Question

I edited the question so it would make more sense.
I have a function that needs a couple arguments – let’s call it fc(). I am passing that function as an argument through other functions (lets call them fa() and fb()). Each of the functions that fc() passes through add an argument to fc(). How do I pass fc() to each function without having to pass fc()‘s arguments separately? Below is how I want it to work.

function fa(fc){
   fc.myvar=something
   fb(fc)
}

function fb(fc){
   fc.myothervar=something
   fc()
}

function fc(){
   doessomething with myvar and myothervar
}

Below is how I do it now. As I add arguments, it’s getting confusing because I have to add them to preceding function(s) as well. fb() and fc() get used elsewhere and I am loosing some flexibility.

function fa(fc){
   myvar=something
   fb(fc,myvar)
}

function fb(fc,myvar){
   myothervar=something
   fc(myvar,myothervar)
}

function fc(myvar,myothervar){
   doessomething with myvar and myothervar
}

Thanks for your help

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Edit 3 – The code

I updated my code using JimmyP’s solution. I’d be interested in Jason Bunting’s non-hack solution. Remember that each of these functions are also called from other functions and events.

From the HTML page

<input type="text" class="right" dynamicSelect="../selectLists/otherchargetype.aspx,null,calcSalesTax"/>

Set event handlers when section is loaded

function setDynamicSelectElements(oSet) {
    /**************************************************************************************
    * Sets the event handlers for inputs with dynamic selects
    **************************************************************************************/
    if (oSet.dynamicSelect) {
        var ySelectArgs = oSet.dynamicSelect.split(',');
        with (oSet) {
            onkeyup = function() { findListItem(this); };
            onclick = function() { selectList(ySelectArgs[0], ySelectArgs[1], ySelectArgs[2]) }
        }
    }
}

onclick event builds list

function selectList(sListName, sQuery, fnFollowing) {
    /**************************************************************************************
    * Build a dynamic select list and set each of the events for the table elements
    **************************************************************************************/
    if (fnFollowing) {
        fnFollowing = eval(fnFollowing)//sent text function name, eval to a function
        configureSelectList.clickEvent = fnFollowing
    }
    var oDiv = setDiv(sListName, sQuery, 'dynamicSelect', configureSelectList); //create the div in the right place
    var oSelected = event.srcElement;
    if (oSelected.value) findListItem(oSelected)//highlight the selected item
}

Create the list

function setDiv(sPageName, sQuery, sClassName, fnBeforeAppend) {
    /**************************************************************************************
    * Creates a div and places a page in it.
    **************************************************************************************/
    var oSelected = event.srcElement;
    var sCursor = oSelected.style.cursor; //remember this for later
    var coords = getElementCoords(oSelected);
    var iBorder = makeNumeric(getStyle(oSelected, 'border-width'))
    var oParent = oSelected.parentNode

    if (!oParent.id) oParent.id = sAutoGenIdPrefix + randomNumber()//create an ID
    var oDiv = document.getElementById(oParent.id + sWindowIdSuffix)//see if the div already exists
    if (!oDiv) {//if not create it and set an id we can use to find it later
        oDiv = document.createElement('DIV')
        oDiv.id = oParent.id + sWindowIdSuffix//give the child an id so we can reference it later    
        oSelected.style.cursor = 'wait'//until the thing is loaded
        oDiv.className = sClassName
        oDiv.style.pixelLeft = coords.x + (iBorder * 2)
        oDiv.style.pixelTop = (coords.y + coords.h + (iBorder * 2))
        XmlHttpPage(sPageName, oDiv, sQuery)
        if (fnBeforeAppend) {
            fnBeforeAppend(oDiv)
        }
        oParent.appendChild(oDiv)
        oSelected.style.cursor = ''//until the thing is loaded//once it's loaded, set the cursor back
        oDiv.style.cursor = ''
    }
    return oDiv;
}

Position and size the list

function configureSelectList(oDiv, fnOnClick) {
    /**************************************************************************************
    * Build a dynamic select list and set each of the events for the table elements
    * Created in one place and moved to another so that sizing based on the cell width can
    * occur without being affected by stylesheet cascades
    **************************************************************************************/
    if(!fnOnClick) fnOnClick=configureSelectList.clickEvent
    if (!oDiv) oDiv = configureSelectList.Container;
    var oTable = getDecendant('TABLE', oDiv)
    document.getElementsByTagName('TABLE')[0].rows[0].cells[0].appendChild(oDiv)//append to the doc so we are style free, then move it later
    if (oTable) {
        for (iRow = 0; iRow < oTable.rows.length; iRow++) {
            var oRow = oTable.rows[iRow]
            oRow.onmouseover = function() { highlightSelection(this) };
            oRow.onmouseout = function() { highlightSelection(this) };
            oRow.style.cursor = 'hand';
            oRow.onclick = function() { closeSelectList(0); fnOnClick ? fnOnClick() : null };
            oRow.cells[0].style.whiteSpace = 'nowrap'
        }
    } else {
        //show some kind of error
    }
    oDiv.style.width = (oTable.offsetWidth + 20) + "px"; //no horiz scroll bars please
    oTable.mouseout = function() { closeSelectList(500) };
    if (oDiv.firstChild.offsetHeight < oDiv.offsetHeight) oDiv.style.height = oDiv.firstChild.offsetHeight//make sure the list is not too big for a few of items
}

Answer 1

Okay, so – where to start? 🙂 Here is the partial function to begin with, you will need this (now and in the future, if you spend a lot of time hacking JavaScript):

function partial(func /*, 0..n args */) {
  var args = Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments, 1);
  return function() {
    var allArguments = args.concat(Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments));
    return func.apply(this, allArguments);
  };
}

I see a lot of things about your code that make me cringe, but since I don’t have time to really critique it, and you didn’t ask for it, I will suggest the following if you want to rid yourself of the hack you are currently using, and a few other things:

The setDynamicSelectElements() function

In this function, you can change this line:

onclick = function() { selectList(ySelectArgs[0], ySelectArgs[1], ySelectArgs[2]) }

To this:

onclick = function() { selectList.apply(null, ySelectArgs); }

The selectList() function

In this function, you can get rid of this code where you are using eval – don’t ever use eval unless you have a good reason to do so, it is very risky (go read up on it):

if (fnFollowing) {
   fnFollowing = eval(fnFollowing)
   configureSelectList.clickEvent = fnFollowing
}

And use this instead:

if(fnFollowing) {
   fnFollowing = window[fnFollowing]; //this will find the function in the global scope
}

Then, change this line:

var oDiv = setDiv(sListName, sQuery, 'dynamicSelect', configureSelectList);

To this:

var oDiv = setDiv(sListName, sQuery, 'dynamicSelect', partial(configureSelectListAlternate, fnFollowing));

Now, in that code I provided, I have “configureSelectListAlternate” – that is a function that is the same as “configureSelectList” but has the parameters in the reverse order – if you can reverse the order of the parameters to “configureSelectList” instead, do that, otherwise here is my version:

function configureSelectListAlternate(fnOnClick, oDiv) {
   configureSelectList(oDiv, fnOnClick);
}

The configureSelectList() function

In this function, you can eliminate this line:

if(!fnOnClick) fnOnClick=configureSelectList.clickEvent

That isn’t needed any longer. Now, I see something I don’t understand:

if (!oDiv) oDiv = configureSelectList.Container;

I didn’t see you hook that Container property on in any of the other code. Unless you need this line, you should be able to get rid of it.

The setDiv() function can stay the same.

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Not too exciting, but you get the idea – your code really could use some cleanup – are you avoiding the use of a library like jQuery or MochiKit for a good reason? It would make your life a lot easier…