A requireJS module for simplifying intensive DOM-insertion code. It lets you add a list of actions to perform on the DOM, each with a test to confirm when the DOM insertion is complete. The code then sequentially executes each action one by one, only performing the next action when the previous is compete. This ensures that the DOM will reliably…

gistfile1.js

/*global console:false,setTimeout:false,setInterval:false,clearInterval:false*/
define([], function() {

	"use strict";

	/**
	 * @name Queue
	 * @description A requireJS module for simplifying intensive DOM-insertion code. It lets you add a list of actions
	 *     to perform on the DOM, each with a test to confirm when the DOM insertion is complete. The code then sequentially
	 *     executes each action one by one, only performing the next action when the previous is compete. This ensures that
	 *     the DOM will reliably contain the content you expect and you're not trying to read something the browser's HTML
	 *     rendering engine has yet to finish inserting. For more info on the problem, see:  http://www.benjaminkeen.com/?p=136
	 * @author Ben Keen <ben.keen@gmail.com>
	 * @see Core
	 * @example To use this in your own requireJS modules, there are two steps:
	 *	(1) Add things to the queue.
	 *     Queue.add({
	 *			"execute": function() {
	 *				// some sort of DOM insertion code here
	 *			},
	 *			"isComplete": function() {
	 *				// return a boolean here, e.g. do a document.getElementID() on an element that you just inserted
	 *				// in the function before. That's enough to confirm the HTML rendering engine has inserted it & is accessible
	 *			}
	 *     });
	 *	(2) Process the queue.
	 *		Queue.process({ onSuccess: function() { // our onSuccess callback function here }});
	 *
	 * @return {Object}
	 * @namespace
	 */

	// if this is enabled, the module will output errors and information to the console
	var _debugMode = true;


	var _queue = {
		isProcessing: false,
		domChanges: [],
		onSuccess: [],
		onError: [],

		// the milliseconds between trying to see if the last performed DOM insertion is now deemed to be complete
		reTestItemSpeed: null,

		// the number of milliseconds (defaults to 10 seconds)
		incompleteActionDuration: null,


		add: function(obj) {
			if (!obj.hasOwnProperty("execute")) {
				if (_debugMode) {
					console.log("Queue.add(): object passed is missing execute property (function)", obj);
				}
				return;
			}
			if (!obj.hasOwnProperty("isComplete")) {
				if (_debugMode) {
					console.log("Queue.add(): object passed is missing isComplete property (function)", obj);
				}
				return;
			}
			_queue.domChanges.push(obj);
		},

		process: function(settings) {
			var onSuccess = null;
			var onError = null;
			var reTestItemSpeed = 25;
			var incompleteActionDuration = 5000;
			if (typeof settings == 'object') {
				if (settings.hasOwnProperty("onSuccess")) { onSuccess = settings.onSuccess; }
				if (settings.hasOwnProperty("onError")) { onError = settings.onError; }
				if (settings.hasOwnProperty("reTestItemSpeed")) { reTestItemSpeed = reTestItemSpeed; }
				if (settings.hasOwnProperty("incompleteActionDuration")) { incompleteActionDuration = incompleteActionDuration; }
			}

			if (onSuccess) { _queue.onSuccess.push(onSuccess); }
			if (onError) { _queue.onError.push(onError); }

			// if the queue processing is already started, we ignore any new settings for the processing
			// other than the onSuccess and onError handlers
			if (!_queue.isProcessing) {
				if (_debugMode) {
					console.log("---------- Queue processing started ----------");
				}

				_queue.reTestItemSpeed = reTestItemSpeed;
				_queue.incompleteActionDuration = incompleteActionDuration;
				_queue.isProcessing = true;
				_queue.next();
			} else {
				if (_debugMode) {
					console.log("Received request to start processing, but processing already started. ", settings);
				}
			}
		},

		next: function() {
			if (!_queue.domChanges.length) {
				_queue.isProcessing = false;
				_queue.callOnCompleteHandlers();
				return;
			}

			// if this code hasn't begun being executed, start 'er up
			if (!_queue.domChanges[0].interval) {
				var currObj = this;
				setTimeout(function() { currObj.domChanges[0].execute(); }, 10);
				_queue.domChanges[0].interval = setInterval(function() { _queue.examineQueue(); }, _queue.reTestItemSpeed);
				_queue.domChanges[0].timeStarted = Date.now();
			}
		},

		examineQueue: function() {
			if (_queue.domChanges[0].isComplete()) {
				clearInterval(_queue.domChanges[0].interval);
				_queue.domChanges.shift();
				_queue.next();
			} else {
				if (_debugMode) {
					console.log("Not complete: ", _queue.domChanges[0]);
				}

				// if too much time has elapsed, end the queue and call the onError callbacks
				var now = Date.now();
				if (_queue.domChanges[0].timeStarted + _queue.incompleteActionDuration < now) {
					if (_debugMode) {
						console.log("Error! Queue item took longer than " + _queue.incompleteActionDuration + "ms to perform.");
						console.log("Item with problem: ", _queue.domChanges[0]);
						console.log("Firing onError handlers:", _queue.onError);
						console.log("---------- Queue processing ended ----------");
					}
					for (var i=0; i<_queue.onError.length; i++) {
						try {
							_queue.onError[i]();
						} catch (e) { }
					}

					clearInterval(_queue.domChanges[0].interval);
					_queue.isProcessing = false;
					_queue.domChanges = [];
					_queue.onSuccess = [];
					_queue.onError = [];
				}
			}
		},

		callOnCompleteHandlers: function() {
			if (_debugMode) {
				console.log("Done! Queue is now empty: firing onSuccess handlers:", _queue.onSuccess);
				console.log("---------- Queue processing ended ----------");
			}
			for (var i=0; i<_queue.onSuccess.length; i++) {
				try {
					_queue.onSuccess[i]();
				} catch (e) { }
			}
			_queue.onSuccess = [];
			_queue.onError = [];
		}
	};

	return _queue;
});