function argument as string but execute as function?

Question

I have a function (named “chal") which simply console.log() the arguments if they are NOT a function or call the function otherwise.

function chal(){
    for(var i = 0, iLen = arguments.length; i<iLen;i++)
        if(typeof arguments[i] == "function")
            //if argument is a function, call it
            arguments[i]();
        else
            //if argument is NOT a function, console.log the value
            console.log(arguments[i]);
}

I have an array (named “arr") which contain a function “AS A STRING”

var arr = [
    "argumentAsString",
    123,
    "function(){console.log('this is a function');}"
];

I need “chal" function to run with arguments from “arr” array but the function as string in the array get called as a function.

I know it's very confusing... here is jsFiddle: http://jsfiddle.net/YqBLm/1/

I know it's wield but I actually ran into a situation when I need to do such thing... I basically passed the function from server-side to client as string (function.toString()) and now i need to pass it as an argument to a function on client-side... Can anyone think of anything?

Thanks a lot in advance!!

You need eval() in your case, but why you store functions as strings in array? — Givi
– Givi, Commented Jan 22, 2014 at 21:05
@Givi: I don't think u can store function as function in array in JS... — Keo Strife
– Keo Strife, Commented Jan 22, 2014 at 21:06
You can! var arr = ["argumentAsString", 123, function(){console.log('this is a function');}]; arr[2](); since, functions is just object you can store reference of that function in variables or in arrays or in another objects. — Givi
– Givi, Commented Jan 22, 2014 at 21:07
ok, i'm sorry... my eyes played trick on me... I actually thought of it before and for some reason i insist that it doesn't work... — Keo Strife
– Keo Strife, Commented Jan 22, 2014 at 21:12

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 11:49:22Z

2

If you encapsulate the function in a module (object), you could call it like so:

JavaScript

var module = {
    argumentAsString: function(){..}
}

var arr = [
    "argumentAsString",
    123,
    "function(){console.log('this is a function');}"
];

function chal(){
    for(var i = 0, iLen = arguments.length; i<iLen;i++)
        if(module.hasOwnProperty[arguments[i]])
            //if argument is a function, call it
            module[arguments[i]]();
        else
            //if argument is NOT a function, console.log the value
            console.log(arguments[i]);
}

EDIT

I may have misinterpreted the question! :p

Try assigning that function to a variable, and storing that variable in the array instead:

var fcn= function(){
    console.log('this is a function');
}

var arr = [
    "argumentAsString",
    123,
    fcn
];

EDIT 2

If I'm right, neither of the above two answers will solve your problem. See this similar question: Convert string (was a function) back to function in Javascript

edited May 23, 2017 at 11:49

CommunityBot

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answered Jan 22, 2014 at 21:09

Jordan Foreman

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1 Comment

Bergi Over a year ago

You cannot use function as a variable identifier. Otherwise, yes.

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