Question

I want to do something like this:

$("#container").otherBind("foo-content-loaded", function() {alert("immediate or later!");});

“foo-content-loaded” is a custom event I’m firing only once ever. otherBind is similar to $.ready(), such that the handler fires right away if the event has already been triggered or else it acts like a regular event.

how would otherBind() be defined? Incidently, what’s the cool CS name for this type of binding?

Answer 1

Instead of firing a custom event, use a Deferred:

var deferred = $.Deferred();

// when content loaded, resolve the Deferred:
deferred.resolve();

Elsewhere, you can add as many done() handlers as you like and have them called even if you add them after-the-fact:

deferred.promise().done(function () {
    // content was loaded at some point
});

If you’re loading your content via $.ajax, you should note that $.ajax calls already return a Promise interface (a restricted interface for Deferreds) to which you can attach done() handlers.