Return a value when using jQuery.each()?

Question

I want to return false and return from function if I find first blank textbox

function validate(){
 $('input[type=text]').each(function(){
   if($(this).val() == "")
     return false;
});
}

and above code is not working for me :( can anybody help?

Solution 1

You are jumping out, but from the inner loop, I would instead use a selector for your specific "no value" check, like this:

function validate(){
  if($('input[type=text][value=""]').length) return false;
}

Or, set the result as you go inside the loop, and return that result from the outer loop:

function validate() {
  var valid = true;
  $('input[type=text]').each(function(){
    if($(this).val() == "") //or a more complex check here
      return valid = false;
  });
  return valid;
}

Solution 2

You can do it like this:

function validate(){
    var rv = true;
    $('input[type=text]').each(function(){
        if($(this).val() == "") {
            rv = false;   // Set flag
            return false; // Stop iterating
        }
    });
    return rv;
}

That assumes you want to return true if you don't find it.

You may find that this is one of those sitautions where you don't want to use each at all:

function validate(){
    var inputs = $('input[type=text]');
    var index;
    while (index = inputs.length - 1; index >= 0; --index) {
        if (inputs[index].value == "") { // Or $(inputs[index]).val() == "" if you prefer
            return false;
        }
    }
    // (Presumably return something here, though you weren't in your example)
}

Comments

[YahyaE]

@Nick Craver, It is a very old post but I have a question. Is there any risk above that function return true before each loop completed?

[Admin]

Absolutely zero such risk because until .each() completes, it will not proceed to the last statement. @YahyaE

[mae]

The first example does not work when you need to trim the value first. The second example works, but it relies on a state variable, which is generally fine, but in case you wanted to do pure functional programming it would not be considered valid.