Question

I have some javascript array that I append within a function and call after the function has run (the db information is a call to CouchDB):

$(document).ready(function() {

  my_array = [];

  view_name = db_name+'/farms_by_name'
  $db.view(view_name, {
    success: function(data) {
       console.log(data)
       for (i in data.rows) {
           console.log(data.rows[i]);
           plot_name.push(data.rows[i].value.name);
           my_array.push("0");
           console.log(my_array)
           console.log(my_array.length)
        }
    },
    error: function(e) {
      alert('Error loading from database: ' + e);
    }
  });

  console.log(my_array);
  console.log(my_array.length);

});

Using firebug, I see that within the function the array is appended correctly, for e.g. a single element the console.log returns

my_array = ["0"]
my_array.length = 1

but the console.log after the function (which appears first in the firebug log) shows:

my_array = [ ]
my_array.length = 1

and my_array when inspected in the log reveals:

[ ]
0              "0"

Can anyone explain this behaviour to me and explain how I should correctly append the array such that I can call the length and loop through it correctly outside of the db success function?

Thanks!

Answer 1

zerkms is right: the variable is being altered inside a success callback function. add a second function in the $(document).ready function called -say- logAfterSuccess

function logAfterSuccess()
{
    console.log(my_array);
    console.log(my_array.length);
}

and simply call that function from within the success callback:

success: function()
{
    //code goes here
    logAfterSuccess();
}

That should give you the expected result