I'm working full-stack on a project, and I've run into a bit of a situation that I think I'll need to resolve fully so I can re-use it in future projects (fairly new to Node, but tons of programming languages and syntax under my belt), so a dirty fix might not be the best (eval()?) I have 3 files, here is an example of the logic:
// main.js
const call = require('./test.js');
config = require('config');
configObj = config.get('Site')
sites = Object.keys(configObj);
siteObj = config.get('Site' + "." + sites[0]); // This only calls Amazon, but in the real project it is a dynamic element
var callCommand = "call." + siteObj.functionCall + "(siteObj)"; // evaluates as call.amazon(siteObj)
setTimeout(() => {callCommand;}, 1500); // This does not work
setTimeout(() => {call.amazon(siteObj);}, 1500); /// This works
// default.json
{
"Site": {
"Amazon": {
"homePage": "https://www.amazon.com/",
"functionCall": "amazon"
}
}
// test.js
function amazon(siteObj) {
// some code
console.log("reached the function");
}
Basically, I'm going to be calling different functions from main.js, targeting the test.js. I need the function call to be dynamic, because it is based on the Site's callFunction key. For instance, once there are 10 sites, maybe it would call "call.xxxxxxx(siteObj)", instead. The string creating the call does not seem to be working, I think because it's a String and the line is looking for a function to execute. I get that, but again, I'm fairly new to Node/JS in general and I'm not exactly sure how to even word the question. I thought simply placing the proper text of the function call as a string would cause JS to execute that text, but I guess not.
Am I missing something simple? I know I will need dynamic function calls in the future of this project, and others, so while I can write logic in test.js or main.js to work around THIS example, writing separate function calls for each Site:
if (sites[0]) {call.amazon(siteObj);
if (sites[1]) {call.ebay(siteObj);
for instance, will get cumbersome, as the Sites list will only grow.
Therefore, we created the callFunction key to try and give each object it's exact call.
I'm not sure if it's parenthesis placement, or the way arrow functions work for the setTimeout, or what it is, but I've tried different instances of:
setTimeout(() => {call.$(siteObj.functionCall)(siteObj);}, 1500); // This does not work
setTimeout(() => {call.$(siteObj.functionCall)(siteObj))); }, 1500) // This does not work
I'm not sure how to use a regular variable, or an object's key properly in this instance to fetch "amazon", especially with the (siteObj) parameter. and things like that. I am hoping more to be able to one-liner it like that SOMEHOW, but I don't know all of the tricks of this language yet.
I've also tried:
var callCommand = "call." + siteObj.functionCall + "(siteObj)"; // evaluates as call.amazon(siteObj)
var codeToExecute = callCommand;
var tmpFunc = new Function(codeToExecute);
setTimeout(() => {tmpFunc(); }, 1500);
With the above, I get "call" is not defined.
It works with the explicit text in there (call.amazon(siteObj)), but I need that "amazon" to be dynamic, preferably called from it's config key (even if I need to turn that key into a json formatted function).
I know this a huge wall of a read, but it is my first post here. Thanks in advance! Hopefully I formatted and named this post correctly without causing too much of a headache, I apologize if I did.
So, am I missing something simple? I feel like I am, but I'm not new to coding at all, and I am alone on this project (no other developers), and I'm trying to keep it good practice without too many, or any, dirty workarounds. Thank you!
