Question

Is there a difference between:

 var samples = {
        "TB10152254-001": {
            folderno: "TB10152254",
            ordno: "001",
            startfootage: "",
            endfootage: "",
            tagout: "Y"
        },
        "TB10152254-002": {
            folderno: "TB10152254",
            ordno: "002",
            startfootage: "",
            endfootage: "",
            tagout: "Y"
        },

        "TB10152254-003": {
            folderno: "TB10152254",
            ordno: "003",
            startfootage: "",
            endfootage: "",
            tagout: "Y"
        }
    };

AND

 var samples = new Array();
samples["TB10152254-001"]  = {
            folderno: "TB10152254",
            ordno: "001",
            startfootage: "",
            endfootage: "",
            tagout: "Y"};

samples["TB10152254-002"] = {
            folderno: "TB10152254",
            ordno: "002",
            startfootage: "",
            endfootage: "",
            tagout: "Y"
        };

samples["TB10152254-003"] =  {
            folderno: "TB10152254",
            ordno: "003",
            startfootage: "",
            endfootage: "",
            tagout: "Y"
        };

EDIT:

I will re-phrase the question:
How do I populate the hash dynamically?
I can’t do something like samples.TB10152254-003 because i TB10152254-003 is dynamic…so, is that even possible?

Answer 1

Both will work because an Array is a type of object. But there isn’t any advantage to using an Array this way, and can easily give trouble when you iterate over the properties using a for/in.

The Object would be the proper type to use for named properties. Reserve your use of Array for index properties only.

---

With regard to your edit, you can dynamically populate the Object the same way as the Array, using square bracket notation.

   // Create a new empty object. You an use "new Object()" if you wish
var samples = {};

  // Populate the "samples" object in the same way you would an Array.
samples["TB10152254-001"]  = {
            folderno: "TB10152254",
            ordno: "001",
            startfootage: "",
            endfootage: "",
            tagout: "Y"};

samples["TB10152254-002"] = {
            folderno: "TB10152254",
            ordno: "002",
            startfootage: "",
            endfootage: "",
            tagout: "Y"
        };

samples["TB10152254-003"] =  {
            folderno: "TB10152254",
            ordno: "003",
            startfootage: "",
            endfootage: "",
            tagout: "Y"
        };