jquery: shorter code (if & var)

Question

that's probably a silly question, but i have a problem not with the code not functioning - it's rather the code is too long...

everything works fine but for example is there a way to shorten the if/else ? or is it possible to track 4 different var but with a shorter code ?

var transitionState_N = '-';
var transitionState_X = '-';
var transitionState_Y = '-';
var transitionState_Z= '-';

// carousel 4way
function carousel_4way_N (n, el, m) {
    var carousel = '#carousel-4way-nav-' + n
    var carousel_content = '#carousel-4way-' + n
        if (transitionState_N == '-')
          {
          transitionState_N = '+';
          }
          else
          {
          transitionState_N = '-';
          }
        $(carousel_reset).hide();
        $(carousel).transition(
        {y: m + '=10',delay:200}
        );
        };

function carousel_4way_X (n, el, m) {
    var carousel = '#carousel-4way-nav-' + n
    var carousel_content = '#carousel-4way-' + n
        if (transitionState_X == '-')
          {
          transitionState_X = '+';
          }
          else
          {
          transitionState_X = '-';
          }
        $(carousel_reset).hide();
        $(carousel).transition(
        {y: m + '=10',delay:200}
        );
        };

function carousel_4way_Y (n, el, m) {
    var carousel = '#carousel-4way-nav-' + n
    var carousel_content = '#carousel-4way-' + n
        if (transitionState_Y == '-')
          {
          transitionState_Y = '+';
          }
          else
          {
          transitionState_Y = '-';
          }
        $(carousel_reset).hide();
        $(carousel).transition(
        {y: m + '=10',delay:200}
        );
        };

function carousel_4way_Z (n, el, m) {
    var carousel = '#carousel-4way-nav-' + n
    var carousel_content = '#carousel-4way-' + n
        if (transitionState_Z == '-')
          {
          transitionState_Z = '+';
          }
          else
          {
          transitionState_Z = '-';
          }
        $(carousel_reset).hide();
        $(carousel).transition(
        {y: m + '=10',delay:200}
        );
        };

$('#carousel-4way-nav-1').click(function(event){
    $(carousel_reset_nav).not(this).transition(
    {y:0});
    return carousel_4way_N(1, this, (transitionState == '-') ? '+' : '-');
    event.preventDefault();
});

$('#carousel-4way-nav-2').click(function(event){
    $(carousel_reset_nav).not(this).transition(
    {y:0});
    return carousel_4way_X(2, this, (transitionState == '-') ? '+' : '-');
    event.preventDefault();
});

$('#carousel-4way-nav-3').click(function(event){
    $(carousel_reset_nav).not(this).transition(
    {y:0});
    return carousel_4way_Y(3, this, (transitionState == '-') ? '+' : '-');
    event.preventDefault();
});

$('#carousel-4way-nav-4').click(function(event){
    $(carousel_reset_nav).not(this).transition(
    {y:0});
    return carousel_4way_Z(4, this, (transitionState == '-') ? '+' : '-');
    event.preventDefault();
});

Answer 1

Here is what I would do: for one, you can assign click() function to all elements. Then, you can get the id of each element and extract the last character that is a digit.

$('#carousel-4way-nav-1, #carousel-4way-nav-2,#carousel-4way-nav-3, #carousel-4way-nav-4').click(function(event){
    $(carousel_reset_nav).not(this).transition(
    {y:0});
    return carousel_4way(($(this).attr('id')).substring(this.length -1), this, (transitionState == '-') ? '+' : '-');
    event.preventDefault();
});

Now all of this will call the same function:

function carousel_4way(n, el, m) {
    var carousel = '#carousel-4way-nav-' + n
    var carousel_content = '#carousel-4way-' + n
        switch(n){
            case 1:
               transitionState_N  = (transitionState_N == '-') ? '+' : '-';
            case 2:
               transitionState_X = ...
            ...
        }
     $(carousel_reset).hide();
     $(carousel).transition(
        {y: m + '=10',delay:200}
     );
};

you might need to work on a syntax, but you get the general idea

Answer 2

The ternary operator makes it somewhat more readable:

transitionState_N  = (transitionState_N == '-') ? '+' : '-';

Your functions are really repetitive. Look for code you repeat often and write a function to replace it.