Wait till function finishes in recursive function

Question

Given I have a recursive method:

tests = {
  add: function (data, option, dataSet) {
    if(option) {
      dataSet.forEach(function (values) {
        this.add(values.data, false);
      }, this);
    }
    console.log(data.name)
  }
}

And I would call this by using

tests.add({name: 'test1'}, true, [{data: {name: 'test2'}}]);

I assume this would log 'test2' before 'test1' in all cases, but in a lot of cases this does not happen. As far I know the forEach function should be blocking the execution of other lines, but this simply does not happen.

Bit of context: The code should add certain components on a webpage. Those components can depend on other components (which are in dataSet). These dependencies should always be recursively added first.

Any ideas?

yeh, have you tried using a callback function with data.name as param and execute console.log there? or is that just for simplicity? — Dominik, Feb 03 '16 at 13:02
The console log is just for simplicity. The rest of the function simply adds new components to the webpage. These should be added in the right order (dependencies first.) — Sebass van Boxel, Feb 03 '16 at 13:04
Can you please post some code that reproducably has unexpected output (and what the expected output is)? — Bergi, Feb 03 '16 at 13:06
Could you maybe post your actual code that interacts with the DOM? — Bergi, Feb 03 '16 at 13:10
I'll try to reproduce whats happens in a jsFiddle, one moment. ;-) — Sebass van Boxel, Feb 03 '16 at 13:13

score 0 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:15

0

The reason for this inconsistency is that console.log is not a synchronous function. Read more here

edited May 23 '17 at 12:15

Community

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answered Feb 03 '16 at 13:02

Ronen Cypis

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I've never seen a `console.log` implementation that shows the logged values out of order. This is not what the answers to the question you linked say. – Bergi Feb 03 '16 at 13:09
@Bergi, you can check the last answer in the link i provided, and understand how sometime `console.log` shows you the object the way it looks in the moment of the actual "printing", and not the way it looked when you actually called `console.log`... @Sebass here said that the result is not consistent, and the asynch nature of `console.log` is IMHO a good direction to explore. – Ronen Cypis Feb 03 '16 at 14:43
Well sure that's what can happen to objects, but the example snippet the OP gave a) logs string values b) never modifies any object properties – Bergi Feb 03 '16 at 14:46

Wait till function finishes in recursive function

1 Answers1