Having problems when using objects passed through an array

Question

I have a public 'bullets' array that I'm pushing a private bullet object into. It has x and y properties and I want to change it's y property so that every time I press the space key it creates a bullet object, pushes it into the bullets array and then calls a function that loops through the array and updates each bullet's y property.

However, every time I press the space key I get an error:

Uncaught TypeError: Cannot read property 'y' of undefined

This is slightly beyond my understanding and I'm not sure how I can write this so that the bullet objects in the bullets array are not 'undefined'.

If anyone has any suggestions I would greatly appreciate the help.

   //called every frame
    function playGame()
    {
        movePlayer();
        playerShoot();
        moveBullet();
    }

    //PLAYER SHOOT FUNCTION
    //If the space key is down, player.shoot is true and the bullet object is created.

    function playerShoot()
    {
        if(player.shoot)
        {
            var bullet = Object.create(spriteObject);
            bullet.width = 16;
            bullet.height = 16;
            bullet.x = (player.width - bullet.width) / 2;
            bullet.y = (player.height - bullet.height) / 2;
            bullets.push(bullet);
            player.shoot = false;
        }
    }

    //MOVING THE BULLET
    function moveBullet()
    {
        if(bullets.length !== 0)
        {
            for(var i = 0; i <= bullets.length; i++)
            {
                var bullet = bullets[i];
                console.log("bullet: " + bullet);

                //bullet.y causes error: Uncaught TypeError: Cannot read property 'y' of undefined

                if((bullet.y + bullet.height) >= 0)
                {
                    bullet.y--;
                }
                else
                {
                    bullets.splice[i, 0];
                }
            }
        }
    }

    //RENDERING THE BULLETS
    function renderBullet()
    {
        if(bullets.length !== 0)
        {
            for(var i = 0; i <= bullets.length; i++)
            {
                var bullet = bullets[i];
                bullet.render();
            }
        }
    }

Also see stackoverflow.com/questions/8004617/…

britter
– britter

2015-07-31 16:43:05 +00:00
Commented Jul 31, 2015 at 16:43 — britter
– britter, Commented Jul 31, 2015 at 16:43

Yahkob · Accepted Answer · 2016-08-04 04:38:43Z

5

You should use < instead of <= less than or equal to will iterate one time more than the bullets array resulting in your loop iterating over a non existing element. In addition to not using <= and using < you can also check if bullet exists and only execute your if or else blocks if condition is met.

  if((bullet && bullet.y + bullet.height) >= 0) {
      bullet.y--;
  } else {
      bullets.splice(i, 0);
  }

edited Aug 4, 2016 at 4:38

answered Jul 31, 2015 at 16:42

Yahkob

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2 Comments

a-d Over a year ago

bullets.splice[i, 0]; -> bullets.splice(i, 1);

Yahkob Over a year ago

@aduch whoops, just copying what the OP posted didn't realize that was wrong :)

Joy · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-31 16:45:45Z

3

Here:

for(var i = 0; i <= bullets.length; i++)

Should be replaced with:

for(var i = 0; i < bullets.length; i++)

In your code, the last iteration gets bullets[bullets.length], which is undefined. So comes the error.

This error:

Uncaught TypeError: Cannot read property 'y' of undefined

Indicates that the object is undefined, so cannot access the property y on it. So always make sure your object is defined before accessing properties on it.

edited Jul 31, 2015 at 16:45

answered Jul 31, 2015 at 16:42

Joy

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2 Comments

Cerpin Taxt Over a year ago

Ah thank you very much! That has solved the problem.

Joy Over a year ago

@CerpinTaxt My pleasure. You may upvote or accept the answer :). Thanks.

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