How to get function parameter names/values dynamic

Question

Is there a way to get the function parameter names of a function dynamically?

Let’s say my function looks like this:

function doSomething(param1, param2, .... paramN){
   // fill an array with the parameter name and value
   // some other code 
}

Now, how would I get a list of the parameter names and their values into an array from inside the function?

Answer 1

Since JavaScript is a scripting language, I feel that its introspection should support getting function parameter names. Punting on that functionality is a violation of first principles, so I decided to explore the issue further.

That led me to this question but no built-in solutions. Which led me to this answer which explains that arguments is only deprecated outside the function, so we can no longer use myFunction.arguments or we get:

TypeError: 'caller', 'callee', and 'arguments' properties may not be accessed on strict mode functions or the arguments objects for calls to them

Time to roll up our sleeves and get to work:

⭐ Retrieving function parameters requires a parser because complex expressions like 4*(5/3) can be used as default values. So Gaafar's answer or James Drew's answer are so far the best approaches.

I tried the babylon and esprima parsers but unfortunately they can't parse standalone anonymous functions, as pointed out in Mateusz Charytoniuk's answer. I figured out another workaround though by surrounding the code in parentheses, so as not to change the logic:

const ast = parser.parse("(\n" + func.toString() + "\n)")

The newlines prevent issues with // (single-line comments).

⭐ If a parser is not available, the next-best option is to use a tried-and-true technique like Angular.js's dependency injector regular expressions. I combined a functional version of Lambder's answer with humbletim's answer and added an optional ARROW boolean for controlling whether ES6 fat arrow functions are allowed by the regular expressions.

---

Here are two solutions I put together. Note that these have no logic to detect whether a function has valid syntax, they only extract the arguments. This is generally ok since we usually pass parsed functions to getArguments() so their syntax is already valid.

I will try to curate these solutions as best I can, but without effort from the JavaScript maintainers, this will remain an open problem.

Node.js version (not runnable until StackOverflow supports Node.js):

const parserName = 'babylon';
// const parserName = 'esprima';
const parser = require(parserName);

function getArguments(func) {
    const maybe = function (x) {
        return x || {}; // optionals support
    }

    try {
        const ast = parser.parse("(\n" + func.toString() + "\n)");
        const program = parserName == 'babylon' ? ast.program : ast;

        return program
            .body[0]
            .expression
            .params
            .map(function(node) {
                return node.name || maybe(node.left).name || '...' + maybe(node.argument).name;
            });
    } catch (e) {
        return []; // could also return null
    }
};

////////// TESTS //////////

function logArgs(func) {
	let object = {};

	object[func] = getArguments(func);

	console.log(object);
// 	console.log(/*JSON.stringify(*/getArguments(func)/*)*/);
}

console.log('');
console.log('////////// MISC //////////');

logArgs((a, b) => {});
logArgs((a, b = 1) => {});
logArgs((a, b, ...args) => {});
logArgs(function(a, b, ...args) {});
logArgs(function(a, b = 1, c = 4 * (5 / 3), d = 2) {});
logArgs(async function(a, b, ...args) {});
logArgs(function async(a, b, ...args) {});

console.log('');
console.log('////////// FUNCTIONS //////////');

logArgs(function(a, b, c) {});
logArgs(function() {});
logArgs(function named(a, b, c) {});
logArgs(function(a /* = 1 */, b /* = true */) {});
logArgs(function fprintf(handle, fmt /*, ...*/) {});
logArgs(function(a, b = 1, c) {});
logArgs(function(a = 4 * (5 / 3), b) {});
// logArgs(function (a, // single-line comment xjunk) {});
// logArgs(function (a /* fooled you {});
// logArgs(function (a /* function() yes */, \n /* no, */b)/* omg! */ {});
// logArgs(function ( A, b \n,c ,d \n ) \n {});
logArgs(function(a, b) {});
logArgs(function $args(func) {});
logArgs(null);
logArgs(function Object() {});

console.log('');
console.log('////////// STRINGS //////////');

logArgs('function (a,b,c) {}');
logArgs('function () {}');
logArgs('function named(a, b, c) {}');
logArgs('function (a /* = 1 */, b /* = true */) {}');
logArgs('function fprintf(handle, fmt /*, ...*/) {}');
logArgs('function( a, b = 1, c ) {}');
logArgs('function (a=4*(5/3), b) {}');
logArgs('function (a, // single-line comment xjunk) {}');
logArgs('function (a /* fooled you {}');
logArgs('function (a /* function() yes */, \n /* no, */b)/* omg! */ {}');
logArgs('function ( A, b \n,c ,d \n ) \n {}');
logArgs('function (a,b) {}');
logArgs('function $args(func) {}');
logArgs('null');
logArgs('function Object() {}');

Full working example:

https://repl.it/repls/SandybrownPhonyAngles

Browser version (note that it stops at the first complex default value):

function getArguments(func) {
    const ARROW = true;
    const FUNC_ARGS = ARROW ? /^(function)?\s*[^\(]*\(\s*([^\)]*)\)/m : /^(function)\s*[^\(]*\(\s*([^\)]*)\)/m;
    const FUNC_ARG_SPLIT = /,/;
    const FUNC_ARG = /^\s*(_?)(.+?)\1\s*$/;
    const STRIP_COMMENTS = /((\/\/.*$)|(\/\*[\s\S]*?\*\/))/mg;

    return ((func || '').toString().replace(STRIP_COMMENTS, '').match(FUNC_ARGS) || ['', '', ''])[2]
        .split(FUNC_ARG_SPLIT)
        .map(function(arg) {
            return arg.replace(FUNC_ARG, function(all, underscore, name) {
                return name.split('=')[0].trim();
            });
        })
        .filter(String);
}

////////// TESTS //////////

function logArgs(func) {
	let object = {};

	object[func] = getArguments(func);

	console.log(object);
// 	console.log(/*JSON.stringify(*/getArguments(func)/*)*/);
}

console.log('');
console.log('////////// MISC //////////');

logArgs((a, b) => {});
logArgs((a, b = 1) => {});
logArgs((a, b, ...args) => {});
logArgs(function(a, b, ...args) {});
logArgs(function(a, b = 1, c = 4 * (5 / 3), d = 2) {});
logArgs(async function(a, b, ...args) {});
logArgs(function async(a, b, ...args) {});

console.log('');
console.log('////////// FUNCTIONS //////////');

logArgs(function(a, b, c) {});
logArgs(function() {});
logArgs(function named(a, b, c) {});
logArgs(function(a /* = 1 */, b /* = true */) {});
logArgs(function fprintf(handle, fmt /*, ...*/) {});
logArgs(function(a, b = 1, c) {});
logArgs(function(a = 4 * (5 / 3), b) {});
// logArgs(function (a, // single-line comment xjunk) {});
// logArgs(function (a /* fooled you {});
// logArgs(function (a /* function() yes */, \n /* no, */b)/* omg! */ {});
// logArgs(function ( A, b \n,c ,d \n ) \n {});
logArgs(function(a, b) {});
logArgs(function $args(func) {});
logArgs(null);
logArgs(function Object() {});

console.log('');
console.log('////////// STRINGS //////////');

logArgs('function (a,b,c) {}');
logArgs('function () {}');
logArgs('function named(a, b, c) {}');
logArgs('function (a /* = 1 */, b /* = true */) {}');
logArgs('function fprintf(handle, fmt /*, ...*/) {}');
logArgs('function( a, b = 1, c ) {}');
logArgs('function (a=4*(5/3), b) {}');
logArgs('function (a, // single-line comment xjunk) {}');
logArgs('function (a /* fooled you {}');
logArgs('function (a /* function() yes */, \n /* no, */b)/* omg! */ {}');
logArgs('function ( A, b \n,c ,d \n ) \n {}');
logArgs('function (a,b) {}');
logArgs('function $args(func) {}');
logArgs('null');
logArgs('function Object() {}');

Full working example:

https://repl.it/repls/StupendousShowyOffices

Answer 2

//See this:


// global var, naming bB
var bB = 5;

//  Dependency Injection cokntroller
var a = function(str, fn) {
  //stringify function body
  var fnStr = fn.toString();

  // Key: get form args to string
  var args = fnStr.match(/function\s*\((.*?)\)/);
  // 
  console.log(args);
  // if the form arg is 'bB', then exec it, otherwise, do nothing
  for (var i = 0; i < args.length; i++) {
    if(args[i] == 'bB') {
      fn(bB);
    }
  }
}
// will do nothing
a('sdfdfdfs,', function(some){
alert(some)
});
// will alert 5

a('sdfdsdsfdfsdfdsf,', function(bB){
alert(bB)
});

// see, this shows you how to get function args in string

Answer 3

function parameter string value image dynamically from JSON. Since item.product_image2 is a URL string, you need to put it in quotes when you call changeImage inside parameter.

My Function Onclick

items+='<img src='+item.product_image1+' id="saleDetailDivGetImg">';
items+="<img src="+item.product_image2+"  onclick='changeImage(\""+item.product_image2+"\");'>";

My Function

<script type="text/javascript">
function changeImage(img)
 {
    document.getElementById("saleDetailDivGetImg").src=img;
    alert(img);
}
</script>

Answer 4

You can also use "esprima" parser to avoid many issues with comments, whitespace and other things inside parameters list.

function getParameters(yourFunction) {
    var i,
        // safetyValve is necessary, because sole "function () {...}"
        // is not a valid syntax
        parsed = esprima.parse("safetyValve = " + yourFunction.toString()),
        params = parsed.body[0].expression.right.params,
        ret = [];

    for (i = 0; i < params.length; i += 1) {
        // Handle default params. Exe: function defaults(a = 0,b = 2,c = 3){}
        if (params[i].type == 'AssignmentPattern') {
            ret.push(params[i].left.name)
        } else {
            ret.push(params[i].name);
        }
    }

    return ret;
}

It works even with code like this:

getParameters(function (hello /*, foo ),* /bar* { */,world) {}); // ["hello", "world"]

Answer 5

The following function will return an array of the parameter names of any function passed in.

var STRIP_COMMENTS = /((\/\/.*$)|(\/\*[\s\S]*?\*\/))/mg;
var ARGUMENT_NAMES = /([^\s,]+)/g;
function getParamNames(func) {
  var fnStr = func.toString().replace(STRIP_COMMENTS, '');
  var result = fnStr.slice(fnStr.indexOf('(')+1, fnStr.indexOf(')')).match(ARGUMENT_NAMES);
  if(result === null)
     result = [];
  return result;
}

Example usage:

getParamNames(getParamNames) // returns ['func']
getParamNames(function (a,b,c,d){}) // returns ['a','b','c','d']
getParamNames(function (a,/*b,c,*/d){}) // returns ['a','d']
getParamNames(function (){}) // returns []

Edit:

With the invent of ES6 this function can be tripped up by default parameters. Here is a quick hack which should work in most cases:

var STRIP_COMMENTS = /(\/\/.*$)|(\/\*[\s\S]*?\*\/)|(\s*=[^,\)]*(('(?:\\'|[^'\r\n])*')|("(?:\\"|[^"\r\n])*"))|(\s*=[^,\)]*))/mg;

I say most cases because there are some things that will trip it up

function (a=4*(5/3), b) {} // returns ['a']

Edit: I also note vikasde wants the parameter values in an array also. This is already provided in a local variable named arguments.

excerpt from https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Functions_and_function_scope/arguments:

The arguments object is not an Array. It is similar to an Array, but does not have any Array properties except length. For example, it does not have the pop method. However it can be converted to a real Array:

var args = Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments);

If Array generics are available, one can use the following instead:

var args = Array.slice(arguments);

Answer 6

Solution that is less error prone to spaces and comments would be:

var fn = function(/* whoa) */ hi, you){};

fn.toString()
  .replace(/((\/\/.*$)|(\/\*[\s\S]*?\*\/)|(\s))/mg,'')
  .match(/^function\s*[^\(]*\(\s*([^\)]*)\)/m)[1]
  .split(/,/)

["hi", "you"]