Class methods as event handlers in JavaScript?
Is there a best-practice or common way in JavaScript to have class members as event handlers?
Consider the following simple example:
<head>
<script language="javascript" type="text/javascript">
ClickCounter = function(buttonId) {
this._clickCount = 0;
document.getElementById(buttonId).onclick = this.buttonClicked;
}
ClickCounter.prototype = {
buttonClicked: function() {
this._clickCount++;
alert('the button was clicked ' + this._clickCount + ' times');
}
}
</script>
</head>
<body>
<input type="button" id="btn1" value="Click me" />
<script language="javascript" type="text/javascript">
var btn1counter = new ClickCounter('btn1');
</script>
</body>
The event handler buttonClicked gets called, but the _clickCount member is inaccessible, or this points to some other object.
Any good tips/articles/resources about this kind of problems?
ClickCounter = function(buttonId) {
this._clickCount = 0;
var that = this;
document.getElementById(buttonId).onclick = function(){ that.buttonClicked() };
}
ClickCounter.prototype = {
buttonClicked: function() {
this._clickCount++;
alert('the button was clicked ' + this._clickCount + ' times');
}
}
EDIT almost 10 years later, with ES6, arrow functions and class properties
class ClickCounter {
count = 0;
constructor( buttonId ){
document.getElementById(buttonId)
.addEventListener( "click", this.buttonClicked );
}
buttonClicked = e => {
this.count += 1;
console.log(`clicked ${this.count} times`);
}
}
https://codepen.io/anon/pen/zaYvqq
I don't know why Function.prototype.bind
wasn't mentioned here yet. So I'll just leave this here ;)
ClickCounter = function(buttonId) {
this._clickCount = 0;
document.getElementById(buttonId).onclick = this.buttonClicked.bind(this);
}
ClickCounter.prototype = {
buttonClicked: function() {
this._clickCount++;
alert('the button was clicked ' + this._clickCount + ' times');
}
}
A function attached directly to the onclick property will have the execution context's this
property pointing at the element.
When you need to an element event to run against a specific instance of an object (a la a delegate in .NET) then you'll need a closure:-
function MyClass() {this.count = 0;}
MyClass.prototype.onclickHandler = function(target)
{
// use target when you need values from the object that had the handler attached
this.count++;
}
MyClass.prototype.attachOnclick = function(elem)
{
var self = this;
elem.onclick = function() {self.onclickHandler(this); }
elem = null; //prevents memleak
}
var o = new MyClass();
o.attachOnclick(document.getElementById('divThing'))