Javascript text select from array (interval)

Question

How would I make the following change at an interval, say, 500, as opposed to being on page load?

I'm assuming this is doable

var textarray = [
"1",
"2",
"3",
"4",
"5"
];

function RndText() {
    var rannum= Math.floor(Math.random()*textarray.length);
    document.getElementById('ShowText').innerHTML=textarray[rannum];
}

window.onload = function() { RndText(); }

Would there be a way to make the script read from say, an external .txt file? As opposed to an Array within the document itself?

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/WindowTimers/setInterval — j08691, Oct 06 '15 at 18:43

score 0 · Accepted Answer · edited Oct 06 '15 at 18:45

0

you can use setInterval() to accomplish what you are looking for. Simply call your function from within your function to ensure that it will continue to run after x seconds.

you can save this javascript into somefile.js and simply put this in your html file, <script src="somefile.js"></script>

var textarray = [
"1",
"2",
"3",
"4",
"5"
];

function RndText() {
    //wait 5 seconds
    setInterval(function(){
        var rannum= Math.floor(Math.random()*textarray.length);
        document.getElementById('ShowText').innerHTML=textarray[rannum];
    }, 5000);
}

window.onload = RndText;

edited Oct 06 '15 at 18:45

Rayon

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answered Oct 06 '15 at 18:44

stackoverfloweth

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Worked perfectly first time round and thanks for the tip regarding the – user2378230 Oct 06 '15 at 18:53
but the rest of the answer doesn't fit what you need? – stackoverfloweth Oct 06 '15 at 18:54
Oh nono, it does, it works fine - what I meant by my comment was that I didn't need to ask any further questions as I have had to do previously with other questions Worked straight away as intended – user2378230 Oct 06 '15 at 18:56

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:52

0

For your first question, you need to add a setInterval call. (see: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/WindowTimers/setInterval)

var textarray = [
"1",
"2",
"3",
"4",
"5"
];

function RndText() {
    var rannum= Math.floor(Math.random()*textarray.length);
    document.getElementById('ShowText').innerHTML=textarray[rannum];
}

window.onload = function() { setInterval(RndText, 500); }

For your second question, file reading is tricky and not generally a good idea if not truly necessary. This other question should be helpful: Reading file contents on the client-side in javascript in various browsers

edited May 23 '17 at 11:52

Community

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answered Oct 06 '15 at 18:45

Jess Jacobs

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1
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This worked too, but I did however use the first answer, first. Thank you for your tip about trying to read from an external source though. – user2378230 Oct 06 '15 at 18:54

Javascript text select from array (interval)

2 Answers2