# How do I set an array to a variable
**URL:** https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-do-i-set-an-array-to-a-variable/27997
**Category:** General
**Created:** [8 June 2020 15:02 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-do-i-set-an-array-to-a-variable/27997 "2020-06-08T15:02:34Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@gohyuheng02](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/gohyuheng02)
#### Post date: [8 June 2020 15:02 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-do-i-set-an-array-to-a-variable/27997/1 "2020-06-08T15:02:34Z")
For example in the given array; (array is updated with different value every sec)
[93,30,9]
I would like to indicate that 93 is humidity, 30 is temperature, 9 is x in JSON format. [which look something like this ( "humidity": 93, "temperature": 30, "x": 9 )]
Any idea what the code is like in the function node?
var humidity;
msg.payload = msg.payload.humidity;
return msg;
---
### Author:  [@E1cid](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/E1cid)
#### Post date: [8 June 2020 15:13 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-do-i-set-an-array-to-a-variable/27997/2 "2020-06-08T15:13:37Z")
Assuming the array if passed in the msg.
```auto
msg.payload = {"humidity": msg[0],
"temperature": msg[1],
"x": msg[2]
};
return msg;
```
---
### Author:  [@gohyuheng02](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/gohyuheng02)
#### Post date: [9 June 2020 02:43 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-do-i-set-an-array-to-a-variable/27997/3 "2020-06-09T02:43:02Z")
This error occurred when I input your function code
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### Author:  [@gohyuheng02](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/gohyuheng02)
#### Post date: [9 June 2020 02:44 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-do-i-set-an-array-to-a-variable/27997/4 "2020-06-09T02:44:09Z")
alright got it working thanks !!
msg.payload = {"humidity": msg.payload[0],
"temperature": msg.payload[1],
"vibration": msg.payload[2]
};
return msg;
---
### Author:  [@Colin](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Colin)
#### Post date: [9 June 2020 08:01 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-do-i-set-an-array-to-a-variable/27997/5 "2020-06-09T08:01:16Z")
For future reference, since they do not contain any special characters, you do not need to put the attribute names humidity, temperature or vibration in quotes.
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### Author:  [@gohyuheng02](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/gohyuheng02)
#### Post date: [9 June 2020 08:43 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-do-i-set-an-array-to-a-variable/27997/6 "2020-06-09T08:43:55Z")
does that mean if i remove the quote, it will still work normally?
---
### Author:  [@Colin](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Colin)
#### Post date: [9 June 2020 09:25 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-do-i-set-an-array-to-a-variable/27997/7 "2020-06-09T09:25:36Z")
Yes
`x = {name: 1}`
is identical to
`x = {"name": 1}`
If, however the attribute had unusual characters, a minus sign for example, or a space, or starts with a number, then you would need the quotes
`x = {"name-1": 1}`
as otherwise it will try to interpret the - as a minus sign.
If you were creating a JSON string though (as opposed to a javascript object) then you would need
`string = '{"name":1}'`
in order to build a valid JSON string.
---
### Author:  [@gohyuheng02](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/gohyuheng02)
#### Post date: [10 June 2020 03:15 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-do-i-set-an-array-to-a-variable/27997/8 "2020-06-10T03:15:42Z")
alright cool thanks for the info!
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### Author:  [@system](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/system)
#### Post date: [24 June 2020 03:15 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-do-i-set-an-array-to-a-variable/27997/9 "2020-06-24T03:15:49Z")
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