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JavaScript JavaScript Loops, Arrays and Objects Tracking Data Using Objects The Student Record Search Challenge Solution

Matthew Russo
Matthew Russo
3,871 Points
Posted by Matthew Russo
Matthew Russo
3,871 Points

Name Search Not Working

Each search in the prompt box results in the message from my else statement, There is no student named ${search}. even when it should be a match. This tells me there must be something wrong with the if statement in my if else conditional. Can anybody see what I've done wrong? My code is below:

//students.js
var students = [
  {
    name: 'Asma',
    track: 'Front End Development',
    achievements: 120,
    points: 1200
  },
  {
    name: 'Brian',
    track: 'iOS Development with Swift',
    achievements: 210,
    points: 2150
  },
  {
    name: 'Charlie',
    track: 'PHP Development',
    achievements: 170,
    points: 2380
  },
  {
    name: 'Dave',
    track: 'WordPress',
    achievements: 215,
    points: 2190
  },
  {
    name: 'Eve',
    track: 'Rails Development',
    achievements: 150,
    points: 1550
  }
];

//student_report.js

var message = '';
var student; //holds a student object each time the loop runs
var search;

function print(message){
  var outputDiv = document.getElementById('output');
  outputDiv.innerHTML = message;
}

function getStudentReport(student){
  var report = `<h2>Student: ${student.name}</h2>`;
  report += `<p>Track: ${student.track}</p>`;
  report += `<p>Achievements: ${student.achievements}</p>`;
  report += `<p>Points: ${student.points}</p>`;
  return report;
}

while(true){
  search = prompt('Search for a student in our directory. Type quit to exit.');
  if (search === null || search.toLowerCase() === 'quit'){
    break;
  }
  for (var i=0; i < students.length; i++){
    student = students[i];
    if(student.name === search){
      message = getStudentReport(student);
      print(message);
    } else{
      print(`There is no student named ${search}.`);
    }
  }
}

Moderator edited: Markdown added so that code renders properly in the forums. -jn

Shay Paustovsky
Shay Paustovsky
969 Points
Shay Paustovsky
Shay Paustovsky
969 Points

Hi Matthew,

Check for any comparison problems because : 'Eve' || 'Charlie' do not equal to 'eve' || 'charlie'.

Matthew Russo
Matthew Russo
3,871 Points
Matthew Russo
Matthew Russo
3,871 Points

Hi Shay,

I added search = search.toLowerCase(); but the same problem persists.

1 Answer

Jennifer Nordell
seal-mask
STAFF
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree
Jennifer Nordell
Treehouse Teacher
Jennifer Nordell
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree
Jennifer Nordell
Treehouse Teacher

Hi there! It actually does work, but not in the way you're intending. It will show a result, but only in one case. You must search for "Eve" and then type "quit" for the search to display anything.

But why is that? Well, let's take a look at your for loop. Let's assume that we're searching for "Brian". We start the for loop and ask if it's null or quit. It isn't so we continue. Now if the search term is equal to the first student, we print that student's information, but if it isn't, we print that no results can be found for the student.

So on the first iteration, the student's name is equal to "Asma" and our search term is "Brian". We take the entirety of the outputDiv and then replace it with "There is no student named Brian". So far, so good.

On the second iteration, the student's name is equal to "Brian" and our search term is "Brian". They match up and so we add all that student's information to the outputDiv. So far, so good. But remember, nothing will be displayed until our loop completes.

It's the next iteration where it gets interesting. On the next iteration, the student's name will be "Charlie" and our search term is still "Brian". These do not match, so all of the information for the search result from the previous iteration is replaced with "There is no student named Brian", which is obviously not what you're intending here.

I hope maybe this helps you come up with a solution and it is possible! You're doing great! :sparkles:

brendon hanson
brendon hanson
6,191 Points
brendon hanson
brendon hanson
6,191 Points

Great answer! Correct me if I'm wrong but would the solution be to add a "break" statement after the print(message)?

Matthew Russo
Matthew Russo
3,871 Points
Matthew Russo
Matthew Russo
3,871 Points

Thanks Jennifer! That cleared the issue up for me and the program works now. I added a break statement after print(message) as Brendan suggested in the other comment and that was part of the solution.

I also had to add the .toLowerCase() method to search AND student.name for the comparison to work. Here's what my while loop looks like now:

while(true){ search = prompt('Search for a student in our directory. Type quit to exit.'); search = search.toLowerCase(); if (search === null || search === 'quit'){ break; } for (var i=0; i < students.length; i++){ student = students[i]; if(student.name.toLowerCase() === search){ message = getStudentReport(student); print(message); break; } else{ message += There is no student named ${search}.; print(message); } } }