Is there a better solution for space chars in an array

(Sean) #1

Matrix Version: 5.5.3.3

Hey all,

I’m trying to display an image based on a select key/value in a metadata schema set up like this:

Key value
1000 apple
1001 banana
1002 grape
pear pear

The user can select multiple options and the key in this case is the asset id of the image to display.
The issue is that not all values necessarily have an image so in the example above ‘pear’ has no image so the key is just ‘pear’ as a key is required but I obviously don’t want to send this in the final array.

I’ve run through some tests and have a working result (icons8 below gives me what I need) but it just seems a bit fragile and on the hacky side and I’m worried it might break depending on the value entered for the key. eg if the user leaves a space at the end of the key.

Is there a better solution for this that I haven’t thought of?

Cheers

My server side JS looks like:

<script runat="server">
    const icons1 = %asset_metadata_activities.allowed_key%; //returns the base string with each key
     
    const icons2 = %asset_metadata_activities.allowed_key^explode:;%; //creates an array from the string
                
    const icons3 = %asset_metadata_activities.allowed_key^explode:;^as_asset:asset_assetid%; //fails due to spaces in array values
                
    const icons4 = %asset_metadata_activities.allowed_key^explode:;^trim%; //trim does nothing
                
    const icons5 = %asset_metadata_activities.allowed_key^explode:;^replace:\s:%; //this removes all spaces
                
    const icons6 = %asset_metadata_activities.allowed_key^explode:;^replace:\s:^as_asset:asset_assetid%; //but fails to return anything here and also breaks the script
                
    const icons7 = %asset_metadata_activities.allowed_key^explode:; %; //adding a space into the explode delimiter works to remove spaces
                
    const icons8 = %asset_metadata_activities.allowed_key^explode:; ^as_asset:asset_assetid%; //and then ^as_asset returns an array exactly as needed

    const icons = %asset_metadata_activities.allowed_key^explode:; ^as_asset:asset_assetid%;

    if(icons.length > 0){
        print('<ul class="parks__icon-list">');
        icons.forEach(function(icon){
            print('<li><img src="./?a=' + icon + '"></li>');
        });
        print('</ul>');
    }
</script>

And the results are:

    const icons1 = 1737589; 1737594; 1737588; 1737591; 230; //returns the base string with each key
    
    const icons2 = ["1737589"," 1737594"," 1737588"," 1737591"," 230"]; //creates an array from the string
    
    const icons3 = ["1737589"]; //fails due to spaces in array values
    
    const icons4 = ["1737589"," 1737594"," 1737588"," 1737591"," 230"]; //trim does nothing
    
    const icons5 = ["1737589","1737594","1737588","1737591","230"]; //this removes all spaces
    
    const icons6 = ; //but fails to return anything here and also breaks the script
    
    const icons7 = ["1737589","1737594","1737588","1737591","230"]; //adding a space into the explode delimiter works to remove spaces
    
    const icons8 = ["1737589","1737594","1737588","1737591"]; //and then ^as_asset returns an array exactly as needed
(John gill) #2

Your icons8 option is almost exactly how I would do it, the only thing it’s missing is something to handle if the field is empty - ^empty:[]

%asset_metadata_activities.allowed_key^explode:; ^as_asset:asset_assetid^empty:[]% will cause it to return [] instead of blank when the field has no valid assetIDs selected, which will stop your SSJS from breaking.

You don’t need to worry about leading/trailing spaces for select field keys because Matrix will trim then anyway. More generally any key which is not a valid assetID would just get ignored.

(Sean) #3

Thanks for the reply and feedback John.
It’s nice to know that the solution is correct and should be robust enough.

I’ve added in the ^empty:[] modifier as you suggested and everything’s working great so far.
The final keyword replacement that I’m using is:

const icons = %asset_metadata_activities.allowed_key^explode:; ^as_asset:asset_assetid^empty:[]%;

Cheers