Checking if an DCT object exists

OK, so I am lazy and am reusing code for certain tasks (FormAPI), in once case, if someone uses select list A, I want to hide list B. However this code is used by multiple DCTs, some of which do not have list B.

So if I just try to hide B (and it is not there) I will get a JS error.

My thought is to getRootItems and, if B is there, then hide it.

I was wondering if there is a better way to handle this, basically a way to see if the item (by name) exists.

Andy

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ISCBorisB

OK, so I am lazy and am reusing code for certain tasks (FormAPI), in once case, if someone uses select list A, I want to hide list B. However this code is used by multiple DCTs, some of which do not have list B.

So if I just try to hide B (and it is not there) I will get a JS error.

My thought is to getRootItems and, if B is there, then hide it.

I was wondering if there is a better way to handle this, basically a way to see if the item (by name) exists.

Andy

Encapsulate "hide B" into try/catch Bracket and ignore the error. Just make sure you do not *try* too much, you may start ignoring genuine errors.

TheYann

or you could just test for the value, I guess you're getting the item through IWDatacapture.getItem(), all you gotta do is something like


var item = IWDatacapture.getItem("/my/item/name");
if (item && item.setVisible) { // I'm a bit paranoiak I admit
  /* your code here */ 
  item.setVisible (/* the other list exists ? */);
}

I think it's a little cleaner than a try / catch block, but I guess at the end of the day it's just a matter of self satisfaction!