jquery.ba-whenready.js

/*!
 * jQuery whenLoaded - v0.1pre - 06/25/2010
 * http://benalman.com/
 * 
 * Copyright (c) 2010 "Cowboy" Ben Alman
 * Dual licensed under the MIT and GPL licenses.
 * http://benalman.com/about/license/
 */

// NOTE: TOTALLY UNTESTED!

(function($){
  '$:nomunge' // Used by YUI compressor.

  $.fn.whenLoaded = function( fn ) {
    var selector = this.selector
    if ( $.isFunction( fn ) )
      $(function() {
        fn.call( $( selector ) )
      })
    return this
  }
})(jQuery)


// Usage:

$('#someid').whenLoaded(function(){
  this.doSomething();
});

The whole point is not to defer the callback until DOM ready, but to execute it the instant the DOM element in question comes into existence (which, on a slow-loading page with lots of blocking scripts, could be noticeably earlier than DOM ready)

But then it's only useful for straight ID queries. And even then, if it's a slow loading page and the element is near the end, you're just spamming the DOM with queries.