Question

I am animating 3 points recursively. I would like to stop recursion after clicking #myElement.

Here is my code:

    $(document).ready(function(){       
        var positions = {
            'pos1': {"X": $('#point_1').css('left'), "Y": $('#point_1').css('top')},
            'pos2': {"X": $('#point_2').css('left'), "Y": $('#point_2').css('top')},
            'pos3': {"X": $('#point_3').css('left'), "Y": $('#point_3').css('top')},
        };

        animate3Points(positions);
    }); 

    function animate3Points(p) {
        animatePoints('#point_3', p, p.pos1);
        animatePoints('#point_2', p, p.pos2);
        animatePoints('#point_1', p, p.pos3);
    }

    function animatePoints(selector, p, pos) {
        $(selector).animate({
            'left': pos.X , 
            'top':  pos.Y
        }, 2000, 'easeInOutQuad', function() {

            // while #myElement has not been clicked,
            // call again animate3points for recursivity :

            if (selector == '#point_1') { // just to be recalled one time
                p2 = changePosition(p);
                animate3Points(p2);
            }

            // end while

        });
    }

    function changePosition(obj) {
        firstEl = obj.pos1;
        obj.pos1 = obj.pos2;
        obj.pos2 = obj.pos3;
        obj.pos3 = firstEl;

        return obj;
    }   

Animation works but need maybe to be implemented in another way to stop recursion.

An idea ?

Answer 1

You should make use of a global variable instantiated outside your function and use it as the logical conditional for when the recursive calls should stop. For instance:

var keepAnimating = true;

function animate3Points(p) {
    if(keepAnimating) {
        animatePoints('#point_3', p, p.pos1);
        animatePoints('#point_2', p, p.pos2);
        animatePoints('#point_1', p, p.pos3);
    }
}

On your click event, you need to set keepAnimating = false;. This will stop the recursion, but you may also need to stop the animation.

However, infinite recursion is a really bad idea. You will cause the browser to use a lot of memory. You should optimize your code to use loops instead of recursion.