Member Avatar for StephenopolousINC

Hello I am trying to learn the differences from Java and JavaScript so I am trying to take a working simple program in Java and make it work in JavaScript. I keep getting undefined. Here is the JavaScript I am trying:

<script type="text/javascript">

function _(x) {
    return document.getElementById(x);
    }

    function phraseOmatic () {

    //print to div id=phrase
    _("phrase").innerHTML =  phrase;

    //make three sets of words to choose from        
    var wordListOne = ["24/7","multi-Tier","30,000 foot","B-to-B","win-win","frontend","web-based","pervasive","smart","sixsigma","critical-path","dynamic"];

    var wordListTwo = ["empowered","sticky","value-added","oriented","centic","distibuted","clustered","branded","outside-the-box","positioned","networked","focused","leveraged","aligned","tageted","shared","cooperative","accelerated"];

    var wordListThree = ["process","tippingpoint","solution","architecture","core competency","strategy","mindshare","portal","space","vision","paradigm","mission"];

    //find out how many words are in each list
    var oneLength = wordListOne.length;
    var twoLength = wordListTwo.length;
    var threeLength = wordListThree.length;

    //generate three random numbers
    var rand1 = Math.floor(Math.random() * oneLength);
    var rand2 = Math.floor(Math.random() * twoLength);
    var rand3 =Math.floor(Math.random() * threeLength);

    //now build a phrase
    var phrase = wordListOne[rand1] + " " + wordListTwo[rand2] + " " + wordListThree[rand3];

    }

    window.addEventListener("load", phraseOmatic, false);

</script>
Edited by StephenopolousINC because: comment error
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  • Latest Post Latest Post by StephenopolousINC
Member Avatar for rtrethewey

At a glance, it looks like line 10 should read:

document.getElementById("phrase").innerHTML = phrase;

I'd need to see the HTML to be sure.

Member Avatar for StephenopolousINC 
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<script type="text/javascript">
function _(x) {
    return document.getElementById(x);
    }
    function phraseOmatic () {
    //print to div id=phrase
    _("phrase").innerHTML =  phrase + " but Why is it undefined? " + rand1 + " rand1 is undefined as well. I think my problem is in the Math.random being a floating point and I need and integer for the position of the array ";
    //make three sets of words to choose from        
    var wordListOne = ["24/7","multi-Tier","30,000 foot","B-to-B","win-win","frontend","web-based","pervasive","smart","sixsigma","critical-path","dynamic"];
    var wordListTwo = ["empowered","sticky","value-added","oriented","centic","distibuted","clustered","branded","outside-the-box","positioned","networked","focused","leveraged","aligned","tageted","shared","cooperative","accelerated"];
    var wordListThree = ["process","tippingpoint","solution","architecture","core competency","strategy","mindshare","portal","space","vision","paradigm","mission"];
    //find out how many words are in each list
    var oneLength = wordListOne.length;
    var twoLength = wordListTwo.length;
    var threeLength = wordListThree.length;
    //generate three random numbers
    var rand1 = Math.floor(Math.random() * oneLength);
    var rand2 = Math.floor(Math.random() * twoLength);
    var rand3 =Math.floor(Math.random() * threeLength);
    //now build a phrase
    var phrase = wordListOne[rand1] + " " + wordListTwo[rand2] + " " + wordListThree[rand3];
    }
    window.addEventListener("load", phraseOmatic, false);
</script>
<title>phraseOmatic</title>
</head>

<body>
<div id="phrase"></div
The content of the document......
</body>

</html>
Member Avatar for StephenopolousINC

I use the function on line 5 through 7 to serve as my documentgetElementById so I don't have to type it in every time. I just put _() and pass it whatever.

Member Avatar for LesF

Shouldn't line 10 be after line 30? You are assigning the value of the var before you create it.

var phrase = wordListOne[rand1] + " " + wordListTwo[rand2] + " " + wordListThree[rand3];
_("phrase").innerHTML =  phrase;

For that matter, you don't need the go-between var phrase anyway.

Edited by LesF
Member Avatar for StephenopolousINC

Thanks LesF I moved line 10 down to the last item in my script block and it works. And, yeah I guess I could slim it down.

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