When mapping through an array check next item property

Question

I'm currently mapping through an array i.e.

contents.map((content) => {
 switch(content.type) {
   case: 1
     console.log("type is one and next type is ..");
   case: 2
     console.log("type is two")
 }
})

And as you can see in case 1 I need to grab type of next item. I know that this is possible using for loop with i increment, but need to do it within a map. I'm open for suggestions using libraries like lodash (wasn't able to find anything in the documentation).

Answer 1

Array.prototype.map calls it's callback actually with 3 parameters:

currentValue // current element
index // current index
array // original array

That means you can of course access the array via it's index within a callback routine. For instance:

contents.map((content, index, array) => {
    switch(content.type) {
        case 1:
            console.log("type is one and next type is: ", array[index+1] ? array[index+1].type : 'empty');
            break;
        case 2:
            console.log("type is two")
            break;
    }
});

Example: https://jsfiddle.net/z1sztd58/ Reference: MDN

Answer 2

First of all, Array.prototype.map requires you to return the mapped value, which you aren't doing.

In a simple example:

const primes = [2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13];

const primesSquared = primes.map((prime) => {
  return prime * prime;
});

Array.prototype.map takes three arguments:

• element: the current array element

• index: the index of the current element within the array

• array: the entire array

You've also got a syntax error in your switch statement. Note the position of the : in the case statement in the example below.

You could accomplish what you're trying to do with something like the following:

const newArray = oldArray.map((elem, index, array) => {
  switch(elem.type) {
    case 1:
      return "something";
    case 2:
      return "something else";
    default:
      return "default value";
  }
});

Without using a switch statement, you can easily accomplish what you're trying to accomplish:

const newArray = oldArray.map((elem, index, array) => {
  if (index+1 < array.length && elem < array[index+1]) { //ensure you're not at the end of the array before checking your condition
    return "something";
  } else {
    return "something else"; 
  }
});

Refs:

• Switch statement: https://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Statements/switch

• Map: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Array/map