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JavaScript JavaScript Loops, Arrays and Objects Tracking Multiple Items with Arrays Useful Array Methods

Posted by Jefferson Snow
Jefferson Snow
1,357 Points

None of the "else" possibilities break the loop but when I type 'quit' it prints all the else responses should have

Here is my code. As far as I can tell it's identical:

var inStock = [ 'apples', 'eggs', 'milk', 'cookies', 'cheese', 'bread', 'lettuce', 'carrot', 'broccoli', 'pizza', 'potato', 'crackers', 'onion', 'tofu', 'frozen dinner', 'cucumber'];
var search;

function print(message) {
  document.write( '<p>' + message + '</p>');
}

while (true) {
  search = prompt("Search for a product in our store. Type 'list' to show all of the produce and 'quit' to exit");
   search = search.toLowerCase();
  if (search === 'quit') {
    break;
  } else if (search === 'list') {
    print(inStock.join(' , ') );
  } else {
    if ( inStock.indexOf( search ) > -1 ) {
      print( "Yes, we have " + search + " in the store." );
    } else {
      print( search + ' is not in stock.');
    }
  }
}

But when I enter anything, even 'list' or any other items in the array), the prompt returns. It only stops if I type 'quit.' And the crazier thing is that once if I typed list or carrot or milk, and then finally type quit, the all the appropriate responses I should have gotten along the way are all printed at once. I can't find the error.

Manav Misra
Manav Misra
11,778 Points

As far as I can tell, this is the nature of Chrome parsing the script. I believe if you put in FF, as Dave McFarland does in the video, your results will be more similar.

I didn't review your code as it's not 'properly' formatted. Maybe see the cheatsheet link below.

1 Answer

Tim Renner
Tim Renner
11,163 Points
Tim Renner
Tim Renner
11,163 Points

You're not doing anything wrong. The way this code uses prompt inside a loop won't work in every browser. In current Chrome, all the document.write() calls are executed after the prompt is closed. Just change the print function to log to the console instead of write to the document. In subsequent lessons you'll learn other ways of getting user input.