Array Power, Part III - DHTML Lab | 13

Array Power, Part III
the cnt argument

No cnt Argument

removedElements = myArray.splice(2);

If splice() receives no second argument, it defaults the element count to the number of elements between the first argument pointer and the end of the array.

function array_splice(ind,cnt){
    if(arguments.length == 0) return ind;
    if(typeof ind != "number") ind = 0;
    if(ind < 0) ind = Math.max(0,this.length + ind);
    if(ind > this.length) {
        if(arguments.length > 2) ind = this.length;
        else return [];
    }

    if(arguments.length < 2) cnt = this.length-ind;

    removeArray = this.slice(ind,ind+cnt);
    endArray = this.slice(ind+cnt);
    this.length = ind;
    for(var i=2;i<arguments.length;i++){
        this[this.length] = arguments[i];
    }
    for(var i=0;i<endArray.length;i++){
        this[this.length] = endArray[i];
    }
    return removeArray;
}

We check for the existence of a second argument. If the argument does not exist, that is, if the length of the function's arguments array is less than 2, we redeclare cnt, assigning it a value equal to the array's length minus the value of ind.

cnt Argument Is Not a Number

removedElements = myArray.splice(2,"cat");

If splice() is incorrectly passed a non-numeric value as a second argument, it defaults the argument to 0.

function array_splice(ind,cnt){
    if(arguments.length == 0) return ind;
    if(typeof ind != "number") ind = 0;
    if(ind < 0) ind = Math.max(0,this.length + ind);
    if(ind > this.length) {
        if(arguments.length > 2) ind = this.length;
        else return [];
    }
    if(arguments.length < 2) cnt = this.length-ind;

    if (typeof cnt != "number") cnt = 0;

    removeArray = this.slice(ind,ind+cnt);
    endArray = this.slice(ind+cnt);
    this.length = ind;
    for(var i=2;i<arguments.length;i++){
        this[this.length] = arguments[i];
    }
    for(var i=0;i<endArray.length;i++){
        this[this.length] = endArray[i];
    }
    return removeArray;
}

We check the second argument's (cnt) type. If it is not a number then we redeclare it with a value of 0, before proceeding.

cnt Argument Is a Negative Number

removedElements = myArray.splice(2,-2);

If splice() is passed a negative number as a second argument, it again defaults the argument to 0.

function array_splice(ind,cnt){
    if(arguments.length == 0) return ind;
    if(typeof ind != "number") ind = 0;
    if(ind < 0) ind = Math.max(0,this.length + ind);
    if(ind > this.length) {
        if(arguments.length > 2) ind = this.length;
        else return [];
    }
    if(arguments.length < 2) cnt = this.length-ind;
    if (typeof cnt != "number") cnt = 0;
    else cnt = Math.max(0,cnt);

    removeArray = this.slice(ind,ind+cnt);
    endArray = this.slice(ind+cnt);
    this.length = ind;
    for(var i=2;i<arguments.length;i++){
        this[this.length] = arguments[i];
    }
    for(var i=0;i<endArray.length;i++){
        this[this.length] = endArray[i];
    }
    return removeArray;
}

Using the Math.max() method, we ensure that cnt can never be less than 0.

Small Optimization

The last two statements discussed can be combined into one:

function array_splice(ind,cnt){
    if(arguments.length == 0) return ind;
    if(typeof ind != "number") ind = 0;
    if(ind < 0) ind = Math.max(0,this.length + ind);
    if(ind > this.length) {
        if(arguments.length > 2) ind = this.length;
        else return [];
    }
    if(arguments.length < 2) cnt = this.length-ind;

    cnt = (typeof cnt == "number") ? Math.max(0,cnt) : 0;

    removeArray = this.slice(ind,ind+cnt);
    endArray = this.slice(ind+cnt);
    this.length = ind;
    for(var i=2;i<arguments.length;i++){
        this[this.length] = arguments[i];
    }
    for(var i=0;i<endArray.length;i++){
        this[this.length] = endArray[i];
    }
    return removeArray;
}

We now have our complete splice() method prototype.

Produced by Peter Belesis and

All Rights Reserved. Legal Notices.
Created: May 16, 2000
Revised: May 16, 2000

URL: https://www.webreference.com/dhtml/column33/9.html