I would like to call a public method from a private one but the property "this" refers to the window object.
Please note i am trying to apply the module pattern. You can find a working code example at jsfiddle.net
// how can i access a public method from a private one?
// (in this example publicAlert from privateMethod)
// this refers to the window object.
$(function() {
var modulePattern = (function($)
{
var privateMethod = function()
{
appendText("called privateMethod()");
this.publicAlert();
};
var appendText = function(texToAppend)
{
var text = $('#output').text() + " | " + texToAppend;
$('#output').text(text);
};
return {
publicMethod : function()
{
appendText("called publicMethod()");
privateMethod();
},
publicAlert : function()
{
alert("publicAlert");
}
};
});
mp = new modulePattern($);
mp.publicMethod();
});
If you want to be able to do that you need to declare the 'public' function like you would a private function, and then expose it as public. Like this:
$(function() {
var modulePattern = (function($) {
var privateMethod = function() {
appendText("called privateMethod()");
publicAlert();
};
var appendText = function(text) {
var text2 = $('#output').text() + " | " + text;
$('#output').text(text2);
};
var publicAlert = function(){
alert("publicAlert");
};
return {
publicMethod: function() {
appendText("called publicMethod()");
privateMethod();
},
publicAlert: publicAlert
};
});
mp = new modulePattern($);
mp.publicMethod();
});
[Edit]
I would also encourage you to get into the habit of clicking on the 'jslint' button at the top of jsfiddle, your code was missing a few semicolons, and you also redeclared the 'text' variable inside your appendText function (it was already passed in)
Also, you're using the module pattern in a slightly different way to how I've learned it. Do you have a link to your reference material?
This is how I would have done the module pattern as I know it: http://jsfiddle.net/sVxvz/
[/Edit]
Also, if you use the module pattern correctly, you can refer to the public functions by using the module name, like this:
var testModule = (function($) {
var privateMethod = function() {
appendText("called privateMethod()");
testModule.publicAlert();
};
var appendText = function(text) {
var text2 = $('#output').text() + " | " + text;
$('#output').text(text2);
};
return {
publicMethod: function() {
appendText("called publicMethod()");
privateMethod();
},
publicAlert: function() {
alert("publicAlert");
}
};
}(jQuery));
$(function() {
testModule.publicMethod();
});
But I don't really like this because the public methods can be overwritten.
someone could go testModule.publicAlert = function(){EVIL CODE OF DOOM;};
and your internal workings will happily execute it.
I understand this is a little bit different from the module pattern, but I think it still offers the same benefits of encapsulation. Public methods are declared as:
this.methodName = function(){...}
the variable $this is assigned to the current instance (this), so you can use it from within private (or public) methods to access any methods or attributes on that instance.
Fork:
http://jsfiddle.net/FNjJq/