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How do I assign a pre and post function on button click without changing button definition or previously written functions

I have the following buttons:
<button id="abcd" onclick="something()">click</button>
and the following functions are attached to this button apart from the one in its html definition.
$('#abcd').on('click',function(){alert("abcd");});
$('#abcd').on('click',function(){
someAjaxCallWithCallback;
});
Now I want a new function with another ajax call to execute on this button's click, before the above mentioned functions. This new function determines whether the remaining functions would be called or not based on what data is recieved by the ajax call. That is, this pre function should complete its execution before giving control over to the rest of the functions and also determine whether they would run or not.
As an example, without changing the existing validation logics and button code, I have to add a new pre-validation function and similarly and post validation function.
I have a bindFirst method using which I can at least bring my new function to the beginning of the call stack but I have not been able to contain its execution and control further delegation because of callbacks.

If I understand correctly, you are looking for the way to do this, without modifying html and already existing js, only by adding new js-code.
First of all, if onclick handler is set and you want to control it, you should disable it on page load (maybe, saving it to some variable):
$(document).ready(function() {
var onclick = $("#abcd").attr("onclick").split("(")[0];
//to run it in future: window[onclick]();
$("#abcd").attr("onclick", "");
});
Edit: I changed my answer a little, previous approach didn't work.
Now you need to remove all already existing handlers. If number of handlers you want to control is limited, constant and known to you, you can simply call them in if-else after pre-validation inside your pre-function. If you want something more flexible, you are able to get all the handlers before removing, save them and then call them in a loop.
For that "flexible" solution in the end of $(document).ready(); you save all already existing handlers to an array and disable them. Then you write your pre-function and leave it as the only handler.
var handlers = ($._data($("#abcd")[0], "events")["click"]).slice();
$("#abcd").off("click");
$("#abcd").click(function() {
//this is your pre-func
//some code
handlers[1].handler.call();
});
Try console.log($._data($("#abcd")[0], "events")) to see, what it is.
Finally just run your post-function and do whatever you need, using conditions.
So, the general algorithm is as follows:
Disable onclick
Save all handlers
Disable all handlers
Run pre-func first
Run handlers you want to be executed
Run post-func
In fact, you just make your pre-func the only handler, which can run all other handlers you may need.

Although Alex was spot on, I just wanted to add more details to cover certain cases that were left open.
class preClass{
constructor(name,id){
if($(id) && $(id)[0] && $(id)[0]['on'+name])
{
var existing = $(id)[0]['on'+name]
$(id).bindFirst(name,existing);
$(id).removeAttr('on'+name)
alert("here");
}
if($._data($(id)[0],"events")){
this.handlers = $._data($(id)[0],"events")[name].slice();
}
else
{
this.handlers = null;
}
this.id = id;
this.name = name;
}
generatePreMethod(fn,data)
{
$(this.id).off(this.name);
$(this.id).bindFirst(this.name,function(){
$.when(fn()).then(execAll(data));
});
}
}
function exec(item,index){
item.handler.call()
}
function execAll(handlers){
return function(){ handlers.forEach(exec);}
}
This more or less takes care of all the cases.
Please let me know if there is something I missed!

Stop propagation on custom event through callback

I'm not sure how to word it, this is what I'm trying to accomplish:
$(document).on('click', '.my-element', function(e) {
var data = [{
'event': e,
'self': this
}];
// Trigger the override function first in case they need to stop prop
$(document).trigger('override:something',dataa);
// Would like to only trigger this default method if the event above is not set
$(document).trigger('something',data);
});
Then on another page I have something to catch this event, like so:
$(document).on('override:something', function(e,data) {
e.stopImmediatePropagation();
data.e.stopImmediatePropagation(); // neither work
});
If I could stop all subsequent events like this that would be optimal, but I could also make it work if there were a way to check if custom events are set.
I could check whether override:something exists and if it does, do not execute the default something event afterwards.
I've tried setting removing specific callbacks like this, but it did not perform as expected and could get hard to manage.
var mycb = function() {
alert('hi');
}
$(document).on('something', mycb);
// now to remove it
$(document).off('something', mycb); // does not remove the event
Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the help guys, but this solution seems to the only thing I've found to work for now. Still accepting alternate answers, though.
var override = jQuery._data($(document)[0], 'events')['override:something'];
$(document).trigger('override:something', data);
if ( typeof override == typeof undefined )
$(document).trigger('dashboard:friend', data);

Why does waitForKeyElements() only trigger once despite later changes?

For several years I've used the waitForKeyElements() function to track changes in webpages from a userscript. However, sometimes I've found it doesn't trigger as expected and have worked around out. I've run into another example of this problem, and so am now trying to figure out what the problem is. The following is the barest example I can create.
Given a simple HTML page that looks like this:
<span class="e1">blah</span>
And some Javascript:
// function defined here https://gist.github.com/BrockA/2625891
waitForKeyElements('.e1', handle_e1, false);
function handle_e1(node) {
console.log(node.text());
alert(node.text());
}
setInterval(function() {
$('.e1').text("updated: "+Math.random());
}, 5000);
I would expect this code to trigger an alert() and a console.log() every 5 seconds. However, it only triggers once. Any ideas?
Here's a codepen that demonstrates this.

By design and default, waitForKeyElements processes a node just once. To tell it to keep checking, return true from the callback function.
You'll also want to compare the string (or whatever) to see if it has changed.
So, in this case, handle_e1() would be something like:
function handle_e1 (jNode) {
var newTxt = jNode.text ();
if (typeof this.lastTxt === "undefined" || this.lastTxt !== newTxt) {
console.log (newTxt);
this.lastTxt = newTxt;
}
return true; // Allow repeat firings for this node.
}
With the constant string comparisons though, performance might be an issue if you have a lot of this on one page. In that scenario, switching to a MutationObserver approach might be best.

How do I create a wait event in dojo that waits for a user to click a button before continuing?

I have the following code in a javascript file:
if(dojo.byId('WC_selectedColorNumber') == null && this.defaultColor != null)
{
dijit.byId('WC_color_selection').domNode.style.display = 'block';
dojo.html.set(dojo.query(".message__button .add"), "Add product with only base color " + this.defaultColor + "?");
var userResponse = true;
dojo.connect(WC_add_color_yes, "onclick", function(evt){
userResponse = true;
});
dojo.connect(WC_add_color_no, "onclick", function(evt){
userResponse = false;
});
//var userResponse = confirm("Add product with only base color " + this.defaultColor + "?");
//I WANT TO WAIT HERE FOR THE RESPONSE
if(userResponse == false) //if user clicks Cancel or 'no', display a message and leave the function.
{
alert("Remember to select a color before adding to cart."); //should be a tooltip/popup (not javascript alert) with the same message
return; //return so item doesn't get added to cart
}
}
Firstly, the logic behind this code is correct and it works perfectly well when using javascript confirm's.
As of now, everything comes up and displays correctly, and clicking the buttons perform the correct actions (if I put a console.log in the onclick dojo events, they do indeed print to the console when I click the buttons). However, the program doesn't wait for the responses and continues beyond the dojo.connect methods before it sees the user's input.
I need it to wait until either the yes or no button have been pressed, but I cannot figure out how to do it. I've tried using a
while(userResponse == null);
but a) it's generally a terrible idea and b) it didn't work anyways.
How can I make my code wait until the user has clicked one of the two buttons?

If you can make a jsfiddle I'd be able to help you more, I think, but your dojo.connect calls shouldn't be inside a logic flow like this. Instead, set up your connects on widget startup, and have them act generically.
In your example code, it looks to me like saying "Yes" means "Use default color", and "No" means "User must specify color". So...
startup: function () {
this.inherited(arguments);
dojo.connect(WC_add_color_yes, "onclick", dojo.hitch(this, function(evt){
this.useDefaultColor();
}));
dojo.connect(WC_add_color_no, "onclick", dojo.hitch(this, function(evt){
this.displayColorPicker();
}));
}
And then... only display those two buttons (or the dialog they're hopefully in) when applicable.

There is no "wait" or "sleep" function in javascript and each invocation of javascript code executes to completion (it does not get interrupted in mid execution by a response to some other event). You have correcly identified the historical execeptions that overcome this - global alert and confirm functions execute in browser native code and wait on user input.
Because of this your code will have to be restructured in some way, e.g. an event handler for "add to cart" validates the color choice and calls a function to really add it to the cart if valid. If it is not valid it modifies the DOM to present user with some buttons. The handler for the "yes" option would likewise call the same function to really add it to the cart.
Specific code is outside the scope of this answer - there must be many methods in page and code design to achieve the desired result. For example only: breaking up the sequential code and putting it in separate event handlers, coding using Promise objects defined in EC6 but not supported in MSIE, or perhaps even providing an option of "none - base color only" in the color selection logic.
FYI the dojo 1.10 toolkit documentation reports support for Dojo Promises but I leave research to determine its suitability with you.

Automation script is not working?

This is the first time I get my hands on with automation instruments in xcode The script works well for all button taps but the one making server connection. I don't know the reason
Here is the script I tried so far
var target = UIATarget.localTarget();
target.pushTimeout(4);
target.popTimeout();
var window=target.frontMostApp().mainWindow()
var appScroll=window.scrollViews()[0];
appScroll.logElementTree();
UIATarget.localTarget().delay(2);
appScroll.buttons()[1].tap();
The above script works up to showing the UIActivityIndicator instead of moving to next controller after success
I know There must be a very simple point I am missing. So help me out

UIAutomation attempts to make things "easy" for the developer, but in doing so it can make things very confusing. It sounds like you're getting a reference to window, waiting for a button to appear, then executing .tap() on that button.
I see that you've already considered messing with target.pushTimeout(), which is related to your issue. The timeout system lets you do something that would be impossible in any sane system: get a reference to an element before it exists. I suspect that behind-the-scenes, UIAutomation repeatedly attempts to get the reference you want -- as long as the timeout will allow.
So, in the example you've posted, it's possible for this "feature" to actually hurt you.
var window=target.frontMostApp().mainWindow()
var appScroll=window.scrollViews()[0];
UIATarget.localTarget().delay(2);
appScroll.buttons()[1].tap();
What if the view changes during the 2-second delay? Your reference to target.frontMostApp().mainWindow.scrollViews()[0] may be invalid, or it may not point to the object you think you're pointing at.
We got around this in our Illuminator framework by forgetting about the timeout system altogether, and just manually re-evaluating a given reference until it actually returns something. We called it waitForChildExistence, but the functionality is basically as follows:
var myTimeout = 3; // how long we want to wait
// this function selects an element
// relative to a parent element (target) that we will pass in
var selectorFn = function (myTarget) {
var ret = myTarget.frontMostApp().mainWindow.scrollViews()[0];
// assert that ret exists, is visible, etc
return ret;
}
// re-evaluate our selector until we get something
var element = null;
var later = get_current_time() + myTimeout;
while (element === null && get_current_time() < later) {
try {
element = selectorFn(target);
} catch (e) {
// must not have worked
}
}
// check whether element is still null
// do something with element
For cases where there is a temporary progress dialog, this code will simply wait for it to disappear before successfully returning the element you want.