JQuery .click() handler can't accept setTimeout() around the function

Question

I want to program a delay in the .click(function() {...}) handler before the function is executed. This doesn't work:

$('.okButton').click(setTimeout(function() { ...}, 3000))

It gives this error (in Chrome):

Uncaught TypeError: Object 2 has no method 'apply'

The JQuery docs don't give any clue as to why this doesn't work.

How can I put a delay before executing the function handler?

Answer 1

It doesn't work because setTimeout() doesn't return a function; it returns a timer handle (a number).

This should work:

$('.okButton').click(function() { setTimeout(function() { ...}, 3000); });

The argument expressions in JavaScript function calls are always fully evaluated before the function is called. Your code called setTimeout(), and the return value from that was passed into the jQuery routine.