Stuck on Step 18 of Build a Heritage Library Catalog

Tell us what’s happening:

I’m working on the Workshop “Build a Heritage Library Catalog” and I seem to be stuck on step 18, specifically the test about checking if grouped[“Unknown”] doesn’t exist yet and initialize it as an empty array. My code does both of those things when I compile it in another compiler, but I still can’t seem to pass this step. What am I missing here?

Your code so far

const rawCatalogCards = [
  "From a Buick 8 | King, Stephen | 2002 | Shelf K7",
  "The Shining | King, Stephen | 1977 | Shelf K1",
  "The Stand | King, Stephen | 1978 | Shelf K2",
  "It | King, Stephen | 1986 | Shelf K3",
  "Misery | King, Stephen | 1987 | Shelf K4",
  "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? | Dick, Philip K. | 1968 | Shelf D5",
  "I, Robot | Asimov, Isaac | 1950 | Shelf A8",
  "Foundation | Asimov, Isaac | 1951 | Shelf A9",
  "Dune | Herbert, Frank | 1965 | Shelf H3",
  "Neuromancer | Gibson, William | 1984 | Shelf G8",
  "Snow Crash | Stephenson, Neal | 1992 | Shelf S6",
  "The Martian | Weir, Andy | 2011 | Shelf W5",
  "Ender's Game | Card, Orson Scott | 1985 | Shelf C2",
  "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy | Adams, Douglas | 1979 | Shelf A1",
  "Ready Player One | Cline, Ernest | 2011 | Shelf C7",
  "The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger | King, Stephen | 1982 | Shelf K5",
  // edge cases: missing data
  "Unknown Title |  | 1975 | Shelf X1",
  "Mysterious Manuscript | Unknown Author |  | Shelf Z9",
  "Ancient Scroll | Anonymous | 850 | ",
];

function parseCard(rawString) {
  const parts = rawString.split("|");
  const trimmedParts = [];
  for (let i = 0; i < parts.length; i++) {
    trimmedParts.push(parts[i].trim());
  }
  const title = trimmedParts[0];
  const author = trimmedParts[1];
  const year = trimmedParts[2];
  const location = trimmedParts[3];
  return {
    title: title || "Unknown",
    author: author || "Unknown",
    year: year ? parseInt(year) : "Unknown",
    location: location || "Unknown"
  };
}

function parseCatalog(rawCards) {
  const catalog = [];
  for (let i = 0; i < rawCards.length; i++) {
    catalog.push(parseCard(rawCards[i]));
  }
  return catalog;
}

const catalog = parseCatalog(rawCatalogCards);

function findByAuthor(catalog, author) {
  const searchTerm = author.toLowerCase();
  const results = [];
  for (let i = 0; i < catalog.length; i++) {
    if (catalog[i].author.toLowerCase().includes(searchTerm)) {
      results.push(catalog[i]);
    }
  }
  return results;
}

function groupByDecade(catalog) {
  const grouped = {};
  for (let i = 0; i < catalog.length; i++) {
    const book = catalog[i];
  if (book.year == "Unknown") {
    if ("Unknown" in grouped == false) {
      grouped["Unknown"] = [];
      grouped["Unknown"].push(book);
      continue;
    }
  }
  }
}

Lesson URL (copy - paste from your browser’s address bar)

Hey @thenerdybirdy,

I reviewed the test file, and unfortunately, "Unknown" in grouped == false is not part of the test’s check. I recommend simply checking for a falsy value for grouped["Unknown"].

Also, the step instructs you to check if grouped["Unknown"] exists, and if it does not, to initialize it.

Once you are done checking for its existence and initializing it, step out of the if block and push the book to grouped["Unknown"]

Happy coding~

Ah I see! I was wondering why the check kept failing even when they kept coming up as false. I took your advice and everything works now. Thank you so much!