We use it extensively in jQuery UI in the same way. .data() is great any
time you want to associate any property/variable/field/object/data element
with a dom element.
- Richard
On Thu, Nov 20, 2008 at 6:51 PM, Mike Alsup <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> > Having a little trouble finding good examples of uses for the core
> > function data(). Anyone know of a tutorial or some such on this?
>
> A lot of plugins use this capability. For example, I use it in
> BlockUI and Cycle. It's a great way to store data that you will need
> later. In Cycle I use "data" to store the options object. I can then
> access it from other functions later on or from the main plugin
> function if it is called again (or from outside the plugin even).
> This lets me do interesting things like allow the user to invoke cycle
> once to set it up and then invoke it again with different arguments
> that drive different behavior. To illustrate:
>
> // initialize and start a slideshow
> $('#slideshow').cycle( { /* normal options object here * } );
> ...
> // terminate the slideshow
> $('#slideshow').cycle( 'stop' );
> ...
> // resume the terminated slideshow (where it left off)
> $('#slideshow').cycle( 'resume' );
> ...
> // advance to a particular slide index
> $('#slideshow').cycle( 5 );
>
> Note that it this example it was not necessary for the user to pass in
> the options over and over. Internally, the plugin fetches the options
> from the DOM element using the "data" functionality. This is just one
> concrete example; depending on your code "data" can be used in many
> different ways.
>
> Mike
