Work with returned array from function

Question

I'm trying to return an array from a function and work with its results.

When I just want to get its length, I always get a 0:

function myFunc() {
  var arr = [];

  arr.push("test");
  arr.push("another test");

  return arr;
}

alert(myFunc.length) // expected 2, but got 0

Imesha Sudasingha · Accepted Answer · 2016-04-20 12:43:16Z

6

You need to call it as myfunc().length because you are calling a function.

answered Apr 20, 2016 at 12:43

Imesha Sudasingha

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Comments

Arturo Montaño · Accepted Answer · 2016-04-20 12:43:27Z

3

Remember you are calling a function, so the parameter list (even if empty) must be given to the call, try:

alert(myFunc().length)

answered Apr 20, 2016 at 12:43

Arturo Montaño

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KieranDotCo · Accepted Answer · 2016-04-20 12:43:45Z

1

You have to call the function like so

function myFunc() {
  var arr = [];

  arr.push("test");
  arr.push("another test");

  return arr;
}

alert(myFunc().length)

answered Apr 20, 2016 at 12:43

KieranDotCo

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Rayon · Accepted Answer · 2016-04-20 13:00:34Z

Function.length, The length property specifies the number of arguments expected by the function.

And that is the reason you could get 0 in alert as you are reading length property of the function-object

If you are expecting 2, which is length of the array, you need to invoke the function.

function myFunc returns the array in which 2 items are being pushed.

Invoke the function and read the length property of the returned array

function myFunc() {
  var arr = [];
  arr.push("test");
  arr.push("another test");
  return arr;
}

alert(myFunc().length);