Question

How can I dynamically add attributes to a Javascript object/class?

I am parsing an xml file, for each name value pair in a xml element I am trying to add that pair as an attribute to a Javascript object. See my example for clarity:

function MyObject(nType)
{
    this.type = nType;
}

MyObject.prototype.parseXMLNode( /*XML Node*/ nodeXML )
{
   var attribs = nodeXML.attributes;
   for (var i=0; i<attribs.length; i++)
      this.(attribs[i].nodeName) = attribs[i].nodeValue;   // ERROR here
}

// Where the xml would look like
<myobject name="blah" width="100" height="100"/>

Answer 1

You’re very close. To Dynamically call and assign attributes on an object you’ll want to use bracket notation.

For example:

person = {}
person['first_name'] = 'John'
person['last_name'] = 'Doe'

// You can now access the values using:
// person.first_name OR person['last_name']

The following should work for you:

MyObject.prototype.parseXMLNode( nodeXML ) {
    var attrs = nodeXML.attributes,
        length = attrs.length;

    for(var i=0; i < length; i++) {
        this[attrs[i].nodeName] = attrs[i].nodeValue;
    }
}