Call a function after previous function is complete

Question

I have the following JavaScript code:

$('a.button').click(function(){
    if (condition == 'true'){
        function1(someVariable);
        function2(someOtherVariable);
    }
    else {
        doThis(someVariable);
    }
});

How can I ensure that function2 is called only after function1 has completed?

Answer 1

Specify an anonymous callback, and make function1 accept it:

$('a.button').click(function(){
    if (condition == 'true'){
        function1(someVariable, function() {
          function2(someOtherVariable);
        });
    }
    else {
        doThis(someVariable);
    }
});


function function1(param, callback) {
  ...do stuff
  callback();
} 

Answer 2

If you're using jQuery 1.5 you can use the new Deferreds pattern:

$('a.button').click(function(){
    if(condition == 'true'){
        $.when(function1()).then(function2());
    }
    else {
        doThis(someVariable);
    }
});

Edit: Updated blog link:

Rebecca Murphy had a great write-up on this here: http://rmurphey.com/blog/2010/12/25/deferreds-coming-to-jquery/

Answer 3

Try this :

function method1(){
   // some code

}

function method2(){
   // some code
}

$.ajax({
   url:method1(),
   success:function(){
   method2();
}
})

Answer 4

This answer uses promises, a JavaScript feature of the ECMAScript 6 standard. If your target platform does not support promises, polyfill it with PromiseJs.

Promises are a new (and a lot better) way to handle asynchronous operations in JavaScript:

$('a.button').click(function(){
    if (condition == 'true'){
        function1(someVariable).then(function() {
            //this function is executed after function1
            function2(someOtherVariable);
        });
    }
    else {
        doThis(someVariable);
    }
});


function function1(param, callback) {
    return new Promise(function (fulfill, reject){
        //do stuff
        fulfill(result); //if the action succeeded
        reject(error); //if the action did not succeed
    });
} 

This may seem like a significant overhead for this simple example, but for more complex code it is far better than using callbacks. You can easily chain multiple asynchronous calls using multiple then statements:

function1(someVariable).then(function() {
    function2(someOtherVariable);
}).then(function() {
    function3();
});

You can also wrap jQuery deferrds easily (which are returned from $.ajax calls):

Promise.resolve($.ajax(...params...)).then(function(result) {
    //whatever you want to do after the request
});

As @charlietfl noted, the jqXHR object returned by $.ajax() implements the Promise interface. So it is not actually necessary to wrap it in a Promise, it can be used directly:

$.ajax(...params...).then(function(result) {
    //whatever you want to do after the request
});

Answer 5

Or you can trigger a custom event when one function completes, then bind it to the document:

function a() {
    // first function code here
    $(document).trigger('function_a_complete');
}

function b() {
    // second function code here
}

$(document).bind('function_a_complete', b);

Using this method, function 'b' can only execute AFTER function 'a', as the trigger only exists when function a is finished executing.

Answer 6

you can do it like this

$.when(funtion1()).then(function(){
    funtion2();
})

Answer 7

This depends on what function1 is doing.

If function1 is doing some simple synchrounous javascript, like updating a div value or something, then function2 will fire after function1 has completed.

If function1 is making an asynchronous call, such as an AJAX call, you will need to create a "callback" method (most ajax API's have a callback function parameter). Then call function2 in the callback. eg:

function1()
{
  new AjaxCall(ajaxOptions, MyCallback);
}

function MyCallback(result)
{
  function2(result);
}

Answer 8

If method 1 has to be executed after method 2, 3, 4. The following code snippet can be the solution for this using Deferred object in JavaScript.

function method1(){
  var dfd = new $.Deferred();
     setTimeout(function(){
     console.log("Inside Method - 1"); 
     method2(dfd);	 
    }, 5000);
  return dfd.promise();
}

function method2(dfd){
  setTimeout(function(){
   console.log("Inside Method - 2"); 
   method3(dfd);	
  }, 3000);
}

function method3(dfd){
  setTimeout(function(){
   console.log("Inside Method - 3"); 	
   dfd.resolve();
  }, 3000);
}

function method4(){   
   console.log("Inside Method - 4"); 	
}

var call = method1();

$.when(call).then(function(cb){
  method4();
});

<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.3.1/jquery.min.js"></script>

Answer 9

If function1 is some sync function that you want to turn into an async one because it takes some time to complete, and you have no control over it to add a callback :

function function1 (someVariable) {
    var date = Date.now ();
    while (Date.now () - date < 2000);      // function1 takes some time to complete
    console.log (someVariable);
}
function function2 (someVariable) {
    console.log (someVariable);
}
function onClick () {
    window.setTimeout (() => { function1 ("This is function1"); }, 0);
    window.setTimeout (() => { function2 ("This is function2"); }, 0);
    console.log ("Click handled");  // To show that the function will return before both functions are executed
}
onClick ();

The output will be :

Click handled

...and after 2 seconds :

This is function 1
This is function 2

This works because calling window.setTimeout () will add a task to the JS runtine task loop, which is what an async call makes, and because the basic principle of "run-to-completion" of the JS runtime ensures that onClick () is never interrupted before it ends.

Notice that this as funny as it may the code difficult to understand...