UPDATE:
QUESTION SOLVED! I realized that the reason for this is due to 'hoisting.' Basically, the JavaScript interpreter parses the code and declares all variables (but does not initialize them) at the beginning of the function. That's why the second examples isn't working. Because JavaScript interpreter declares var changed; at the beginning of the function, but does not initialize it until it reaches the body of the code.
For function declaration like the first example, instead of JavaScript moving up just the variable name like the second example, it moves up (or 'hoists') up the entire function at the beginning of the parent function, which is why it works!
Anyway, I wrote this for personal reference and thanks for the answers...
This one works: http://jsbin.com/emarat/7/edit
$(function(){
$name = $('#test');
$name.change(changedName);
function changedName (e){
console.log('e: ', e);
console.log('e.currentTarget: ', e.currentTarget);
console.log('$(e.currentTarget).val(): ', $(e.currentTarget).val());
$('#test-display').text($(e.currentTarget).val());
}
});
but this one doesn't: http://jsbin.com/emarat/9/edit
$(function(){
$name = $('#test');
$name.change(changed);
var changed = function(e){
console.log('e: ', e);
console.log('e.currentTarget: ', e.currentTarget);
console.log('$(e.currentTarget).val(): ', $(e.currentTarget).val());
$('#test-display').text($(e.currentTarget).val());
};
});
Why?
The latter one is equivalent to:
$(function(){
var changed;
$name = $('#test');
$name.change(changed);
changed = function(e){
//...
};
});
which makes it obvious why it doesn't work. At the time of usage, the changed variable is not yet initialized (undefined).
But if you declare a function using the function yourFunctionName() syntax, it is available in the whole scope. (Which, in JavaScript, is the parent function.) Otherwise it wouldn't be possible to use functions prior to their declaration. It is called hoisting.
See also:
var functionName = function() {} vs function functionName() {}
Surprised that global variable has undefined value in JavaScript
Because the variable is defined after its use.
var a = 1;
var c = a + b;
var b = 2;
You wouldn't expect that code to run.
The first one defines a function in the scope. The second one creates a inline function and stores a reference to it in the local variable changed. The problem is that you fill the variable after you use it.
This would work:
$(function(){
var changed = function(e){
console.log('e: ', e);
console.log('e.currentTarget: ', e.currentTarget);
console.log('$(e.currentTarget).val(): ', $(e.currentTarget).val());
$('#test-display').text($(e.currentTarget).val());
};
$name = $('#test');
$name.change(changed);
});
http://jsbin.com/emarat/11/edit
Related
I've got a functional script on my site that allows me to open a link in a new window when a specific class is added to the link. I need a lot of those on my site though so I figured I'd make the script a bit easier to edit by working with variables.
In the process of changing out hardcoded strings for variables my script stopped working though. The only one that works is the var where I set the url.
I'm learning that ${} doesn't work everywhere. Hope that someone can point out where my thinking is wrong. Also hope that I got the terminology right, trying to learn though! :-)
var function1Name = "test_function";
var function1Url = "https://www.google.com";
var function1Class = ".test_function_class";
function ${function1Name}() {
window.open(function1Url, "_blank", "height=200");
}
jQuery("${function1Class}").click(function(){
${function1Name}()
});
None of your uses of ${} are valid JavaScript syntax.
Your function declaration van be replaced with:
window[function1Name] = function () {
window.open(function1Url, "_blank", "height=200");
}
Please note that the function will no longer be hoisted when declared this way, so order of operation matters.
The click handler can be written as follows:
jQuery(function1Class).click(function() { // Note that I just used the variable there.
window[function1Name]();
});
There is a ${} concept in JavaScript, but that is only in template literals:
const myVariable = "Foo";
const message = `myVariable contains: "${myVariable}"!`;
console.log(message);
There's several syntax issues here.
Firstly, function ${function1Name}() is not valid syntax. Function names must be defined before runtime. If you want to dynamically access a function, place it in an object and set the key with the variable reference.
Secondly, ${function1Name}() is again not valid syntax. You cannot invoke a function like that dynamically. Referring to the suggestion above, you can access an object dynamically so the first point fixes this problem.
Thirdly, string interpolation only works within template literals, so you need to delimit the string with backticks: ``. However it's completely redundant here as you can just use $(function1Class)
With those issues in mind, here's an updated example:
var function1Name = "test_function";
var function1Url = "https://www.google.com";
var function1Class = ".test_function_class";
var funcObj = {
[function1Name]: function() {
console.log(`function called, window would open here containing ${function1Url}...`);
// window.open(function1Url, "_blank", "height=200");
}
}
$(function1Class).click(function() {
funcObj[function1Name]()
});
/*
alternative using a template literal, although note that it's redundant here
$(`${function1Class}`).click(function() {
funcObj[function1Name]()
});
*/
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.3.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
Click me
One last thing to note is that no version of IE supports template literals, so be sure of your browser support requirements before using them.
So cool, I got it to work!
var function1Name = "test_function_1";
var function1Url = "https://www.google.com";
var function1Class = ".test_function_class1";
var function2Name = "test_function_2";
var function2Url = "https://www.cnn.com";
var function2Class = ".test_function_class2";
// Function 1
window[function1Name] = function () {
window.open(function1Url, "_blank", "toolbar=no,status=no,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes,top=500,left=500,width=600,height=745");
}
jQuery(function1Class).click(function() {
window[function1Name]();
});
// Function 2
window[function2Name] = function () {
window.open(function2Url, "_blank", "toolbar=no,status=no,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes,top=500,left=500,width=600,height=745");
}
jQuery(function2Class).click(function() {
window[function2Name]();
});
I can now add a bunch of url's and corresponding classes as was my intention. Super happy about that.
A follow up question though, as I'll have to experiment with what the ideal window parameters will be I'm trying to make those arguments variables as well. I've tried the examples of how to insert a variables output from the functional code but those methods don't work there. Here's that code:
var windowWidth = 250
var function1Name = "test_function_1";
var function1Url = "https://www.google.com";
var function1Class = ".test_function_class1";
var function2Name = "test_function_2";
var function2Url = "https://www.cnn.com";
var function2Class = ".test_function_class2";
// Function 1
window[function1Name] = function () {
window.open(function1Url, "_blank", "toolbar=no,status=no,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes,top=500,left=500,width=[windowWidth],height=745");
}
jQuery(function1Class).click(function() {
window[function1Name]();
});
// Function 2
window[function2Name] = function () {
window.open(function2Url, "_blank", "toolbar=no,status=no,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes,top=500,left=500,width=600,height=745");
}
jQuery(function2Class).click(function() {
window[function2Name]();
});
How would I insert the variables value (2nd line of Function1) there ?
I'm sure this should be a simple question but I'm still learning so here it goes:
I have some code to run a function on click to assign the clicked element's ID to a variable but I don't know how to pass the "this.id" value to the namespace without making a global variable (which I thought was bad).
<script>
fsa = (function() {
function GetTemplateLoc() {
templateId = document.activeElement.id;
alert(templateId + templateId2);
}
return {
GetTemplateLoc: GetTemplateLoc,
}
})();
//call the functions
$(document).on('click', '.template', function () {
fsa.GetTemplateLoc();
});
</script>
and HTML with random picture:
<img id="template-1" class="template" src="http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/028/c/b/cb21eda885b4cc6ee3f549a417770596.png"/>
<img id="template-2" class="template" src="http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/028/c/b/cb21eda885b4cc6ee3f549a417770596.png"/>
The following would work:
var fsa = (function() {
function GetTemplateLoc() {
var templateId = this.id;
alert(templateId);
}
return {
GetTemplateLoc: GetTemplateLoc,
}
})();
//call the functions
$(document).on('click', '.template', fsa.GetTemplateLoc);
jQuery generally calls functions you pass as event handlers with this set to the DOM object the event is associated with.
In this case it will call GetTemplateLoc() with this set to either .template element, so you can use this directly in the function and don't need to pass any parameters.
Important tip: Always declare variables using var. JavaScript has no automatic function-local scope for variables, i.e. every variable declared without var is global, no matter where you declare it. In other words, forgetting var counts as a bug.
Try this : You can directly use this.id to pass id of the clicked element where this refers to the instance of clicked element.
<script>
fsa = (function() {
function GetTemplateLoc(templateId ) {
//templateId = document.activeElement.id;
alert(templateId + templateId2);
}
return {
GetTemplateLoc: GetTemplateLoc,
}
})();
//call the functions
$(document).on('click', '.template', function () {
fsa.GetTemplateLoc(this.id);
});
</script>
If you're able to use jQuery within the GetTemplateLoc function, you could do something like this:
var fsa = (function() {
function GetTemplateLoc($trigger) {
var templateId = $trigger.attr('id'),
templateId2 = $($trigger.siblings('.template')[0]).attr('id');
alert(templateId + ' ' + templateId2);
}
return {
GetTemplateLoc: GetTemplateLoc,
}
})();
$(document).on('click', '.template', function () {
fsa.GetTemplateLoc($(this));
});
You can set GetTemplateLoc to expect a jQuery object as a parameter (the dollar sign at the beginning of $trigger can be used to distinguish it as a jQuery object rather than any other data type, it's not necessary but can help clarify things sometimes).
templateId will store the value of the clicked image's ID, and templateId2 will store the value of the other image's ID. I also added a space between the two variables in the alert.
If you can't use jQuery within GetTemplateLoc, you could do something like this:
var fsa = (function() {
function GetTemplateLoc(trigger) {
var templateId = trigger.id;
var templateId2 = trigger.nextElementSibling == null ? trigger.previousElementSibling.id : trigger.nextElementSibling.id;
alert(templateId + ' ' + templateId2);
}
return {
GetTemplateLoc: GetTemplateLoc,
}
})();
This time, the .template that triggered the event is passed into GetTemplateLoc, but this time it's not a jQuery object. templateId is assigned to the trigger's ID and then templateId2 is assigned in a ternary. First, the nextElementSibling of trigger is checked to see if it's null. If it is, we know that trigger is the second of the two .template elements. Therefore we can set templateId2 to the ID of trigger's previous sibling. If trigger's nextElementSibling is not null, then we know that trigger is the first template and we populate templateId2 with the ID of nextElementSibling. This exact method will only work with two .template's, if there are more you'll need some additional/different logic, probably to retrieve all .template IDs and then loop through them to add them to the alert message. Hope this helps.
I'm using jqPlot to plot some points in my webApp, so I'm trying this:
var plot10 = $.jqplot ('heightChartDiv', [[3,7,9,1,5,3,8,2,5]]);
and it works fine, I this exact chart here
but when I take it out, to give it a value, like so:
$(document).ready(function(){
var serie1 = [[3,7,9,1,5,3,8,2,5]];
}
function doGraph(){
var plot10 = $.jqplot ('heightChartDiv', serie1);
}
It doesn't work. am I declaring the variable wrong? please HELP!
~Myy
Your variable scoping is all off. The variable serie1 has local scope to the anonymous function defined in $(document).ready event. Read up on javascript scope here and here.
Perhaps something like this:
// the document ready will fire when the page is finished rendering
// inline javascript as you've done with your doGraph will fire as the page renders
$(document).ready(function(){
// first define graph function
// make the series an argument to the function
doGraph = function(someSeries){
var plot10 = $.jqplot ('heightChartDiv', someSeries);
}
// now call the function with the variable
var serie1 = [[3,7,9,1,5,3,8,2,5]];
doGraph(serie1);
}
EDITS IN RESPONSE TO COMMENT
See this below example:
$(document).ready(function(){
var a = 1;
someFunc = function(){
var b = 2;
alert(a);
}
someFunc(); // this works
alert(b); // this produces an error
});
Here the variable a is considered global to the function someFunc. A variable declared in someFunc, though, does not persist outside of it.
I wanted to call a function when all required images are loaded. The number of images is known in advance, so I tried attaching a function call to the onload event of each image and count the number of times it was called.
<html>
<head>
<script>
var tractor;
function Tractor()
{
this.init_graphics();
}
Tractor.prototype.init_graphics = function()
{
this.gr_max = 3;
this.load_count = 0;
this.loading_complete(); // #1 test call, works OK
this.img1 = new Image();
this.img1.onload = this.loading_complete; // #2 gets called, but gr_max = undefined, load_count = NaN
this.img1.src = "http://dl.dropbox.com/u/217824/tmp/rearwheel.gif"; //just a test image
}
Tractor.prototype.loading_complete = function()
{
this.load_count += 1;
alert("this.loading_complete, load_count = " + this.load_count + ", gr_max = " + this.gr_max);
if(this.load_count >= this.gr_max) {this.proceed();}
};
function start()
{
tractor = new Tractor();
}
</script>
</head>
<body onload="start();">
</body>
</html>
When it's just called from another function of the object (see #1), it works just as I expected. When, however, it's called from onload event (see #2), the variables become "undefined" or "NaN" or something. What's happening? What am I doing wrong? How do I make it work?
I don't remember ever creating my own objects in Javascript before, so I certainly deeply apologize for this "what's wrong with my code" kind of question. I used this article as a reference, section 1.2, mainly.
Just in case, I put the same code on http://jsfiddle.net/ffJLn/
bind the context to the callback:
this.img1.onload = this.loading_complete.bind(this);
See: http://jsfiddle.net/ffJLn/1/ (same as yours but with this addition)
Here's an explanation of how bind works in detail: https://developer.mozilla.org/en/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Function/bind
The basic idea is that it makes this in the bound function equal to whatever you pass as the parameter to bind.
Another option is to create a closure:
var self = this;
this.img1.onload = function() { self.loading_complete() };
Closures are functions that keep references to their context (in fact, all functions in javascript work this way). So here you are creating an anonymous function that keeps a reference to self. So this is another way to maintain context and for loading_complete to have the right this.
See: http://jsfiddle.net/ffJLn/2/ (same as yours but with the second possibility)
When #2 gets called, your this has changed. this now refers to the new Image() rather than the Tractor object.
Try changing...
this.img1.onload = this.loading_complete;
to
var that = this;
this.img1.onload = function() { that.loading_complete(); };
You can now use es6 arrow functions which provide lexical binding:
this.img1.onload = () => { this.loading_complete(); };
I don't think I'm the first one to run into this issue but I haven't find a way to search for this without getting results that have nothing to do with the issue.
I adopted the not so extended good practice of "caching" repetitive jQuery selections into vars like var element = $('#element'); to prevent "DOM pool searching" for every repeated use of the element
The problem I'm having is that now I'm doing this caching inside a function. Something like:
function functionname (id) {
var id = $('#'+id);
//extra stuff
}
I'm not expert in variables scopes but I'm not being able to do
functionname ('some-div-id');
some-div-id.dialog('open');
So I'm pretty sure it's because the variable created inside the function is not accesible outside the function itself.
Then I came up with
function functionname (id) {
window.id = $('#'+id);
//extra stuff
}
but if I try to do window.some-div-id.dialog('open'); I get TypeError: 'undefined' is not a function
What am I missing? I'm sure it's a small dumb thing but I'm missing it just in front of my eyes.
Thanks
EDIT
Thanks everyone but you're missing something.
The code suggestions are missing the fact that the inside "global" variable name is dynamic:
var CACHEobject = {};
function doSomething (NAMEHERE) { //note the function parameter
CACHEobject.NAMEHERE = $('#'+NAMEHERE);
}
So the idea is that the function creates a javascript variable with the same name that the #element_id. If I pass a name to the function it should select the html id with that name and "cache it" to a global variable with the same name:
doSomething('myDialogOne'); doSomething('myDialogTwo');
so I can later do
CACHEobject.myDialogOne.dialog('open'); CACHEobject.myBox.dialog('close');
This is what you want (based off the edit):
var CACHEobject = {};
function doSomething(id) {
CACHEobject[id] = $('#' + id);
}
Your idea is fine. Just set up an object for that. Here's an example using STASH as the caching object:
<html>
<script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-latest.js"></script>
<script>
var STASH = {};
$(document).ready(function(){
// stash your elements
STASH.item = $('#item');
STASH.otherItem = $('#otherItem');
// do stuff to them
STASH.item.css({
color: '#f00'
}); // sets #item to red
alert(STASH.otherItem.text()); // alerts foo
});
</script>
<style></style>
<body>
<div id="item">bar</div>
<div id="otherItem">foo</div>
</body>
</html>
window.some-div-id.dialog('open');
is interpreted as:
window.some - div - id.dialog('open');
i.e. subtracting, which causes three undefined variables, one of which is id.dialog which causes an error when trying to be executed as a function.
For special characters, use:
window["some-div-id"].dialog('open');
And to define:
window[id] = $("#" + id);
Anyhow, I would not advise you to use global variables. You'd better overwrite the jQuery function to implement caching (using an object with the selector as key and the matched element as value).
You could just declare the variable outside the function.
var $foo;
function some_function(id) {
$foo = $('#' + id);
}
function setDialog(selector) {
window.$dialogElem = $(selector);
//window.dialogSelector = selector;
}
var id= 'mensajes';
setDialog('#'+id);
window.$dialogElem.dialog();
//$(window.dialogSelector).dialog();
commented stuff is an alternative that takes less memory. But why the hell use window?? check this fiddle for various simple techniques.