:49Z

9

document.location isn't a string.

You're probably wanting to use document.location.href or document.location.pathname instead.

edited Apr 14, 2012 at 7:53

kapa

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answered Apr 13, 2012 at 18:06

Denys Séguret

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1 Comment

Denys Séguret Over a year ago

lol. 4 answers (at least) at the same time. I shouldn't look at the newest questions on SO :)

Daniel Manta · Accepted Answer · 2020-07-26 00:38:57Z

1

In clausule if, use (). For example:

stringtorray = "xxxx,yyyyy,zzzzz";
if (xxx && (stringtoarray.split(',') + "")) { ...

edited Jul 26, 2020 at 0:38

Daniel Manta

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answered Jul 25, 2020 at 22:53

Jonatas AstroPt

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