Javascript multidimensioned isset()

Question

When running:

if (data.custaccount.webaddress) {
   alert('found it');
}

I get the error

data.custaccount is undefined

The only way i can get around it seems to be with multiple IFs like so:

if (undefined != data && undefined != data.custaccount && undefined != data.custaccount.webaddress) {
   alert('found it');
}

Is there any way i could do this more simply?

In php we'd normally use the isset(data.custaccount.webaddress) and that worked quite well. is there an equivalent in javascript (or jquery)?

We have used try / catch, but found that to slow down performance of the script considerably.

I've seen someone else asking something similar on http://verens.com/2005/07/25/isset-for-javascript/ without any success, but am hoping that stackoverflow will do it's normal job of saving the day :)

Thanks!!!

Justin

Answer 1

Of course you need to check if data is defined, before accessing data.custaccount.webaddress.

You can write that check more shorten like

if(data && data.custaccount && data.custaccount.webaddress){
}

You need to check for that!

You're right, using try/catch would be bad practice. Another way to lookup the object could be by using the in operator like

if('custaccount' in data && 'webaddress' in data.custaccount){
}