splitting multiple lists, then joining into single array

davilu · ‎10-03-2017

Hi Everyone, I have a question regarding comma separated lists and arrays. Below is my simple server script that queries a Forms table and returns back all the forms listed for each row:

var docSet = new GlideRecordSecure('forms');
docSet.query();
while(docSet.next()){
         data.formType = docSet.getDisplayValue('form_type');
gs.addInfoMessage(data.formType);
}

The gs info message returns this, which is correct:

I want to split all of the comma separated items and return it all in the same array.

sampleArray = [ sf 61, sf306, sf2817, sf 2808, sf256, sf181 ]

I've tried samplelist.split(','), but can't seem to get it to work correctly. Can someone help with this syntax?

Brian Dailey1 · ‎10-03-2017

Hi David,

I don't know if this matters to your requirement, but I like to use an object as an intermediate to eliminate duplicates when building lists from multiple sources.

var docSet = new GlideRecordSecure('forms');   

docSet.query();


var uniqueForms = {};

while(docSet.next()){   

         var docSetForms = docSet.getDisplayValue('form_type').split(',');   

         //Using the value also as the key for uniqueForms{} will result in only one instance of any value.

         for(i=0;i<docSetForms.length;i++){

                 uniqueForms[docSetForms[i]] = docSetForms[i];

         }

} 


var listUniqueForms = [];


for(var m in uniqueForms){

       listUniqueForms.push(m);

}

var strList = listUniqueForms.join();


//Either return as an array (listUniqueForms)

//Or as a string (strList).

Thanks,

-Brian

View solution in original post

Brian Dailey1 · ‎10-04-2017

Hi David,

Could you paste the latest version of your code? And also, what value are you getting from formReview.getDisplayValue('form_type')?

Using indexOf() does work slightly differently on strings vs. arrays. For a string, it will return the character position at which the match found starts... for an array it will return the index of the array value that matches.

Thanks,

-Brian

Brian Dailey1 · ‎10-06-2023

Short update to this method, I'm still a big fan of using an object to de-dupe lists and or combine lists.

At some later point in time, I also found that you can use Object.keys(..) in place of that second for() loop to grab the unique list.

(e.g.)

var listUniqueForms = Object.keys(uniqueForms);

-Brian