Is there a more efficient method to halt a jQuery animation plugin? Surely, there must be a more effective solution

Question

Is there a more efficient method to halt a jQuery animation plugin? Surely, there must be a more effective solution

After feeling under the weather for the past week and feeling incredibly bored, I decided to delve into the world of creating jQuery plugins. In just half an hour, I managed to put together a plugin that mimics the "wiggle" effect when pressing and holding down on a specific icon on an i(Phone|Pad|Pod Touch). Implementing the initial "wiggle" effect using CSS3 transitions was a breeze.

If you're curious to see the plugin in action, you can check it out here:

However, I hit a roadblock when trying to figure out how to make the icons stop wiggling. As someone new to creating jQuery plugins, I'm still trying to fully grasp how to save and manipulate the state of selected objects for future reference, such as through a callback or event.

To address this challenge, I resorted to creating an array to keep track of all the matched objects. This array serves as a way to maintain the state of objects with the wiggle effect applied.

Although my current solution technically works, it feels somewhat inefficient. I can't help but wonder if there's a more efficient, possibly built-in method within jQuery to achieve the same outcome.

If anyone could review this simple plugin and provide insights on how I can improve it, I would greatly appreciate it. I'm not looking for someone to rewrite my code, but rather some guidance through a real-world example or solid documentation.

Thank you in advance! :)

For those interested, here is the source code of the plugin:

jquery jquery-plugins css

Answer 1

Answer №1

To keep track of setTimeout's result in each object, you can do the following:

object.timeout = setTimeout(function(){
methods.rotate(object, step+1);
}, options.delay);

To stop the setTimeout function, simply call clearTimeout on the object:

clearTimeout(object.timeout);

Here is the updated plugin with these modifications:

(function($){
var rotatingObjectCollection = [];

$.fn.wiggle = function(method, options) {
    options = $.extend({
        rotateDegrees: ['1','2','1','0','-1','-2','-1','0'],
        delay: 35
    }, options);

    var methods = {
        rotate: function(object, step){
            if(step === undefined) {
                step = Math.floor(Math.random()*options.rotateDegrees.length);
            }

            var degree = options.rotateDegrees[step];
            $(object).css({
                '-webkit-transform': 'rotate('+degree+'deg)',
                '-moz-transform': 'rotate('+degree+'deg)'
            });

            if(step == (options.rotateDegrees.length - 1)) {
                step = 0;
            }

            object.timeout = setTimeout(function(){
                methods.rotate(object, step+1);
            }, options.delay);
        },
        stop: function(object) {
            $(object).css({
                '-webkit-transform': 'rotate(0deg)',
                '-moz-transform': 'rotate(0deg)'
            });

            clearTimeout(object.timeout);
            object.timeout = null;
        }
    };

    this.each(function() {
        if((method == 'start' || method === undefined) && !this.timeout) {
            methods.rotate(this);
        } else if (method == 'stop') {
            methods.stop(this);
        }
    });
    return;
}
})(jQuery);

While it may not be conventional to store custom data within objects like this, it does get the job done :)

Answer 2

To keep track of setTimeout's result in each object, you can do the following:

object.timeout = setTimeout(function(){
methods.rotate(object, step+1);
}, options.delay);

To stop the setTimeout function, simply call clearTimeout on the object:

clearTimeout(object.timeout);

Here is the updated plugin with these modifications:

(function($){
var rotatingObjectCollection = [];

$.fn.wiggle = function(method, options) {
    options = $.extend({
        rotateDegrees: ['1','2','1','0','-1','-2','-1','0'],
        delay: 35
    }, options);

    var methods = {
        rotate: function(object, step){
            if(step === undefined) {
                step = Math.floor(Math.random()*options.rotateDegrees.length);
            }

            var degree = options.rotateDegrees[step];
            $(object).css({
                '-webkit-transform': 'rotate('+degree+'deg)',
                '-moz-transform': 'rotate('+degree+'deg)'
            });

            if(step == (options.rotateDegrees.length - 1)) {
                step = 0;
            }

            object.timeout = setTimeout(function(){
                methods.rotate(object, step+1);
            }, options.delay);
        },
        stop: function(object) {
            $(object).css({
                '-webkit-transform': 'rotate(0deg)',
                '-moz-transform': 'rotate(0deg)'
            });

            clearTimeout(object.timeout);
            object.timeout = null;
        }
    };

    this.each(function() {
        if((method == 'start' || method === undefined) && !this.timeout) {
            methods.rotate(this);
        } else if (method == 'stop') {
            methods.stop(this);
        }
    });
    return;
}
})(jQuery);

While it may not be conventional to store custom data within objects like this, it does get the job done :)

Answer 3

Answer №2

To ensure smooth animation performance and prevent potential browser crashes, it is advisable to check if the targeted element is already in a wiggling state before initiating the animation again. This precaution is particularly important in cases where a user may repeatedly trigger the animation, causing the elements to get stuck in a loop.
Furthermore, maintaining chainability in your jQuery plugin is essential for seamless integration with other functions. The current implementation breaks the jQuery chain, preventing users from chaining additional actions after calling the plugin. By making a few adjustments, such as returning the plugin object at the end of execution, you can enable scenarios like

$(selector).wiggle().doSomethingElse();

.
The optimized version of the plugin code would resemble the following:

(function($){
$.fn.wiggle = function(method, options) {
    options = $.extend({
        rotateDegrees: ['1','2','1','0','-1','-2','-1','0'],
        delay: 35
    }, options);

    var methods = {
        rotate: function(object, step){
            if(step === undefined) {
                step = Math.floor(Math.random()*options.rotateDegrees.length);
            }

            var degree = options.rotateDegrees[step];
            $(object).css({
                '-webkit-transform': 'rotate('+degree+'deg)',
                '-moz-transform': 'rotate('+degree+'deg)'
            });

            if(step == (options.rotateDegrees.length - 1)) {
                step = 0;
            }

            object.timeout = setTimeout(function(){
                methods.rotate(object, step+1);
            }, options.delay);
            $(object).data('wiggling',true);
        },
        stop: function(object) {
            $(object).css({
                '-webkit-transform': 'rotate(0deg)',
                '-moz-transform': 'rotate(0deg)'
            });
            clearTimeout(object.timeout);
            $(object).data('wiggling',false);
        }
    };

    this.each(function() {
        if($(object).data('wiggling') == true && (method == 'start' || method === undefined)) {
            methods.rotate(this);
        } else if (method == 'stop') {
            methods.stop(this);
        }
    });
    return this;
}
})(jQuery);

Answer 4

To ensure smooth animation performance and prevent potential browser crashes, it is advisable to check if the targeted element is already in a wiggling state before initiating the animation again. This precaution is particularly important in cases where a user may repeatedly trigger the animation, causing the elements to get stuck in a loop.
Furthermore, maintaining chainability in your jQuery plugin is essential for seamless integration with other functions. The current implementation breaks the jQuery chain, preventing users from chaining additional actions after calling the plugin. By making a few adjustments, such as returning the plugin object at the end of execution, you can enable scenarios like

$(selector).wiggle().doSomethingElse();

.
The optimized version of the plugin code would resemble the following:

(function($){
$.fn.wiggle = function(method, options) {
    options = $.extend({
        rotateDegrees: ['1','2','1','0','-1','-2','-1','0'],
        delay: 35
    }, options);

    var methods = {
        rotate: function(object, step){
            if(step === undefined) {
                step = Math.floor(Math.random()*options.rotateDegrees.length);
            }

            var degree = options.rotateDegrees[step];
            $(object).css({
                '-webkit-transform': 'rotate('+degree+'deg)',
                '-moz-transform': 'rotate('+degree+'deg)'
            });

            if(step == (options.rotateDegrees.length - 1)) {
                step = 0;
            }

            object.timeout = setTimeout(function(){
                methods.rotate(object, step+1);
            }, options.delay);
            $(object).data('wiggling',true);
        },
        stop: function(object) {
            $(object).css({
                '-webkit-transform': 'rotate(0deg)',
                '-moz-transform': 'rotate(0deg)'
            });
            clearTimeout(object.timeout);
            $(object).data('wiggling',false);
        }
    };

    this.each(function() {
        if($(object).data('wiggling') == true && (method == 'start' || method === undefined)) {
            methods.rotate(this);
        } else if (method == 'stop') {
            methods.stop(this);
        }
    });
    return this;
}
})(jQuery);

Is there a more efficient method to halt a jQuery animation plugin? Surely, there must be a more effective solution

Answer №1

Answer №2

Similar questions

Hover over with your mouse to open and close the dropdown menu in React JS

Align text vertically within Bootstrap carousel area

Add CSS styling to a particular div element when a button is clicked

React Navigation Item Toolbar Misplacement

Tips for applying various CSS properties to a single element using styled-components

JQuery is not able to render Hindi content properly

Utilizing jQuery AJAX to Send an HTML Array to PHP

Utilize a function from a separate JavaScript file by calling it within the $(document).ready(function()

Utilizing eval properly in JavaScript

What is the best way to incorporate a specific term from the class into CSS styling

Executing Javascript code from a specified web address

Troubleshooting problems with jQuery mmenu on Windows Phone (IE Mobile)

Transforming Highchart Drilldown Subtitles

Material design for Angular applications - Angular Material is

Making adjustments to a Jquery data attribute can have a direct impact on CSS

IIS Alert: Missing Images, CSS, and Scripts!

Shadow effect is present under every cell in the table row

Is there a way to streamline a function that substitutes certain words?

Setting a div's background using JavaScript works flawlessly on jsfiddle.net, but encounters issues when implemented in actual code

"Enhance your JQGrid experience with the Free-JQGrid Multiselect toolbar, which automatically refresh