Store array as variable then convert back to array

Question

I'm making a javascript game but (not browser-based) but the engine I'm using has a bug that it deletes stored arrays when you exit the game. So to get passed that I want to store my arrays as variables and then when you load up the game convert them back to the arrays.

At the moment my game has only 1 array. Someone suggested this code but it doesn't work properly in that when I run a script to print each element of the array on a different line it prints the first element on the first line but then on the second line it prints the rest like this: element1,element2,element3 Here is the code the person suggested:

This code runs every time the arrays are updated. Here, the array is "questsActive", and the var it is stored in is "questsActiveVar".
  questsActiveVar = questsActive.toString();
  questsActiveVar = questsActiveVar.replace(",", "\",\"");
  questsActiveVar = "questsActive=new Array(\"".concat(questsActiveVar,"\")");
This runs whenever the game loads; it recreates the array that was deleted
  eval(questsActiveVar);

As @Genius observe in is response it could be a good thing to use JSON in your context, if you have a fair amount of data to save. json.org — David Laberge
– David Laberge, Commented Jan 4, 2012 at 12:22

David Laberge · Accepted Answer · 2012-01-04 12:17:07Z

1

To create an array from a string in javascript you need to use the function .split(). Here is an example:

var someStr = 'item1, item2, item3';
var array   =  someStr.split(',');   // place any character in here to split on
alert(array[0]);                     // => item1

From what I understand in your context I would simply save the questsActiveVar variable, then .split() it when the game loads again.

answered Jan 4, 2012 at 12:17

David Laberge

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3 Comments

powerbuoy Over a year ago

You can use join() to do the reverse; turn the array into a string: array.join(',').

gabriel101x Over a year ago

I can't use split because it converts the array contents into a series of strings and my array contains a series of variables.

David Laberge Over a year ago

@gabriel101x I'm not sure to follow. How can an array have variable and not their value? Could you add a simple example of that in your question?

Genius · Accepted Answer · 2012-01-04 12:19:09Z

1

Not sure I understand the issue, but why you want to store a part of javascript if you need to store only data? I'd suggest that you store in your storage a JSON-string of the array, and then parse it as an array when load.

The code should look like this:

var questsActiveVar = JSON.stringify(questsActive);
// questsActiveVar can be stored anywhere as a string

And to load it:

var questsActive = JSON.parse(questsActiveVar);

In this case you can store even more complicated variables with commas, sub-arrays, etc.

answered Jan 4, 2012 at 12:19

Genius

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Comments

Steve Wellens · Accepted Answer · 2012-01-04 12:32:44Z

0

You are only replacing the first item with the replace call.

Try this:

questsActiveVar = questsActiveVar.replace(/,/g, "\",\"");

answered Jan 4, 2012 at 12:32

Steve Wellens

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