How do I clear this setInterval inside a function?

Question

Normally, I’d set the interval to a variable and then clear it like var the_int = setInterval(); clearInterval(the_int); but for my code to work I put it in an

Answer 1

Simplest way I could think of: add a class.

Simply add a class (on any element) and check inside the interval if it's there. This is more reliable, customisable and cross-language than any other way, I believe.

var i = 0;
this.setInterval(function() {
  if(!$('#counter').hasClass('pauseInterval')) { //only run if it hasn't got this class 'pauseInterval'
    console.log('Counting...');
    $('#counter').html(i++); //just for explaining and showing
  } else {
    console.log('Stopped counting');
  }
}, 500);

/* In this example, I'm adding a class on mouseover and remove it again on mouseleave. You can of course do pretty much whatever you like */
$('#counter').hover(function() { //mouse enter
    $(this).addClass('pauseInterval');
  },function() { //mouse leave
    $(this).removeClass('pauseInterval');
  }
);

/* Other example */
$('#pauseInterval').click(function() {
  $('#counter').toggleClass('pauseInterval');
});

body {
  background-color: #eee;
  font-family: Calibri, Arial, sans-serif;
}
#counter {
  width: 50%;
  background: #ffffd;
  border: 2px solid #009afd;
  border-radius: 5px;
  padding: 5px;
  text-align: center;
  transition: .3s;
  margin: 0 auto;
}
#counter.pauseInterval {
  border-color: red;  
}

 
Pause/unpause