Question

I am having a problem with a simple script that is supposed to update a page with some values(user input) that are turned from monthly to yearly (the numbers go into numeric fields created by confirmIT)

<script>
function update() {
  for (var i = 0; i < 9; i++) {
    var ans = parseInt(document.getElementById("bq10a_" + i).value, 10);
    if (!isNaN(ans)) {
      var new = ans * 12;
      document.getElementById("bq10a_" + i + "calc").value = new;
    }
  }
}
return;
}

setInterval("update()", 1000);    
</script>

this yields an Expected identifier error on line

var new = ans*12;

and i would appreciate any help on how to solve it

Answer 1

The word new is a reserved word in JavaScript and cannot be used as the name of a variable.

The error means that the parser expected an “identifier”, which is to say that it expected to see a valid identifier.

Change the name of the variable and things should improve. In the code you’ve posted I think there’s a { } nesting problem; there appears to be one too many before the return of the function.

edit — also as jbabey notes in a comment, your setInterval() call should be

setInterval(update, 1000);

It’s not a good idea, generally, to pass strings to setInterval(), despite the advice of thousands of mouldy old instructional websites.