Why variable shows up as undefined?

Question

I am querying a user in a friend request array which works, but the check which I am using userAdd for keeps showing up as undefined. Anyone know why it is showing up as undefined?

This is the code:

    exports.searchPost = function(req, res, err) {
    User.find({$or:[
            {firstName: req.body.firstName},
            {lastName: req.body.lastName},
            {email: req.body.email},
            {phone: req.body.phone}]
    }, function(err, users) {
        if(err) {

            return res.render('searchError', {title: 'Weblio'}); 
        } else {

            if(req.body.firstName=== '' && req.body.lastName==='' && req.body.email==='' && req.body.phone=== '') {
                //maybe  a diff page saying that is not a valid search page
                return res.render('searchError', {title: 'Weblio'});        
            } else {
                    var userAdd;
                    console.log('addman');
                    users.forEach(function(user)  {
                        User.findById(req.signedCookies.userid, 
                            {friendRequest: user._id}, function() {
                                if(user._id === true ) {
                                    console.log('addman1'); 
                                    return userAdd = true;
                                } else {
                                    console.log('addman2');
                                    return userAdd = false;
                                    console.log(user._id);  
                                }

                            })

                        }); 
                    console.log(userAdd);

                return res.render('searchResults', {title: 'Weblio',        
                    usersFound: users, 
                    userAdded: userAdd
                });

            } 
        }
    });
};

Welcome to the wonderful world of **async**! You need to be inside the callback. — SLaks, Jul 22 '13 at 02:40
[**The Question**](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/14220321/how-to-return-the-response-from-an-ajax-call) related? — elclanrs, Jul 22 '13 at 02:40
Also, you have an errant `x` there, and your tabbing was terrible. — Lee Taylor, Jul 22 '13 at 02:42
Yeah sorry, it is actually a snippet from a bigger piece of code, and the x was in there by accident because I was removing the comments from the file, sorry... I updated the code to include the rest of it — Lion789, Jul 22 '13 at 02:44
Am I not inside the callback? I am inside the function in users.forEach — Lion789, Jul 22 '13 at 03:16
No, you're not inside the callback when you call `console.log`. The whole point of specifying a callback is that you don't know when it will be executed. So at the point where you `console.log` the code inside the callback hasn't even executed yet! — Yaniv, Jul 22 '13 at 05:48

zs2020 · Answer 1 · 2013-07-22T05:38:05.463

It is async, so you need to use the callback way to chain the actions. You can try some node modules like async or step to achieve it in a better syntax.

Btw, I don't think you need to loop through users.forEach(function(user).

If you use Step, you can do

exports.searchPost = function(req, res, err) {
    User.find({$or:[
            {firstName: req.body.firstName},
            {lastName: req.body.lastName},
            {email: req.body.email},
            {phone: req.body.phone}]
    }, function(err, users) {
        if(err) {

            return res.render('searchError', {title: 'Weblio'}); 
        } else {

            if(req.body.firstName=== '' && req.body.lastName==='' && req.body.email==='' && req.body.phone=== '') {
                //maybe  a diff page saying that is not a valid search page
                return res.render('searchError', {title: 'Weblio'});        
            } else {
                var userAdd;
                console.log('addman');

                Step(
                    function(){
                        User.findById(req.signedCookies.userid, {friendRequest: user._id}, this);
                    },

                    function(err, user){
                        if(user !== null && user._id === true ) {
                            console.log('addman1'); 
                            userAdd = true;
                        } else {
                            console.log('addman2');
                            userAdd = false;
                            console.log(user._id);  
                        }

                        return res.render('searchResults', {title: 'Weblio',        
                            usersFound: users, 
                            userAdded: userAdd
                        });
                    }
                );
            } 
        }
    });
};

How would I implement async? If not then I am still not getting userAdd as undefined with using what you wrote above. — Lion789, Jul 22 '13 at 05:24
Yes I looked at async and I am having trouble realizing how to use it here, to be honest. — Lion789, Jul 22 '13 at 05:29

Why variable shows up as undefined?

1 Answers1