Having trouble finding a value in an array using $.inArray()

Question

I have a value, and an array. I'm trying to see if the value is contained within the array. I'm using jQuery's 'inArray' method but the results keep telling me that it is not found. What am I doing wrong?

here is the fiddle. http://jsfiddle.net/p9xcb/

var array =  ["79C8A605-1384-4A51-8AC9-C53C1AE075D2", "E367CEEE-A344-4C63-B4B3-A1CC20D3DAF2", "1E3ED40E-935A-4895-960E-89FFD8CD81B9", "2E67F9E8-4770-497E-A938-0A145DA033AF", "35B33B09-6BD3-495E-9A3E-4B5D6DF8655E", "F419FB1F-4922-46B9-B651-8BB0D42510DD", "61FD263B-175E-4434-8A88-8E00418E2E14", null, "FF98229A-998C-49AD-9392-E4CE98115C0A", "C88B9D52-FE70-430C-B43D-D52F9B22E997", "1DDF2413-B453-42BB-8D78-7A7AAA94C353", "55D922B1-EBCD-4EC3-87A5-FA6AA38C9975", "0FA8079A-F76F-4CA5-B370-7B8B9AF2720A", "CF1971EF-E0C2-4C54-8131-A19FB14F2515", "A736854B-73A2-4282-85E0-6298D8AB815A", "DA280665-DC5E-4DF2-9FB1-924E1C8E4713", "9C73A934-9DDF-415C-A409-F2AC79493539", "FD950617-2C9C-4B6C-94F1-6C746699B636", "F184BBBE-C296-4F1D-9DD7-57F87D3B95A6", "676955FB-3F3D-4DC6-8F9D-A873A8440499", "5509E5C6-6650-4DF6-B7A9-49C8BC935B53", "7D88DCD6-431E-41EB-9A87-5C19C2D579FC", "509EA3D8-5B30-41F0-809B-D1E45BC30E3C", "6C4D6F4F-A188-4E6C-B40C-02AE4A5FFAAB", "710E2593-FE14-4CAB-B97C-95D96BB81266", "CBEB793E-A572-4995-8342-E9A48EF19E82", "A8C937F2-056C-46B4-8034-11CA4BB37A1D", "8E9B5E53-298B-4BDE-A696-20F102C28F12", "7BF7421C-CB21-4A44-BBA3-2CFD3A74C889", "F8D89224-7BB7-477F-BB8E-F5B2633A4111", "73F196CF-62F8-4F7A-9938-4F52404450E4", "B4D419D6-A5B8-4141-8C0E-ADCBEC72F2D8", "59ECF672-5C93-4E1E-8E30-6E0699874D61", "EC72A684-5888-48E1-99FD-FE455A50222F", "5D234D6D-E296-4D90-B87E-61FB6FB48702", "8EDD5718-E28A-4A4E-85BA-4DC9C072EAA8", "66FEA812-9945-4FFB-87CB-CCA828768FA0", "0025CB40-3016-4286-AD60-46685EDFD6A1", "508AC4D3-EA29-43A9-92CC-453FE2438D58", "030C5CBE-C227-4326-BED7-DB16A90D5A36", "2AAFF154-0FD0-4B60-9180-DE19A9E0890B", "64EBB0B4-81C1-46EB-8B1A-711A06E45FA3", "E1AA77B2-0E67-42A7-B7D7-A15D2A4EA448", "E9543440-E66E-4984-AC4E-091F161D33D6", "D93988D5-73D9-4988-B1A1-B48282F3C7B7", "6DC572B8-1F69-4A5C-81C7-6EAC617EBEE1", "BB56B36C-1D90-4B8D-ABF0-4ECD4052DCC1", "D1FEFB8D-84F4-4500-92F2-70FEE23F4B6E", "3A836ED4-639C-42C4-B945-375DC053FB61", "33672786-E964-4C3F-A3EB-7BF6634D13A0", "7F76C892-AEC1-4901-80BE-B93DFF59D159", "0E92F1AD-5C09-4B3D-BAF5-5D62BA3440EF", "73E50616-DCA7-4E83-B81F-100C21A18C49", "CF89704A-BD58-4D41-A5B5-10BAFC6F8085", "0D5CBF2A-3699-4968-A2DC-F6EA61D6C7C1", "FED50D50-86E8-42E2-8CD4-17DC01BB966C", "81EEFFA0-D172-4BC3-8474-2C55E6CB06CA", "8FA6CBBD-D5AC-431D-B1E3-C0D1BA48ECCA", "7EEA9381-F0F0-4252-BF29-D15A5A0283C6", "0FFDE30B-E4C3-40CC-A292-566D54D05821", "E24EE39E-0FDE-4C20-B61C-E5C07B483CF8", "82F6B86F-6EAB-42B4-B19D-CA6EAFF83A92", "7B663073-6296-4A08-89AF-7051EAFC3E8A", "EA36E8B5-A266-473C-A076-96A605A856B9", "4A99A5A0-FBF3-4AC6-A34A-52E761B98C8A", "26513617-D98B-44D9-BDD5-2FFCB8C7783B", "67F93D0F-E145-4447-A7B8-E3D1E944B88C", "9798FD1D-B781-4420-A37E-622E04E69672", "1A872624-E81B-45B7-B6FD-ED229AE54042", "092C0992-FAED-4E74-AB3E-6553F5261EF2", "76B94E6B-BE6B-43F2-ABBD-67A3B92C33B9", "AADF1B4D-F32E-4C0C-B4FC-EAC051338B8C", "E8A2479D-B1FC-4B67-AC94-C1AB8E1C7298", "8F7350C0-867D-461A-92D9-225CF8E91D60", "E742D55B-ADF0-4ADF-A3C9-EC4B3BAA832A", "320EBB4F-F0AB-47E7-A5B6-334429F8DEC8", "CEF5D66B-5EF2-468B-A9BE-06B0BC05E917", "CC6D2205-EB58-414D-A404-ED7B743E385E", "7D7EB4D0-BE31-4F28-928D-8E1FC5C947F0"];

var value = "CC6D2205-EB58-414D-A404-ED7B743E385E";

$('body').html($.inArray(value, array));

Edit:

If I run this code

if ($.inArray(value, array)) {/*this will never be called, why?*/}

I will never see anything where /*this will never be called, why?*/ section is.

Yeah I edited my question to reflect it not saying -1 any more — Dennis Martinez
– Dennis Martinez, Commented Nov 1, 2012 at 16:21
@DennisMartinez - What do you mean by "not found" then? It is found, at index 77. — James Allardice
– James Allardice, Commented Nov 1, 2012 at 16:21
if i call $.inArray() as like a check such as if ($.inArray(v, a)) {/*this will never be called, why?*/} — Dennis Martinez
– Dennis Martinez, Commented Nov 1, 2012 at 16:22

Jamiec · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-02 08:48:33Z

1

You should first understand the concept of truthyness/falseyness in javascript. The following values will evaluate inside a boolean operator as false

undefined
null
empty string
false
0

And the following will evaluate true

non-null object reference
non-empty string
true
any non-zero number

Now do you see the problem using

if($.inArray(value,array)){

}

Hint: Not finding the element (-1) will evaluate true, finding the element in the first position (0) will evaluate false. Finding the value in any element after the 1st will evaluate true.

The easy fix is to use:

if ($.inArray(value, array) >= 0)

edited Nov 2, 2012 at 8:48

answered Nov 1, 2012 at 16:52

Jamiec

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1 Comment

jfrej Over a year ago

Not finding the element (-1) will evaluate false - this is not true. if(-1){true} returns true. -1 == true returns false. See this question: why-are-javascript-negative-numbers-not-always-true-or-false

John · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-01 16:22:06Z

1

The $.inArray() method is similar to JavaScript's native .indexOf() method in that it returns -1 when it doesn't find a match. If the first element within the array matches value, $.inArray() returns 0.

In addition to that inArray returns the index of the occurrence.

answered Nov 1, 2012 at 16:22

John

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Comments

Mike Park · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-01 16:28:47Z

1

This might be your problem. In javascript if (0) is going to be the same as if (false), and if (-1) is the same as if (true). You need to use

if ($.inArray(value, array) >= 0)

answered Nov 1, 2012 at 16:28

Mike Park

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Anton · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-01 16:37:54Z

0

check = function (arr,val)
{
    for(i = 0; i < arr.length;i++){
        try{
         if(arr[i].indexOf(val) != -1){
            return i;           
        }
        }catch(e){}
    }
    return -1;
}

use it like this check(array,value);

edited Nov 1, 2012 at 16:37

answered Nov 1, 2012 at 16:22

Anton

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