---
title: Arrays
hide_title: true
---
import ReactPlayer from 'react-player'
import ImportButton from '/src/components/importbutton'

# Arrays

## What you will learn in this guide

In this guide we will look more closely on how to use **Arrays** in Noodl. **Arrays** are fundamental for lists in Noodl and useful for many other things as well.

Noodl have a number of nodes related to Arrays. For accessing and modifying there are:
- [Array](/nodes/data/array/array-node)
- [Create New Array](/nodes/data/array/create-new-array)
- [Insert Object Into Array](/nodes/data/array/insert-into-array)
- [Remove Object From Array](/nodes/data/array/remove-from-array)
- [Clear Array](/nodes/data/array/clear-array)

For mapping and filtering an **Array** the [Array Filter](/nodes/data/array/array-filter) and [Array Map](/nodes/data/array/array-map).

You will also learn to use the [Static Array](/nodes/data/array/static-array) node which is very useful for handling static list data in your App.

## Overview

This guide will walk through the following topics

-   What's a Noodl **Array**
-   Creating **Arrays**, statically and dynamically
-   Adding and Removing objects from an **Array**
-   Using **Static Arrays**
-   Using Arrays in Lists and Dropdowns
-   Filtering Arrays

Arrays are used all the time in Noodl. Hence they occur in many guides. It's suggested to check out the [List Basics](/docs/guides/data/list-basics) guide to learn more about how to display **Arrays** as lists. Also when querying data from a **Backend Database** the data is returned in an **Array** hence it could be interesting to check out some fo the [Cloud Data](/docs/guides/cloud-data/overview) guides in conjunction with this guide.

Before reading this guide, it's a good idea to have a basic understanding of what an [Object](/nodes/data/object/object-node) is, which is described in [this](/docs/guides/data/objects) guide.

## What's a Noodl Array

A Noodl **Array** is an ordered list of items, **Objects** or (if the array is the result of a database query) [Records](/nodes/data/cloud-data/record). An **Array** i Noodl is represented with an **Array** node.

:::note

Note that a Noodl **Array** is not the same as a JavaScript array. They are easy to convert between but you cannot access a Noodl **Array** using JavaScript Array functions. Instead there is a Noodl Array API that will be covered later in the guide.

:::

### The Id of an **Array**

As with the [Variable](/nodes/data/variable/variable-node) and **Object**, an **Array** is uniquly identified by its **Id**. Any node referencing an **Array**, through an **Array** node or **Insert Object Into Array** etc, do it through an **Id**.

Therefore it's quite common to connect the **Id** from one node, e.g. an **Array** node, to the **Id** of another node, for example an **Insert Object Into Array** to make sure they are operating on the same **Array**. You can also just write the **Id** into the nodes if the **Id** is static.

Below are three typical cases of how to use the **Id** of an **Array** and make sure a **Clear Array** node is acting on the same **Array**.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background xl">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/id-1.png)

</div>

In the first case the **Id** of an **Array** is stored in a **String** node (or for example a **Variable**) which is then used to refer to the **Array** in different node.

In the second case the **Id** is set directly in the **Array** node, and then that **Id** is used to point the **Clear Array** to the correct **Array**. The **Id** is set in the property panel.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/id-2.png)

</div>

In the last case the **Id** is generated from a **Create New Array** below (more on that later) and then used to make sure the **Clear Array** node operates on the correct node.

### The Items of an **Array**

The **Items** of an **Array** are either **Objects** or **Records**. An item can be a member of multiple **Arrays**. This means that two different **Arrays** (i.e. with different **Ids**) can have exactly the same items, but they are still different **Arrays**. An item can only occur once in an **Array**.

When you hover over an **Array** node in the node canvas you will see how many items the **Array** currently has.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background s">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/items-1.png)

</div>

You can easily assign items to an **Array** by setting the **Items** input of an **Array** node. This is often done used for example when you do a query to the database through a [Query Records](/nodes/data/cloud-data/query-records), or handling the result of a [Array Filter](/nodes/data/array/array-filter) or [Static Array](/nodes/data/array/static-array). See three examples below.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background l">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/items-2.png)

</div>

Most often you assign items to an **Array** because you want to process them (perhaps add or remove some more items) or keep track of them to be used later.

## Creating Arrays

As you saw in the example above there are two main ways of creating an **Array**.

1. **Static creation** - You simply add an **Array** node in you node graph. You can give the **Array** an **Id** (as discussed above) or simply leave it blank, which means an **Id** will be assigned automaticallt to the Array.

2. **Dynamic creation** - You create a new **Array** on a certain event, for example using a **Did Mount** signal or a **Click** signal.

:::note

If you give your **Array** a static **Id** and if you have multiple instances of the component with the **Array** node (for example a couple of list items), the same **Array** will be referenced in all those components. This may or may not be what you want, so keep that in mind.

:::

## Creating a Recipe App

Now let's start playing around with **Arrays**. Let's create a small recipe app. The overall idea would be to have a list of Recipes (stored in an **Array**) and each recipe have a bunch of ingredients, also stored in an **Array**. So in the end we'll have an **Array** with **Arrays**.

Let's start with some sample data! Create a new project, using the "Hello World"-template. Then create a **Static Array** node. Make sure it's set to `JSON` format.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background s">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/static-array-1.png)

</div>

Then copy and paste the following into the JSON data.

```json
[
    {
        "name": "Swedish Pancakes",
        "description": "A simple tasty recipe of classic Swedish pancakes (8-10 pcs)",
        "containsMeat": false,
        "ingredients": [
            { "amount": "150 g", "name": "Wheat flower" },
            { "amount": "1/2 tsp", "name": "Salt" },
            { "amount": "3", "name": "Eggs" },
            { "amount": "600 g", "name": "Milk" },
            { "amount": "1 tbsp", "name": "Butter" }
        ],
        "instructions": "Mix flower, salt, milk and eggs well. Fry thin pancakes on medium heat in butter, 3-4 minutes on each side"
    },
    {
        "name": "Swedish Meatballs",
        "description": "A swedish classic. Eat with potatoes, gravy and lingonberries.",
        "containsMeat": true,
        "ingredients": [
            { "amount": "500 g", "name": "Minced meat" },
            { "amount": "1", "name": "Egg" },
            { "amount": "1 clove", "name": "Garlic" },
            { "amount": "3 tbsp", "name": "Bread crumbs" },
            { "amount": "1/2", "name": "Yellow Onion" },
            { "amount": "2 tsp", "name": "Concentrated beef stock" },
            { "amount": "2 tbsp", "name": "Full cream" },
            { "amount": "1 tsb", "name": "Salt" },
            { "amount": "1/2 tbsp", "name": "Ground pepper" },
            { "amount": "2 tbsp", "name": "Butter" }
        ],
        "instructions": "Chop the onion finely. Put in a bucket. Press the garlic into the bucket. Add egg, bread crumbs, cream, beef stock, salt and pepper and mix. Let it rest for 10 mins. Mix in the minced meat. Make small balls and fry (8-10 at a time) in butter until golden brown and cooked through."
    },
    {
        "name": "Kalops",
        "description": "This Swedish stew should be eaten with potatoes and pickled red beets.",
        "containsMeat": true,
        "ingredients": [
            { "amount": "1 kg", "name": "Boneless Beef" },
            { "amount": "2 tbsp", "name": "Butter" },
            { "amount": "2", "name": "Yellow onions" },
            { "amount": "4", "name": "Carrots" },
            { "amount": "3", "name": "Bay leafs" },
            { "amount": "30", "name": "Allspice grains" },
            { "amount": "1 litre", "name": "Water" },
            { "amount": "2 tbsp", "name": "Concentrated beef stock" },
            { "amount": "1 1/2 tbsp", "name": "Corn starch" },
            { "amount": "1 tsb", "name": "Salt" },
            { "amount": "1/2 tbsp", "name": "Ground pepper" }
        ],
        "instructions": "Cut the meat into 3x3 cm pieces. Peel and cut onions and carrots into 3cm pieces. Fry the meat in a pan with butter until it has a nice surface. Add onion, carrots, bay leafs and allspice. Pour over the water and beef stock. Bring to boil and leave until the meat is tender (2-3 hours depending on meet). Thicken the stew with the corn starch. Add salt and pepper."
    }
]
```

Now we have some data to play with. Let's start by taking a look at it. We want to look at both the outer list (the recipes) and one of the inner lists (a specific) recipe, just to get a feel for it. Connect the **Items** output of the **Static Array** to an **Array Filter** node. Then take the **First Item Id** of the **Array Filter** and connect it to an **Object** node. Add a property to the **Object** node called `ingredients` and connect that one to an **Array** node. Also open up the debug popup on the connections to see what's going on.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background xl">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/debug-1.png)

</div>

<div className="ndl-image-with-background xl">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/debug-2.png)

</div>

## Filtering out the first item in an **Array**

To explain in more on what's going on. We take the items from the **Static Array** and feed them into a **Filter Array** node. The filter actually doesn't have any filters enabled but we can make use of its **First Item Id** output which holds the Id of our first **Object** in the **Array** (the Pancake recipe). In that Object we look at the **ingredients** property which contains an **Array** of items. These items are set as **Items** for another **Array** which now will contain the ingredients of the Pancake recipe.
Phew! The **Array Filter** / **First Item Id** output is very useful if you want to get a sample of what's in a list.

Let's create some simple UI around our recipes. To make the app a little easier to interact with, we need a simple navigation system. You can learn more about how to do navigation in [this](/docs/guides/navigation/basic-navigation) guide. In this guide we will not go into details.

## Making a list to show the **Array**

Start by adding a **Page Router** in the root component. Also get rid of the **Text** node.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background m">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/page-router.png)

</div>

Click on the **Page Router** and add a new page called `Recipe List`.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background m">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/create-page-1.png)

</div>

You will now have a new **Page** component in your component tree.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background m">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/recipe-list.png)

</div>

Create yet another component. This time a visual component called `Recipe List Item`. This will be a list item for a list we soon are going to build.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background m">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/vis-comp.png)

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/recipe-list-item.png)

</div>

In that component, set the size of the list item to be **width** 100% and **height** 30 px. Also add a [Text](/nodes/basic-elements/text) node to the root **Group**. Center the text vertically and left align it.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background m">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/recipe-list-item-2.png)

</div>

Now go to the newly created `Recipe List` page. Add a text node that will be the title. Maybe increase the font size to 24 px. Give the Page some white space by adding 10 px padding top and left direction.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background m">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/recipe-list-page-1.png)

</div>

Then add a [Repeater](/nodes/ui-controls/repeater) node under the title **Text** node. Make sure the newly created `Recipe List Item` is used as a template.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background m">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/repeater-item.png)

</div>

Now move (for example using cut/paste) the **Static Array** node from the main `App` to this page and connect the **Items** output to the **Repeater**.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background l">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/recipe-list-2.png)

</div>

The final step to get the list working is to connect the correct data point in the **Object** to the **Text** in the list item. Go to `Recipe List Item` and add a new **Object** node. Make sure its **Id** comes from the repeater.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background s">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/id-from-repeater.png)

</div>

Then add a property on the **Object** called `name` and connect it to the **Text** node.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background l">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/recipe-list-3.png)

</div>

This simple list will do for now. If you want to learn more about how to make lists it's recommended to go through the list guides, starting with [List Basics](/docs/guides/data/list-basics).

## Removing an Object from an **Array**

So let's add some functionality to the list. Let's make sure we can remove some recipes. We begin by adding an button for it on our list item. Go into the `Recipe List Item` component.

Change the layout of the root **Group** to `horizontal`. Then add a new **Group** as a sibling to the **Text** node and in that **Group** node an [Icon](/nodes/basic-elements/icon) node. Find a good icon for delete and also make sure it is black, so you can see it properly. Also, change the sizing of the newly added **Group** node to `Content Width and Height`. Tweak the size, margins and padding so it looks ok.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background l">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/recipe-list-item-3.png)

</div>

We only want the delete button to show up when you hover the list item. We achieve this by adding a [Switch](/nodes/logic/switch) and hooking it up to **Hover Start** and **Hover End** and feeding its state to the **Mounted** input of the inner **Group** see below.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background l">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/recipe-list-item-4.png)

</div>

Finally we want to send a signal out of the list when the user clicks the delete icon. So add a [Component Output](/nodes/component-utilities/component-outputs) node. Make and input called `Request Delete` and connect the **Click** signal from the inner **Group** to it.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background l">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/recipe-list-item-5.png)

</div>

We are now ready to go back to the `Recipe List` page component and deal with the actual deletion. In that component we first need to add an Array that will hold the recipe items. Before we fed the **Items** directly from the **Static Array**. Now, since we need to modify the contents, we need to first feed the **Items** into an **Array**. Give the new **Array** the name `Recipe List`. The node construct should now look like below.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background l">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/recipe-list-4.png)

</div>

Now we can do the removal. Create a **Remove Object from Array** node. This node takes two inputs. The **Array Id** and the **Object to Remove Id**. The **Array Id** is the same as the **Array** we just created (`Recipe List`) so let's just connect the two Ids. The **Object to Remove Id** comes from the repeater. The **Id** of the object that was clicked will forwarded by the **Repeater**. Also, our output from the `Recipe List Item` component will come out of the repeater as a signal and we can use that as the signal for triggering the delete by connecting it to the **Do** signal of the **Remove Object From Array** node.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background l">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/recipe-list-5.png)

</div>

Try it out! Don't be afraid to delete recipies. If you refresh your viewer they will all be back since they are not coming from a database but from a **Static Array**.

## Using **Count**

If you remove all recipes, it might be a good idea to show a text, `The recipe list is empty`. Lets build that! Start by adding a **Text** node to the `Recipe List` page. Center the text (using the `Text Alignment` property).

We only want to show this text when the **Array** is empty. So add an [Expression](/nodes/math/expression) node. Type the following into the expression node

```javascript
count === 0
```

This will make the expression return `true` if the input `count` equals 0, otherwise `false`. Connect the output **Result** of the expression to the **Mounted** input of the new **Text** node. Then finally connect the **Count** output from the **Array** to the `count` input of the expression.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background l">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/recipe-list-6.png)

</div>

Try removing all recipes and make sure the text is visible once **Count** equals 0.

## Showing the recipe

Ok, now it's time to show the recipes once you click on them. So let's start by adding another page. As before, click the **Page Router** and then click **Add Page**. Add a page name `Recipe`.

In the new **Page** start by adding a title text. We can copy the **Text** node that was used as a title in the `Recipe List`. Below that we want another **Text** node which will hold the description. Let's add that as well.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background m">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/recipe-1.png)

</div>

### Passing on the Recipe to the **Page**

We now need to pass on the **Id** of the **Recipe** we clicked to the new **Page** so we can show it. Step 1 is to catch when we click the recipe. Remember, we only catch the case when we click the delete button so far. So go back to the `Recipe List Item`. Add another output on the **Component Outputs** node called `Request View`. Then connect the **Click** output on the root **Text** node to it. This will forward the signal to the component containing the list.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background l">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/recipe-list-item-6.png)

</div>

Now go back to the `Recipe` Page. We want to add a new **Path Parameter** in the **Page Inputs** component. Click the **Page Inputs** node and then add a new **Path Parameter** called `RecipeId`. This will mean that we can send the **Id** of the clicked recipe is part of the url path that we navigate to.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/page-param-1.png)

</div>

Assuming that the **Id** is this **Path Parameter**, we can connect the **Object** to it and get the name, description and other properties from the **Object**. Let's set that up. We are still in the `Recipe` page.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/recipe-2.png)

</div>

Now we are ready to implemnt the navigation. In the `Recipe List` page we add a [Navigate](/nodes/navigation/navigate) node. Select the `Recipe` page to navigate to. This will add an input to the **Navigate** node which is our **Path Parameter** `RecipeId`. Connect the **Item Id** output of the **Repeater** to it and finally the **Request View** signal to the **Do** signal of the **Navigate** node. Voila!

<div className="ndl-image-with-background l">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/recipe-list-7.png)

</div>

Note that there is no Back-button in the Noodl viewer so you either have to use your browser if you want to go back and forth, or simply refresh to get back to the list. That's a little bit annoying but we'll fix it later. We want to show our ingredients first.

## Showing the recipe ingredients

So let's build the list that shows our ingredients. Create a new list item, a visual component named `Ingredient Item`. We can actually duplicate our previous list item and modify it.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background m">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/duplicate.png)

</div>

Start with removing the `Request View` input in the **Component Output** since we are not going to view individual ingredient. Also remove the delete action and the hover state. Looking at the data, the ingredient have two properties. `name`, which we already have connected. The other one is `amount`. Let's add a text node for that and connect it.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background m">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/ingredient-list-item-1.png)

</div>

Now we can add the **Repeater** node that will display the ingredients. Go to the `Recipe` Page. Add a **Repeater** node and select the newly created `Ingredient List Item` as the component template. Now we need to find the list of ingredients. Looking at the data model we see that the property is called `ingredients`. Add that property to the **Object**. Then add an **Array** node. That's the **Array** that will hold the ingredients. Connect the `ingredients` property of the **Object** to the **Array**. Then connect the **Items** output of the **Array** to the **Repeater**. You now have a list of ingredients!

<div className="ndl-image-with-background xl">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/recipe-3.png)

</div>

We might as well add the instructions at the end to make the view complete. Add another **Text** node at the bottom. Call it `Instructions`. Then add the property `instructions` on the **Object** and connect it to the **Text** node. Maybe add some margin to seperate it a bit from the list.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background xl">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/recipe-4.png)

</div>

Finally, let's add that back button. At the bottom, add a **Button** that triggers a navigation to the `Recipe List` **Page**. Connect the button to a **Navigate** node that takes the user back to `Recipe List` **Page**.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background xl">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/recipe-5.png)

</div>

## Feeding a Dropdown with an **Array**

We are making progress with our recipe App. Next step is to add a simple filtering functionality to filter out vegetarian / non vegetarian options. Remember, in our data model we have the property `containsMeat` that is either `true` or `false`.

We go back our our `Recipe List` page. In here we want to add a [Dropdown](/nodes/ui-controls/dropdown) with three options `all`,`meat` or `vegetarian`.

If you read up on the **Dropdown** node, you can see that to figure out its options it takes items from an **Array** as an input. The **Array** should contain items of the following type:

```json
{
    "Label": "a label",
    "Value": "a value"
}
```

The `Label` will be shown as a text in the **Dropdown** and the `Value` is the value that the **Dropdown** will have on its output if the associated item is selected.
We can easily feed the **Dropdown** using a **Static Array**.

Start by adding a **Static Array** in the `Recipe List` page and make sure it's set to JSON format. Name it `Dropdown Options` for clarity and add in the following data

```json
[
    { "Label": "Show all recepies", "Value": "all" },
    { "Label": "Show recepies with meat", "Value": "meat" },
    { "Label": "Show vegetarian recepies", "Value": "veg" }
]
```

<div className="ndl-image-with-background xl">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/dropdown-options.png)

</div>

Then add in a **Dropdown** node, just after the title. Enable the `label` on it and give it the label `Filter`. Also give it a bottom margin to seperate it a little from the list items. Then connect the **Items** from the **Static Array** to the Dropdown and you should see the options in the **Dropdown**.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background xl">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/recipe-list-8.png)

</div>

## Filtering an **Array**

We can now proceed with the filtering of the recipe. In our case we have three filtering states:

-   No filtering, i.e. we show all recipes
-   Show only the meat recipes, i.e. `containsMeat == true`
-   Show only the vegetarian recipes, i.e. `containsMeat == false`

We can encode these in a [States](/nodes/utilities/logic/states) node. Add in a **States** node. Give it a name, `Filter States`. Then create three states. To match up with our dropdown values we will call them `all`, `meat` and `veg`. By calling them exactly what the `Value` of the dropdown will give us will make it possible to let the **Dropdown** set the state without any intermediary logic.

Then create two **Values** for the **States** node. Call one, `Filter Enabled`, one `containsMeat`. Both should be of the type `Boolean` We will now assign these **Values** for each state.

-   `all` - `Filter Enabled` should be `false`, `containsMeat` can be either `true` or `false` (doesn't matter).
-   `meat` - `Filter Enabled` should be `true`, `containsMeat` should also be `true`.
-   `veg` - `Filter Enabled` should be `true`, `containsMeat` should be `false`.

Now add in a **Array Filter** node. This should be in between the **Static Array** that contains the recipes and the **Recipe List** that holds the items to be presented in the list.
Create a new filter for the property `containsMeat`.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background m">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/array-filter-1.png)

</div>

Set the filter to be of `Boolean` type. We now are able to control this filter through an input, i.e. weather the filter should filter for `containsMeat == false` or `containsMeat == true`.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background s">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/array-filter-2.png)

</div>

So hook up the **Items** from the **Static Array** containing the recipes to the **Items** of the **Array Filter**. Then from the **Array Filter** to the **Array**.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background xl">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/recipe-list-9.png)

</div>

Now we need to control the filter depending on state. So first connect **Value** from the **Dropdown** to our states node. Changing the **Dropdown** will now change the state of the **States** node. Then we connect the **Values** of the **States** node to the inputs on the **Array Filter**, **Enabled** and `containsMeat Filter Value`.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background xl">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/recipe-list-10.png)

</div>

You can now filter the recipes.

<ReactPlayer playing autoplay muted loop url="arrays/recipe-list-1.mp4" />

## Creating New Recipes

### Make a simple form

As a final feature we also want to add in the option to create new recipes. It will involve two things:

-   Create a new recipe, including data for the recipe, for example, name and description
-   Create a new ingredients array for the new recipe and fill with ingredients

Let's start by creating some UI for this functionality.

Start by adding a [Button](/nodes/ui-controls/button) at the bottom of the `Recipe List` page. Give it the label `Add new recipe`. Center it and give it some margin.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background xl">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/recipe-list-11.png)

</div>

Clicking this **Button** should take us to a new **Page** where we can add in the information about the recipe. So let's create that page. Find the **Page Router** in the main App and click **Add new page**. Call the new **Page** `New Recipe`. Open the new **Page** component. Copy and paste a title **Text** node from the `Recipe List` page and change the title to `New Recipe`.

Add a new **Navigate** node in the `Recipe List` **Page** so we can get to our new **Page**.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background xl">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/recipe-list-12.png)

</div>

In our new form we need controls to store the following in our new recipe.

-   A [Checkbox](/nodes/ui-controls/checkbox) to store the `containsMeat` value
-   A [Text Input](/nodes/ui-controls/text-input) to store the `name` of the recipe
-   A **Text Input** to store the `description`
-   A **Text Input** to store the `instructions`
-   Two **Buttons**, one for Save and one for Cancel

Add those controls to the new **Page** and make sure the labels are properly set to describe what the user should fill out in each control. Tweak padding, margins and layout to make it look ok. Set the `description` and `instructions` **Text Inputs** as **Text Areas**.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background l">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/new-recipe-1.png)

</div>

### Hooking up the data

Looking at the **Page** from a data perspective, this is what we need to do:

1. Once we enter the new page, we should create a new **Object** that will hold the recipe data.
2. After creating the **Object** we also need to create a new **Array** that will hold the ingredients. The items of this **Array** should later be stored in the **Object**.
3. If the user clicks `Save` we should add this **Object** as a new item in our recipe **Array**.

## Creating an **Array** dynamically

Let's orchestrate this based on the **Did Mount** event of the **Page**.
Create a **Create New Object** node. Add the property `containsMeat` and make sure it's set to `false` by default to make sure our filter works. Trigger the **Create New Object** node on **Did Mount**. Once the **Object** is created, we should create the **Array** for the ingredients. When the user clicks `Save` we will store the items in the `ingredients` **Array** in the **Object** representing the recipe.

Then create an **Object** and hook up the controls (**Checkbox** and **Text Inputs**) to the properties they are associated with. Note that we are not using a **Set Object Properties** because we want the **Object** to be updated at any change on the inputs, i.e. not at a specific time.

Here's how the flow looks. Note that it's important to use the **Done** signals to make things happen sequentially, as well as passing on the **Id** of the newly created **Object** to the **Object** node to make it act on the correct **Object**.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background xl">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/new-recipe-2.png)

</div>

### Add ingredients to the **Array**

Now we need to add some UI to make it possible to add ingredients. The idea is to have two **Text Inputs** (one for amount and one for the name of the ingredient) and a **Button** that adds the ingredient. We also need a **Repeater** that shows the ingredients as you add them. That repeater can reuse our previous `Ingredient List Item` component. Of course, the **Repeater** gets its items from the **Array** we created that holds the ingredients. Let's also add in a **Text** as a title for the ingredients section to make it easier to understand the form.

All the components are put in a **Group** called `Ingredient Section` to make them easy to handle as a compound.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background xl">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/new-recipe-3.png)

</div>

## Adding **Objects** to an **Array**

Now we need to create a new **Object** (representing the ingredient) when the user clicks `Add` and then add that new **Object** to the **Array** of ingredients. We use the node **Insert Object Into Array** for the latter. It takes one **Id** for the **Array** to add to and one **Id** for the **Object** to add. We hook everything up as below.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background xl">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/add-ingredient-1.png)

</div>

Try adding a few ingredients. They should show up in the ingredient list.

### Adding the new recipe to the Recipe **Array**

Finally, when the user presses `Save` we want to add the ingredients to the recipe and then add the new recipe to our main recipe **Array** - the one we create in the `Recipe List` **Page** that has an **Id** `Recipe List`.

First we store the **Items** of our ingredients in the `ingredients` property using the **Set Object Properties**. Then, once again we use the **Insert Object Into Array** node to save our recipe in the recipe list. This time we hardcode the **Id** to `Recipe List` and make sure our recipe **Object** is the object to add.

:::note
Another option would have been to store the **Id** of the **Array** instead of its items and then use the **Id** to identify the **Array** when showing the recipe. However, since the **Static Array** don't have an internal **Array** holding its ingredients, this would not work in this case. That's why we store the **Items** rather than the **Id**.
:::

We also make sure the user navigates back to the `Recipe List` once the recipe is added. Same goes for if the user presses **Cancel**, but of course in that case, nothing is saved.

This is how that part is done.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background xl">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/save-recipe.png)

</div>

### A minor refactoring

We now expect our newly created recipes to be visible in the Recipe List. However, we can see that's not the case. It's the same old list. What's going on? The reason is that since the `Recipe List` **Page** is created as we nevigate, the items are overwritten with the items of our **Static Array**. See image below.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background l">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/static-array-2.png)

</div>

We also see that the filtering happens at the wrong place - we are only filtering what's coming out of the **Static Array**.

To solve this we need to move the assignments of items out, outside the **Page** (that is being re-created) to the main App that's not being recreated when a navigation happens. This is easy since the **Array** can easily be referred to globally through its **Id**.

We simply reorganize our **Arrays** and filters according to the following. We move the **Static Array** and assignment out to the App as below.

<div className="ndl-image-with-background m">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/assignment.png)

</div>

And we use the same **Array** (identified by the **Id**) and make sure to filter the items before we feed them into our **Repeater**

<div className="ndl-image-with-background xl">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/recipe-list-13.png)

</div>

Try it out, now it should work!

<ReactPlayer playing autoplay muted loop url="arrays/final-1.mp4" />

<div className="ndl-image-with-background m">

![](/docs/guides/data/arrays/thumbnail-1.png)

<ImportButton zip="/docs/guides/data/arrays/arrays.zip" name="Recipe App" thumb="/docs/guides/data/arrays/thumbnail-1.png" />

</div>
