How do I store an Object's functions pointers in an array?

Question

I am trying to store function pointers of an object's functions in an array.But it's giving me problems when I want to access another property of the object within the function.Could any one solve this or give me an idea how to work around it?

function O(){
      this.name="hello";
      this.f=function(){
        alert(this.name);//why does "this" refer to the array arr rather than the object?
      };
      this.arr=[];
       this.arr["x"]=this.f;



    }
    var d=new O();
    d.arr["x"]();

See my explanation of how "this" works: stackoverflow.com/questions/13441307/… — slebetman
– slebetman, Commented May 21, 2013 at 4:21

Mike Christensen · Accepted Answer · 2013-05-21 04:33:34Z

4

In this case, this will reference the object that the function was called as a method of (in your case, the array). You'll want to store a reference to the O function somewhere within the scope, such as:

function O(){
      var self = this;
      this.name="hello";
      this.f=function(){
        alert(self.name);//why does "this" refer to the array arr rather than the object?
      };
      this.arr=[];
       this.arr["x"]=this.f;



    }
    var d=new O();
    d.arr["x"]();

This is a pretty common pattern in JavaScript, and has the added benefit of allowing the function to execute the same way, whether it was called through d.f() or d.arr["X"]()

edited May 21, 2013 at 4:33

answered May 21, 2013 at 4:12

Mike Christensen

91.8k52 gold badges223 silver badges349 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

2 Comments

RobG Over a year ago

+1 Rather than "attached to" you might say "called as a method of".

Mike Christensen Over a year ago

@RobG - Yea good call, I put it in quotes because I couldn't think of a good way to phrase it..

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

How do I store an Object's functions pointers in an array?

1 Answer 1

2 Comments

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

2 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related