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JavaScript

While loop not working.

Hello, I am writing a function that takes user input and then sets a password according to their preferences. However, the "while" loop is not working when I am trying to set the password length. The function works when setting the characters, but there seems to be an issue with setting the length. It always falls into the "default" option, no matter what you pass into the prompt. I tried changing while (length === undefined) to while (length === 0) and that did not solve the problem either. Any help would be greatly appreciated, please! Thank you!

var password = "";
// characters object
var characters = {
  lowercase: "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz",
  uppercase: "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ",
  numeric: "0123456789",
  special: "!+'@,-./:;<=>?@[]^_{}~#$%^&*()"
};

// Function to set password characters and length 
var setPasswordCharacters = function() {
  // when prompt answered input validated and character type selected
  var alphabet, numbers, special;
  var length = 0;
  while(length === undefined) {
    var promptLength = window.prompt("Please enter your password length between 8 and 128 characters.");
    promptLength = parseInt(promptLength);
    switch (promptLength) {
      case (8 <= promptLength && promptLength <= 128):
        length = promptLength
        break;
      default:
        window.alert("You need to provide a valid answer. Please try again.");
        break;
    }
  }
  while (alphabet === undefined) {
    var promptCase = window.prompt("Would you like your password to include UPPER case letters? Enter 'YES' or 'NO.'");
    switch (promptCase.toLowerCase()) {
      case "yes":
        alphabet = characters.lowercase + characters.uppercase;
        break;
      case "no":
        alphabet = characters.lowercase;
        break;
      default:
        window.alert("You need to provide a valid answer. Please try again.");
        break;
    }
  }
  while (numbers === undefined) {
    var promptNumeric = window.prompt("Would you like your password to include numbers? Enter 'YES' or 'NO.'");
    switch (promptNumeric.toLowerCase()) {
      case "yes":
        numbers = characters.numeric
        break;
      case "no":
        numbers = ""
        break;
      default:
        window.alert("You need to provide a valid answer. Please try again.");
        break;
    }
  }
  while (special === undefined) {
    var promptSpecial = window.prompt("Would you like your password to include special characters? Enter 'YES' or 'NO.'");
    switch (promptSpecial.toLowerCase()) {
      case "yes":
        special = characters.special
        break;
      case "no":
        special = ""
        break;
      default:
        window.alert("You need to provide a valid answer. Please try again.");
        break;
    }
  }
  // set password characters based on prompt responses
  password = alphabet + numbers + special;
  return;
};


// Function to shuffle password characters and set length 
var shuffle = function() {
  var passwordArray = [];
  // convert password to an array 
  var passwordArray = password.split("");
  // randomly sort array items 
  passwordArray = passwordArray.sort(() => Math.random() - 0.5);
  // set password length from setPasswordLength()
  passwordArray.length = length
  // convert passwordArray back to string 
  password = passwordArray.join("");
  return;
}


// FUNCTION TO GENERATE PASSWORD 
var generatePassword = function() {
  // prompt and ask for password inputs 
  setPasswordCharacters();
  // shuffle characters and set length 
  shuffle();
  // password displayed in an alert 
  window.alert("Your new password is " + password);
};

// Get references to the #generate element
var generateBtn = document.querySelector("#generate");

// Write password to the #password input
function writePassword() {
  generatePassword();
  var passwordText = document.querySelector("#password");

  passwordText.value = password;
}

// Add event listener to generate button
generateBtn.addEventListener("click", writePassword);

2 Answers

Steven Parker
Steven Parker
231,008 Points

Since length was initially set to 0, it's never undefined. But testing for 0 should work.

But you cannot have a statement like "case (8 <= promptLength && promptLength <= 128):". A "case" only takes a literal value. For testing with expressions like this, use if instead of switch.

So, is this your homework?   :see_no_evil:

Yes, this is my homework! Thank you so much. Do you know how I can make the if statement recall the prompt for length if someone enters a number that is not between 8 and 128? Thak you so much!

Actually I figured it out!

Love a recursive function :D thank you for the help