Node js for-loop wait for asynchronous function before next iteration?

Question

I am making a function that refreshes data every so often and I am having issues with the request chain that I have. The problem is that I have a for-loop running the asynch

Answer 1

For completeness, the way to do async things sequentially "by hand" is to use recursion:

function dothings(things, ondone){
    function go(i){
        if (i >= things.length) {
            ondone();
        } else {
            dothing(things[i], function(result){
                return go(i+1);
            });
        }
    }
    go(0);
}

Answer 2

You want the async library.

For instance,

for(var i = 0; i < listObj.result.length; i++) {
    varBody.index = i;
    varBody.memberID = listObj.result[i].program_member.id;
    request(
        ...
    , function () {
        // Do more Stuff
    });
}

Can be written like this instead:

async.forEachOf(listObj.result, function (result, i, callback) {
    varBody.index = i;
    varBody.memberID = result.program_member.id;
    request(
        ...
    , function () {
        // Do more Stuff
        // The next iteration WON'T START until callback is called
        callback();
    });
}, function () {
    // We're done looping in this function!
});

There are lots of handy utility functions like this in async that makes working with callbacks much much easier.