How to determine if a variable has been declared in JavaScript but not assigned any value

Is there a way to check if a variable has been declared but not assigned a value? I've looked at similar questions and they all seem to recommend using

typeof myVar !== 'undefined'

However, this always returns false because even when declared the variable is still undefined. Here are the results I am aiming for:

var myVar;    // Variable is declared. Test should return TRUE
//var myVar;  // Variable not declared. Test should return FALSE 

Answer №1

Regrettably, using `typeof` will give you undefined in both scenarios. The only method I am aware of to determine if a variable is truly defined is by utilizing try-catch. Give this a shot:

var x;
var xExists=true;
var yExists=true;
try{x}catch(e){xExists=false}
try{y}catch(e){yExists=false}
console.log(xExists, yExists);

Answer №2

If you wish to determine if a global variable or property exists, one way is to use the hasOwnProperty method. For example, window.hasOwnProperty('myVar') or object.hasOwnProperty('myVar') will return true if the variable/property has been defined.

The typeof operator alone may not provide accurate information as it will only return 'undefined' for variables that have not been defined at all. To check if a variable is defined but not assigned a value, you can combine it with another technique. However, be aware that this approach may still result in false positives if a variable was initially assigned a value of undefined.

For local variables (non-global), you cannot reference their objects directly. Attempting to call an undefined variable should trigger an exception. You can use the following code snippet to test for this:

function isDefined(variableName) {
    try {
        eval(variableName);
    } catch (ex) {
        return false;
    }
    return true;
}

The use of eval in this function ensures that any exceptions occur within the try-catch block and not when isDefined is called. It is important to note that using this method in production environments is strongly discouraged.

In light of these considerations, it raises the question of whether checking for the existence of a variable is truly necessary in your context.

Answer №3

To check for the existence of a variable in the current context, you can utilize the in operator:

var myVarDeclared;
var myVarDefined = '';

var myVarDeclaredTest = 'myVarDeclared' in this;
var myVarDefinedTest = 'myVarDefined' in this;
var notDeclaredTest = 'notDeclared' in this;

document.write('myVarDeclared test: ' + myVarDeclaredTest + '<br>'); //true
document.write('myVarDefined test: ' + myVarDefinedTest + '<br>'); //true
document.write('notDeclared test: ' + notDeclaredTest + '<br>'); //false

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