I'm trying to put content from RSS feed - problem is every RSS feed has different formats for images, content etc.
I'm trying to see if certain object exists in javascript or jquery:
item.mediaGroups[0].contents[0].url
How can I check it in an if statement? I keep getting for feeds without this structure:
Uncaught TypeError: Cannot read property '0' of undefined
Also tried:
if (typeof item.mediaGroups[0].contents[0].url === "undefined")
but I keep getting the same error.
thanks!
There is no "simple" built in way to do this sort of in depth checking. The reasoning is simple - most of the time you know the type of the objects you're working against.
You can do:
if (typeof item !== "undefined" &&
typeof item.mediaGroups !== "undefined" &&
typeof item.mediaGroups[0] !== "undefined" &&
typeof item.megiaGroups[0].contents !== "undefined" &&
typeof item.megiaGroups[0].contents[0] !== "undefined" &&
typeof item.mediaGroups[0].contents[0].url !== "undefined"){
When you type all that you might want to consider your data structures, since this really is not a situation you should be in to begin with :)
(hint, you can skip the typeof on all but the first, but I think typeof is a good clarification here).
The real question is this:
If you are querying data (for example XML in an RSS feed) there are effective ways to do so with XPATH or query selectors. Object property access is built for objects where what you're querying is a document. Sure, it's possible with a bunch of ugly checks just like you can hammer a nail in with a heavy screwdriver.
You can see this question in Stack Overflow on how to use DOM methods to parse XML.
mediaGroup words in the middle. Personally, I would just leave out the typeofs, because they don't cover null.If you're uncertain about the exisence of properties, try this helper function:
function getProperty(root) {
var l = arguments.length, i, undefined;
for( i=1; i<l; i++) {
if( typeof root[arguments[i]] == "undefined") return undefined;
root = root[arguments[i]];
}
return root;
}
You can then call it like this:
var url = getProperty(item,'mediaGroups',0,'contents',0,'url');
As a more "haxy" way, you can try this:
try {url = item.mediaGroups[0].contents[0].url;}
catch(e) {url = undefined;}
undefined as a variable?I would check the length of both arrays in this case to be sure - before assuming there are objects defined at index 0
item.mediaGroups.length > 0
and
item.mediaGroups[0].contents.length > 0
As the outer check you can also throw in a
if(item.mediaGroups){
}
How about 'optional chaining' (described in ES2021 spec and already implemented in all browsers except three) ?
from MDN:
The optional chaining operator provides a way to simplify accessing values through connected objects when it's possible that a reference or function may be undefined or null.
The optional chaining ?. stops the evaluation if the value before ?. is undefined or null and returns undefined so it is giving us a way to handle the possibly undefined/nullsish values
item?.mediaGroups[0]?.contents[0]?.url // will evaluates to undefined if either of those is undefined.
item.mediaGroups[0].contents is undefined, you have to check for it.
if(item.mediaGroups && item.mediaGroups[0].contents) {
return item.mediaGroups[0].contents[0].url;
}
It's not a solution with if-statements (as requested), but you can use exceptions to achieve similar functionality. Something like this:
function throwOrReturn(thing){
if(typeof thing === 'undefined'){
throw "Didn't find it..."
}else{
return thing
}
}
// The unknown thing.
var a = {
b1: {
},
b2: {
c: 'lookingFor'
}
}
var c
// Test our different paths.
try{
// First guess.
c = throwOrReturn(a.b1.c.d)+" - a.b1.c.d"
}catch(error){
try{
// Second guess.
c = throwOrReturn(a.b[45][34].c)+" - a.b[45][34].c"
}catch(error){
try{
// Third guess.
c = throwOrReturn(a.b2.c)+" - a.b2.c"
}catch(error){
// Try more guesses, or give up.
c = "notFound"
}
}
}
console.log("c:", c) // Logs: "c: lookingFor - a.b2.c"
It ain't pretty, but it's an alternative worth to mention.
