Develop Reference

Module pattern in JavaScript

I'm practicing my JS skills (I'm new at it). I'm trying to get the specific element that triggered the event and display it in a span element. But I don't know what I'm doing wrong, when I click the button nothing happens.
This is for a calculator program that I'm doing but using module pattern I think it's called.
var Calculator = {
init: function(){
var button = document.querySelectorAll("[class^='button']");
button.onclick = this.writeEvent;
},
write: function (element){
document.getElementById("display").innerHTML = element;
},
writeEvent: function(event){
write(target.event)
}
}
Calculator.init();

There are several problems with the posted code.
var button = document.querySelectorAll("[class^='button']");
button.onclick = this.writeEvent;
The result of querySelectorAll is a NodeList.
Assigning to its onclick property will not achieve what you want.
You want to assign to the onclick property of each individual node.
But actually that's not so simple, we'll need to come back to this.
writeEvent: function(event){
write(target.event)
}
One problem here is that target is undefined.
Surely you meant event.target.
Another problem is that write is also undefined.
Perhaps you meant this.write,
but that won't actually work well.
The problem is that when writeEvent is called from a click event,
it won't be called on the object,
so this will not be bound to the calculator object,
and the this.write call will raise an exception.
There's a way to overcome this,
by binding the onclick handler function to the object when setting it.
Putting the above together:
var Calculator = {
init: function() {
var nodeList = document.querySelectorAll("[class^='button']");
var callback = this.writeEvent.bind(this);
nodeList.forEach(item => item.onclick = callback);
},
write: function(element) {
document.getElementById("display").innerHTML = element;
},
writeEvent: function(event) {
this.write(event.target);
}
}
Calculator.init();

Javascript: uncaught typeerror undefined is not a function for object methods

I make a simple quiz game. Here is some relevan methods that i have inside one object.
But doesn't work. I always get an error within 'rightAnswerGot' function. Console drops
"uncaught typeerror undefined is not a function for object methods" for this.addVariantsHtml(this.updateCharacter());
BasicGame.Game.prototype = {
actionOnClick: function (button) {
var log;
if(button.value==this.char_bubble.text) {
setTimeout(this.rightAnswerGot,1000);
} else {
// wrong
swoshsound.play();
}
console.log(log);
},
rightAnswerGot: function (){
this.addVariantsHtml(this.updateCharacter());
},
addVariantsHtml: function(id) {
this.answer = this.getAnswersVariants(id);
for (var i = 0; i < 6; i++) {
this.button[i].value = this.answer[i]['trans'];
this.button[i].char_id = this.answer[i]['id'];
this.ans_text[i].setText(this.answer[i]['trans']);
}
},
updateCharacter: function() {
var i = this.getRandomCharacter();
console.log("updateCharacter: "+i + " " +this.chars[i]);
this.char_bubble.setText(this.chars[i].getPath());
return i;
}
}
The aim is to froze the game for a second, when user choose the right answer, and than go to next question. Any ideas why does it happens?
Thanks

Looks like a classic JavaScript scope issue to me. However as you've tagged this question as using Phaser, I would suggest you use a Phaser Timer event to avoid scope problems. Specifically:
setTimeout(this.rightAnswerGot,1000);
replace it with:
this.game.time.events.add(Phaser.Timer.SECOND, this.rightAnswerGot, this);
Which will create a single 1 second timer that fires only once, calling your function at the end of it. You can use 1000 instead of Phaser.Timer.SECOND of course.

I would image that whats happening is that its trying to call the this.addVariantsHtml method, before its calling this.updateCharacter and getting the ID.
So your probably expecting that when it runs, for it to be something like:
this.addVariantsHtml(1);
But its actually trying to run
this.addVariantsHtml(this.updateCharacter());
So just do this:
var id = this.updateCharacter();
this.addVariantsHtml(id);
Either that or you need to look into method chaining/piping, which is just complicated and doesnt need to be used for this situation, but is interesting :)

Ok I found something that made it work!!
Here is a solution:
actionOnClick: function (button) {
var log;
if(button.value==this.char_bubble.text) {
var context=this;
setTimeout(function() {
context.addVariantsHtml(context.updateCharacter());
},1000);
} else {
// wrong
swoshsound.play();
}
console.log(log);
},

Send runtime parameter value to the jQuery's ON method?

I have a simple button. and I need to send data to the handler when clicked.
So I have this code using the ON overload method :
.on( events [, data ], handler(eventObject) )
I've created this sample :
var aaa="john";
function greet(event) { alert("Hello "+event.data.name); }
$("button").on("click", { name: aaa}, greet);
setTimeout(function (){aaa="paul"},2000)
But after waiting 2 sec , I still see: "Hello John"
So I assume that the aaa value is bounded at interpretation time.
Question :
How can I change the code so that after 2 seconds it will alert : Hello Paul ?
JSBIN

A simple way is to use an object literal. You can pass it as event data and keep a reference that you modify later:
var greetData = {
name: "john"
};
function greet(event)
{
alert("Hello " + event.data.name);
}
$("button").on("click", greetData, greet);
setTimeout(function() {
greetData.name = "paul";
}, 2000);
You will find an updated JS Bin here.

Frédéric Hamidi's answer is better. Will leave this just as an alternative.
If you change it so that you pass a function that loads the name instead of the name it self it will work:
var aaa="john";
function getName() {
return aaa;
}
function greet(event) { alert("Hello "+event.data.name()); }
$("button").on("click", { name: getName}, greet);
setTimeout(function (){aaa="paul";},2000);
http://jsbin.com/ohAJihi/4/edit

It is a little confusing to understand what are you
trying to achieve. If you are using setTimeout; theres no need to use a button onclick handler.
Secondly, the scope of the setTimeout function is always the window object. So if you need to access the value from your object, please create a reference of it and use in the setTimeout function.

Confused by this - getting error "this.myfuntion() is not a function"

Background: I am trying to edit a zen cart horizontal pop out menu to make the popout open inline within the menu. The problem I am having is that I am struggling to get my head around the javascript/jquery that came with it.
Without posting the whole thing the structure of the code is something like this:
(declare some vars)
//some functions like this:
function funcname(obj) {
//do something
}
//then one big master function like this:
function bigfunc(arg1, arg2, arg3, arg4, arg5) {
//declare some vars based on this
this.varname1=varname1;
this.varname2=varname2;
//declare some functions inside the big function
this.innerfunc1= function() {
//do stuff
}
this.innerfunc2= function() {
//do stuff
}
}//end of big function
//then goes on to declare init function
function initfunc(){
//this creates new bigfunc(arg1 arg2 arg3...) for each main menu item
}
//finally calls init function with
window.onload = initfunc();
Now on to my confusion -
1) firstly for clarification, am I correct in thinking based on all the this's floating about in bigfunc() and the fact that it is called with new bigfunc() that this is creating an object?
2)My current problem is with one of the functions inside bigfunc() which looks like this:
this.slideChildMenu = function() {
var divref = this.children[0].div;
var ulref = this.children[0].ul;
var maxwidth = this.children[0].width;
var nextWidth;
if (this.isMouseOnMe || this.isMouseOnChild()) {
nextWidth = divref.offsetWidth + slideSpeed_out;
if (nextWidth >= maxwidth) {
this.finishOpeningChild(divref, ulref, maxwidth);
} else {
ulref.style.left = nextWidth - maxwidth + "px";
divref.style.width = nextWidth + "px";
setTimeout("slideChildMenu('" + this.getId() + "')", slideTimeout_out);
}
}
Now my plan is to alter this to use jquery show to open the element so I tried this:
this.slideChildMenu = function() {
var divref = this.children[0].div;
var ulref = this.children[0].ul;
if (this.isMouseOnMe || this.isMouseOnChild()) {
$(divref).show(function(){
this.finishOpeningChild(divref, ulref);
});
}
}
But I am getting this-> TypeError: this.finishOpeningChild is not a function
Now, there is a lot of other stuff going on in this js so I wouldnt dream of asking someone on here to do my work for me, but I am hoping that if someone can explain to me why this function is not a function I may be able to work the rest out.
NOTE: I thought this was to do with the scope of "this" but the value of this appears to be exactly the same in both versions of the code.
I know this is a long one but your help is greatly appreciated.

The value of this in a function is called the "context" in which the function runs. In general, whenever you pass a callback function as an argument (as you do with $(divref).show(function() {...})), the function can run the callback in whatever context it wants. In this case, the jQuery show function chooses to run its callback in the context of the element being animated.
However, you want access to the value of this at the time the anonymous callback function is defined, rather than when it is run. The solution here is to store the outer value of this in a variable (traditionally called self) which is included in the scope of the newly-defined function:
this.slideChildMenu = function() {
//...
var self = this;
$(divref).show(function(){
self.finishOpeningChild(divref, ulref);
});
}

I am thinking that the jQuery selector has changed the scope of this.
In your example $(this); would refer to object being animated per jQuery api docs:
If supplied, the callback is fired once the animation is complete. This can be useful for stringing different animations together in sequence. The callback is not sent any arguments, but this is set to the DOM element being animated. If multiple elements are animated, it is important to note that the callback is executed once per matched element, not once for the animation as a whole.
If the object in question is instantiated you can call it with dot notation without using this like bigFunc.finishOpeningChild(divref, ulref);

You're probably a little confused about scope, it's not always easy keeping track, but doing something more like this:
var site = {
init: function(elm) {
self=site;
self.master.funcname2(self.varname1, elm); //call function in master
},
funcname: function(obj) {
//do something
},
varname1: 'some string',
varname2: 3+4,
master: function() {
this.varname3 = sin(30);
this.funcname2 = function(stuff, element) {
site.funcname(element); //call function in 'site'
var sinus = site.master.varname3; //get variable
}
}
}
window.onload = function() {
var elm = document.getElementById('elementID');
site.init(elm); //call init function
}
usually makes it a little easier to keep track.

Question regarding "this" inside anonymous function of prototype.js .each method

I've been searching for hours for a solution to this problem. I'm creating a table using prototype.js 1.6.0.1 and am having trouble with the this object in context with the .each function. here is a snippit.
var Table = Class.create({
initialize : function(id) {
this.elmnt = $(id);
this.rows = [];
},
initRows : function() {
$A(this._elmnt.tBodies).each(function(body) {
$A(body.rows).each(function(row) {
//right here is where i would like to call
// this.rows.push(row);
console.log(this); // prints DOMWindow
});
});
}
});
As you can see inside the second .each function this resolves to DOMWindow. I would like to be able to call this.rows.push(row) but I can't as "this" isn't resolving as expected.
Any help would be appreciated. I know i could do the standard (i=0; i < length; i++) loop but I was trying to make this a little cleaner. Thanks for any guidance you can offer.

The easiest way to work around this is to save this at the start of initRows and refer to in within the each functions
initRows : function() {
var self = this;
$A(this._elmnt.tBodies).each(function(body) {
$A(body.rows).each(function(row) {
//right here is where i would like to call
self.rows.push(row);
console.log(self); // prints DOMWindow
});
});
}
The problem you're running into is that this can be manipulated by the caller of the function. It's very common in callbacks to set this to an element which is relevant to the call back. In the case of each it's set to the element for the current iteration of the value.
The self trick works because it saves the this as it's bound in the function initRows and then uses that saved value in the iteration.

initRows : function() {
$A(this._elmnt.tBodies).each(function(body) {
$A(body.rows).each((function(e, row) {
e.rows.push(row);
console.log(e);
}).bindAsEventListener(this, row));
});
}