How do I add a function to an element via jQuery?

Question

I want to do something like this:

$('.dynamicHtmlForm').validate = function() {
  return true;
}

$('.dynamicHtmlForm .saveButton').click(function() {
  if (!$(this).closest('.dynamicHtmlForm').validate()) {
    return false;
  }

  return true;
});

And then when I have a form of class dynamicHtmlForm, I want to be able to provide a custom validate() function:

$('#myDynamicHtmlForm').validate = function() {
  // do some validation

  if (there are errors) {
    return false;
  }

  return true;
}

But I get this when I do this:

$(this).closest(".dynamicHtmlForm").validate is not a function

Is what I've described even possible? If so, what am I doing wrong?

Answer 1

Yes, it is technically possible. You will need to reference the element itself, however, and not the jQuery collection. This should work:

$('.dynamicHtmlForm').each(function (ix,o) {
  o.validate = function() {
    return true;
  }
});

$('.dynamicHtmlForm .saveButton').click(function() {
  if ($(this).closest('.dynamicHtmlForm')[0].validate()) {
    return false;
  }

  return true;
}