Can I copy/clone a function in JavaScript? - javascript

I'm using jQuery with the validators plugin. I would like to replace the "required" validator with one of my own. This is easy:
jQuery.validator.addMethod("required", function(value, element, param) {
return myRequired(value, element, param);
}, jQuery.validator.messages.required);
So far, so good. This works just fine. But what I really want to do is call my function in some cases, and the default validator for the rest. Unfortunately, this turns out to be recursive:
jQuery.validator.addMethod("required", function(value, element, param) {
// handle comboboxes with empty guids
if (someTest(element)) {
return myRequired(value, element, param);
}
return jQuery.validator.methods.required(value, element, param);
}, jQuery.validator.messages.required);
I looked at the source code for the validators, and the default implementation of "required" is defined as an anonymous method at jQuery.validator.messages.required. So there is no other (non-anonymous) reference to the function that I can use.
Storing a reference to the function externally before calling addMethod and calling the default validator via that reference makes no difference.
What I really need to do is to be able to copy the default required validator function by value instead of by reference. But after quite a bit of searching, I can't figure out how to do that. Is it possible?
If it's impossible, then I can copy the source for the original function. But that creates a maintenance problem, and I would rather not do that unless there is no "better way."

Storing a reference to the function
externally before calling addMethod
and calling the default validator via
that reference makes no difference.
That's exactly what should work.
jQuery.validator.methods.oldRequired = jQuery.validator.methods.required;
jQuery.validator.addMethod("required", function(value, element, param) {
// handle comboboxes with empty guids
if (someTest(element)) {
return myRequired(value, element, param);
}
return jQuery.validator.methods.oldRequired(value, element, param);
}, jQuery.validator.messages.required);
This should work too: (And the problem with this is solved)
var oldRequired = jQuery.validator.methods.required;
jQuery.validator.addMethod("required", function(value, element, param) {
// handle comboboxes with empty guids
if (someTest(element)) {
return myRequired(value, element, param);
}
return oldRequired.call(this, value, element, param);
// return jQuery.oldRequired.apply(this, arguments);
}, jQuery.validator.messages.required);

Function.prototype.clone = function() {
var fct = this;
var clone = function() {
return fct.apply(this, arguments);
};
clone.prototype = fct.prototype;
for (property in fct) {
if (fct.hasOwnProperty(property) && property !== 'prototype') {
clone[property] = fct[property];
}
}
return clone;
};
The only bad thing with that is that the prototype isn't cloned so you can't really change it...
I'm working on a way to clone any type of objects and I just have RegExp left to do.
So I'll probably edit tomorrow and put the entire code (which is kind of long and isn't optimised if you only use it for functions and objects.
And to comment other answers, using eval() is totaly stupid and is way too long and the Function constructor is kind of the same. Literrals are much better.
And including JQuery just for that, moreover if it doesn't work properly (and I don't think it does) isn't the brightest thing you can do.

Here is an updated answer
var newFunc = oldFunc.bind({}); //clones the function with '{}' acting as it's new 'this' parameter
However .bind is a new feature of JavaScript there is however a workaround from Mdn
https://developer.mozilla.org/en/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Function/bind
Additionally it does not clone the function additional properties.
Note: As #gsnedder pointed out : the bound statement, "this" argument u supplied (blank {} above). Will persist for any future calls of the function, regardless of over-riding via the apply()/call() functions.
This can be used both to your advantage, or disadvantage depending on how you deal with it.

I think you're just missing a bit of scoping. Try this:
jQuery.validator.methods._required = jQuery.validator.methods.required;
jQuery.validator.addMethod("required", function(value, element, param) {
// handle comboboxes with empty guids
if (someTest(element)) {
return myRequired(value, element, param);
}
return jQuery.validator.methods._required.call(this, value, element, param);
}, jQuery.validator.messages.required);

(this should only be a comment for Can I copy/clone a function in JavaScript? ... unfortunately with rep < 50 can only post)
Function.prototype.clone=function(){
return eval( '('+this.toString()+')' );
}
suffices, or even
Object.prototype.clone=function(){
return eval( '('+this.toString()+')' );
}
thoughts on efficiency:
human efficiency is far more important than squandering human
resources to optimize or improve a machine's "life"
computers and automated systems are supposed to reduce human effort
not increase it
computational overhead must severely impact a result's palatability
for human consumption, by many many people, to justify investing
effort in optimizing code that often becomes more obscure, arcane and
so esoteric that it can no longer be understood by a stable of
programmers after hours of trying to "comprehend" the logic
on cloning: this question can be quite rhetorical
what does it mean to "clone" a javascript object? especially in the context of recursive function theory
a common theme to rationalize cloning is that it isolates and "protects" an originator from its doppelgänger changes
if a = new Object(); b = new Object(); are a and b clones? how about o = Object; a = new o(); b = new o();
is it really required?
where does cloning stop? are the prototypical attributes to be
isolated also so a cloned object's change of these does not affect
instances not associated with the cloned object? in which case
cloning must go all the way up the prototypical chain to the
primitive constructors which themselves would need to be somehow
cloned and isolated (one trick in a browser is to open a new window and repopulate it with the caveat that opener . etc. can still leak cross-effects)

if you want to clone a function , try this :
Function.prototype.clone=function(){
return eval('['+this.toString()+']')[0];
}

Sounds like there's no 'better way'. I guess you could try making a custom required function for your own eg:
jQuery.validator.addMethod("customRequired", function(value, element, param) {
return myRequired(value, element, param);
}, jQuery.validator.messages.required);
Sounds like you've already tried everything else. Apologies if I misunderstood the question.

Answering the previous post, when I need to share a constructor function, while keeping distinct prototype, I use a wrapper in a new Function :
`
init_from_arg_obj = function () {
return new Function('init', 'for (var i in init) this[i] = init[i];');
};
constructor_A = init_from_arg_obj();
constructor_A.prototype = {a: 'A'};
constructor_B = init_from_arg_obj();
constructor_B.prototype = {b: 'B'};
`
I run several tests to verify that this does not slow execution on good JS engines.

Related

In which way can i pass through a method call in JavaScript class

Assume we have some classes A and B:
Class A {
constructor(a) {
this.a = a;
};
showInfo() {
console.log(this.a)
};
};
Class B {
constructor(b) {
this.b = b;
};
printText() {
console.log('its B!');
};
};
Then we create an instance of B like this:
const objB = new B(
new A(3)
);
So now we have objB with its own method inside - printText, and we surely can call it.
But what if i want somehow when calling not existing method in objB to make it pass through to encapsulated A class in there and look for invoking this method on him, like this: objB.showInfo() - to give me 3 here ?
Same story, but at this time i want when calling not existing method on A to make it pass through to B outside (like that printText)?
P.S. Don't wanna use super() and inheritance, just composition and wrapping objects, hope you've got the point.
Just a little warning at the start: this might make your program harder to debug, and it also might be a little complicated for something like this. As others have suggested, you should probably investigate other options which may be simpler and also less in the way of everything else your code does.
Here's the code which provides the functionality:
function makeGetProxy(t){
return new Proxy(t, {
get(obj,prop){
if(prop in t){
return t[prop];
}else{
var keys = Object.keys(obj);
for (var i = 0; i < keys.length; i++) {
var val = t[keys[i]];
if(prop in val){
return val[prop];
// what about a recursive function?
}
}
return undefined;
}
}
});
}
And one itty bitty change to your constructor in B:
class B {
constructor(b) {
this.b = b;
return makeGetProxy(this);
};
printText() {
console.log('its B!');
};
};
If you want, you can also do the same to A.
Let's slow down. What just happened? I'll explain.
Since the properties we might request don't already exist, we're going to have to use a getter (see resources) to properly send back the value required. But, since we don't know the property names, we need a Proxy (see resources) to have a "catch-all" kind of get method.
The proxy will check if the property requested prop already exists, and if so, returns it. If it doesn't exist, it checks all of your properties' properties (all of the sub-properties).
The first result it gets, it returns it. This might cause unexpected bugs in your program. If it doesn't find it, it simply returns undefined.
Then, the proxy is generalized into a function for reuse in multiple classes (as you requested).
So, this can get the properties of a class and the properties of a class' properties, but if you need to go further (with your C class that doesn't exist yet), you can use a recursive function. I currently don't have the implementation for that recursive function, but in my head it would comprise mostly of a modified version of the else block in the makeGetProxy function.
Again, be careful with this code. It might get in the way of other things and cause unnecessary difficulty in debugging.
Resources:
Getters (MDN)
Proxy (MDN)
I borrowed some code from this answer and got the Proxy idea from this answer.

Why is my simple, pure JavaScript, shallow clone function not working as I expect?

I need a clone function for JavaScript literal objects, which doesn't even needs to clone recursively for now. The function needs to be pure JavaScript no libraries could be used. I've done some research and as some of the most simplified answers to this question suggests, all I need in this case is "for in" loop with hasOwnProperty check. The problem is that the supposedly copied object is behaving as if I've copied the references to the original properties in the new object. That is not my goal. The clone function in a way that any change of the source object does not affect the destination object and vice versa.
Here is the code:
...
function clone(from,to){
for (var key in from){
if(from.hasOwnProperty(key)){
to[key]=from[key];
}
}
return to;
}
...
var newComponent = clone(component,{});
var defaultComponentDrawParams = clone(component.drawParams,{});
if(params.type==="button"){
console.info('new component');
component.drawParams.subType="chinga chunga";
console.info(defaultComponentDrawParams.subType);
console.info(newComponent.drawParams.subType);
}
And the console displays:
new component
saveFile
chinga chunga
If I've understood correctly both outputs after "new component" should be "undefined" because my goal is when changing component.drawParams to not change newComponent.drawParams.
Please tell me what am I missing.
My guess is that you've got multiple components one of them being a "saveFile" component. And the problem is that your clone isn't cloning the objects/arrays, it's simply creating references to them. So when you update one component, all components that have a reference to those same objects are also getting updated.
Below is an example of the type of detection you may need to add in. However this may not be an absolutely complete answer that catches all scenarios.
function clone(from,to){
for (var key in from){
if(from.hasOwnProperty(key)){
var val = from[key];
if(typeof val === 'object') {
to[key] = clone(from[key], {});
} else {
to[key] = from[key];
}
}
}
return to;
}
I hesitate to suggest this but another option would be to use a javascript library such as Underscore.js: http://underscorejs.org/
It's extremely lightweight (5kb, not nearly as big as jQuery) and has a lot of these types of things figured out for you.

How to detect when a property is added to a JavaScript object?

var obj = {};
obj.a = 1; // fire event, property "a" added
This question is different from this one, where ways to detect when an already declared property is changed, being discussed.
this is possible, technically, but since all current JS implementations that I know of are single threaded it won't be very elegant. The only thing I can think of is a brute force interval:
var checkObj = (function(watchObj)
{
var initialMap = {},allProps = [],prop;
for (prop in watchObj)
{
if (watchObj.hasOwnProperty(prop))
{//make tracer object: basically clone it
initialMap[prop] = watchObj[prop];
allProps.push(prop);//keep an array mapper
}
}
return function()
{
var currentProps = [];
for (prop in watchObj)
{
if (watchObj.hasOwnProperty(prop))
{//iterate the object again, compare
if (watchObj[prop] !== initialMap[prop])
{//type andvalue check!
console.log(initialMap[prop] + ' => ' watchObj[prop]);
//diff found, deal with it whichever way you see fit
}
currentProps.push(prop);
}
}
//we're not done yet!
if (currentProps.length < allProps.length)
{
console.log('some prop was deleted');
//loop through arrays to find out which one
}
};
})(someObjectToTrack);
var watchInterval = setInterval(checkObj,100);//check every .1 seconds?
That allows you to track an object to some extent, but again, it's quite a lot of work to do this 10/sec. Who knows, maybe the object changes several times in between the intervals, too.All in all, I feel as though this is a less-then-ideal approach... perhaps it would be easier to compare the string constants of the JSON.stringify'ed object, but that does mean missing out on functions, and (though I filtered them out in this example) prototype properties.
I have considered doing something similar at one point, but ended up just using my event handlers that changed the object in question to check for any changes.
Alternatively, you could also try creating a DOMElement, and attach an onchange listener to that... sadly, again, functions/methods might prove tricky to track, but at least it won't slow your script down as much as the code above will.
You could count the properties on the object and see if has changed from when you last checked:
How to efficiently count the number of keys/properties of an object in JavaScript?
this is a crude workaround, to use in case you can't find a proper support for the feature in the language.
If performance matters and you are in control of the code that changes the objects, create a control class that modifies your objects for you, e.g.
var myObj = new ObjectController({});
myObj.set('field', {});
myObj.set('field.arr', [{hello: true}]);
myObj.set('field.arr.0.hello', false);
var obj = myObj.get('field'); // obj === {field: {arr: [{hello: false}]}}
In your set() method, you now have the ability to see where every change occurs in a pretty high-performance fashion, compared with setting an interval and doing regular scans to check for changes.
I do something similar but highly optimised in ForerunnerDB. When you do CRUD operations on the database, change events are fired for specific field paths, allowing data-bound views to be updated when their underlying data changes.

javascript: Only return if not false

Scenario: I'm searching for a specific object in a deep object. I'm using a recursive function that goes through the children and asks them if I'm searching for them or if I'm searching for their children or grandchildren and so on. When found, the found obj will be returned, else false. Basically this:
obj.find = function (match_id) {
if (this.id == match_id) return this;
for (var i = 0; i < this.length; i++) {
var result = this[i].find(match_id);
if (result !== false) return result;
};
return false;
}​
i'm wondering, is there something simpler than this?:
var result = this[i].find(match_id);
if (result) return result;
It annoys me to store the result in a variable (on each level!), i just want to check if it's not false and return the result. I also considered the following, but dislike it even more for obvious reasons.
if (this[i].find(match_id)) return this[i].find(match_id);
Btw I'm also wondering, is this approach even "recursive"? it isn't really calling itself that much...
Thank you very much.
[edit]
There is another possibility by using another function check_find (which just returns only true if found) in the if statement. In some really complicated cases (e.g. where you don't just find the object, but also alter it) this might be the best approach. Or am I wrong? D:
Although the solution you have is probably "best" as far as search algorithms go, and I wouldn't necessarily suggest changing it (or I would change it to use a map instead of an algorithm), the question is interesting to me, especially relating to the functional properties of the JavaScript language, and I would like to provide some thoughts.
Method 1
The following should work without having to explicitly declare variables within a function, although they are used as function arguments instead. It's also quite succinct, although a little terse.
var map = Function.prototype.call.bind(Array.prototype.map);
obj.find = function find(match_id) {
return this.id == match_id ? this : map(this, function(u) {
return find.call(u, match_id);
}).filter(function(u) { return u; })[0];
};​
How it works:
We test to see if this.id == match_id, if so, return this.
We use map (via Array.prototype.map) to convert this to an array of "found items", which are found using the recursive call to the find method. (Supposedly, one of these recursive calls will return our answer. The ones which don't result in an answer will return undefined.)
We filter the "found items" array so that any undefined results in the array are removed.
We return the first item in the array, and call it quits.
If there is no first item in the array, undefined will be returned.
Method 2
Another attempt to solve this problem could look like this:
var concat = Function.prototype.call.bind(Array.prototype.concat),
map = Function.prototype.call.bind(Array.prototype.map);
obj.find = function find(match_id) {
return (function buildObjArray(o) {
return concat([ o ], map(o, buildObjArray));
})(this).filter(function(u) { return u.id == match_id })[0];
};
How it works:
buildObjArray builds a single, big, 1-dimensional array containing obj and all of obj's children.
Then we filter based on the criteria that an object in the array must have an id of match_id.
We return the first match.
Both Method 1 and Method 2, while interesting, have the performance disadvantage that they will continue to search even after they've found a matching id. They don't realize they have what they need until the end of the search, and this is not very efficient.
Method 3
It is certainly possible to improve the efficiency, and now I think this one really gets close to what you were interested in.
var forEach = Function.prototype.call.bind(Array.prototype.forEach);
obj.find = function(match_id) {
try {
(function find(obj) {
if(obj.id == match_id) throw this;
forEach(obj, find);
})(obj);
} catch(found) {
return found;
}
};​
How it works:
We wrap the whole find function in a try/catch block so that once an item is found, we can throw and stop execution.
We create an internal find function (IIFE) inside the try which we reference to make recursive calls.
If this.id == match_id, we throw this, stopping our search algorithm.
If it doesn't match, we recursively call find on each child.
If it did match, the throw is caught by our catch block, and the found object is returned.
Since this algorithm is able to stop execution once the object is found, it would be close in performance to yours, although it still has the overhead of the try/catch block (which on old browsers can be expensive) and forEach is slower than a typical for loop. Still these are very small performance losses.
Method 4
Finally, although this method does not fit the confines of your request, it is much, much better performance if possible in your application, and something to think about. We rely on a map of ids which maps to objects. It would look something like this:
// Declare a map object.
var map = { };
// ...
// Whenever you add a child to an object...
obj[0] = new MyObject();
// .. also store it in the map.
map[obj[0].id] = obj[0];
// ...
// Whenever you want to find the object with a specific id, refer to the map:
console.log(map[match_id]); // <- This is the "found" object.
This way, no find method is needed at all!
The performance gains in your application by using this method will be HUGE. Please seriously consider it, if at all possible.
However, be careful to remove the object from the map whenever you will no longer be referencing that object.
delete map[obj.id];
This is necessary to prevent memory leaks.
No there is no other clear way, storing the result in a variable isn't that much trouble, actually this is what variables are used for.
Yes, that approach is recursive:
you have the base case if (this.id==match_id) return this
you have the recursive step which call itself obj.find(match_id) { ... var result = this[i].find(match_id); }
I don't see any reason, why storing the variable would be bad. It's not a copy, but a reference, so it's efficient. Plus the temporary variable is the only way, that I can see right now (I may be wrong, though).
With that in mind, I don't think, that a method check_find would make very much sense (it's most probably basically the same implementation), so if you really need this check_find method, I'd implement it as
return this.find(match_id) !== false;
Whether the method is recursive is hard to say.
Basically, I'd say yes, as the implementations of 'find' are all the same for every object, so it's pretty much the same as
function find(obj, match_id) {
if (obj.id == match_id) return obj;
for (var i = 0; i < obj.length; ++i) {
var result = find(obj[i], match_id);
if (result !== false) return result;
}
}
which is definitely recursive (the function calls itself).
However, if you'd do
onesingleobjectinmydeepobject.find = function(x) { return this; }
I'm not quite sure, if you still would call this recursive.

Get name of prototype object

This question just got upvoted so can update question with what I did
I solved it by iterating over the window object (or user specified object root) and when I found the correct instance I backtracked and got the name from the index. The final solution can be found here
https://github.com/AndersMalmgren/Knockout.BindingConventions
Update end
I'm planning on writing a convention over configuration template source engine for KnockoutJS / MVC.
I'm started with a little client side POC and ran into a show stopper right away
My plan is use this syntax or something similar
MyApp.EditCustomersViewModel = function() {
ko.templates.loadView(this);
};
When doing this it will check the tamplate cache or fetch the templates from server using the object name as key.
The problem is I cant get the name of the prototype object, i tried this
Object.prototype.getName = function() {
var funcNameRegex = /function (.{1,})\(/;
var results = (funcNameRegex).exec((this).constructor.toString());
return (results && results.length > 1) ? results[1] : "";
};
If works for objects defined like this
function MyClass() {
}
If you add a prototype to the above object it will not work, or if you define it like this
MyApp = {};
MyApp.MyClass = function() {
};
Prototype and scoping is two musts so this is a showstopper, any ideas?
Fiddle: http://jsfiddle.net/aRWLA/
edit: The background for this is like this.
On the server you have structure like this
Templates\ [ViewName]\index.html
Templates\ [ViewName]\sub-model-template.html
on the client you will do
MyApp.EditCustomersViewModel = function() {
ko.templates.loadView(this);
};
which will generate a ajax request with the objects name as key, which will fetch all the templates for the view in question
Only hoisted functions (function someFunc() {) have a retrievable name.
Assigned functions do not, because you are not technically naming the function but creating an anonymous function and assigning a reference to it (in the memory) to a named variable.
So it's the var, not the function, that is named.
This makes the very idea of retrieving function names pretty much a none-starter, since in any vaguely mature pattern you'll be writing methods, not hoisted functions - and methods of course are assigned functions.
Named expressions (see other answers) are a partial workaround but these have other issues - not least lack of support in older IEs.
(Sidenote: I've long expected browser vendors to build around this such that the names of assigned functions became retrievable, but no joy yet AFAIK.)
I think you problem in improper replacing function prototype: if you replace function prototype object then you must preserve constructor member in prototype:
function Test1() {
}
Test1.prototype={
constructor: Test1
};
MyApp={};
MyApp.MyClass=function MyClass(){
};
MyApp.MyClass.prototype={
constructor: MyApp.MyClass
};
Your example: http://jsfiddle.net/aRWLA/1/
Modified example: http://jsfiddle.net/aRWLA/2/
You can make use of named function expressions:
MyApp.MyClass = function MyClass() { ... };
But note that (suprise) they don't work correctly in all versions of IE.
See: http://kangax.github.com/nfe/
THIS DOES NOT ANSWER THE QUESTION
However, the code might be useful to other people, so I'm leaving it here, just in case. I don't expect upvotes, but please don't abuse it for downvoting either. Thanks.
I don't know your use case, as such I think you've got a design issue - the problem you describe shouldn't happen in practice.
But let's say you do need to have this working. An easy way to do what you need would be something like:
function findNamed(obj, fn){
for(var p in obj)
if(obj[p] === fn)
return p;
return false;
}
var m = {};
m.MyClass = function() {};
console.log(findNamed(m, m.MyClass));
Of course, the solution could be made into a more appropriate OOP form, but this is just to give an idea.
To replicate your use case, it would look like:
m.MyClass = function() {
findNamed(this, arguments.callee);
};
So, the final code is:
Object.prototype.getNameOfCall = function(fn) {
for(var p in this)
if(this[p] === fn)
return p;
throw "Callback not in object.";
};
var m = {};
m.MyClass = function() {
console.log(this.getNameOfCall(arguments.callee)); // MyClass
};
m.MyClass(); // test it out

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