jQueryui tabs extension. $(el).tabs('activate', tab) is a mix of tabs('add') and tabs('select'). If the tab exists it is selected, if not it iis created. $(el).tabs(close) removes the tab but selects the tab to the left instead of the tab to the r

jqueryui-tabs-activate.js

(function($) {
    $.fn.extend($.ui.tabs.prototype, {
        //use the same signature as add
        activate : function(url, label, index) {
            console.log(index)
            var self = this,
                index = index || self.anchors.length - 1;
            //loop thru the tab.anchors collection and look for tab with a matching href
            //If tab is local then compare the URL with the anchor or hash (eg #anchor5)
            //If the tab is remote then compare the URL with .data('href.tabs')
            for (var i = 0; i < self.anchors.length; i++) {
                if (self.anchors[i].hash === url || $(self.anchors[i]).data('href.tabs') === url) {
                    /*if match found, select it and return */
                    self.select($(self.anchors[i]).attr('href'));
                    return this;
                }
            }
            self.add(url, label, index).select(index);
            return this;
        },
        //simple a wrapper around .remove() to which first selects the previous|left tab
        close : function(index) {
            index = this._getIndex(index);
            var $li = this.lis.eq(index);
            //if target tab was selected then select previous|left tab
            //index is zero based, length is 1 base.
            if ($li.hasClass("ui-tabs-selected") && this.anchors.length > 1 && index + 1 == this.anchors.length - 1) {
                this.select(index - 1);
            }
            this.remove(index);
        }
    });

    var original = $.ui.tabs.prototype._tabId;
    $.ui.tabs.prototype._tabId = function(a) {
        return this.options.idPrefix + a.href.substring(a.href.lastIndexOf('/') + 1);
    };

})(jQuery);