How to Add Event Handler with Arguments to an Array of Elements in Javascript?

Question

I have a three-step process that is entirely reliant upon JavaScript and Ajax to load data and animate the process from one step to the next. To further complicate matters, the transition (forward and backward) between steps is animated :-(. As user's progress through the process anchor's appear showing the current step and previous steps. If they click on a previous step, then it takes them back to the previous step.

Right now, the entire process (forward and backward) works correctly, if you begin at step 1, but if you jump straight to step 3 then the anchors for step 1 and step 2 also perform the same action as step 3.

This is the portion of the code that loops through all of the steps up to the current step that the user would be on and displays each anchor in turn and assigns the appropriate function to the click event:

for (var i = 0; i < profile.current + 1; i++) {
    if ($('step_anchor_' + i).innerHTML.empty()) {
        var action = profile.steps[i].action;
        var dao_id = profile.steps[i].dao_id;

        $('step_anchor_' + i).innerHTML = profile.steps[i].anchor;
        $('step_anchor_' + i).observe('click', function(){
            pm.loadData(action, dao_id, true);
        });

        Effect.Appear('step_anchor_' + i, {
            duration: 1,
            delay: (down_delay++)
        });
    }
}

I know that problem lies in the way that the action and dao_id parameters are being passed in. I've also tried passing profile.steps[i].action and profile.steps[i].dao_id but in that case both profile and i or at least i are out scope.

How do I make it so that I can assign the parameters for action and dao_id correctly for each step? (If it makes any difference we are using Prototype and Scriptaculous)

Answer 1

Your closure scope chain is causing your problems. By declaring the handler function inline, you've created a closure. Obviously you did this to take advantage of the loop.

However, since you have created a closure, you're playing by closure scoping rules. Those rules state that the local variables within the parent function remain active and available as long as the closure exists.

You are trying to pass and then use "action" and "dao_id" to your closure, but you are passing references here, not values. So when your closures (handlers) are called they use the value that the reference was last assigned. In your case, the Step 3 handler.

Closure scoping rules are confusing enough, but you may also be confused by the fact that "action" and "dao_id" are still alive even though the loop block has finished executing. Well, in JavaScript there is no such thing as block scope. Once you declare a variable it is available until the end of the function or until is it deleted. Whichever comes first.

All that said, you need to break the scope chain. Here are two ways to do that:

Try this:

for (var i = 0; i < profile.current + 1; i++) {
    if ($('step_anchor_' + i).innerHTML.empty()) {
        var action = profile.steps[i].action;
        var dao_id = profile.steps[i].dao_id;

        $('step_anchor_' + i).innerHTML = profile.steps[i].anchor;
        $('step_anchor_' + i).observe('click', function(a, b){
                return function(){pm.loadData(a, b, true)};
        }(action, dao_id));

        Effect.Appear('step_anchor_' + i, {
                duration: 1,
                delay: (down_delay++)
        });
    }
}

Or this:

function createHandler(action, dao_id) {
    return function(){pm.loadData(action, dao_id, true);};
} 

/* snip - inside some other function */
for (var i = 0; i < profile.current + 1; i++) {
    if ($('step_anchor_' + i).innerHTML.empty()) {
        var action = profile.steps[i].action;
        var dao_id = profile.steps[i].dao_id;

        $('step_anchor_' + i).innerHTML = profile.steps[i].anchor;
        $('step_anchor_' + i).observe('click', createHandler(action, dao_id));
        Effect.Appear('step_anchor_' + i, {
                duration: 1,
                delay: (down_delay++)
        });
    }
}