I have a Javascript class that contains a few functions and member objects:

function MyUtils()

{

  // Member Variables (Constructor)

  var x = getComplexData();

  var y = doSomeInitialization();



  // Objects

  this.ParamHash = function()

  {

    // Member variables

    this.length = 0;

    this.items = new Array();



    // Constructor

    for (var i = 0; i < arguments.length; i += 2)

    {

      // Fill the items array.

      this.items[arguments[i]] = arguments[i+1];

      this.length++;

    }

  }



  // Functions

  this.doSomething = function()

  {

    // Do something.

    // Uses the items in the ParamHash object.

    for (var i in this.ParamHash.items)

    {

      // Really do something!

    }



    // Clear the ParamHash object -- How??

  }

}

This is invoked in the following manner:

// First call - works fine.

var utils = new MyUtils();

utils.paramHash = new utils.ParamHash(a, 1, b, 2);

utils.doSomething();



// Don't want to re-initialize.

// utils = new MyUtils();



// Consequent call - crashes [Object doesn't support this action.].

utils.paramHash = new utils.ParamHash(c, 3);

utils.doSomething();

The problem arises from the restriction that I want to reuse the same utils object throughout the code without having to re-initialize it. Also, I want the ParamHash object to be recreated from scratch everytime I call it. However, consequent calls to the ParamHash constructor throw an error Object doesn't support this action. At this stage, I can see that the utils.paramHash object still contains the old values (a, b).

I have tried various ways to clear the ParamHash object such as setting it's items and length to null, popping items from the array. Nothing seemed to work until I used the following way (in the doSomething() function):

this.paramHash.items = new Array();

this.paramHash.length = 0;

This seems wrong because what if I had a lot of member variables... would I have to reset each of them individually?
So, the question is: What is the best way to reset the ParamHash object to the initial state? I'm sure hoping that there is a cleaner/more direct way. Something like :

// Doesn't work! :-(

this.paramHash = new function() {};

EDIT: I'm looking for a cross-browser solution - One that works atleast in IE6+ and FF 2+.

Solution: Thanks to Cristoph, I was able to do it by creating a separate variable/property within MyUtils which only holds the instance of the ParamHash function.

function MyUtils()

{

  // Same ol' stuff.

  var myParamHash;

}



// First call - works fine.

var utils = new MyUtils();

utils.myParamHash = new utils.ParamHash(a, 1, b, 2);

utils.doSomething();



// Consequent call - works fine now.

utils.myParamHash = new utils.ParamHash(c, 3);

utils.doSomething();