Question

Consider a simple JS event of

document.getElementsByClassName('test')[0].onclick=function(){
document.getElementsByClassName('test')[0].innerHTML = 'New Text';
}

How can I extend this code to generally work for all elements with class="test". I mean getting the element clicked and replace its content. In fact, we need to get the node number (provided inside the bracket) from the click event.

I am trying to better understand Javascript in unobtrusive codes, not a practical method like jQuery.

Answer 1

Just iterate over them:

var elements = document.getElementsByClassName('test');

for (var i = 0; i < elements.length; i++) {
    elements[i].addEventListener('click', (function(i) {
        return function() {
            this.innerHTML = 'New Text';
        };
    })(i), false);
}​

I used (function(i) { return function() { ... }; })(i) instead of just function() { ... } because if you happen to use i in the callback, the value of i will be elements.length - 1 by the time you call it. To fix it, you must shadow i and make it essentially pass by value.