907
votes

I need multiple cases in switch statement in JavaScript, Something like:

switch (varName)
{
   case "afshin", "saeed", "larry":
       alert('Hey');
       break;

   default:
       alert('Default case');
       break;
}

How can I do that? If there's no way to do something like that in JavaScript, I want to know an alternative solution that also follows the DRY concept.

22

22 Answers

1815
votes

Use the fall-through feature of the switch statement. A matched case will run until a break (or the end of the switch statement) is found, so you could write it like:

switch (varName)
{
   case "afshin":
   case "saeed":
   case "larry": 
       alert('Hey');
       break;

   default: 
       alert('Default case');
}
125
votes

This works in regular JavaScript:

function theTest(val) {
  var answer = "";
  switch( val ) {
    case 1: case 2: case 3:
      answer = "Low";
      break;
    case 4: case 5: case 6:
      answer = "Mid";
      break;
    case 7: case 8: case 9:
      answer = "High";
      break;
    default:
      answer = "Massive or Tiny?";
  }
  return answer;
}

theTest(9);
47
votes

Here's different approach avoiding the switch statement altogether:

var cases = {
  afshin: function() { alert('hey'); },
  _default: function() { alert('default'); }
};
cases.larry = cases.saeed = cases.afshin;

cases[ varName ] ? cases[ varName ]() : cases._default();
26
votes

In Javascript to assign multiple cases in a switch, we have to define different case without break inbetween like given below:

   <script>
      function checkHere(varName){
        switch (varName)
           {
           case "saeed":
           case "larry":
           case "afshin":
                alert('Hey');
                break;
          case "ss":
               alert('ss');
               break;
         default:
               alert('Default case');
               break;
       }
      }
     </script>

Please see example click on link

19
votes

If you're using ES6, you can do this:

if (['afshin', 'saeed', 'larry'].includes(varName)) {
   alert('Hey');
} else {
   alert('Default case');
}

Or for earlier versions of JavaScript, you can do this:

if (['afshin', 'saeed', 'larry'].indexOf(varName) !== -1) {
   alert('Hey');
} else {
   alert('Default case');
}

Note that this won't work in older IE browsers, but you could patch things up fairly easily. See the question determine if string is in list in javascript for more information.

14
votes

I like this for clarity and a DRY syntax.

varName = "larry";

switch (true)
{
    case ["afshin", "saeed", "larry"].includes(varName) :
       alert('Hey');
       break;

    default:
       alert('Default case');

}
11
votes

My situation was something akin to:

switch (text) {
  case SOME_CONSTANT || ANOTHER_CONSTANT:
    console.log('Case 1 entered');

  break;

  case THIRD_CONSTANT || FINAL_CONSTANT:
    console.log('Case 2 entered');

  break;

  default:
    console.log('Default entered');
}

The default case always entered. If you're running into a similar multi-case switch statement issue, you're looking for this:

switch (text) {
  case SOME_CONSTANT:
  case ANOTHER_CONSTANT:
    console.log('Case 1 entered');

  break;

  case THIRD_CONSTANT:
  case FINAL_CONSTANT:
    console.log('Case 2 entered');

  break;

  default:
    console.log('Default entered');
}
9
votes

Adding and clarifying Stefano's answer, you can use expressions to dynamically set the values for the conditions in switch, e.g.:

var i = 3
switch (i) {
    case ((i>=0 && i<=5) ? i : -1):
        console.log('0-5');
        break;

    case 6: console.log('6');
}

So in your problem, you could do something like:

var varName = "afshin"
switch (varName) {
    case (["afshin", "saeed", "larry"].indexOf(varName)+1 && varName):
      console.log("hey");
      break;

    default:
      console.log('Default case');
}

Although it is so much DRY...

7
votes

In Node.js it appears that you are allowed to do this:

data = "10";
switch(data){
    case "1": case "2": case "3": // Put multiple cases on the same
                                  // line to save vertical space.
        console.log("small");
        break;

    case "10": case "11": case "12":
        console.log("large");
        break;

    default:
        console.log("strange");
        break;
}

This makes for much more compact code in some cases.

6
votes

I use it like this:

switch (true){
     case /Pressure/.test(sensor): 
     {
        console.log('Its pressure!');
        break;
     }

     case /Temperature/.test(sensor): 
     {
        console.log('Its temperature!');
        break;
     }
}
4
votes

It depends. Switch evaluates once and only once. Upon a match, all subsequent case statements until 'break' fire no matter what the case says.

var onlyMen = true;
var onlyWomen = false;
var onlyAdults = false;
 
 (function(){
   switch (true){
     case onlyMen:
       console.log ('onlymen');
     case onlyWomen:
       console.log ('onlyWomen');
     case onlyAdults:
       console.log ('onlyAdults');
       break;
     default:
       console.log('default');
   }
})(); // returns onlymen onlywomen onlyadults
<script src="https://getfirebug.com/firebug-lite-debug.js"></script>
4
votes

You can use the 'in' operator...
It relies on the object/hash invocation, so it's as fast as JavaScript can be.

// Assuming you have defined functions f(), g(a) and h(a,b)
// somewhere in your code,
// you can define them inside the object, but...
// the code becomes hard to read. I prefer it this way.

o = { f1:f, f2:g, f3:h };

// If you use "STATIC" code can do:
o['f3']( p1, p2 )

// If your code is someway "DYNAMIC", to prevent false invocations
// m brings the function/method to be invoked (f1, f2, f3)
// and you can rely on arguments[] to solve any parameter problems.
if ( m in o ) o[m]()
2
votes

You can do this:

alert([
  "afshin", 
  "saeed", 
  "larry",
  "sasha",
  "boby",
  "jhon",
  "anna",
  // ...
].includes(varName)? 'Hey' : 'Default case')

or just a single line of code:

alert(["afshin", "saeed", "larry",...].includes(varName)? 'Hey' : 'Default case')

a little improvement from ErikE's answer

2
votes

I can see there are lots of good answers here, but what happens if we need to check more than 10 cases? Here is my own approach:

 function isAccessible(varName){
     let accessDenied = ['Liam', 'Noah', 'William', 'James', 'Logan', 'Benjamin',
                        'Mason', 'Elijah', 'Oliver', 'Jacob', 'Daniel', 'Lucas'];
      switch (varName) {
         case (accessDenied.includes(varName) ? varName : null):
             return 'Access Denied!';
         default:
           return 'Access Allowed.';
       }
    }

    console.log(isAccessible('Liam'));
2
votes

The problem with the above approaches, is that you have to repeat the several cases every time you call the function which has the switch. A more robust solution is to have a map or a dictionary.

Here is an example:

// The Map, divided by concepts
var dictionary = {
  timePeriod: {
    'month': [1, 'monthly', 'mensal', 'mês'],
    'twoMonths': [2, 'two months', '2 months', 'bimestral', 'bimestre'],
    'trimester': [3, 'trimesterly', 'quarterly', 'trimestral'],
    'semester': [4, 'semesterly', 'semestral', 'halfyearly'],
    'year': [5, 'yearly', 'annual', 'ano']
  },
  distance: {
    'km': [1, 'kms', 'kilometre', 'kilometers', 'kilometres'],
    'mile': [2, 'mi', 'miles'],
    'nordicMile': [3, 'Nordic mile', 'mil (10 km)', 'Scandinavian mile']
  },
  fuelAmount: {
    'ltr': [1, 'l', 'litre', 'Litre', 'liter', 'Liter'],
    'gal (imp)': [2, 'imp gallon', 'imperial gal', 'gal (UK)'],
    'gal (US)': [3, 'US gallon', 'US gal'],
    'kWh': [4, 'KWH']
  }
};

// This function maps every input to a certain defined value
function mapUnit (concept, value) {
  for (var key in dictionary[concept]) {
    if (key === value ||
      dictionary[concept][key].indexOf(value) !== -1) {
      return key
    }
  }
  throw Error('Uknown "'+value+'" for "'+concept+'"')
}

// You would use it simply like this
mapUnit("fuelAmount", "ltr") // => ltr
mapUnit("fuelAmount", "US gal") // => gal (US)
mapUnit("fuelAmount", 3) // => gal (US)
mapUnit("distance", "kilometre") // => km

// Now you can use the switch statement safely without the need
// to repeat the combinations every time you call the switch
var foo = 'monthly'
switch (mapUnit ('timePeriod', foo)) {
  case 'month':
    console.log('month')
    break
  case 'twoMonths':
    console.log('twoMonths')
    break
  case 'trimester':
    console.log('trimester')
    break
  case 'semester':
    console.log('semester')
    break
  case 'year':
    console.log('year')
    break
  default:
    throw Error('error')
}
0
votes

One of the possible solutions is:

const names = {
afshin: 'afshin',
saeed: 'saeed',
larry: 'larry'
};

switch (varName) {
   case names[varName]: {
       alert('Hey');
       break;
   }

   default: {
       alert('Default case');
       break;
   }
}
0
votes

Some interesting methods. For me the best way to solve is using .find.

You can give an indication of what the multiple cases are by using a suitable name inside your filter function.

switch (varName)
{
   case ["afshin", "saeed", "larry"].find(firstName => firstName === varName):
       alert('Hey');
       break;

   default:
       alert('Default case');
       break;
}

Other answers are more suitable for the given example but if you have multiple cases to me this is the best way.

-1
votes

Another way of doing multiple cases in a switch statement, when inside a function:

function name(varName){
  switch (varName) {
     case 'afshin':
     case 'saeed':
     case 'larry':
       return 'Hey';
     default:
       return 'Default case';
   }
}

console.log(name('afshin')); // Hey
-2
votes

Just change the switch condition approach:

switch (true) {
    case (function(){ return true; })():
        alert('true');
        break;
    case (function(){ return false; })():
        alert('false');
        break;
    default:
        alert('default');
}
-4
votes
<head>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
    <title>Example1</title>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="css/style.css" >
    <script src="js/jquery-1.11.3.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
    <script>
        function display_case(){
            var num =   document.getElementById('number').value;

                switch(num){

                    case (num = "1"):
                    document.getElementById("result").innerHTML = "You select day Sunday";
                    break;

                    case (num = "2"):
                    document.getElementById("result").innerHTML = "You select day  Monday";
                    break;

                    case (num = "3"):
                    document.getElementById("result").innerHTML = "You select day  Tuesday";
                    break;

                    case (num = "4"):
                    document.getElementById("result").innerHTML = "You select day  Wednesday";
                    break;

                    case (num = "5"):
                    document.getElementById("result").innerHTML = "You select day  Thusday";
                    break;

                    case (num = "6"):
                    document.getElementById("result").innerHTML = "You select day  Friday";
                    break;

                    case (num = "7"):
                    document.getElementById("result").innerHTML = "You select day  Saturday";
                    break;

                    default:
                    document.getElementById("result").innerHTML = "You select day  Invalid Weekday";
                    break
                }

        }
    </script>
</head>
<body>
    <center>
        <div id="error"></div>
        <center>
            <h2> Switch Case Example </h2>
            <p>Enter a Number Between 1 to 7</p>
            <input type="text" id="number" />
            <button onclick="display_case();">Check</button><br />
            <div id="result"><b></b></div>
        </center>
    </center>
</body>
-4
votes

You could write it like this:

switch (varName)
{
   case "afshin": 
   case "saeed": 
   case "larry": 
       alert('Hey');
       break;

   default: 
       alert('Default case');
       break;
}         
-6
votes

For me this is the simplest way:

switch (["afshin","saeed","larry"].includes(varName) ? 1 : 2) {
   case 1:
       alert('Hey');
       break;

   default:
       alert('Default case');
       break;
}