How to add a header child to array

Question

I am trying to create a script that iterates thru the selected pathItems on the artboard and adds their name to an array but at the start of each group of pathItems that have the same name I would like a header child.

Artboard pathItems:

3 - pathItem.name = lemon

2 - pathItem.name = orange

3 - pathItem.name = peach

Header child:

pathObj.addChild("These are lemons:");

pathObj.addChild("These are oranges:");

pathObj.addChild("These are peaches:");

Resulting array:

[These are lemons:, lemon, lemon, lemon, These are oranges:, orange, orange, These are peaches:, peach, peach, peach]

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

CarlosCanto · Accepted Answer

here's a sample

// map pathItems to json 12/5/24
// https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator-discussions/how-to-add-a-header-child-to-array/m-p/15022564#M429214

function main() {
    var idoc = app.activeDocument;
    
    var pItems = idoc.pathItems;
    
    var fruits = {};
    
    var pname;
    
    for (var b=0; b<pItems.length; b++) {
        pname = pItems[b].name;
        
        // if key does not exist, create one and initialize it with an empty array
        if (!fruits[pname]) {
            fruits[pname] = [];
        }
    
        fruits[pname].push(pname);
        
    }

    //alert(fruits.toSource());
    //alert(fruits["orange"].toSource());
    
    // then to consume the data
    alert("There are: " + fruits["orange"].length + " Oranges");
   
}

main();

CarlosCanto · Answer

now if it is imperative to have an Array I'll give it another try.

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