Hi I'm trying to understand callbacks in javascript and have come across this code here from a tutorial that I'm following:
var EventEmitter = require('events');
var util = require('util');
function Greetr() {
this.greeting = 'Hello world!';
}
util.inherits(Greetr, EventEmitter);
Greetr.prototype.greet = function(data) {
console.log(this.greeting + ': ' + data);
this.emit('greet', data);
}
var greeter1 = new Greetr();
greeter1.on('greet', function(data) {
console.log('Someone greeted!: ' + data);
});
greeter1.greet('Tony');
Now I notice that the greeter1.on function takes a callback with a parameter. However I'm not sure how this is implemented internally. I tried looking through the nodejs event.js file but I'm still confused. I am aware that there are ways around this specific implementation by using an anonymous function wrapping the callback with parameters but I want to understand how to use the same format as above.
tldr: How can I create my own function that takes a callback and a parameter in the same fashion as greeter1.on above.
Thank you
Your function needs to define a new property on the current instance with the callback passed as an argument, so it can be called later, like so:
function YourClass () {
this.on = function(key, callback) {
this[key] = callback;
}
}
// Usage
const instance = new YourClass();
instance.on('eventName', function (arg1, arg2) {
console.log(arg1, arg2);
});
instance.eventName("First argument", "and Second argument")
// logs => First argument and Second argument
Callback is just passing a function as a parameter to another function and that being triggered. You can implement callback fashion as below
function test(message, callback) {
console.log(message);
callback();
}
//Pass function as parameter to another function which will trigger it at the end
test("Hello world", function () {
console.log("Sucessfully triggered callback")
})
class MyOwnEventHandler {
constructor() {
this.events = {};
}
emit(evt, ...params) {
if (!this.events[evt]) {
return;
}
for (let i = 0, l = this.events[evt].length; i < l; i++) {
if (!params) {
this.events[evt][i]();
continue;
}
this.events[evt][i](...params);
}
}
on(evt, eventFunc) {
if (!this.events[evt]) {
this.events[evt] = [];
}
this.events[evt].push(eventFunc);
}
}
var myHandler = new MyOwnEventHandler();
myHandler.on('test', function (...params) {
console.log(...params);
});
myHandler.emit('test', 'Hello', 'World');
I have something similar to this:
function MyObject() {
var self = this;
this.callback = function() {
self.finishParams = Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments);
self.parent.finish();
}
this.start = function() {
this.currentCallback = this.callback
this.startFunc.apply(this.startFunc, this.startParams.concat(this.currentCallback));
}
}
this.startFunc is a function which is something like function(param1, param2, param3, callback)
I have no control over this.startFunc except that it will call the callback with some paramaters.
THE PROBLEM
I have a this.currentCallback because I need to be able to cancel the callback. That is, I've already called this.startFunc and need to prevent the callback.
The problem is, MyObject might send another callback (never 2 at a time) but if I don't cancel the first one immediately when I need to, I won't know which one is valid when I get them back! Might be confusing so here's a diagram:
Send callback 1 off
Need to cancel! Cancel callback A somehow here
Send callback 2 off (still say function has callback 1)
By this point, if I didn't cancel A, then when I got the callback back, I wouldn't know which it was. If I DID cancel A, then I know it's B and no one has to worry.
Please tell me if you do not understand :)
A proof-of-concept of the scheme laid out in the comments: create a new closure for each callback, let callback identify if it is active or not.
function foreignAPIThatStartsACallback(callback) {
setTimeout(callback, 1000);
}
var activeCallback;
function wrapCallback(callback) {
var args = Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments, 1);
var that = this;
var wrappedCallback = function() {
if (wrappedCallback == activeCallback) {
callback.apply(that, args);
}
}
activeCallback = wrappedCallback;
return wrappedCallback;
}
function myCallback(what, who) {
console.log(who + " says " + what);
}
foreignAPIThatStartsACallback(wrapCallback(myCallback, "Hello", "Mario"));
foreignAPIThatStartsACallback(wrapCallback(myCallback, "Goodbye", "Luigi"));
// Mario is cancelled when Luigi gets started
With multiple possible actives:
function foreignAPIThatStartsACallback(callback) {
setTimeout(callback, 1000);
}
var activeCallbacks = {};
function wrapCallback(callback) {
if (!wrapCallback.count) wrapCallback.count = 0;
wrapCallback.count++;
var args = Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments, 1);
var that = this;
var wrappedCallback = function() {
if (wrappedCallback.id in activeCallbacks) {
cancelCallback(wrappedCallback);
callback.apply(that, args);
}
}
wrappedCallback.id = wrapCallback.count;
activeCallbacks[wrapCallback.count] = true;
return wrappedCallback;
}
function cancelCallback(wrappedCallback) {
delete activeCallbacks[wrappedCallback.id];
}
function myCallback(what, who) {
console.log(who + " says " + what);
}
var marioCallback = wrapCallback(myCallback, "Hello", "Mario");
foreignAPIThatStartsACallback(marioCallback);
var luigiCallback = wrapCallback(myCallback, "Goodbye", "Luigi");
foreignAPIThatStartsACallback(luigiCallback);
var daisyCallback = wrapCallback(myCallback, "Mama?", "Peach");
foreignAPIThatStartsACallback(daisyCallback);
cancelCallback(luigiCallback);
// Mario and Daisy go off
I'm trying to pass some parameter to a function used as callback, how can I do that?
This is my try:
function tryMe(param1, param2) {
alert(param1 + " and " + param2);
}
function callbackTester(callback, param1, param2) {
callback(param1, param2);
}
callbackTester(tryMe, "hello", "goodbye");
If you want something slightly more general, you can use the arguments variable like so:
function tryMe(param1, param2) {
alert(param1 + " and " + param2);
}
function callbackTester(callback) {
callback(arguments[1], arguments[2]);
}
callbackTester(tryMe, "hello", "goodbye");
But otherwise, your example works fine (arguments[0] can be used in place of callback in the tester)
This would also work:
// callback function
function tryMe(param1, param2) {
alert(param1 + " and " + param2);
}
// callback executer
function callbackTester(callback) {
callback();
}
// test function
callbackTester(function() {
tryMe("hello", "goodbye");
});
Another Scenario :
// callback function
function tryMe(param1, param2, param3) {
alert(param1 + " and " + param2 + " " + param3);
}
// callback executer
function callbackTester(callback) {
//this is the more obivous scenario as we use callback function
//only when we have some missing value
//get this data from ajax or compute
var extraParam = "this data was missing";
//call the callback when we have the data
callback(extraParam);
}
// test function
callbackTester(function(k) {
tryMe("hello", "goodbye", k);
});
Your question is unclear. If you're asking how you can do this in a simpler way, you should take a look at the ECMAScript 5th edition method .bind(), which is a member of Function.prototype. Using it, you can do something like this:
function tryMe (param1, param2) {
alert (param1 + " and " + param2);
}
function callbackTester (callback) {
callback();
}
callbackTester(tryMe.bind(null, "hello", "goodbye"));
You can also use the following code, which adds the method if it isn't available in the current browser:
// From Prototype.js
if (!Function.prototype.bind) { // check if native implementation available
Function.prototype.bind = function(){
var fn = this, args = Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments),
object = args.shift();
return function(){
return fn.apply(object,
args.concat(Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments)));
};
};
}
Example
bind() - PrototypeJS Documentation
If you are not sure how many parameters are you going to be passed into callback functions, use apply function.
function tryMe (param1, param2) {
alert (param1 + " and " + param2);
}
function callbackTester(callback,params){
callback.apply(this,params);
}
callbackTester(tryMe,['hello','goodbye']);
When you have a callback that will be called by something other than your code with a specific number of params and you want to pass in additional params you can pass a wrapper function as the callback and inside the wrapper pass the additional param(s).
function login(accessedViaPopup) {
//pass FB.login a call back function wrapper that will accept the
//response param and then call my "real" callback with the additional param
FB.login(function(response){
fb_login_callback(response,accessedViaPopup);
});
}
//handles respone from fb login call
function fb_login_callback(response, accessedViaPopup) {
//do stuff
}
Wrap the 'child' function(s) being passed as/with arguments within function wrappers to prevent them being evaluated when the 'parent' function is called.
function outcome(){
return false;
}
function process(callbackSuccess, callbackFailure){
if ( outcome() )
callbackSuccess();
else
callbackFailure();
}
process(function(){alert("OKAY");},function(){alert("OOPS");})
Code from a question with any number of parameters and a callback context:
function SomeFunction(name) {
this.name = name;
}
function tryMe(param1, param2) {
console.log(this.name + ": " + param1 + " and " + param2);
}
function tryMeMore(param1, param2, param3) {
console.log(this.name + ": " + param1 + " and " + param2 + " and even " + param3);
}
function callbackTester(callback, callbackContext) {
callback.apply(callbackContext, Array.prototype.splice.call(arguments, 2));
}
callbackTester(tryMe, new SomeFunction("context1"), "hello", "goodbye");
callbackTester(tryMeMore, new SomeFunction("context2"), "hello", "goodbye", "hasta la vista");
// context1: hello and goodbye
// context2: hello and goodbye and even hasta la vista
Use curried function as in this simple example.
const BTN = document.querySelector('button')
const RES = document.querySelector('p')
const changeText = newText => () => {
RES.textContent = newText
}
BTN.addEventListener('click', changeText('Clicked!'))
<button>ClickMe</button>
<p>Not clicked<p>
Faced this recently, to get it(especially if the parent function has multiple arguments doing different stuffs not related to the callback , is to have the callback placed with its argument in an arrow function passed as an argument.
function tryMe(param1, param2) {
alert(param1 + " and " + param2);
}
function callbackTester(callback, someArg, AnotherArg) {
callback();
}
callbackTester(()=> tryMe("hello", "goodbye"), "someArg", "AnotherArg");
...or simply if you dont have multiple arguments doing other stuff.
function tryMe(param1, param2) {
alert(param1 + " and " + param2);
}
function callbackTester(callback) {
callback();
}
callbackTester(()=> tryMe("hello", "goodbye"));
A new version for the scenario where the callback will be called by some other function, not your own code, and you want to add additional parameters.
For example, let's pretend that you have a lot of nested calls with success and error callbacks. I will use angular promises for this example but any javascript code with callbacks would be the same for the purpose.
someObject.doSomething(param1, function(result1) {
console.log("Got result from doSomething: " + result1);
result.doSomethingElse(param2, function(result2) {
console.log("Got result from doSomethingElse: " + result2);
}, function(error2) {
console.log("Got error from doSomethingElse: " + error2);
});
}, function(error1) {
console.log("Got error from doSomething: " + error1);
});
Now you may want to unclutter your code by defining a function to log errors, keeping the origin of the error for debugging purposes. This is how you would proceed to refactor your code:
someObject.doSomething(param1, function (result1) {
console.log("Got result from doSomething: " + result1);
result.doSomethingElse(param2, function (result2) {
console.log("Got result from doSomethingElse: " + result2);
}, handleError.bind(null, "doSomethingElse"));
}, handleError.bind(null, "doSomething"));
/*
* Log errors, capturing the error of a callback and prepending an id
*/
var handleError = function (id, error) {
var id = id || "";
console.log("Got error from " + id + ": " + error);
};
The calling function will still add the error parameter after your callback function parameters.
Let me give you a very plain Node.js style example of using a callback:
/**
* Function expects these arguments:
* 2 numbers and a callback function(err, result)
*/
var myTest = function(arg1, arg2, callback) {
if (typeof arg1 !== "number") {
return callback('Arg 1 is not a number!', null); // Args: 1)Error, 2)No result
}
if (typeof arg2 !== "number") {
return callback('Arg 2 is not a number!', null); // Args: 1)Error, 2)No result
}
if (arg1 === arg2) {
// Do somethign complex here..
callback(null, 'Actions ended, arg1 was equal to arg2'); // Args: 1)No error, 2)Result
} else if (arg1 > arg2) {
// Do somethign complex here..
callback(null, 'Actions ended, arg1 was > from arg2'); // Args: 1)No error, 2)Result
} else {
// Do somethign else complex here..
callback(null, 'Actions ended, arg1 was < from arg2'); // Args: 1)No error, 2)Result
}
};
/**
* Call it this way:
* Third argument is an anonymous function with 2 args for error and result
*/
myTest(3, 6, function(err, result) {
var resultElement = document.getElementById("my_result");
if (err) {
resultElement.innerHTML = 'Error! ' + err;
resultElement.style.color = "red";
//throw err; // if you want
} else {
resultElement.innerHTML = 'Result: ' + result;
resultElement.style.color = "green";
}
});
and the HTML that will render the result:
<div id="my_result">
Result will come here!
</div>
You can play with it here: https://jsfiddle.net/q8gnvcts/ - for example try to pass string instead of number: myTest('some string', 6, function(err, result).. and see the result.
I hope this example helps because it represents the very basic idea of callback functions.
function tryMe(param1, param2) {
console.log(param1 + " and " + param2);
}
function tryMe2(param1) {
console.log(param1);
}
function callbackTester(callback, ...params) {
callback(...params);
}
callbackTester(tryMe, "hello", "goodbye");
callbackTester(tryMe2, "hello");
read more about the spread syntax
I'm trying to pass some parameter to a function used as callback, how can I do that?
I think he is implying that he wants to call the function this callbackTester(tryMe, "hello", "goodbye"). To do this we can use the Rest Operator (...). This operator takes the arguments that a function receives and dumps them into a real array that we will use to access in our callback function.
Now, some other developers might also argue that we could use the arguments "array". That will be fine, but we should be careful with it. arguments is not a real array but an array-like object with a length property.
Here is a working snippet using the Rest Operator:
function tryMe(params) {
console.log(params.join(', '));
}
function callbackTester(callback, ...params) {
callback(params);
}
callbackTester(tryMe, 'hello', 'goodbye', 'hi again');
callbackTester(tryMe, 'hello', 'goodbye');
callbackTester(tryMe, 'hello');
Just use the bind() function which is primarily used to set the this value. However, we can also use it to pass parameters without calling the function due to bind() returning a new function with the sequence of arguments provided.
Example:
function foo(param1, param2, param3) {
console.log(param1, param2, param3);
}
setTimeout(foo.bind(null, 'foo', 'bar', 'baz'), 1000);
In the snippet above, the setTimeout function takes 2 arguments, the callback function and a minimum time in ms for the function to be called, so when passing the callback function we're going to use bind and specify the parameters
Note: The first parameter of bind is the value that we want to set for this, and because we're not interested on that, null was passed, the subsequent parameters in bind are going to be the parameters for the callback.
I was looking for the same thing and end up with the solution and here it's a simple example if anybody wants to go through this.
var FA = function(data){
console.log("IN A:"+data)
FC(data,"LastName");
};
var FC = function(data,d2){
console.log("IN C:"+data,d2)
};
var FB = function(data){
console.log("IN B:"+data);
FA(data)
};
FB('FirstName')
Also posted on the other question here
//Suppose function not taking any parameter means just add the GetAlterConfirmation(function(result) {});
GetAlterConfirmation('test','messageText',function(result) {
alert(result);
}); //Function into document load or any other click event.
function GetAlterConfirmation(titleText, messageText, _callback){
bootbox.confirm({
title: titleText,
message: messageText,
buttons: {
cancel: {
label: '<i class="fa fa-times"></i> Cancel'
},
confirm: {
label: '<i class="fa fa-check"></i> Confirm'
}
},
callback: function (result) {
return _callback(result);
}
});