Loop stopping when undefined - json

Question

UPDATE 6:
Based on the console.log, I have noticed that some of the objects have:
thumbnail: Array[2]
Others have:
thumbnail: Object
and others don't have it at all.
So it seems that what #Felix Kling could be true.
http://query.yahooapis.com/v1/public/yql?q=select%20*%20from%20xml%20where%20url%20%3D%20%22http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.bbci.co.uk%2Fnews%2Frss.xml%22&format=json&callback=cbfunc
if you can't access the link, try:
http://pastebin.com/T4GPQvtk
UPDATE 5:
I am still getting url as undefined with:
for (var i = 0; i < news.length; i++) {
news[i].thumbnail = ( $.isArray( news[i].thumbnail ) ) ? news[i].thumbnail : [news[i].thumbnail];
buildHTML.push( "<a href='" + news[i].thumbnail[0].url + "' target='_blank'>" + news[i].title + "</a><br />" + news[i].pubDate );
}
UPDATE 4:
The following:
buildHTML.push( "<a href='" + news[i].thumbnail[0] ? news[i].thumbnail[0].url : $.isArray( news[i].thumbnail ) + "' target='_blank'>" + news[i].title + "</a><br />" + news[i].pubDate );
gives me:
Uncaught TypeError: Cannot read property 'url' of undefined
UPDATE 3:
The following does not seem to work either:
buildHTML.push( "<a href='" + news[i].thumbnail[0] ? news[i].thumbnail[0].url : news[i].thumbnail.url + "' target='_blank'>" + news[i].title + "</a><br />" + news[i].pubDate );
The error I get is:
Uncaught TypeError: Cannot read property 'url' of undefined
UPDATE 2:
The following does not seem to work:
buildHTML.push( "<a href='" + news[i].thumbnail=$.isArray(news[i].thumbnail)?news[i].thumbnail:[news[i].thumbnail] + "' target='_blank'>" + news[i].title + "</a><br />" + news[i].pubDate );
The error I get is:
Uncaught ReferenceError: Invalid left-hand side in assignment
$.ajax.successyql_news_widget.js:25
bjquery-1.4.2.min.js:124
c.extend.ajax.Ajquery-1.4.2.min.js:125
(anonymous function)yql:1
UPDATE 1:
The problem happens, when I add the image to push as follows:
buildHTML.push( "<img src='" + news[i].thumbnail[0].url + "' /><a href='" + news[i].link + "' target='_blank'>" + news[i].title + "</a><br />" + news[i].pubDate );
ORIGINAL QUESTION:
From the following url:
http://query.yahooapis.com/v1/public/yql?q=select%20*%20from%20xml%20where%20url%20%3D%20%22http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.bbci.co.uk%2Fnews%2Frss.xml%22&format=json&callback=cbfunc
I am trying to capture the data via a look like this:
function get_news() {
$.ajax({
url: "http://query.yahooapis.com/v1/public/yql?q=select%20*%20from%20xml%20where%20url%20%3D%20%22http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.bbci.co.uk%2Fnews%2Frss.xml%22&format=json&callback=cbfunc&rand=" + Math.random(),
type: 'GET',
dataType: 'jsonp',
jsonp: 'callback',
jsonpCallback: 'cbfunc',
error: function(xhr, status, error) {
alert(xhr.responseText);
},
success: function(data) {
var buildHTML = [];
var news = data.query.results.rss.channel.item;
for (var i = 0; i < news.length; i++) {
buildHTML.push( "<a href='" + news[i].link + "' target='_blank'>" + news[i].title + "</a><br />" + news[i].pubDate );
}
$('.portlet-content').empty().append(buildHTML.join("<br /><br />"))
}
});
}
This works fine as long as the thumbnail section looks like this:
"thumbnail": [
{
"height": "49",
"url": "http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/48915000/jpg/_48915868_48915872.jpg",
"width": "66"
}
{
"height": "81",
"url": "http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/52468000/jpg/_52468689_48915872.jpg",
"width": "144"
}
]
However, when the thumbnail section looks like this:
"thumbnail": {
"height": "81",
"url": "http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/53705000/jpg/_53705922_012314461-1.jpg",
"width": "144"
}
I get an error "undefined", the loop stops and I get nothing on the screen.
How do I ignore those, and continue the script without it stopping on the error?

Answer 1

You may create an array if the json matches the 2nd example(isn't an array yet):
news[i].thumbnail=($.isArray(news[i].thumbnail))
? news[i].thumbnail
: [news[i].thumbnail];

Answer 2

Based on your comments, you seem to want this:
for (var i = 0; i < news.length; i++) {
var item = news[i];
if($.isArray(item.thumbnail)) {
var size = +item.thumbnail[0].width * +item.thumbnail[0].height,
selected = 0;
for(var j = 1, jl = item.thumbnail.length; j < jl; j++) {
var t_size = +item.thumbnail[j].width * +item.thumbnail[j].height;
if(t_size < size) {
size = t_size;
selected = j;
}
}
buildHMTL.push("<img src='" + news[i].thumbnail[selected].url + "' />");
}
buildHTML.push( "<a href='" + item.link + "' target='_blank'>" + item.title + "</a><br />" + item.pubDate );
}

Answer 3

Add [] brackets to cast "thumbnail" from object to array.
"thumbnail": [ {
"height": "81",
"url": "http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/53705000/jpg/_53705922_012314461-1.jpg",
"width": "144"
}]
will work

Answer 4

You can use a Try catch or a simple IF before the code to check to see if the code is in the format you want before attempting to manipulate it. The issue seems to be that if your thumbnails 'array' is only one object its not sent as an array. A simple if check could stop this issue your having.
you can use a conditional operator which would go something like this:
buildHTML.push( "<img src='" + news[i].thumbnail[0] ? news[i].thumbnail[0].url : news[i].thumbnail.url + "' /><a href='" + news[i].link + "' target='_blank'>" + news[i].title + "</a><br />" + news[i].pubDate );
UPDATE
this conditional expression will find the URL or it will just return "". I didn't see that some items have no URL which is why my first suggestion didn't work. Use this expression for getting your url
news[i].thumbnail ? news[i].thumbnail[0] ? news[i].thumbnail[0].url : news[i].thumbnail.url : ''