What does "e" mean in this function definition? - javascript

Can I pass an additional parameter to this function?
$("#foold").click( function(e) {
// CODE
};
For example, I need to pass some X value to this function. Can I write something like this:
Foo
to pass value in this function through e or some other way?

Here, e is an event object, as defined here: http://api.jquery.com/category/events/event-object/
Yes you can pass data to the handler, using this form for the click function:
.click( [eventData], handler(eventObject) )
eventData A map of data that will be passed to the event handler.
handler(eventObject) A function to execute each time the event is triggered.
It will be accessible as e.data in the handler.

In this link you can see how to pass params to the JQuery click function jQuery's .click - pass parameters to user function
Basically
It allows you to pass a data map to the event object that
automatically gets fed back to the event handler function by jQuery as
the first parameter.

Related

How does addEventListener() receive the event object param automatically?

Consider this code below:
element.addEventListener('click', function(event) { ... })
The addEventListener method works in such a way that its second param is a function into which the event object is automatically passed as a first parameter.
How does addEventListener do this? Is there a programming pattern involved?
Its called a callback where in you call the function parameter inside the function you are running
var success = function(event){
console.log(event);
}
function sample(data, callback){
//peform data manipulation here
var json = JSON.parse(data);
callback(json);
}
var json = localStorage.getItem('user_data');
sample(json, success);
What you see there as event is just the name of the variable that will be used later when the event is triggered, it's not that the event is already being passed as a parameter. You are passing a function that, when the event is triggered, will be called with the actual event.
You could an object that implements EventListener that has a method handleEvent which will receive the event as the first parameter.
Maybe it's easier to understand if you use pass a variable with the function:
myCallback = function(event) {
// do something with event
}
element.addEventListener('click', myCallback);
Iternally (really simplified), it saves a reference to that function and calls it with the actual event (something like myCallback(event)) when the user clicks the element to actually run the function.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/EventTarget/addEventListener

Calling jQuery event handler on click : anonymous vs named function behaviour

Playing around with the .on('click', ) event and I get differing behaviour based on whether I supply an anonymous vs named function (the named function doesn't work). Is this a syntax error?
<div id="myID"> abc </div>
<script>
$("#myID").on('click',function(e){
console.log(e.type);
}); //works
function handle(e){
console.log(e.type);
}
$("#myID").on('click',handle(e)); //doesn't work
</script>
You need to replace
$("#myID").on('click',handle(e));
with
$("#myID").on('click',handle);
When you call a function, it is executed immediately. This happens when you do
$("#myID").on('click',handle(e));
You call the function, passing an event e which does not exist yet. What you want instead is giving jQuery a function that it should call when the user clicks on the element with the id myID.
This is possible in JavaScript because it has first-class functions. This means that if you create a function like this:
function handle(e){
console.log(e.type);
}
then you get a reference to the function that you just created. This reference is stored in a variable named handle. You could achieve the same if you do:
var handle = function (e) { // create a function and store a reference to it in a variable
console.log(e.type);
};
The function takes an argument e. This doesn't exist yet, it has to exist in the moment you call the function:
handle(e); // ReferenceError: e is not defined
You can pass the reference to that function to jQuery, which then calls your function when the user clicks the element. At that point, e still doesn't exist, because it will contain information about the event, which hasn't occured yet. It will look like this:
$("#myID").on('click', handle); // pass a reference to the handle function to jQuery
Now, handle doesn't get called, because you only pass a reference to the function. You could say that you pass the function as an argument to another (jQuery) function. This is called a callback function.
Edit
Note that all functions that were created above take e as their argument. The argument doesn't have to exist in the very moment you create the function. However, when you (or jQuery) call the function, you have to provide an argument so that the function can do its job.
It's the same with an unnamed function: you create the function, but the argument does not exist yet. When you (or jQuery) call the function, you have to provide an argument.
This means there is no essential difference. The only difference is that one function has a name, the other one doesn't. You could even do this:
$("#myID").on('click', function handle (e) { // pass a reference to the function, but do not call it
console.log(e.type);
});
... which has the same effect as:
$("#myID").on('click', function (e) { // pass a reference to the function, but do not call it
console.log(e.type);
});
... except that in the first example, you keep a reference to the function that you created in a variable called "handle". In the second example, you lose the reference to the function, and only jQuery will be able to use your function.
Edit end
Another example for that would be:
var testFunction = function (arg) {
console.log('My argument is:', arg);
};
var executeTwoTimes = function (callback) { // accept a callback function as the first argument
callback('foo'); // execute the callback function
callback('foo');
};
executeTwoTimes(testFunction); // pass a reference to testFunction
// or:
executeTwoTimes(function (a) { // pass a reference to an anonymous function
console.log(a + ' bar');
});
I hope I could make things clearer for you.

How to pass extra parameter to event handling callback?

I have a button on which I want to attach an event listener. I also need to pass a extra parameter url to this function. I read about apply and I'm doing the following:
$('#list-button').on('click',postListing.apply([url]));
My problem is that as soon as this script is loaded postListing is called. I am not calling the function anywhere else. I need it to be called only on click.
The difference between bind and call/apply is that bind doesn't call the function immediately much like it loads the data with the variable when needed
You can reformat your code so it looks like this
$('#list-button').on('click', postListing.bind(this, url));
Found a way. It can be done using a closure:
var postListing = function(event, url){
return function(){
//Main functionality wrapped here
};
};
And the event listener setting remains the same:
$('#list-button').on('click',postListing.apply([url]));

How to pass the event argument of jQuery .click() to a non-anonymous function

What is the proper way to accomplish the following:
$("#btn").click(function1);
Calling the function:
function function1 (event) {
event.preventDefault();
}
This seems to work, however I don't understand how function1 understands what the event argument is referring to without it being passed in. Wouldn't a listener set up like this make more sense:
$("#btn").click(function1(event));
Here is a fiddle.
The .click() function in jQuery except as first parameter a function. In Javascript function are value, as well as a primitive value or an object. Functions are first-class citizens.
If you use function1(event) as a parameter, the function will be executed, because this is the semantic of the brachet after the function name. So the .click() jQuery function will receive the output of the function, which is not the expected type.
Passing the function name as a parameter means that you are passing the function (actually, a reference to the function), not the result of the function invocation. And the function will be called when the click event will be triggered. The function in this case is called "callback".
Callbacks are very importants in Javascript, since the event-driven behaviour is the main reason for using a client-side scripting.
The concept behind the callback system is
//the click function
function doSomething(callback){
//in your case the event is the argument that jQuery will prepare for you
var argument = produceTheArgument();
//doSomething is in charge to invoke the function, passing the argument
callback(argument);
}
//your function
function myCallback(argument){
//your function will consume the argument
}
//my callback is passed as a reference, not invoked
doSomething(myCallback);
you are subscribing to event and passing a reference to the function inside click listener - the jQuery event processor will just call your function in jQuery's context and will pass all parameters to it.
In your first example function1 knows that the event variable is, because JavaScript (and subsequently jQuery) passes the event information as a parameter.
This is the nature of JavaScript, not just jQuery. Consider the following:
document.getElementById('btn').addEventListener('click', function1, false);
function function1(e)
{
console.log(e);
}
JavaScript automatically calls function1 when #btn is clicked, and it automatically adds the event information as the first parameter. jQuery simply passes this information into its own methods as well, so that you have access to it.
According to jQuery's documentation:
The click event is sent to an element when the mouse pointer is over the element, and the mouse button is pressed and released. Any HTML element can receive this event.
Reference: http://api.jquery.com/click/

parse data with event listener?

Is there a way to parse data to a function from the event listener ?
I have this:
div.addEventListener('mousedown',run(id),false);
function run(e,id){
console.log(id);
}
Thing is it executes straight away. The other problem is - if i want to parse the variable id, and the run function recieves e for the event, how do you parse any thing else =/ It's a bit confusing to work out what order e is (before or after your designated variables that you want to parse)
The current work around so far was to assign id to window so its basically a global... but i'm wondering if parsing via the event is possible at all ?
One way is to create a new listener function in which the id variable is already bound to the value that you want, like this:
function newListener(id) {
var listener = function(e) {
console.log(id);
}
return listener;
}
div.addEventListener('mousedown',newListener(id),false);
newListener(id) defines a new function, in which the value that the id variable had at the time is available inside that function. Then the javascript environment will call that function when the mouse button is pressed.
An event handler does not take arguments directly, you are calling the function run(id), not passing a handler, here is how you pass it (using anonymous function)
https://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/DOM/element.addEventListener
div.addEventListener('mousedown',function(e){
doSomething(id);
},false);
function doSomething(id){
console.log(id);
}

Categories