7

I'm trying to figure this out but can't seem to on my own...
I'm playing with Web SQL DBs and I can't get a loop to work properly with it.
I use:

for (var i=0; i<=numberofArticles-1; i++){  
    db.transaction(function (tx) {  
    tx.executeSql('INSERT INTO LOGS (articleID) VALUES (?)',  [i]);
  });
 };

And I get only 5's.. I don't get the incremental i values.
Can anyone suggestion what I'm doing wrong and what I should be thinking about?

RichardTheKiwi
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Henry
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2 Answers2

11

Do it the other way around:

<script>
    numberofArticles = 5;
    db = openDatabase("websql", "0.1", "web-sql testing", 10000);
    db.transaction(function(tx) {
        tx.executeSql('CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS LOGS (id unique, articleID int)');
    });
    db.transaction(function (tx) {  
        for (var i=0; i<=numberofArticles-1; i++){  
            tx.executeSql('INSERT INTO LOGS (articleID) VALUES (?)',  [i]);
        };
    });
</script>

And the alternative, the proper way with the loop outside which is unnecessary in this case

    for (var i=0; i<=numberofArticles-1; i++){  
      (function(i) {
        db.transaction(function (tx) {  
                tx.executeSql('INSERT INTO LOGS (articleID) VALUES (?)',  [i]);
        });
      })(i);
    };
RichardTheKiwi
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6

It looks like the function is asynchronous, and that by the time tx.executeSql fires, the loop have finished looping and i has been changed several times.

You can solve this with a closure.

for (var i=0; i<=numberofArticles-1; i++){ 
    function (value) { 
        db.transaction(function (tx) {  
        tx.executeSql('INSERT INTO LOGS (articleID) VALUES (?)',  [value]);
      });
    }(i); // <-- CALL the function
 };
Quentin
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  • @David Dorward Could you please explain a little the sintax (the javascript not the websql)? Especially the line " }(i); // <-- CALL the function". I mean, i could just copy the code, but i'd like to fully understand it. – Felipe Guajardo May 11 '11 at 20:58
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    You call a function by sticking `(any args)` on the end of it. `function (){}()` is just like `function foo() {}; foo();` except it doesn't keep `foo` around for later use. – Quentin May 11 '11 at 20:59
  • (and since variables are local to a specific function call, having a new function call each time around the loop makes new local variables) – Quentin May 11 '11 at 21:04
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    one last thing, shouldn't the argument for the insert be "[value]" instead of "[i]"? – Felipe Guajardo May 11 '11 at 21:32
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    That is incorrect. The argument for the function should be i, but the argument for the insert should be value - the code as written works only by coincidence – Tom Clarkson Aug 28 '11 at 23:52