You could always have the variables be part of an object and then use a special function to modify the contents of it. or access them via window.
The following code can be used to fire custom events when values have been changed as long as you use the format changeIndex(myVars, 'variable', 5); as compared to variable = 5;
Example:
function changeIndex(obj, prop, value, orgProp) {
if(typeof prop == 'string') { // Check to see if the prop is a string (first run)
return changeIndex(obj, prop.split('.'), value, prop);
} else if (prop.length === 1 && value !== undefined &&
typeof obj[prop[0]] === typeof value) {
// Check to see if the value of the passed argument matches the type of the current value
// Send custom event that the value has changed
var event = new CustomEvent('valueChanged', {'detail': {
prop : orgProp,
oldValue : obj[prop[0]],
newValue : value
}
});
window.dispatchEvent(event); // Send the custom event to the window
return obj[prop[0]] = value; // Set the value
} else if(value === undefined || typeof obj[prop[0]] !== typeof value) {
return;
} else {
// Recurse through the prop to get the correct property to change
return changeIndex(obj[prop[0]], prop.slice(1), value);
}
};
window.addEventListener('valueChanged', function(e) {
console.log("The value has changed for: " + e.detail.prop);
});
var myVars = {};
myVars.trafficLightIsGreen = false;
myVars.someoneIsRunningTheLight = false;
myVars.driverName = "John";
changeIndex(myVars, 'driverName', "Paul"); // The value has changed for: driverName
changeIndex(myVars, 'trafficLightIsGreen', true); // The value has changed for: traggicIsGreen
changeIndex(myVars, 'trafficLightIsGreen', 'false'); // Error. Doesn't set any value
var carname = "Pontiac";
var carNumber = 4;
changeIndex(window, 'carname', "Honda"); // The value has changed for: carname
changeIndex(window, 'carNumber', 4); // The value has changed for: carNumber
If you always wanted to pull from the window object you can modify changeIndex to always set obj to be window.