How to return multiple values from object function javascript?

Question

i was wondering is it possible to return multiple values from a prototype object. I need to return the value of several arrays and call those at a later point. Below is an example of my code.. I can show a JSFiddle if needed..Thankss!!

 EmployeeObj.prototype.showEmployee = function(emPhoto0,emPhoto01){
     var employeePhoto = new Array();
     employeePhoto[emPhoto0] = new Image();
     employeePhoto[emPhoto0].src = "pics/taylor.jpg";
     employeePhoto[emPhoto01] = new Image();
     employeePhoto[emPhoto01].src = "pics/roger.jpg";

     var showPhoto1 = employeePhoto[emPhoto0];
     var showPhoto2 = employeePhoto[emPhoto1];

     return showPhoto1;
     return showPhoto2;
 };

What values would emPhoto0 and emPhoto01 have? On an Array, they should be integers - if they're not, you should use an Object. — Bergi
– Bergi, Commented Jun 4, 2013 at 11:46
emPhoto0 and emPhoto1 would be called later, those values would have 0, and 1, etc... to access the array elements (Photos) — T Shoats
– T Shoats, Commented Jun 4, 2013 at 18:04

Paul S. · Accepted Answer · 2013-06-04 11:47:19Z

1

You can't use multiple return statements in this way - only the first evaluated will happen, but you can return an Object or an Array, and access what you wanted from that.

EmployeeObj.prototype.showEmployee = function (emPhoto0, emPhoto01) {
    var employeePhoto = new Array();
    employeePhoto[emPhoto0] = new Image();
    employeePhoto[emPhoto0].src = "pics/taylor.jpg";
    employeePhoto[emPhoto01] = new Image();
    employeePhoto[emPhoto01].src = "pics/roger.jpg";
    var showPhoto1 = employeePhoto[emPhoto0];
    var showPhoto2 = employeePhoto[emPhoto1];
    return {'showPhoto1': showPhoto1, 'showPhoto2': showPhoto2};
    // or [showPhoto1, showPhoto2];
};

You would then access by

var em = new EmployeeObj(/* ... */),
    photos = em.showEmployee(/* ... */);
photos['showPhoto1']; // or photos['showPhoto2']
// or photos[0], photos[1], if you used the Array version

edited Jun 4, 2013 at 11:47

answered Jun 4, 2013 at 11:41

Paul S.

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1 Comment

T Shoats Over a year ago

Awesome!! Thanks so much @ Paul, so basically you cant return multiple variables.. Only with objects or arrays... Lesson Well Learned :)

vc 74 · Accepted Answer · 2013-06-04 11:42:39Z

1

You can combine the 2 results in an object:

return { photo1: showPhoto1, photo2: showPhoto2 };

answered Jun 4, 2013 at 11:42

vc 74

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2 Comments

T Shoats Over a year ago

thanks im trying to figure out why did @Paul use '' around his object properties and in your code you didnt.. Will it work with in both cases??

Paul S. Over a year ago

@RicoPlasakoi Both are valid. All Object keys are Strings. If you use a label, it is valid and converted to String, but you have the limitations of what you can write for labels (no spaces, no special chars).

Bergi · Accepted Answer · 2013-06-04 11:45:22Z

0

No, you cannot execute multiple return statements in one function. But you can return an array containing the results. In your case that's simple:

return employeePhoto;

answered Jun 4, 2013 at 11:45

Bergi

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Comments

Timothy C. Quinn · Accepted Answer · 2016-02-26 14:53:17Z

0

The modern answer to this problem is to use destructuring by returning an array, and destructure the array into variables on the caller side:

EmployeeObj.prototype.showEmployee = function (emPhoto0, emPhoto01) {
    ...
    return [showPhoto1,showPhoto2]
}

// Calling showEmployee
[showPh1, showPh2] = <Employee>.showEmployee(emPh0, emPh01)

Support for this pattern is slowly appearing now in browsers and node.js should have it very soon.

The coolest about this pattern is that it will allow us to implement an alternative error handling pattern that matches Go lang Error handling through returning a value and an error.

answered Feb 26, 2016 at 14:53

Timothy C. Quinn

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