Question

JSFiddle : http://jsfiddle.net/veksen/7TRgE/1/

If I call the variable value from inside my function, it works. However, it doesn’t if I call it outside of the function.

I feel like it has something to do with change, as it is first assigned ok, but won’t change.

var diff_res = { norm:0, nm:-40, hell:-100 };
var difficulty = "hell"; 
$("select").change(function () {
    difficulty = $("select option:selected").val();
    $(".inside").text(diff_res[difficulty]);
})
.change();

var char_fr = 30;
char_fr += diff_res[difficulty];

$(".outside").text(diff_res[difficulty]);

​

Answer 1

UPDATE:

By re-executing, I meant something like this:

$(document).ready(function () {
    'use strict';
    var diff_res = {
            norm: 0,
            nm: -40,
            hell: -100
        },
        difficulty = "hell",
        char_fr = 30,
        changeOutside = function changeOutside() {
            $(".outside").text(diff_res[difficulty]);
        };
    $("select").change(function () {
        difficulty = $("select option:selected").val();
        $(".inside").text(diff_res[difficulty]);
        changeOutside();
    }).change();
    char_fr += diff_res[difficulty];
});

The point was that $(".outside").text(diff_res[difficulty]); is only being executed once, when the DOM is loaded, which is why the text() is initially set to -100. To change the .outside again, you need to re-run $(".outside").text(diff_res[difficulty]);

ORIGINAL:

Your problem is that:

$(".outside").text(diff_res[difficulty]);

is only executed one time, in the $(document).ready() function. If you want it to change more often, you’ll need to re-execute that in your change handler.