jquery prototype for a commonly used function

I'm not too experienced in JQuery beyond standard api functionality, but I have a number of scrollers on my page which all use the same code, only they each have a few of their own settings (for example, separate heights and scroll limits, and current number of times they have been scrolled). I want to be able to use the code over and over again, but with each reference receiving its own set of variables. I think that prototypes are what I'm after, but I can't quite wrap my head around the examples I've seen of this. This is my scroller code:

$(document).ready(function() {
        var scrollAmt = 50; //distance in pixels;
        var scrollableAmt = $('#weblinks .container').outerHeight();
        var viewAmt = $('#weblinks').outerHeight();

        var maxScroll = Math.ceil((scrollableAmt-viewAmt) / scrollAmt);
        var currentItem = 0;

        function setScrollButtons(scrollRef,scrollAmount){

        }

        $("#weblinks .scrollDownBtn").click(function(){
            if (currentItem <= maxScroll){


                $('#web开发者_Go百科links .container:not(:animated)').animate({'top' : '-='+ scrollAmt + ''},500,function(){
                    currentItem++
                });

            } else {
                currentItem = 0;
                $('#weblinks .container:not(:animated)').animate({'top' : currentItem},500);
            }
        });
        $("#weblinks .scrollUpBtn").click(function(){
            if (currentItem > 0){

                $('#weblinks .container:not(:animated)').animate({'top' : '+='+ scrollAmt + ''},500,function(){
                    currentItem--;
                });

            } else {
                $('#weblinks .container:not(:animated)').animate({'top' : currentItem},500);
            }
        });
    });

So essentially what I'd want to do is create a function or class, I guess, which accomplishes all of the above code, but be able to pass it a div reference to take the place of #weblinks, and maybe pass it a scroll amount, and multiple instances of this functionality be able to exist on the same page together. Anybody have any advice about the best way to go about this?

EDIT: I've added the HTML that will always exist for each scroller.

<div id="weblinks" class="scrollbar_container">
        <div class="customScrollBox">
            <div class="container">
                <div class="content">

                </div>
            </div>

            <a class="scrollUpBtn" href="javascript:void(0);"></a> <a class="scrollDownBtn" href="javascript:void(0);"></a>         
        </div>
    </div>

My Bid:

(function($){
    $.fn.extend({
        customScroller: function(options){
            return this.each(function(i,e){
                var container = $(e).find('.container'),
                    content = $(e).find('.content'),
                    scrollUpBtn = $(e).find('.scrollUpBtn'),
                    scrollDownBtn = $(e).find('.scrollDownBtn');

                var self = $(e);
                var o = $.extend({}, $.fn.customScroller.defaults, options);

                o.scrollableAmt = container.outerHeight();
                o.viewAmt = self.outerHeight();
                o.maxScroll = Math.ceil((o.scrollableAmt - o.viewAmt) / o.scrollAmt);

                scrollDownBtn.click(function(){
                    console.log('DOWN -- current: '+o.currentItem);
                    if (o.currentItem <= o.maxScroll){
                        container.filter(':not(:animated)').animate({
                            top: '-='+o.scrollAmt
                        },500,function(){
                            o.currentItem++;
                        });
                    }else{
                        o.currentItem = 0;
                        container.filter(':not(:animated)').animate({
                            top: o.currentItem
                        },500);
                    }
                });
                scrollUpBtn.click(function(){
                    console.log('UP -- current: '+o.currentItem);
                    if (o.currentItem > 0){
                        container.filter(':not(:animated)').animate({
                            top: '+='+o.scrollAmt
                        },500,function(){
                            o.currentItem--;
                        });
                    }else{
                        container.filter(':not(:animated)').animate({
                            top: o.currentItem
                        },500);
                    }
                });
            });
        }
    });

    $.fn.customScroller.defaults = {
        scrollAmt: 50,
        scrollableAmt: 0,
        viewAmt: 0,
        maxScroll: 0,
        currentItem: 0
    };
})(jQuery);

$('#weblinks').customScroller();

To answer your question, I use extend in a couple of places: one for the options, and the other for jQuery addon ability.

• $.fn.extend tells jQuery this is extending its functionality.
• $.extend({},$.fn.customScroller.defaults, option); allows you to call .customScroller({ scrollAmount: 10 }) and change the behavior of the scroll.

any other questions, please just ask.

This is a good candidate for jQuery plugin you can create for yourself. Of course if you want to spend some time and learn this principle :)

How to develop a jQuery plugin for some details of what and how jQuery plugins do

You could pretty simply refactor it in the case that all div's will have a sub container class. Something like:

function scrollExample(divId) {
    var scrollAmt = 50; //distance in pixels;
    var scrollableAmt = $(divId + ' .container').outerHeight();
    var viewAmt = $(divId).outerHeight();

    var maxScroll = Math.ceil((scrollableAmt-viewAmt) / scrollAmt);
    var currentItem = 0;

    function setScrollButtons(scrollRef,scrollAmount){

    }

    $(divId + " .scrollDownBtn").click(function(){
        if (currentItem <= maxScroll){


            $(divId + ' .container:not(:animated)').animate({'top' : '-='+ scrollAmt + ''},500,function(){
                currentItem++
            });

        } else {
            currentItem = 0;
            $(divId + ' .container:not(:animated)').animate({'top' : currentItem},500);
        }
    });
    $(divId + " .scrollUpBtn").click(function(){
        if (currentItem > 0){

            $(divId + ' .container:not(:animated)').animate({'top' : '+='+ scrollAmt + ''},500,function(){
                currentItem--;
            });

        } else {
            $(divId + ' .container:not(:animated)').animate({'top' : currentItem},500);
        }
    });
});

Then call it with something like:

$(document).ready(function() {
    scrollExample('#webLinks');
}

If you had the actual reference to the object it would be slightly different, but still follow a similar principle.