Retrieve a property from a randomly selected element within an XML file using JavaScript

I am trying to retrieve the ID of an XML element, but I am struggling with accessing it. The element is selected randomly, so I am unsure how to obtain its information.

To give you a better idea of what I am working on, here is a snippet of my code:

I have an XML file containing two pieces of information (a YouTube link and a corresponding ID) structured like this:

<videos>
   <video id="0">o6f9wJ1DWhY</video>
   <video id="2">sp_WV91jx8E</video>
   <video id="3">plWnm7UpsXk</video>
   <video id="4">a1Y73sPHKxw</video>
   <video id="5">9avT0e5KPPU</video>
   <video id="6">VTO5yiN1b-I</video>
   <video id="7">HnENgvGFc4</video>
   <video id="8">d8u4CEBVq7s</video>
   <video id="9">abRplCazEjk</video>
</videos>

In the next step, I extract the data from an external XML file and store it in a variable:

var jqxhr = $.ajax({
type: 'POST',       
url: "freeakshow.xml",
dataType: 'xml',
global: false,
async:false,
success: function(data) {
    return data;
}
}).responseText;

xml_string = jqxhr;

Then, I use the DOMParser to parse the links into an array for future access:

function get_ids_from_xml_string(xml_string) {
// Parse the XML string into a XMLDocument
var doc = window.DOMParser
            ? new DOMParser().parseFromString(xml_string, 'text/xml')   
            : new ActiveXObject('Microsoft.XMLDOM').loadXML(xml_string); 

// Locate the video nodes
var id_nodes = doc.getElementsByTagName('video');
var videos = [];

// Store their text content in an array
for (var i = 0; i < id_nodes.length; i++) {
     videos.push(id_nodes[i].firstChild.data)
}

return videos;
}

var videos = get_ids_from_xml_string(xml_string);

Next, I select a random link from the array to be used with the YouTube API, although that's not relevant at the moment:

function getId() {
  return videos[Math.floor(Math.random() * videos.length)];

Now, here comes the question: How can I retrieve the ID of the current random link obtained from getId()?

I aim to display it within a div to keep track of the current and previous IDs of the randomly playing videos.

(In simple terms, I want to showcase which ID is currently being played and which one was played last)

Answer №1

When it comes to debugging, one common approach is to utilize the console feature in Developer Tools on browsers like Chrome, Firefox, or IE. You can easily display data by writing a simple line of code:

console.log(getId());

This will output the result in the console for easy viewing. To access Developer Tools in Chrome, go to Tools > Developer Tools. For more detailed information about using the console in Chrome, check out this helpful article here.

If you prefer displaying the information in a div element instead, you can create a div structure like so:

<div id="getIdOutput"></div>

Then use JavaScript code like this to populate the div with the result of getId():

document.getElementById("getIdOutput").innerHTML = getId();

This method allows you to visually display the output of getId()!

Answer №2

To enhance your getId function, consider updating it to keep track of the randomly generated ID. For example:

var currentId, previousId;

function getId() {
  //store the previous id in the previousId variable
  previousId = currentId;
  //generate a new id and save it
  currentId = Math.floor(Math.random() * videos.length);
  //return the video that corresponds to the current id
  return videos[currentId];
}

Now you have access to both the currentId and previousId for flexibility according to your requirements.

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