Name
Array.slice( ) — return a portion of an array
Availability
JavaScript 1.2; JScript 3.0; ECMAScript v3
Synopsis
array
.slice(start
,end
)
Arguments
-
start
The array index at which the slice is to begin. If negative, this argument specifies a position measured from the end of the array. That is, -1 indicates the last element, -2 indicates the second from last element, and so on.
-
end
The array index immediately after the end of the slice. If not specified, the slice includes all array elements from the
start
to the end of the array. If this argument is negative, it specifies an array element measured from the end of the array.
Returns
A new array that contains the elements of
array
from the element specified by
start
, up to, but not including, the
element specified by end
.
Description
slice( )
returns a slice, or subarray, of
array
. The returned array contains the
element specified by start
and all
subsequent elements up to, but not including, the element specified
by end
. If end
is not specified, the returned array contains all elements from the
start
to the end of
array
.
Note that slice( )
does not modify the array. If
you want to actually remove a slice of an array, use
Array.splice( )
.
Example
var a = [1,2,3,4,5]; a.slice(0,3); // Returns [1,2,3] a.slice(3); // Returns [4,5] a.slice(1,-1); // Returns [2,3,4] a.slice(-3,-2); // Returns [3]; buggy in IE 4: returns [1,2,3]
Bugs
start
cannot be a negative number in
Internet Explorer 4.
See Also
Get JavaScript: The Definitive Guide, Fourth Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
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