How To Use Properties Of An Object Literal Without Being Inside A Function In Javascript

I created an object literal in JS, but wanna to access a property without being in a function. Whenever I try, I don't get any results or it returns null. JS: var settings = {

Solution 1:

You can't refer to the "object being defined" in an object literal. That is, there's no way to have the value expression for a property of the under-construction object refer to the object itself in order to access another (presumably, already-defined) property.

You can however add a property to the object after it's been defined.

varobj= { a:0 };obj.b=(obj.a?1 :2);

Or in your case:

var settings = { ... };
 settings.inDent = ($(settings.slides).find('li').outerWidth());

Solution 2:

You need to use

this.inDent

The inDent field would be accessed via settings.inDent only outside of the settings object definition

Solution 3:

Use closures, e.g

var settings = function(){
    varprivate = {};
    private.slides = '#slides';

    varpublic = {}
    public.inDent = ($(private.slides).find('li').outerWidth());
    public.doSomething = function(){
        console.log( public.inDent );
    }

    returnpublic;
}();

The advantage of this is also that it gives you "encapsulation" for free

BTW, you shouldn't rely on anything that is publicly available, because, well, it can be changed, e.g. settings.inDent = null and then settings.doSomething() may no longer function correctly. What correct way to do it is the following

...
private.inDent = ($(settings.slides).find('li').outerWidth());

public.inDent = private.inDent;
public.doSomething = function(){
    console.log( private.inDent );
}

i.e. make the inDent value "read only" (in a sense that nothing outside of the settings object can actually change the internal implementation of private.inDent); as long as you always use private.inDent from within settings you're safe because even if someone does settings.inDent = null, the settings.doSomething(); will still function properly