Associative arrays in javascript

Question

I have this object:

function formBuddy()
{
    var fields = new Array();
    var labels = new Array();
    var rules = new Array();
    var count=0;

    this.addField = function(field, label, rule)
    {
        fields[count] = field;
        labels[field] = label;
        rules[field] = rule;
        count = ++count;
    }
}

Its used in this way:

var cForm=new formBuddy();
cForm.addField("c_first_name","First Name","required");
cForm.addField("c_last_name","Last Name","required");

The problem is, in the addField() function the fields array is being set correct (perhaps because a numerical index is being used to refer to it) but the other 2 arrays (labels and rules) aren't being touched at all. Doing a console.log shows them as empty in firebug.

What do I need to change to make them work? I'd still like to refer to the rules and labels by the string index of the field.

Answer 1

Use objects instead:

function formBuddy()
{
    var fields = {};
    var labels = {};
    var rules = {};
    var count = 0;

    this.addField = function(field, label, rule)
    {
        fields[count] = field;
        labels[field] = label;
        rules[field] = rule;
        count++;
    }
}

---

But as Christoph already mentioned, I would store this information in a single data structure too. For example:

function formBuddy() {
    var fields = {};
    this.addField = function(name, label, rule) {
        fields[name] = {
            name: name,
            label: label,
            rule: rule
        };
    };
    this.getField = function(name) {
        return fields[name];
    };
}

var cForm=new formBuddy();
cForm.addField("c_first_name","First Name","required");
cForm.addField("c_last_name","Last Name","required");
alert(cForm.getField("c_last_name").label);