JS jQuery - check if value is in array

Question

I am more of a PHP person, not JS - and I think my problem is more a syntax problem .. I have a small jQuery to "validate" and check input value . It works ok for single words, but I need array. I am using the `inArray()` of jQuery . ``` var ar = ["value1", "value2", "value3", "value4"]; // ETC... jQuery(document).ready(function() { jQuery("form#searchreport").submit(function() { if (jQuery.inArray(jQuery("input:first"), ar)){ //if (jQuery("input:first").val() == "value11") { // works for single words jQuery("#divResult").html("VALUE FOUND").show(); jQuery("#contentresults").delay(800).show("slow"); return false; } // SINGLE VALUE SPECIAL CASE / Value not allowed if (jQuery("input:first").val() == "word10") { jQuery("#divResult").html("YOU CHEAT !").show(); jQuery("#contentresults").delay(800).show("slow"); return false; } // Value not Valid jQuery("#divResult").text("Not valid!").show().fadeOut(1000); return false; }); }); ``` now - this `if (jQuery.inArray(jQuery("input…

Accepted Answer

You are comparing a jQuery object (`jQuery('input:first')`) to strings (the elements of the array). Change the code in order to compare the input's value (wich is a string) to the array elements:

```
if (jQuery.inArray(jQuery("input:first").val(), ar) != -1)
```

The `inArray` method returns `-1` if the element wasn't found in the array, so as your bonus answer to how to determine if an element is not in an array, use this :

```
if(jQuery.inArray(el,arr) == -1){
    // the element is not in the array
};
```

JS jQuery - check if value is in array

Solution

Problem