Strange looping problem with jQuery when I try to delete an entry...

Question

I have tried to document this as well as I can in the code.

Getting a weird looping thing when I try to delete an item that I've added.

Example:

I have 3 items that I've added:

• When I try to delete the very first item in the list...I get the confirm Delete dialog 3 times

• Deleting the second item in the list...I get the confirm 2 times.

• And yep...you guessed it..that last one gives it to me only once.

Thanks in advance.

Anyway, here's the commented jQuery code (it's a big one):

$(document).ready(function() {

  //hides the message/error console
  $("#console").hide();

//this is the add new button functionality  
  $("#save").click(function(){
    var ul = $("ul.addul");
    var addM = $(".mo").val();
    var addY = $(".yr").val();
    var addC = $(".ct").val();
    var addT = $("textarea#addThoughts").val();

    //submit the add
    $.post("save.php", { month : addM, year : addY, cottage : addC, thoughts : addT },
      function(data){

        //all good
        if(data.success) {

          //returns the item's respective id from db
          var returnID = data.id;

          //resets the form after items inserted into db
          document.getElementById('items').reset();

          //this puts the added item into the html
          $(".added").append(//content in here removed to shorten the example);

          //not implemented yet
          $(".edit").click(function(){
            $(this).parent().siblings("li.addit").hide();
            $(this).parent().siblings("li").children("[name=month], [name=year], [name=cottage], [name=thoughts]").show();
            $(this).parent().siblings("li").children(".showDataMonth, .showDataYear, .showDataCottage, .showDataThoughts").hide();
            $(this).siblings(".del").hide();
            $(this).siblings(".cancel, .save").show();
            $(this).hide();
          });

          //this is functioning properly; this cancels an update
          $("button.cancel").click(function(){
            $(this).parent().siblings("li.addit").show();
            $(this).parent().siblings("li").children("[name=month], [name=year], [name=cottage], [name=thoughts]").hide();
            $(this).parent().siblings("li").children(".showDataMonth, .showDataYear, .showDataCottage, .showDataThoughts").show();
            $(this).siblings(".edit, .del").show();
            $(this).siblings(".save").hide();
            $(this).hide();
          });

          //resetting of values to prepare another entry
          $(".save, .cancel, .month, .year, .cottage, .thoughts").hide();
          $(".showDataThoughts").css({ width : "160px;"});
          $(".mo, .yr, .ct").val("0");

          //shows successful insert of data into db
          $("#console").html(data.message).css({background: "green", color: "white"}).fadeIn().animate({ opacity : "+=0" }, 2000).fadeOut();

          //this is the delete function that I am referring to.
          //I get the "confirm" dialog just fine.
          //say I have 3 entries:
          //if I try to delete the first entry...I get the confirm delete dialog 3 times.
          //if I try to delete the second entry...I get the confirm delete dialog 2 times.
          //and the 3rd entry...I only get it once.
          //I'm stuck in a weird kinda loop.
          $(".del").click(function(){
              var del = this;
              var thisVal = $(del).val();
              $.post("delete.php", { dirID : thisVal },
              function(data){
                if(confirm("Are you sure you want to DELETE this entry?") == true) {
                  if(data.success) {
                    alert(thisVal);
                  }
                }
              return false;
              }, "json");
          });

        } else if(data.error) { //item could not be added
          $("#console").html(data.message).css({background: "red", color: "white"}).fadeIn().animate({ opacity : "+=0" }, 2000).fadeOut();
        }
    }, "json");
    return false;
}); //end of add button

//this populates the select boxes
$.getJSON('dates_in_residence.php', function(data){
    var htmlMonth = '';
    var htmlYear = '';
    var htmlCottage = '';
    var len = data.length;
    for (var i = 0; i < 12; i++) {htmlMonth += '<option class="optionMonth" value="' + data[i].month + '">' + data[i].month + '</option>';
    }
    $('select#addMonth').append(htmlMonth);
    for (var i = 12; i < 34; i++) {htmlYear += '<option class="optionYear" value="' + data[i].year + '">' + data[i].year + '</option>';
    }
    $('select#addYear').append(htmlYear);
    for (var i = 35; i < 42; i++) {htmlCottage += '<option class="optionCottage" value="' + data[i].cottage + '">' + data[i].cottage + '</option>';
    }
    $('select#addCottage').append(htmlCottage);
});

//this adds select menu's value to hidden inputs
$("#addMonth").change(function () {
          var str = '';
          $("#addMonth option:selected").each(function () {
                str += $(this).text() + " ";
              });
          $(".mo").val(str);
        }).change();
$("#addYear").change(function () {
          var str = "";
          $("#addYear option:selected").each(function () {
                str += $(this).text() + " ";
              });
          $(".yr").val(str);
        }).change();
$("#addCottage").change(function () {
          var str = "";
          $("#addCottage option:selected").each(function () {
                str += $(this).text() + " ";
              });
          $(".ct").val(str);
        }).change();
});

And the delete.php file:

<?php

if($_POST) {

  $data['delID'] = $_POST['dirID'];

  $query = "DELETE from //tablename WHERE dirID = '{$data['delID']}' LIMIT 1";

  $result = $db->query($query);

  if($result) {
    $data['success'] = true;
    $data['message'] = "This entry was successfully removed.";
  }

  echo json_encode($data);
}

?>

Answer 1

The line:

$(".del").click(function(){

is returning all the elements with a class of del which means every time you add a new item you're adding a new event to each existing del element. (Glancing at the rest of your code this is going to be an issue for most of your elements apparently).

Your best option is to assemble the elements that make up each new item individually and assign specific events to them before appending them to the content. That way you know each specific element will have a single correct even associated with it.

EDIT:

passing data to a new function:

  $("#save").click(function(){
    var ul = $("ul.addul");
    var addM = $(".mo").val();
    var addY = $(".yr").val();
    var addC = $(".ct").val();
    var addT = $("textarea#addThoughts").val();

    //submit the add
    $.post("save.php", { month : addM, year : addY, cottage : addC, thoughts : addT },
      function(data){

        //all good
          if(data.success) {
            run_success(data);
          }
       }//close function
   }//close #save click

   //new, global function
   function run_success(data) {
       //do things with data here
   }

Setting up a global variable:

  $("#save").click(function(){
    var ul = $("ul.addul");
    var addM = $(".mo").val();
    var addY = $(".yr").val();
    var addC = $(".ct").val();
    var addT = $("textarea#addThoughts").val();

    //submit the add
    $.post("save.php", { month : addM, year : addY, cottage : addC, thoughts : addT },
      function(data){

        //all good
          if(data.success) {
            my_global_var = data; //note, my_global_var is created without a var
                                  //before it, thereby assigning it a global scope
          }
       }//close function
   }//close #save click

Answer 2

I think you want to look at the live function in jQuery 1.3, which automatically binds events to newly-created elements. You'll need to move it completely out of the post section so that it runs on the first page load. Something like this should work:

$(".del").live("click", function(){
  //event code here
});