Two problems with "addEvent()" code

[RMWChaos]

I grabbed this "Rock Solid addEvent" code from this site, which is based on Mark Wubben's event-cache code. (These links for reference only.)

I am having two problems with it, and the webmaster is s...l...o...w to respond. So I thought I would ask about it here. If I knew more about how this code works, I could probably figure out most of the problems myself, but with this one, I am clueless! =D

First question: This may be my own unfamiliarity with attachEvent(), but I cannot seem to use addEvent() for onclick, onmouseover, and onmouseout. I tried just using attachEvent() directly, but got an error message that "object type does not support this method". Well, [insert favorite expletive here]!! So this code does not work for me:

addEvent(nodeid, 'click', myFunc);
 

Second question: Why can I not pass a value in the function using this code? Example, I get an error with this:

addEvent(window, 'load', myFunc(value));
 

And without further ado, here be the code (a long and nasty bugger):

function addEvent(obj, type, fn)
     {
     if (obj.addEventListener) // FireFox, NN, Mozilla, etc.
          {
          obj.addEventListener(type, fn, false);
          // bugzilla bug #241518
          EventCache.add(obj, type, fn);
          }
     else if (obj.attachEvent) // MSIE
          {
          var func = function()
               {
               fn.apply(window.event.srcElement);
               };
          obj.attachEvent("on" + type, func);
          EventCache.add(obj, type, func);
          }
     else if (typeof obj['on' + type] != 'function')
          {
          obj['on' + type] = fn;
          }
     else // really old
          {
          var oldonload = obj['on' + type];
          obj['on' + type] = function()
               {
               oldonload();
               fn();
               };
          };
     };
 
function removeEvent(obj, type, fn)
     {
     EventCache.remove(obj, type, fn);
     };
 
var EventCache = function()
     {
     var listEvents = [];
     return {
          listEvents : listEvents,
          add : function(node, sEventName, fHandler)
               {
               listEvents.push(arguments);
               },
          remove : function(node, sEventName, fHandler)
               {
               var i, item;
               for(i = listEvents.length - 1; i >= 0; i = i - 1)
                    {
                    if(node == listEvents[i][0] && sEventName == listEvents[i][1] && fHandler == listEvents[i][2])
                         {
                         item = listEvents[i];
                         if(item[0].removeEventListener)
                              {
                              item[0].removeEventListener(item[1], item[2], item[3]);
                              };
                         if(item[1].substring(0, 2) != "on")
                              {
                              item[1] = "on" + item[1];
                              };
                         if(item[0].detachEvent)
                              {
                              item[0].detachEvent(item[1], item[0][sEventName+fHandler]);
                              };
                         item[0][item[1]] = null;
                         };
                    };
               },
          flush : function()
               {
               var i, item;
               for(i = listEvents.length - 1; i >= 0; i = i - 1)
                    {
                    item = listEvents[i];
                    if(item[0].removeEventListener)
                         {
                         item[0].removeEventListener(item[1], item[2], item[3]);
                         };
                    if(item[1].substring(0, 2) != "on")
                         {
                         item[1] = "on" + item[1];
                         };
                    if(item[0].detachEvent)
                         {
                         item[0].detachEvent(item[1], item[2]);
                         };
                    item[0][item[1]] = null;
                    };
               }
          };
     }();
 

Oh, and one last question...why the () at the very end of this code?

[Dasty]

The whole problem is about mixing 2 different things. You have to make clear when you are working with references to objects/functions and when you are working just with their results. As we may know:

myFunc   // is just reference to function with "myFunc" name
myFunc() // is result of executing myFunc function

While keeping this in mind, we can answer most of your questions. addEvent(obj, type, fn) function is expecting 3 attributes
obj - REFERENCE to the DOM object
type - string representation of event name (without 'on')
fn - REFERENCE to your event handler function

So, first answer:

addEvent(nodeid, 'click', myFunc);

use

addEvent(document.getElementById('nodeid'), 'click', myFunc);

Second answer:

addEvent(window, 'load', myFunc(value));

In this calling, JS will execute myFunc function first and send it's return value as 3th parameter to addEvent function. So while your myFunc function is not returning reference to any other function, this code is invalid.

Third answer:
"why the () at the very end of this code"

Simple, creator dont want to assign function reference to EventCache. He wants to assign result of function execution to EventCache. Think of it that way:

var EventCache;
 
anonymousfunction = function()
{
 ... code here
 
 return something; 
}
 
EventCache = anonymousfunction();
 

so in the end EventCache is holding RESULT of running anonymousfunction.