How can I avoid writing 10 functions, make it just one

Question

EDIT: Thanks, but those answers are not the best way to do it and are difficult to understand by a beginner.

I have this structure:

<div>Title <a href="#" onclick="a1()">+</a>
<div id="b1">...content...</div></div>

..... n times this structure ....

<div>Title <a href="#" onclick="function aN()">+</a>
<div id="bN">...content...</div></div>

When the user clicks the + sign the content should show or disappear.

    function a1(){
            $('#b1').toggle(); 
    }

     .... too many functions .....

    function aN(){
            $('#bN').toggle(); 
    }

How can I rewrite all those functions in one single function to write less code?

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/190253/jquery-selector-regular-expressions — Donal, Aug 28 '14 at 22:05
Whenever you have something like this, the first step you can do is make the thing that's different in each function (in your case the selector), a **parameter** of the function. — Felix Kling, Aug 28 '14 at 22:24

score 6 · Answer 1 · answered Aug 28 '14 at 22:09

You can just make it more descriptive int he markup itself , use a custom attribute data-target (or use the href itself) and store the id of the target.

<div>Title <a data-target="#b1" class="toggler" href="#">+</a>
<div id="b1">...content...</div></div>

..... n times this structure ....

<div>Title <a data-target="#b2" class="toggler" href="#" >+</a>
<div id="bN">...content...</div></div>

and just register a function:-

$(function(){
   $('.toggler').on('click', function(e){
      e.preventDefault();
      $($(this).data('target')).toggle();
   });
});

This way you can put any selector for the target in the attribute, regardless of wherever it appears in your markup (Not just the next element), and move away from the inline click handlers.

+1 - Nice way not to rely on markup structure and still using a performant selector. — Nope, Aug 28 '14 at 23:02

score 5 · Accepted Answer · edited Aug 29 '14 at 00:02

5

You can abstract your code by using a generalized class to hook your javascript to. jsFiddle Example

HTML

<div>
    Title <a href="#" class="toggleNext">+</a>
    <div id="b1">...content...</div>
</div>

jQuery

$('.toggleNext').click(function(e){
    e.preventDefault();
    $(this).next().toggle()
});

edited Aug 29 '14 at 00:02

Claudiu Creanga

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answered Aug 28 '14 at 22:09

Brian Dillingham

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2

You probably won't even need the id in the content div anymore. – Tim Ackroyd Aug 28 '14 at 22:12
2

Thanks! this is the cleanest way to do it. – Claudiu Creanga Aug 28 '14 at 22:21

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 28 '14 at 22:06

2

Have you tried?

<div>Title <a href="#" onclick="a('b1')">+</a>
<div id="b1">...content...</div></div>

..... n times this structure ....

<div>Title <a href="#" onclick="a('bN')">+</a>
<div id="bN">...content...</div></div>

 function a(id){
            $('#' + id).toggle(); 
    }

answered Aug 28 '14 at 22:06

ntl

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Thanks! It works well, but Brian's answer is cleaner. – Claudiu Creanga Aug 28 '14 at 22:27

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Aug 28 '14 at 22:12

<div class="container">Title <a href="#" class="link">+</a>
<div class="content">...content...</div></div>

..... n times this structure ....

<div class="container">Title <a href="#" class="link">+</a>
<div class="content">...content...</div></div>

<script>
    $(".container .link").bind('click', function(event) {
        event.preventDefault();

        $(this).parent().find('.content').toggle();
    });
</script>

Jeremy J Starcher · Answer 5 · 2014-08-29T01:32:39.460

First, using inline event handlers is considered bad form for a variety of reasons.

That said, there are a few ways to do what you like. Personally, I would go for this approach:

<div>Title <a href="#" onclick="toggleThing()" data-thing-to-toggle="b1">+</a>
<div id="b1">...content...</div></div>


function toggleThing() {
  var toggleId = this.getAttribute("data-thing-to-toggle");
  var $target = $(toggleId);
  $target.toggle();
}

score 1 · Answer 6 · edited Aug 28 '14 at 22:13

1

Add a dummy class to all + anchor. e.g. anc

Then

$('.anc').on('click', function (){
   $(this).next('div').toggle();
}

edited Aug 28 '14 at 22:13

PSL

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answered Aug 28 '14 at 22:11

SSA

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score 1 · Answer 7 · answered Aug 28 '14 at 22:13

DEMO

HTML: Using a CSS class

<div>Title <a href="#" class="myanchor">+</a>
<div id="b1">...content...</div></div>

<!--..... n times this structure ....-->

<div>Title <a href="#" class="myanchor">+</a>
<div id="bN">...content...</div></div>

JS

$(function() {
    $('a.myanchor').on('click', a);
    function a(e) {
        e.preventDefault();
        $(this).next('div').toggle();
    }
});

score 1 · Answer 8 · answered Aug 28 '14 at 22:13

Use jQuery's on method:

HTML:

<div>Title <a href="#" class="toggle">+</a>
<div class="content">...content...</div></div>
<div>Title <a href="#" class="toggle">+</a>
<div class="content">...content...</div></div>
<div>Title <a href="#" class="toggle">+</a>
<div class="content">...content...</div></div>

JavaScript:

$(document).on('click', '.toggle', function(e) {
    $(e.currentTarget).parent().find('.content').toggle();
});

Working jsfiddle: http://jsfiddle.net/uq1mafs3/

score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Aug 28 '14 at 22:07

A simple solution is passing the id of the element:

function a(id) {
    $('#' + id).toggle();
}

Your HTML would look like this:

<div>Title <a href="#" onclick="a('b1');">+</a>
<div id="b1">...content...</div></div>

..... n times this structure ....

<div>Title <a href="#" onclick="a('bN');">+</a>
<div id="bN">...content...</div></div>

score 0 · Answer 10 · answered Aug 28 '14 at 22:11

You should be able to pass the id of the element to be toggled as a function parameter:

<div>Title <a href="#" onclick="toggle('#b1')">+</a>
<div id="b1">...content...</div></div>

..... n times this structure ....

<div>Title <a href="#" onclick="toggle('#bN')">+</a>
<div id="bN">...content...</div></div>

Then you can implement just one function:

function toggle(id){
        $(id).toggle(); 
}

See JavaScript Function Parameters for more information.

How can I avoid writing 10 functions, make it just one

10 Answers10