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

Posted by Uche Onuekwusi
Uche Onuekwusi
18,070 Points

Please HELP ME??

I copied this code from one of the correct ones posted in this forum. i cant quite understand the last IF statement which is:

if (student.name !== searchBox) {
          searchBox = prompt( searchBox +" is not a student, try again. Search for student or 
                   type quit to leave the prompt");
           break

Please can someone explain to me why ?

the full code is hear

var message = [];
var student;
var searchBox;


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> Achievement: ' + student.achievement + '</p>';
      report += '<p> Points: ' + student.points + '</p>';  
     return report;
 }
  while(true){
          searchBox = prompt('Search for student or type quit to leave the prompt'); 
          if( searchBox ===null ||searchBox.toLowerCase() === 'quit'){
          break
          }   

    for(var i =0; i< students.length; i++){
              student = students[i];
          if(student.name === searchBox){
           message.push(getStudentReport(student));
         }
          if (student.name !== searchBox){
         searchBox = prompt( searchBox +" is not a student, try again. Search for student or type quit to leave the prompt");
           break
         }else{
         print(message);
         }    
      }    
  }

3 Answers

Lee Vaughn
seal-mask
STAFF
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree seal-36
Lee Vaughn
Treehouse Teacher
Lee Vaughn
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree seal-36
Lee Vaughn
Treehouse Teacher

!== is a comparison operator and it means "not equal to value or not equal to type".

In the context of your example, it would mean if student.name is not equal to searchBox then bring up a prompt that informs the user that what they entered in searchBox is not the name of a student.

Steven Parker
Steven Parker
231,248 Points
Steven Parker
Steven Parker
231,248 Points

It may not be accurate to describe this code as "one of the correct ones". It looks like the statement you are asking about would cause premature termination of the loop, and the display of the error/prompt message even when a student is found. It also appears that the response to the prompt will be ignored, but another prompt will be issued no matter what is entered.

Be aware that in most cases, code posted with a question in the forum will have one or more errors, and the poster is seeking help in resolving them. This particular code example has a number of other issues that need fixing.

But the video you linked to contains the teacher's solution, which would be a much better model of correct code.

Iain Simmons
MOD
Iain Simmons
Treehouse Moderator 32,305 Points
Iain Simmons
Iain Simmons
Treehouse Moderator 32,305 Points

Steven Parker is correct, the break will exit the for loop, not the while loop, and will display two prompts.

You could instead change the second prompt (within the for loop) to just an alert or similar, and then let it go back to the original prompt in the while loop to ask for a new search term.

It looks like the for loop should be allowed to finish, but you also want to set another variable to true if you find at least one match, and then if you get to the end, and that variable is true, then display the results, otherwise, show an error and then allow the while loop to run again.