Question

In the message object below, if I call it like this:

var message_object = new Message( response_element );
message_object.display( 'empty' );

is the messages array created for each call to new Message()…if so how can I ensure there is only one messages array, as that is all I need?

var Message = function( element )
{
    var messages =  
    {
        name:         'Please enter a valid name',
        email:        'Please enter a valid email',
        pass:         'Please enter passoword, 6-40 characters',
        url:          'Please enter a valid url',
        title:        'Please enter a valid title',
        tweet:        'Please enter a valid tweet',
        empty:        'Please complete all fields',
        email_s:      'Please enter a valid email.',
        same:         'Please make emails equal',
        taken:        'Sorry, that email is taken',
        validate:     'Please contact <a class="d" href="mailto:[e-mail]">support</a> to reset your password',
    }
    this.display = function( type ) 
    {
        element.innerHTML = messages[ type ];
        new Effects().fade( element, 'down', 4000 );
    }
};

Answer 1

Yes, that entire function would be executed each time, and the messages object AND the function would be redefined each time.

What you probably want to do is wrap it in a closure, and make use of Javascript’s prototypical inheritance

var Message = (function () {
    var messages = {
        name:         'Please enter a valid name',
        email:        'Please enter a valid email',
        pass:         'Please enter passoword, 6-40 characters',
        url:          'Please enter a valid url',
        title:        'Please enter a valid title',
        tweet:        'Please enter a valid tweet',
        empty:        'Please complete all fields',
        email_s:      'Please enter a valid email.',
        same:         'Please make emails equal',
        taken:        'Sorry, that email is taken',
        validate:     'Please contact <a class="d" href="mailto:[e-mail]">support</a> to reset your password',
    };
    var Message = function (element) {
        this.element = element;
    };

    Message.prototype.display = function( type ) {
        this.element.innerHTML = messages[ type ];
        new Effects().fade( this.element, 'down', 4000 );
    };
    return Message;
}());

This keeps the messages object private to the ‘class’.