Image preloader javascript that supports events

Solution 1:

Here's a function that will preload images from an array and call your callback when the last one has finished:

function preloadImages(srcs, imgs, callback) {
    var img;
    var remaining = srcs.length;
    for (var i = 0; i < srcs.length; i++) {
        img = new Image();
        img.onload = function() {
            --remaining;
            if (remaining <= 0) {
                callback();
            }
        };
        img.src = srcs[i];
        imgs.push(img);
    }
}

// then to call it, you would use this
var imageSrcs = ["src1", "src2", "src3", "src4"];
var images = [];

preloadImages(imageSrcs, images, myFunction);

And since we're now in the age of using promises for asynchronous operations, here's a version of the above that uses promises and notifies the caller via an ES6 standard promise:

function preloadImages(srcs) {
    function loadImage(src) {
        return new Promise(function(resolve, reject) {
            var img = new Image();
            img.onload = function() {
                resolve(img);
            };
            img.onerror = img.onabort = function() {
                reject(src);
            };
            img.src = src;
        });
    }
    var promises = [];
    for (var i = 0; i < srcs.length; i++) {
        promises.push(loadImage(srcs[i]));
    }
    return Promise.all(promises);
}

preloadImages(["src1", "src2", "src3", "src4"]).then(function(imgs) {
    // all images are loaded now and in the array imgs
}, function(errImg) {
    // at least one image failed to load
});

And, here's a version using 2015 jQuery promises:

function preloadImages(srcs) {
    function loadImage(src) {
        return new $.Deferred(function(def) {
            var img = new Image();
            img.onload = function() {
                def.resolve(img);
            };
            img.onerror = img.onabort = function() {
                def.reject(src);
            };
            img.src = src;
        }).promise();
    }
    var promises = [];
    for (var i = 0; i < srcs.length; i++) {
        promises.push(loadImage(srcs[i]));
    }
    return $.when.apply($, promises).then(function() {
        // return results as a simple array rather than as separate arguments
        return Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments);
    });
}

preloadImages(["src1", "src2", "src3", "src4"]).then(function(imgs) {
    // all images are loaded now and in the array imgs
}, function(errImg) {
    // at least one image failed to load
});

Solution 2:

For a more robust solution, consider this PRELOADER function with a couple of callbacks (jsFiddle).

Keeping it simple:

In this example, I'm passing callbacks and an image hash inside an Object literal PRELOADER_OBJECT, then overriding the callbacks inside PRELOADER:

// preloder object stores image hash
// and event handler callbacks
var PRELOADER_OBJECT = {

    imgArray:"http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg http://torwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chewbacca-w-han-solo-anh.jpg".split(" "),

    progressCallback : function( percent )
    {
        $( '#preloader_progress' ).html( 'preload progress complete : ' + percent + '%' );
        console.log( 'preload progress complete : ', percent );
    },

    completeCallback : function( scope )
    {
        // hide preload indicator, do something when finished
        console.log( 'preload complete!' );
        $( '#preloader_modal' ).delay( 1000 ).animate( { opacity : 0 }, function( )
        {
            $( '.preload_class' ).each( function( index )
            {
                $( this ).delay( index * 100 ).animate( { opacity : 0 } );
            } );
        } );
    }

/*Localize params and create PRELOADER object. 
Needs to loadImages( ); iterate through hash and 
call onPreloadProgress( ) and onPreloadComplete( )
each time until finished. If you're still within
bounds of the image hash, call progressCallback( )
recursively. When finished, fire onCompleteCallback( )*/

var PRELOADER = function( object )
{
    // preloader modal overlay
    this.modal = undefined;

    // progress indicator container
    this.progressIndicator = undefined;

    // image preload progress
    this.progress = undefined;

    // progress callback
    this.progressCallback = undefined;

    // complete callback
    this.completeCallback = undefined;

    // hash to store key : value pairs for image paths
    this.imgArray = undefined; 

    // store images in preloadArray
    this.preloadArray = [];

    // initialize and localize our data
    this.initialize = function( )
    {
        // create preload indicator and overlay modal
        this.createPreloaderModal( );

        // image hash
        this.imgArray = object.imgArray;

        // progress callback event handler
        this.progressCallback = object.progressCallback;

        // complete callback event
        this.completeCallback = object.completeCallback;

        // load images
        this.loadImages( );
    };

    this.progressCallback = function( ) {}; // function to override

    this.completeCallback = function( ) {}; // function to override

    // load images into DOM and fire callbacks
    this.loadImages = function( )
    {
        var that = this;

        // iterate through hash and place images into DOM
        $.each( PRELOADER_OBJECT.imgArray, function( index, object )
        {
            this.image = $( "<img/>", { "src" : object, "class": "preload_class" } ).appendTo( 'body' );

            // mark progress and call progressCallback( ) event handler
            that.progress = Math.ceil( ( index / PRELOADER_OBJECT.imgArray.length ) * 100 );
            that.progressCallback( this.progress );

            that.preloadArray.push( this.image );
        } );

        // check for array bounds and call completeCallback( )
        if ( PRELOADER_OBJECT.imgArray.length )
        {
            this.progressCallback( 100 );
            this.completeCallback( this );
        }
    };

    // create modal to display preload data
    this.createPreloaderModal = function( )
    {
        this.modal = $( '<div/>', { 'id' : 'preloader_modal' } ).appendTo( 'body' );
        this.progressIndicator = $( '<h1/>', { 'id' : 'preloader_progress' } ).appendTo( this.modal );
    };
};

// trigger event chain when DOM loads
$( document ).ready( function( )
{    
    // instantiate PRELOADER instance and pass
    // our JSON data model as a parameter
    var preloader = new PRELOADER( PRELOADER_OBJECT );

    // initialize preloader
    preloader.initialize( );
} );

};​

With a site load large enough to require an image preloader, the modal text display could be easily modified to support a data-driven jQuery animation.