Is there a way to join the elements in an js array, but let the last separator be different?

Question

What I want is something like Array.join(separator), but which takes a second argument Array.join(separator, beforeLastElement), so when I say [f

Answer 1

Array.prototype.join2 = function(all, last) {
    var arr = this.slice();                   //make a copy so we don't mess with the original
    var lastItem = arr.splice(-1);            //strip out the last element
    arr = arr.length ? [arr.join(all)] : [];  //make an array with the non-last elements joined with our 'all' string, or make an empty array
    arr.push(lastItem);                       //add last item back so we should have ["some string with first stuff split by 'all'", last item]; or we'll just have [lastItem] if there was only one item, or we'll have [] if there was nothing in the original array
    return arr.join(last);                    //now we join the array with 'last'
}

> [1,2,3,4].join2(', ', ' and ');
>> "1, 2, 3 and 4"

Answer 2

Though its a late answer, adding some approaches.

Method 1: Using Array.splice() add the last delimiter before last element and join and remove the last two ,.

function join(arr,last)
{
    if(!Array.isArray(arr)) throw "Passed value is not of array type.";
    last = last || ' and '; //set 'and' as default
    
    (arr.length>1 && arr.splice(-1,0,last));
    arr = arr.join().split("");
    arr[arr.lastIndexOf(",")]="";
    arr[arr.lastIndexOf(",")]="";
    return arr.join("");
}

console.log( join([1]) ); //single valued array
console.log( join([1,2]) ); //double valued array
console.log( join([1,2,3]) ); //more than 2 values array,
console.log( join([1,2,3],' or ') ); //with custom last delimiter
console.log( join("name") ); //Non-array type

Method 2: Using Array.reduce() to construct the string by traversing each element.

function join(arr,last)
{
    if(!Array.isArray(arr)) throw "Passed value is not of array type.";
    last=last||' and ';
    
    return arr.reduce(function(acc,value,index){
        if(arr.length<2) return arr.join();
        return acc + (index>=arr.length-2 ? index>arr.length-2 ? value : value+last : value+",");
    },"");
}

console.log( join([1]) ); //single valued array
console.log( join([1,2]) ); //double valued array
console.log( join([1,2,3]) ); //more than 2 values array,
console.log( join([1,2,3,4],' or ') ); //with custom last delimiter
console.log( join("name") ); //Non-array type

Answer 3

function getValuesfromArray(strArray) {
  let endString = "";

  if (strArray.length > 1) {
    const lastEntry = strArray.pop();
    endString = strArray.join(", ") + " or " + lastEntry;
  }
  else {
    endString = strArray.toString();
  }

  return endString;
}

Answer 4

compact version :)

function customJoin(arr,s1,s2){
return(arr.slice(0,-1).join(s1).concat(arr.length > 1 ? s2 : '', arr.slice(-1)));
}

/* 
arr: data array
s1: regular seperator (string)
s2: last seperator (string)
*/

function customJoin(arr,s1,s2){
return(arr.slice(0,-1).join(s1).concat(arr.length > 1 ? s2 : '', arr.slice(-1)));
}

let arr1 = ['a','b','c','d'];
let arr2 = ['singleToken'];

console.log(customJoin(arr1,',',' and '));
//expected: 'a,b,c and d'
console.log(customJoin(arr1,'::',' and finally::'));
//expected: 'a::b::c and finally::d'
console.log(customJoin(arr2,',','and '));
//expected: 'singleToken'

Answer 5

Building off of @dystroy's answer:

function formatArray(arr){
    var outStr = "";
    if (arr.length === 1) {
        outStr = arr[0];
    } else if (arr.length === 2) {
        //joins all with "and" but no commas
        //example: "bob and sam"
        outStr = arr.join(' and ');
    } else if (arr.length > 2) {
        //joins all with commas, but last one gets ", and" (oxford comma!)
        //example: "bob, joe, and sam"
        outStr = arr.slice(0, -1).join(', ') + ', and ' + arr.slice(-1);
    }
    return outStr;
}

Example usages:

formatArray([]);                //""
formatArray(["a"]);             //"a"
formatArray(["a","b"]);         //"a and b"
formatArray(["a","b","c"]);     //"a, b, and c"
formatArray(["a","b","c","d"]); //"a, b, c, and d"

Answer 6

For me the simplest solution is:

['1', '2', '3'].reduce((previous, current, index, array) => {
    if (index === array.length - 1) {
        return previous + ' & ' + current;
    } else {
        return previous + ', ' + current;
    }
})