Question

I have a simple string of code. I want to show a default value when the page is loaded where the function numResults() is. At some point I want to update numResults() with a new value and then change the string without reloading the page.

$('#step1').before('Showing results 1 - ' + numResults());

function numResults(value) {
    var results = 10; // default number

    if (value) {
        return value; // show updated value
    } else {
        return results; // show default
    }
}

Answer 1

I think you can utilize a jQuery.Callbacks object for this:

// flags: store latest value, and prevent same callback adding multiple times
var resultNumberChanged = $.Callbacks("memory unique");
resultNumberChanged.fire(10); // init with "default number"

resultNumberChanged.add(function(val) {
    $('#step1').before('Showing results 1 - ' + val); // update each time it changes
}); // will also be fired immediately, as there is the default value already

// then, at any point, e.g. inside the numResult function when there is a parameter
…
    resultNumberChanged.fire(newvalue);