Question

Possible Duplicate:
Javascript dynamic variable name

A very basic question. I want to create a new javascript global variable each time a function is called. The variable should contain the id of the element so that I can easily access it later.

id = 2347

//this function would be called multiple times, hopefully generating a new global each time
function (id)
{
var + id = something
// I want a variable that would be named var2347 that equals something, but the above line doesn't get it.
}

In a later function, I want to access the variable like so:

function two (id)
{
alert(var + id);
}

I’m sure I’m going to have a “doh!” moment when someone is kind enough to answer this.

Answer 1

How about…

var store = (function() {
    var map = {};

    return {
        set: function ( name, value ) {
            map[ name ] = value;
        },
        get: function ( name ) {
            return map[ name ];
        }
    };
})();

Usage:

store.set( 123, 'some value' );

and then…

store.get( 123 ) // 'some value'
store.get( 456 ) // undefined

Live demo: http://jsfiddle.net/jZfft/

Programmers are highly advised to not declare global variables, since the browsers already ship with several hundreds of names in the global namespace. Using the global namespace for your own variables can lead to name-collisions which can then break the program or some of the browser’s functionality. Creating new namespaces is free, so don’t be shy to do it…