Question

104

Use JavaScript variable as function name?

rated 0 times [ 106] [ 2] / answers: 1 / hits: 20760 / 14 Years ago, wed, september 1, 2010, 12:00:00

I have the following code in Javascript:

jQuery(document).ready(function(){

    var actions = new Object();

    var actions;

    actions[0] = 'create';

    actions[1] = 'update';

    for (key in actions) {

        // Dialogs

        var actions[key]+Dialog = function(){

            $('#'+actions[key]+'dialog').dialog('destroy');

            $('#'+actions[key]+'dialog').dialog({

                resizable: false,

                height:600,

                width:400,

                modal: true,

                buttons: {

                    Cancel: function() {

                        $(this).dialog('close');

                    }

                }

            });

        };

    }

});

I want to create 2 functions in loop(createDialog and updateDialog). How can i do this? In PHP there is very simple $$var. But how make variable variable in JS I don't know.

Thank you

Answers

Only authorized users can answer the question. Please sign in first, or register a free account.

monetm

Add To Favorites

Follow

Total Points: 615

Total Questions: 103

Total Answers: 119

Location: Finland

Member since Fri, Oct 21, 2022

2 Years ago

monetm questions

1 How to protect API routes in Next.js?

Fri, Feb 26, 21, 00:00, 3 Years ago

1 React props for passing color

Wed, Sep 9, 20, 00:00, 4 Years ago

1 How to catch the error when making fetch api request?

Sun, Jul 26, 20, 00:00, 4 Years ago

1 How to stop propagation on Link elements from React-Router-Dom?

Thu, Jul 2, 20, 00:00, 4 Years ago

1 Wait for an xpath in Puppeteer

Thu, Jun 11, 20, 00:00, 4 Years ago

View All

answered 14 Years ago lelasamiraa · Accepted Answer

Like this:

actions[key + Dialog] = function () { ... };

However, since Javascript functions capture variables by reference, your code will not work as intended.

You need to define the inner function inside of a separate function so that each one gets a separate key variable (or parameter).

For example:

var actionNames = [ 'create', 'update' ];   //This creates an array with two items

var Dialog = { };    //This creates an empty object



for (var i = 0; i < actionNames.length; i++) {

    Dialog[actionNames[i]] = createAction(actionNames[i]);

}



function createAction(key) {

    return function() { ... };

}

You can use it like this:

Dialog.create(...);

EDIT

You are trying to pollute the global namespace with multiple dialog-related functions.

This is a bad idea; it's better to organize your functions into namespace.

If you really want to polute the global namespace, you can do it like this:

var actionNames = [ 'create', 'update' ];   //This creates an array with two items



for (var i = 0; i < actionNames.length; i++) {

    this[actionNames[i] + 'Dialog'] = createAction(actionNames[i]);

}

This will create to global functions called createDialog and updateDialog.

In a normal function call, the this keyword refers to the global namespace (typically the window object).