Mutable variable is accessible from closure. How can I fix this?
JavascriptClosuresMutableJavascript Problem Overview
I am using Typeahead by twitter. I am running into this warning from Intellij. This is causing the "window.location.href" for each link to be the last item in my list of items.
How can I fix my code?
Below is my code:
AutoSuggest.prototype.config = function () {
var me = this;
var comp, options;
var gotoUrl = "/{0}/{1}";
var imgurl = '<img src="/icon/{0}.gif"/>';
var target;
for (var i = 0; i < me.targets.length; i++) {
target = me.targets[i];
if ($("#" + target.inputId).length != 0) {
options = {
source: function (query, process) { // where to get the data
process(me.results);
},
// set max results to display
items: 10,
matcher: function (item) { // how to make sure the result select is correct/matching
// we check the query against the ticker then the company name
comp = me.map[item];
var symbol = comp.s.toLowerCase();
return (this.query.trim().toLowerCase() == symbol.substring(0, 1) ||
comp.c.toLowerCase().indexOf(this.query.trim().toLowerCase()) != -1);
},
highlighter: function (item) { // how to show the data
comp = me.map[item];
if (typeof comp === 'undefined') {
return "<span>No Match Found.</span>";
}
if (comp.t == 0) {
imgurl = comp.v;
} else if (comp.t == -1) {
imgurl = me.format(imgurl, "empty");
} else {
imgurl = me.format(imgurl, comp.t);
}
return "\n<span id='compVenue'>" + imgurl + "</span>" +
"\n<span id='compSymbol'><b>" + comp.s + "</b></span>" +
"\n<span id='compName'>" + comp.c + "</span>";
},
sorter: function (items) { // sort our results
if (items.length == 0) {
items.push(Object());
}
return items;
},
// the problem starts here when i start using target inside the functions
updater: function (item) { // what to do when item is selected
comp = me.map[item];
if (typeof comp === 'undefined') {
return this.query;
}
window.location.href = me.format(gotoUrl, comp.s, target.destination);
return item;
}
};
$("#" + target.inputId).typeahead(options);
// lastly, set up the functions for the buttons
$("#" + target.buttonId).click(function () {
window.location.href = me.format(gotoUrl, $("#" + target.inputId).val(), target.destination);
});
}
}
};
With @cdhowie's help, some more code: i will update the updater and also the href for the click()
updater: (function (inner_target) { // what to do when item is selected
return function (item) {
comp = me.map[item];
if (typeof comp === 'undefined') {
return this.query;
}
window.location.href = me.format(gotoUrl, comp.s, inner_target.destination);
return item;
}}(target))};
Javascript Solutions
Solution 1 - Javascript
I liked the paragraph Closures Inside Loops from Javascript Garden
It explains three ways of doing it.
The wrong way of using a closure inside a loop
for(var i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
setTimeout(function() {
console.log(i);
}, 1000);
}
Solution 1 with anonymous wrapper
for(var i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
(function(e) {
setTimeout(function() {
console.log(e);
}, 1000);
})(i);
}
Solution 2 - returning a function from a closure
for(var i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
setTimeout((function(e) {
return function() {
console.log(e);
}
})(i), 1000)
}
Solution 3, my favorite, where I think I finally understood bind - yaay! bind FTW!
for(var i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
setTimeout(console.log.bind(console, i), 1000);
}
I highly recommend Javascript garden - it showed me this and many more Javascript quirks (and made me like JS even more).
p.s. if your brain didn't melt you haven't had enough Javascript that day.
Solution 2 - Javascript
You need to nest two functions here, creating a new closure that captures the value of the variable (instead of the variable itself) at the moment the closure is created. You can do this using arguments to an immediately-invoked outer function. Replace this expression:
function (item) { // what to do when item is selected
comp = me.map[item];
if (typeof comp === 'undefined') {
return this.query;
}
window.location.href = me.format(gotoUrl, comp.s, target.destination);
return item;
}
With this:
(function (inner_target) {
return function (item) { // what to do when item is selected
comp = me.map[item];
if (typeof comp === 'undefined') {
return this.query;
}
window.location.href = me.format(gotoUrl, comp.s, inner_target.destination);
return item;
}
}(target))
Note that we pass target into the outer function, which becomes the argument inner_target, effectively capturing the value of target at the moment the outer function is called. The outer function returns an inner function, which uses inner_target instead of target, and inner_target will not change.
(Note that you can rename inner_target to target and you will be okay -- the closest target will be used, which would be the function parameter. However, having two variables with the same name in such a tight scope could be very confusing and so I have named them differently in my example so that you can see what's going on.)
Solution 3 - Javascript
In ecmascript 6 we have new opportunities.
The let statement declares a block scope local variable, optionally initializing it to a value. https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Statements/let
Solution 4 - Javascript
Since the only scoping that JavaScript has is function scope, you can simply move the closure to an external function, outside of the scope you're in.
Solution 5 - Javascript
Just to clarify on @BogdanRuzhitskiy answer (as I couldn't figure out how to add the code in a comment), the idea with using let is to create a local variable inside the for block:
for(var i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
let captureI = i;
setTimeout(function() {
console.log(captureI);
}, 1000);
}
This will work in pretty much any modern browser except IE11.