jQuery: wait for function to complete to continue processing?

Question

Hey all. I have, what appears to be, a trivial problem. I have the following JavaScript:

$(function() {
    var r = GetResults();

    for(var i = 0; i <         


        

Answer 1

move your "do stuff with r" block into your $.getJSON callback. you can't do stuff with r until it has been delivered, and the first opportunity you'll have to use r is in the callback... so do it then.

$(function() {
    var r = GetResults();  
});

function GetResults() {
   $.getJSON("/controller/method/", null, function(data) {
       for(var i = 0; i < data.length; i++) {
           // Do stuff with data
       }
       return data;
   });
}

Answer 2

Given your updated requirements ...

I cannot move the for loop processing into the callback function of the JSON request because I am reusing the functionality of GetResults several time throughout the page, unless I want to duplicate the code. Any ideas?

... you could modify GetResults() to accept a function as a parameter, which you would then execute as your $.getJSON callback (air code warning):

$(function() {
    GetResults(function(data) {
        for(var i = 0; i < data.length; i++) {
            // Do stuff with data
        }
    });
});

function GetResults(callback) {
   $.getJSON("/controller/method/", null, callback);
}

As you can see from the general tide of answers, you're best off not trying to fight the asynchronous jQuery programming model. :)

Answer 3

Move the data processing into the callback:

$(function() {
    GetResults();
});

function GetResults() {
   $.getJSON("/controller/method/", null, function(data) {

       for(var i = 0; i < data.length; i++) {
           // Do stuff with data
       }
   });
}