indexOf is not a function in Firefox, Opera but works in IE, indexOf alternative in javascript to test string contains?

Question

Getting an error using indexOf call in Javascript on Firefox and Opera. Works fine in IE.

Following is the error message:

Action

function anonymous(Grid, Row, Col, Event) { 
    return Grid.ActionShowPopupMenu(); 
} 

for event OnRightClick failed with exception: row.id.indexOf is not a function

I'm testing that a string contains another string in Javascript and using the indexOf function of a string. The calls however are being made in JQuery functions. Perhaps that is the reason for the problem? Is there an alternative to using indexOf in Javascript to test if a string contains another string? Is there a workaround for this problem?

Ibrahim

indexOf definitely works in FF. Been using it for not sure how long.. It might be a problem is with the object you're calling it with. – Cloy

If you're passing jQuery objects, especially if Row is a jQ object, .id will be undefined/null. Either use Row.getAttr('id').indexOf() or use Row.get(0).id.indexOf(). If that fails, too: Row is capitalized in your function declaration, but the exception shows a lower case row. JS is CaseSensitive – Identification

Answer 1

String.indexOf is perfectly OK in all browsers. I assume the id property of your row object is no string (nor array, btw, because indexOf is also defined on arrays (except for IE))

Nostril

yes, that was the problem. id was not always a string. thanks for all the comments! – Ibrahim

Answer 2

indexOf is not okay for IE prior to IE9. If you want your code to work in ie < 9, you should define the method for non-compliant browsers in a common js file that can be dropped into every page. See this thread for more details. The code is taken from Mozilla

if (!Array.prototype.indexOf) {
    Array.prototype.indexOf = function (searchElement /*, fromIndex */ ) {
        "use strict";
        if (this == null) {
            throw new TypeError();
        }
        var t = Object(this);
        var len = t.length >>> 0;
        if (len === 0) {
            return -1;
        }
        var n = 0;
        if (arguments.length > 1) {
            n = Number(arguments[1]);
            if (n != n) { // shortcut for verifying if it's NaN
                n = 0;
            } else if (n != 0 && n != Infinity && n != -Infinity) {
                n = (n > 0 || -1) * Math.floor(Math.abs(n));
            }
        }
        if (n >= len) {
            return -1;
        }
        var k = n >= 0 ? n : Math.max(len - Math.abs(n), 0);
        for (; k < len; k++) {
            if (k in t && t[k] === searchElement) {
                return k;
            }
        }
        return -1;
    }
}

Claustral

Answer 3

indexOf() is ok for all browsers. It is designed for both, String and Array, see this: http://jsfiddle.net/SquTp/

There is maybe something wrong with your dom selection, or you may use it in the wrong way.

Randa