I need to animate some circle in my page, in order to do that, i'm trying to store that circle in a matrix.

var elementWidth = parseInt($('#svg').width()); //Take container element's width
var circleRadius = parseInt(elementWidth/10); //Calculate radius and the distance from a circle to another
var circleMatrix = [[]]; //The 2d matrix
var s = Snap("#svg"); //Initialize Snap (it's a svg framework)
var x,y=0; //My index

for(var i=0; i<=elementWidth; i+=circleRadius){
  x=0;
  for(var m=0; m<=elementWidth; m+=circleRadius){
    console.log("y("+y+"): "+i+" x("+x+"): "+m);
    circleMatrix[y][x] = s.circle(m,i,50);
    x++;
  }
  y++;
}

The code is really easy and a i can't understand why it returns this error:

Uncaught TypeError: Cannot set property '0' of undefined

I need to animate some circle in my page, in order to do that, i'm trying to store that circle in a matrix.

var elementWidth = parseInt($('#svg').width()); //Take container element's width
var circleRadius = parseInt(elementWidth/10); //Calculate radius and the distance from a circle to another
var circleMatrix = [[]]; //The 2d matrix
var s = Snap("#svg"); //Initialize Snap (it's a svg framework)
var x,y=0; //My index

for(var i=0; i<=elementWidth; i+=circleRadius){
  x=0;
  for(var m=0; m<=elementWidth; m+=circleRadius){
    console.log("y("+y+"): "+i+" x("+x+"): "+m);
    circleMatrix[y][x] = s.circle(m,i,50);
    x++;
  }
  y++;
}

The code is really easy and a i can't understand why it returns this error:

Uncaught TypeError: Cannot set property '0' of undefined

• javascript
• jquery
• arrays

Share Improve this question Follow asked Jan 31, 2015 at 15:55 Emiliano MorghenEmiliano Morghen 4011 silver badge55 bronze badges 6

• [[]] doesn't really make any sense. Javascript doesn't work like that. – Oliver Commented Jan 31, 2015 at 15:58
• @Oliver: That part makes sense: That's an array with one entry, which is an empty array. – T.J. Crowder Commented Jan 31, 2015 at 16:02
• @Oliver How would you declare an array with an array as its zeroth element? How does "Javascript not work like that"? – 1252748 Commented Jan 31, 2015 at 16:02
• circleMatrix[1] is undefined. – A. Wolff Commented Jan 31, 2015 at 16:02
• @T.J.Crowder yeah, I suppose you're right. It's more like its not doing what he thinks it is doing. – Oliver Commented Jan 31, 2015 at 16:03

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2 Answers 2

Sorted by: Reset to default 7

JavaScript doesn't really have two-dimensional arrays; it has arrays of arrays instead.

This line:

var circleMatrix = [[]]; //The 2d matrix

creates an array with one entry: A blank array. So circleMatrix[1] (for instance) is undefined.

You'll have to add arrays at all of the positions in the outer array for which you need them. One way to do that would be to add:

if (!circleMatrix[y]) {
    circleMatrix[y] = [];
}

just before this line:

circleMatrix[y][x] = s.circle(m,i,50);

E.g.:

var elementWidth = parseInt($('#svg').width()); //Take container element's width
var circleRadius = parseInt(elementWidth/10); //Calculate radius and the distance from a circle to another
var circleMatrix = [];                      // *** Changed
var s = Snap("#svg"); //Initialize Snap (it's a svg framework)
var x,y=0; //My index

for(var i=0; i<=elementWidth; i+=circleRadius){
  x=0;
  for(var m=0; m<=elementWidth; m+=circleRadius){
    console.log("y("+y+"): "+i+" x("+x+"): "+m);
    if (!circleMatrix[y]) {                 // *** Added
        circleMatrix[y] = [];               // *** Added
    }                                       // *** Added
    circleMatrix[y][x] = s.circle(m,i,50);
    x++;
  }
  y++;
}

To create a 2D matrix in JavaScript, you have to do something like the following:

var circleMatrix = [[],[],[]];

You have to know ahead of time what one dimension is, or plan to create each "row" as you iterate the outer loop.