function main()
{
Hello();
}
function Hello()
{
// How do you find out the caller function is 'main'?
}
Is there a way to find out the call stack?
Note that this solution is deprecated and should no longer be used according to MDN documentation
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Function/caller
function Hello()
{
alert("caller is " + Hello.caller);
}
Note that this feature is non-standard, from Function.caller:
Non-standard
This feature is non-standard and is not on a standards track. Do not use it on production sites facing the Web: it will not work for every user. There may also be large incompatibilities between implementations and the behavior may change in the future.
The following is the old answer from 2008, which is no longer supported in modern Javascript:
function Hello()
{
alert("caller is " + arguments.callee.caller.toString());
}
StackTrace
You can find the entire stack trace using browser specific code. The good thing is someone already made it; here is the project code on GitHub.
But not all the news is good:
It is really slow to get the stack trace so be careful (read this for more).
You will need to define function names for the stack trace to be legible. Because if you have code like this:
var Klass = function kls() {
this.Hello = function() { alert(printStackTrace().join('\n\n')); };
}
new Klass().Hello();
Google Chrome will alert ... kls.Hello ( ... but most browsers will expect a function name just after the keyword function and will treat it as an anonymous function. An not even Chrome will be able to use the Klass name if you don't give the name kls to the function.
And by the way, you can pass to the function printStackTrace the option {guess: true} but I didn't find any real improvement by doing that.
Not all browsers give you the same information. That is, parameters, code column, etc.
Caller Function Name
By the way, if you only want the name of the caller function (in most browsers, but not IE) you can use:
arguments.callee.caller.name
But note that this name will be the one after the function keyword. I found no way (even on Google Chrome) to get more than that without getting the code of the whole function.
Caller Function Code
And summarizing the rest of the best answers (by Pablo Cabrera, nourdine, and Greg Hewgill). The only cross-browser and really safe thing you can use is:
arguments.callee.caller.toString();
Which will show the code of the caller function. Sadly, that is not enough for me, and that is why I give you tips for the StackTrace and the caller function Name (although they are not cross-browser).
I usually use (new Error()).stack in Chrome.
The nice thing is that this also gives you the line numbers where the caller called the function. The downside is that it limits the length of the stack to 10, which is why I came to this page in the first place.
(I'm using this to collect callstacks in a low-level constructor during execution, to view and debug later, so setting a breakpoint isn't of use since it will be hit thousands of times)
I know you mentioned "in Javascript", but if the purpose is debugging, I think it's easier to just use your browser's developer tools. This is how it looks in Chrome:
Just drop the debugger where you want to investigate the stack.
In both ES6 and Strict mode, use the following to get the Caller function
console.log((new Error()).stack.split("\n")[2].trim().split(" ")[1])
Please note that, the above line will throw an exception if there is no caller or no previous stack. Use accordingly.
To get callee (the current function name), use:
console.log((new Error()).stack.split("\n")[1].trim().split(" ")[1])
If you are not going to run it in IE < 11 then console.trace() would suit.
function main() {
Hello();
}
function Hello() {
console.trace()
}
main()
// Hello # VM261:9
// main # VM261:4
You can get the full stacktrace:
arguments.callee.caller
arguments.callee.caller.caller
arguments.callee.caller.caller.caller
Until caller is null.
Note: it cause an infinite loop on recursive functions.
To recap (and make it clearer) ...
this code:
function Hello() {
alert("caller is " + arguments.callee.caller.toString());
}
is equivalent to this:
function Hello() {
alert("caller is " + Hello.caller.toString());
}
Clearly the first bit is more portable, since you can change the name of the function, say from "Hello" to "Ciao", and still get the whole thing to work.
In the latter, in case you decide to refactor the name of the invoked function (Hello), you would have to change all its occurrences :(
I would do this:
function Hello() {
console.trace();
}
You can use Function.Caller to get the calling function. The old method using argument.caller is considered obsolete.
The following code illustrates its use:
function Hello() { return Hello.caller;}
Hello2 = function NamedFunc() { return NamedFunc.caller; };
function main()
{
Hello(); //both return main()
Hello2();
}
Notes about obsolete argument.caller: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Functions/arguments/caller
Be aware Function.caller is non-standard: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Function/caller
Looks like this is quite a solved question but I recently found out that callee is not allowed in 'strict mode' so for my own use I wrote a class that will get the path from where it is called. It's part of a small helper lib and if you want to use the code standalone change the offset used to return the stack trace of the caller (use 1 instead of 2)
function ScriptPath() {
var scriptPath = '';
try {
//Throw an error to generate a stack trace
throw new Error();
}
catch(e) {
//Split the stack trace into each line
var stackLines = e.stack.split('\n');
var callerIndex = 0;
//Now walk though each line until we find a path reference
for(var i in stackLines){
if(!stackLines[i].match(/http[s]?:\/\//)) continue;
//We skipped all the lines with out an http so we now have a script reference
//This one is the class constructor, the next is the getScriptPath() call
//The one after that is the user code requesting the path info (so offset by 2)
callerIndex = Number(i) + 2;
break;
}
//Now parse the string for each section we want to return
pathParts = stackLines[callerIndex].match(/((http[s]?:\/\/.+\/)([^\/]+\.js)):/);
}
this.fullPath = function() {
return pathParts[1];
};
this.path = function() {
return pathParts[2];
};
this.file = function() {
return pathParts[3];
};
this.fileNoExt = function() {
var parts = this.file().split('.');
parts.length = parts.length != 1 ? parts.length - 1 : 1;
return parts.join('.');
};
}
heystewart's answer and JiarongWu's answer both mentioned that the Error object has access to the stack.
Here's an example:
function main() {
Hello();
}
function Hello() {
try {
throw new Error();
} catch (err) {
let stack = err.stack;
// N.B. stack === "Error\n at Hello ...\n at main ... \n...."
let m = stack.match(/.*?Hello.*?\n(.*?)\n/);
if (m) {
let caller_name = m[1];
console.log("Caller is:", caller_name);
}
}
}
main();
Different browsers shows the stack in different string formats:
Safari : Caller is: main#https://stacksnippets.net/js:14:8
Firefox : Caller is: main#https://stacksnippets.net/js:14:3
Chrome : Caller is: at main (https://stacksnippets.net/js:14:3)
IE Edge : Caller is: at main (https://stacksnippets.net/js:14:3)
IE : Caller is: at main (https://stacksnippets.net/js:14:3)
Most browsers will set the stack with var stack = (new Error()).stack. In Internet Explorer the stack will be undefined - you have to throw a real exception to retrieve the stack.
Conclusion: It's possible to determine "main" is the caller to "Hello" using the stack in the Error object. In fact it will work in cases where the callee / caller approach doesn't work. It will also show you context, i.e. source file and line number. However effort is required to make the solution cross platform.
function Hello() {
alert(Hello.caller);
}
It's safer to use *arguments.callee.caller since arguments.caller is deprecated...
2018 Update
caller is forbidden in strict mode. Here is an alternative using the (non-standard) Error stack.
The following function seems to do the job in Firefox 52 and Chrome 61-71 though its implementation makes a lot of assumptions about the logging format of the two browsers and should be used with caution, given that it throws an exception and possibly executes two regex matchings before being done.
'use strict';
const fnNameMatcher = /([^(]+)#|at ([^(]+) \(/;
function fnName(str) {
const regexResult = fnNameMatcher.exec(str);
return regexResult[1] || regexResult[2];
}
function log(...messages) {
const logLines = (new Error().stack).split('\n');
const callerName = fnName(logLines[1]);
if (callerName !== null) {
if (callerName !== 'log') {
console.log(callerName, 'called log with:', ...messages);
} else {
console.log(fnName(logLines[2]), 'called log with:', ...messages);
}
} else {
console.log(...messages);
}
}
function foo() {
log('hi', 'there');
}
(function main() {
foo();
}());
Try accessing this:
arguments.callee.caller.name
Just console log your error stack. You can then know how are you being called
const hello = () => {
console.log(new Error('I was called').stack)
}
const sello = () => {
hello()
}
sello()
I wanted to add my fiddle here for this:
http://jsfiddle.net/bladnman/EhUm3/
I tested this is chrome, safari and IE (10 and 8). Works fine. There is only 1 function that matters, so if you get scared by the big fiddle, read below.
Note:
There is a fair amount of my own "boilerplate" in this fiddle. You can remove all of that and use split's if you like. It's just an ultra-safe" set of functions I've come to rely on.
There is also a "JSFiddle" template in there that I use for many fiddles to simply quick fiddling.
If you just want the function name and not the code, and want a browser-independent solution, use the following:
var callerFunction = arguments.callee.caller.toString().match(/function ([^\(]+)/)[1];
Note that the above will return an error if there is no caller function as there is no [1] element in the array. To work around, use the below:
var callerFunction = (arguments.callee.caller.toString().match(/function ([^\(]+)/) === null) ? 'Document Object Model': arguments.callee.caller.toString().match(/function ([^\(]+)/)[1], arguments.callee.toString().match(/function ([^\(]+)/)[1]);
Here, everything but the functionname is stripped from caller.toString(), with RegExp.
<!DOCTYPE html>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Show the callers name</title><!-- This validates as html5! -->
<script>
main();
function main() { Hello(); }
function Hello(){
var name = Hello.caller.toString().replace(/\s\([^#]+$|^[^\s]+\s/g,'');
name = name.replace(/\s/g,'');
if ( typeof window[name] !== 'function' )
alert ("sorry, the type of "+name+" is "+ typeof window[name]);
else
alert ("The name of the "+typeof window[name]+" that called is "+name);
}
</script>
Just want to let you know that on PhoneGap/Android the name doesnt seem to be working. But arguments.callee.caller.toString() will do the trick.
here is a function to get full stacktrace:
function stacktrace() {
var f = stacktrace;
var stack = 'Stack trace:';
while (f) {
stack += '\n' + f.name;
f = f.caller;
}
return stack;
}
Note you can't use Function.caller in Node.js, use caller-id package instead. For example:
var callerId = require('caller-id');
function foo() {
bar();
}
function bar() {
var caller = callerId.getData();
/*
caller = {
typeName: 'Object',
functionName: 'foo',
filePath: '/path/of/this/file.js',
lineNumber: 5,
topLevelFlag: true,
nativeFlag: false,
evalFlag: false
}
*/
}
Works great for me, and you can chose how much you want to go back in the functions:
function getCaller(functionBack= 0) {
const back = functionBack * 2;
const stack = new Error().stack.split('at ');
const stackIndex = stack[3 + back].includes('C:') ? (3 + back) : (4 + back);
const isAsync = stack[stackIndex].includes('async');
let result;
if (isAsync)
result = stack[stackIndex].split(' ')[1].split(' ')[0];
else
result = stack[stackIndex].split(' ')[0];
return result;
}
I could use these in 2021 and get the stack which starts from the caller function :
1. console.trace();
2. console.log((new Error).stack)
// do the same as #2 just with better view
3. console.log((new Error).stack.split("\n"))
Try the following code:
function getStackTrace(){
var f = arguments.callee;
var ret = [];
var item = {};
var iter = 0;
while ( f = f.caller ){
// Initialize
item = {
name: f.name || null,
args: [], // Empty array = no arguments passed
callback: f
};
// Function arguments
if ( f.arguments ){
for ( iter = 0; iter<f.arguments.length; iter++ ){
item.args[iter] = f.arguments[iter];
}
} else {
item.args = null; // null = argument listing not supported
}
ret.push( item );
}
return ret;
}
Worked for me in Firefox-21 and Chromium-25.
Another way around this problem is to simply pass the name of the calling function as a parameter.
For example:
function reformatString(string, callerName) {
if (callerName === "uid") {
string = string.toUpperCase();
}
return string;
}
Now, you could call the function like this:
function uid(){
var myString = "apples";
reformatString(myString, function.name);
}
My example uses a hard coded check of the function name, but you could easily use a switch statement or some other logic to do what you want there.
As far as I know, we have 2 way for this from given sources like this-
arguments.caller
function whoCalled()
{
if (arguments.caller == null)
console.log('I was called from the global scope.');
else
console.log(arguments.caller + ' called me!');
}
Function.caller
function myFunc()
{
if (myFunc.caller == null) {
return 'The function was called from the top!';
}
else
{
return 'This function\'s caller was ' + myFunc.caller;
}
}
Think u have your answer :).
Why all of the solutions above look like a rocket science. Meanwhile, it should not be more complicated than this snippet. All credits to this guy
How do you find out the caller function in JavaScript?
var stackTrace = function() {
var calls = [];
var caller = arguments.callee.caller;
for (var k = 0; k < 10; k++) {
if (caller) {
calls.push(caller);
caller = caller.caller;
}
}
return calls;
};
// when I call this inside specific method I see list of references to source method, obviously, I can add toString() to each call to see only function's content
// [function(), function(data), function(res), function(l), function(a, c), x(a, b, c, d), function(c, e)]
I think the following code piece may be helpful:
window.fnPureLog = function(sStatement, anyVariable) {
if (arguments.length < 1) {
throw new Error('Arguments sStatement and anyVariable are expected');
}
if (typeof sStatement !== 'string') {
throw new Error('The type of sStatement is not match, please use string');
}
var oCallStackTrack = new Error();
console.log(oCallStackTrack.stack.replace('Error', 'Call Stack:'), '\n' + sStatement + ':', anyVariable);
}
Execute the code:
window.fnPureLog = function(sStatement, anyVariable) {
if (arguments.length < 1) {
throw new Error('Arguments sStatement and anyVariable are expected');
}
if (typeof sStatement !== 'string') {
throw new Error('The type of sStatement is not match, please use string');
}
var oCallStackTrack = new Error();
console.log(oCallStackTrack.stack.replace('Error', 'Call Stack:'), '\n' + sStatement + ':', anyVariable);
}
function fnBsnCallStack1() {
fnPureLog('Stock Count', 100)
}
function fnBsnCallStack2() {
fnBsnCallStack1()
}
fnBsnCallStack2();
The log looks like this:
Call Stack:
at window.fnPureLog (<anonymous>:8:27)
at fnBsnCallStack1 (<anonymous>:13:5)
at fnBsnCallStack2 (<anonymous>:17:5)
at <anonymous>:20:1
Stock Count: 100
After updating to Firefox 7, I am getting the following error:
function statement requires a name
This particular functions is defined as
fun = eval("function (item) { //Function body }");
If I rewrite it as:
fun = eval("function view(item) { //Function body }");
The error does not show up any more, but the program still does not work.
Ps.- I know that evaluating a string is not a good idea. This is a legacy application that I have to fix in which some functions are downloaded from a database as strings on demand.
Wrap it in brackets
eval("(function (item) { alert('hello'); })");
But that doesn't make sense as it does nothing. Maybe you want:
eval("(function () { alert('hello'); })()");
Or
eval("var func = function (item) { };");
A function declaration (is what you've got there) requires an identifier by spec.
function() {
}
just like that is not allowed by ES specification (even if some browsers might allow it anyway). Only function expression may be anonymous.
just a guess, maybe try with:
fun = eval("return function (item) { //Function body }");
(I just added the return statement)
if the function is defined as a string and you wish to use it without calling eval everytime, you could do this:
var myFunc = 'function(){alert("myFunc");}';
var fun = eval('(function(){return '+myFunc+'})()');
fun();
Or just
var myFunc = 'function(){alert("myFunc");}';
var fun = eval('('+myFunc+')');
fun();
I need to test whether the value of a form's onsubmit is a function. The format is typically onsubmit="return valid();". Is there a way to tell if this is a function, and if it's callable? Using typeof just returns that it's a string, which doesn't help me much.
EDIT: Of course, I understand that "return valid();" is a string. I've replaced it down to "valid();", and even "valid()". I want to know if either of those is a function.
EDIT: Here's some code, which may help explain my problem:
$("a.button").parents("form").submit(function() {
var submit_function = $("a.button").parents("form").attr("onsubmit");
if ( submit_function && typeof( submit_function.replace(/return /,"") ) == 'function' ) {
return eval(submit_function.replace(/return /,""));
} else {
alert("onSubmit is not a function.\n\nIs the script included?"); return false;
}
} );
EDIT 2: Here's the new code. It seems that I still have to use an eval, because calling form.submit() doesn't fire existing onsubmits.
var formObj = $("a.button").parents("form");
formObj.submit(function() {
if ( formObj[0].onsubmit && typeof( formObj.onsubmit ) == 'function' ) {
return eval(formObj.attr("onsubmit").replace(/return /,""));
} else {
alert("onSubmit is not a function.\n\nIs the script included?");
return false;
}
} );
Suggestions on possibly how to do this better?
I'm replacing a submit button with an
anchor link. Since calling
form.submit() does not activate
onsubmit's, I'm finding it, and
eval()ing it myself. But I'd like to
check if the function exists before
just eval()ing what's there. – gms8994
<script type="text/javascript">
function onsubmitHandler() {
alert('running onsubmit handler');
return true;
}
function testOnsubmitAndSubmit(f) {
if (typeof f.onsubmit === 'function') {
// onsubmit is executable, test the return value
if (f.onsubmit()) {
// onsubmit returns true, submit the form
f.submit();
}
}
}
</script>
<form name="theForm" onsubmit="return onsubmitHandler();">
<a href="#" onclick="
testOnsubmitAndSubmit(document.forms['theForm']);
return false;
"></a>
</form>
EDIT : missing parameter f in function testOnsubmitAndSubmit
The above should work regardless of whether you assign the onsubmit HTML attribute or assign it in JavaScript:
document.forms['theForm'].onsubmit = onsubmitHandler;
Try
if (this.onsubmit instanceof Function) {
// do stuff;
}
You could simply use the typeof operator along with a ternary operator for short:
onsubmit="return typeof valid =='function' ? valid() : true;"
If it is a function we call it and return it's return value, otherwise just return true
Edit:
I'm not quite sure what you really want to do, but I'll try to explain what might be happening.
When you declare your onsubmit code within your html, it gets turned into a function and thus its callable from the JavaScript "world". That means that those two methods are equivalent:
HTML: <form onsubmit="return valid();" />
JavaScript: myForm.onsubmit = function() { return valid(); };
These two will be both functions and both will be callable. You can test any of those using the typeof operator which should yeld the same result: "function".
Now if you assign a string to the "onsubmit" property via JavaScript, it will remain a string, hence not callable. Notice that if you apply the typeof operator against it, you'll get "string" instead of "function".
I hope this might clarify a few things. Then again, if you want to know if such property (or any identifier for the matter) is a function and callable, the typeof operator should do the trick. Although I'm not sure if it works properly across multiple frames.
Cheers
What browser are you using?
alert(typeof document.getElementById('myform').onsubmit);
This gives me "function" in IE7 and FireFox.
using a string based variable as example and making use instanceof Function
You register the function..assign the variable...check the variable is the name of function...do pre-process... assign the function to new var...then call the function.
function callMe(){
alert('You rang?');
}
var value = 'callMe';
if (window[value] instanceof Function) {
// do pre-process stuff
// FYI the function has not actually been called yet
console.log('callable function');
//now call function
var fn = window[value];
fn();
}
Make sure you are calling typeof on the actual function, not a string literal:
function x() {
console.log("hi");
}
typeof "x"; // returns "string"
typeof x; // returns "function"
You can try modifying this technique to suit your needs:
function isFunction() {
var functionName = window.prompt('Function name: ');
var isDefined = eval('(typeof ' + functionName + '==\'function\');');
if (isDefined)
eval(functionName + '();');
else
alert('Function ' + functionName + ' does not exist');
}
function anotherFunction() {
alert('message from another function.');
}
form.onsubmit will always be a function when defined as an attribute of HTML the form element. It's some sort of anonymous function attached to an HTML element, which has the this pointer bound to that FORM element and also has a parameter named event which will contain data about the submit event.
Under these circumstances I don't understand how you got a string as a result of a typeof operation. You should give more details, better some code.
Edit (as a response to your second edit):
I believe the handler attached to the HTML attribute will execute regardless of the above code. Further more, you could try to stop it somehow, but, it appears that FF 3, IE 8, Chrome 2 and Opera 9 are executing the HTML attribute handler in the first place and then the one attached (I didn't tested with jQuery though, but with addEventListener and attachEvent). So... what are you trying to accomplish exactly?
By the way, your code isn't working because your regular expression will extract the string "valid();", which is definitely not a function.
If it's a string, you could assume / hope it's always of the form
return SomeFunction(arguments);
parse for the function name, and then see if that function is defined using
if (window[functionName]) {
// do stuff
}
Isn't typeof xxx === 'function' the best and the fastest?
I made an bench in wich you can try it out, compared to instanceof and _underscore
Its just seems to be faster than instanceof (using chrome)
It won't trow an error if the variable is not defined
Here a bench: https://jsbench.me/qnkf076cqb/1
Checking the call method on the value seems to be a good enough test. e.g., val.call && val()
> a = () => {}
[Function: a]
> function b() {}
undefined
> c = function(){}
[Function: c]
> d = 2
2
> e = []
[]
> f = {}
{}
> a.call
[Function: call]
> b.call
[Function: call]
> c.call
[Function: call]
> d.call
undefined
> e.call
undefined
> f.call
undefined
Note: Except when it's a class.
Well, "return valid();" is a string, so that's correct.
If you want to check if it has a function attached instead, you could try this:
formId.onsubmit = function (){ /* */ }
if(typeof formId.onsubmit == "function"){
alert("it's a function!");
}
You can always use one of the typeOf functions on JavaScript blogs such as Chris West's. Using a definition such as the following for the typeOf() function would work:
function typeOf(o){return {}.toString.call(o).slice(8,-1)}
This function (which is declared in the global namespace, can be used like this:
alert("onsubmit is a " + typeOf(elem.onsubmit));
If it is a function, "Function" will be returned. If it is a string, "String" will be returned. Other possible values are shown here.
I think the source of confusion is the distinction between a node's attribute and the corresponding property.
You're using:
$("a.button").parents("form").attr("onsubmit")
You're directly reading the onsubmit attribute's value (which must be a string). Instead, you should access the onsubmit property of the node:
$("a.button").parents("form").prop("onsubmit")
Here's a quick test:
<form id="form1" action="foo1.htm" onsubmit="return valid()"></form>
<script>
window.onload = function () {
var form1 = document.getElementById("form1");
function log(s) {
document.write("<div>" + s + "</div>");
}
function info(v) {
return "(" + typeof v + ") " + v;
}
log("form1 onsubmit property: " + info(form1.onsubmit));
log("form1 onsubmit attribute: " + info(form1.getAttribute("onsubmit")));
};
</script>
This yields:
form1 onsubmit property: (function) function onsubmit(event) { return valid(); }
form1 onsubmit attribute: (string) return valid()
// This should be a function, because in certain JavaScript engines (V8, for
// example, try block kills many optimizations).
function isFunction(func) {
// For some reason, function constructor doesn't accept anonymous functions.
// Also, this check finds callable objects that aren't function (such as,
// regular expressions in old WebKit versions), as according to EcmaScript
// specification, any callable object should have typeof set to function.
if (typeof func === 'function')
return true
// If the function isn't a string, it's probably good idea to return false,
// as eval cannot process values that aren't strings.
if (typeof func !== 'string')
return false
// So, the value is a string. Try creating a function, in order to detect
// syntax error.
try {
// Create a function with string func, in order to detect whatever it's
// an actual function. Unlike examples with eval, it should be actually
// safe to use with any string (provided you don't call returned value).
Function(func)
return true
}
catch (e) {
// While usually only SyntaxError could be thrown (unless somebody
// modified definition of something used in this function, like
// SyntaxError or Function, it's better to prepare for unexpected.
if (!(e instanceof SyntaxError)) {
throw e
}
return false
}
}
if ( window.onsubmit ) {
//
} else {
alert("Function does not exist.");
}
Beware that es6 class is also a function but not callable
class C {}
typeof C === "function" // true
C instanceof Function // true
C() // error
C.call() // error
new C() // okay
new C // okay
A simple check like this will let you know if it exists/defined:
if (this.onsubmit)
{
// do stuff;
}
I'm trying to create a simple, small and basic javascript framework just for learning purposes.
But the thing is that i'm allready stuck at the very basics.
I'm trying to do something like this:
$('testdiv').testFunction();
And the code i've written for that:
var elementID;
var smallFramework = {
$:function(id) {
this.elementID = id;
},
testFunction:function() {
alert(this.elementID);
}
};
window.$ = smallFramework.$;
But in return I get:
$('testdiv) is undefined
Can anyone help me with this small and hopefully easy question?
To get the behavior you're expecting, you need the $ function to return an object with a method named testFunction.
Try:
var smallFramework = // an object for namespacing
{
$:function(id) // the core function - returns an object wrapping the id
{
return { // return an object literal
elementID: id, // holding the id passed in
testFunction: function() // and a simple method
{
alert(this.elementID);
}
};
}
};
Of course, there are many other ways to achieve the behavior you desire.
If you're trying to add methods to an HTML element you could do something along these lines.
$ = function( elementId ) {
var element = document.getElementById( elementId );
element.testFunction = function(){
alert( this.id );
return this; // for chaining
}
return element;
}
$('test').testFunction();
Try
smallFramework.$('testdiv');
instead. According to the code you posted, that's where your $ function ended up.
Or alternatively, it looks like you're trying to replicate something like jQuery. You might want to try something like this.
var $ = smallFramework = (function () {
var f =
{
find:function(id) {
f.elementID = id;
return f; //every function should return f, for chaining to work
},
testFunction:function() {
alert(f.elementID);
return f;
}
}
return f.find //the find function will be assigned to $.
//and also assigned to smallFramework.
//the find function returns f, so you get access to testFunction via chaining
// like $("blah").testFunction()
})() //note this function gets called immediately.
this code may look confusing to someone new to JavaScript because it depends heavily on the concept of closures. I suggest that if this doesn't make sense, spend some time at Douglas Crockford's JavaScript website. This is important because the code above will bite if you happen to use this in the find function because this won't be bound to f, as you may expect it to be when you use it from $ or smallFramework.