javascript - removing an array element

Question

I'll pseudocode this to begin:

array = copper, oil, silver, bronze, gold, iron
user inputs the letter 'l'
if (the input has the letter 'l', remove everything from the array except words with 'l') {
output = copper, bronze, iron

my code:

//arr = iron, oil, gold, silver, bronze
classDiv = document.getElementsByClassName("searchOutputName");
for(var i = 0; i < arr.length; i++){
 market = arr[i];
 var n = market.indexOf(userInput.value);
 if (n >= 0) {
 classDiv[i].appendChild(document.createTextNode(arr[i]));
}
else {
 //do nothing
}

I have 5 div boxs for my search function.

If the user inputs 'l' the first box is empty, then it says oil, gold, silver, then another empty box. I want to make it so they stack up... first box has oil, then gold, then silver then 2 empty boxs.

• Dancrumb: Can you clarify your question? Are you looking to remove an array element or limit the DOM nodes that you create? Also, can you create a JSFiddle that demonstrates the problem that you're seeing, because the code that you provided would not do what you've describe.
• juvian: Why not use jquery autocomplete? Should do what you need unless you can't use jquery

Answer 1

You also could use filter for the javascript:

var arr = ["copper", "oil", "silver", "bronze", "gold", "iron"];
arr = arr.filter(function(item){ return item.indexOf('l')>=0;});
console.log(arr);

Answer 2

Though I have not added html to your code, I have managed to do it with JS which can be reworked to fit your need.

var arr = ["copper", "oil", "silver", "bronze", "gold", "iron"];
for (var i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {
 if (arr[i].indexOf('l') !== -1) {
 arr.splice(i, 1); // Remove the element from array
 i = i - 1; // Equalize to manage the removed array length
 }
}
console.log(arr); //returns ["copper", "bronze", "iron"] 

JSFiddle (Based on the pseudocode you have posted)

Answer 3

Sounds like you just want to sort the array by the elements that match the user input. How about something like this?

var text = 'l', t = ['iron', 'oil', 'gold', 'silver', 'bronze']
t.sort(function(a, b) { return a.indexOf(text) < b.indexOf(text) })
// => ["oil", "gold", "silver", "iron", "bronze"]

• Praveen: You should again need to take a look at the pseudocode of OP's.

Answer 4

This is the code you should use. It works, contrary to the other answer which has a bug.

function filter(items, criteria)
{
 var i, result;
 result = [];
 for (i = 0; i < items.length; i++)
 {
 if (items[i].indexOf('l') !== -1)
 {
 result.push(items[i]);
 }
 }
 return result;
}

You can filter by the criteria this way:

// market = [ 'copper', 'oil', 'silver', 'bronze', 'gold', 'iron' ];
// userInput = '1';
subset = filter(market, userInput);

• Raul Guiu: Why you have to write the filter yourself? You have it already in JS.
• pid: Oh really? I can't recall it, what are you referring to?
• Raul Guiu: developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/…
• pid: I see. That's ES5 while full cross-browser compatibility (esp. older browsers like IE6) require a polyfill.