Question

I have this:

var myError;

function getNames(user,location){
    myError=null;

    //Make an Ajax Call (this takes some time)
    //On Success do this:
        if(//Some Condition){
            myError=false;
        }else{
            myError=true
        }
}

function first(){
    getNames(user, location);

    if(myError==false){ //MYCONDITION
        //do some custom stuff just for first();
    }else{
        alert("Failed");
    }
}

function second(){
    getNames(user, location);

    if(myError==false){ //MYCONDITION
        //do some custom stuff just for second();
    }else{
        alert("Failed");
    }
}

Now, when I call first() or second() it always gives me alert message “FAILED”. The problem is that //MYCONDITION is being executed before the getNames() function finishes. I want to wait for getNames() to execute before I can check //MYCONDITION.

I cannot set a delay since I don’t know how much time getNames() is going to take. I was thinking about using some jQquery function but I cannot seem to find one.

And, I am trying to keep the getNames() as generic as possible. So, I am thinking of a way to not disturb the getNames().

The last option I see is adding callback() to getNames(). But, this function is being called by other functions too that won’t need callback().

Any thoughts guys?

Thanks.

Answer 1

In jquery, if you don’t like callbacks (which I highly hope you don’t 🙂 ) , you’re in luck my friend. There is a flag in the $.ajax() function that you can use to turn async off for that specific AJAX request. Below is code sample:

http://api.jquery.com/jQuery.ajax/

var x = 1;
jQuery.ajax({
     url:    'http://example.com/catalog/create/',
     success: function(result) {
                x = 59;
              },
     async:   false
});

console.log(x);    //Should print 59 instead of 1