jQuery and setTimeout

jQuery and setTimeout

Having a bit of trouble with the step carousel script from the dynamic drive site ( http://www.dynamicdrive.com/dynamicinde ... rousel.htm )

Its all working fine and dandy for me, but I wanted to have the panels automatically move after a set period of time. Id also like to save this timeout option as a parameter in the config holder. I've attached the code from stepcarousel.js

//Step Carousel Viewer: By Dynamic Drive, at http://www.dynamicdrive.com
//Created: March 19th, 08'

jQuery.noConflict()

var stepcarousel={
   ajaxloadingmsg: '<div style="margin: 1em; font-weight: bold"><img src="ajaxloadr.gif" style="vertical-align: middle" /> Fetching Content. Please wait...</div>', //customize HTML to show while fetching Ajax content
   configholder: {},

   getCSSValue:function(val){ //Returns either 0 (if val contains 'auto') or val as an integer
      return (val=="auto")? 0 : parseInt(val)
   },

   getremotepanels:function($, config){ //function to fetch external page containing the panel DIVs
      config.$belt.html(this.ajaxloadingmsg)
      $.ajax({
         url: config.contenttype[1], //path to external content
         async: true,
         error:function(ajaxrequest){
            config.$belt.html('Error fetching content.<br />Server Response: '+ajaxrequest.responseText)
         },
         success:function(content){
            config.$belt.html(content)
            config.$panels=config.$gallery.find('.'+config.panelclass)
            stepcarousel.alignpanels($, config)
         }
      })
   },

   alignpanels:function($, config){
      var paneloffset=0
      config.paneloffsets=[paneloffset] //array to store upper left offset of each panel (1st element=0)
      config.panelwidths=[] //array to store widths of each panel
      config.$panels.each(function(index){ //loop through panels
         var $currentpanel=$(this)
         $currentpanel.css({float: 'none', position: 'absolute', left: paneloffset+'px'}) //position panel
         $currentpanel.bind('click', function(e){return config.onpanelclick(e.target)}) //bind onpanelclick() to onclick event
         paneloffset+=stepcarousel.getCSSValue($currentpanel.css('marginRight')) + parseInt($currentpanel.get(0).offsetWidth) //calculate next panel offset
         config.paneloffsets.push(paneloffset) //remember this offset
         config.panelwidths.push(paneloffset-config.paneloffsets[config.paneloffsets.length-2]) //remember panel width
      })
      config.paneloffsets.pop() //delete last offset (redundant)
      config.$belt.css({width: paneloffset+'px'}) //Set Belt DIV to total panels' widths
      this.statusreport(config.galleryid)
      config.oninit()
      config.onslideaction(this)
   },

   stepTo:function(galleryid, pindex){ /*User entered pindex starts at 1 for intuitiveness. Internally pindex still starts at 0 */
      var config=stepcarousel.configholder[galleryid]
      if (typeof config=="undefined"){
         alert("There's an error with your set up of Carousel Viewer \""+galleryid+ "\"!")
         return
      }
      var pindex=Math.min(pindex-1, config.paneloffsets.length-1)
      var endpoint=config.paneloffsets[pindex]+(pindex==0? 0 : config.beltoffset)
      config.$belt.animate({left: -endpoint+'px'}, 'slow', function(){config.onslideaction(this)})
      config.currentpanel=pindex
      this.statusreport(galleryid)
   },

   stepBy:function(galleryid, steps){
      var config=stepcarousel.configholder[galleryid]
      if (typeof config=="undefined"){
         alert("There's an error with your set up of Carousel Viewer \""+galleryid+ "\"!")
         return
      }
      var direction=(steps>0)? 'forward' : 'back' //If "steps" is negative, that means backwards
      var pindex=config.currentpanel+steps //index of panel to stop at
      pindex=(pindex>config.paneloffsets.length-1 || pindex<0 && pindex-steps>0)? 0 : (pindex<0)? config.paneloffsets.length+steps : pindex //take into account end or starting panel and step direction
      var endpoint=config.paneloffsets[pindex]+(pindex==0? 0 : config.beltoffset) //left distance for Belt DIV to travel to
      if (pindex==0 && direction=='forward' || config.currentpanel==0 && direction=='back'){ //decide whether to apply "push pull" effect
         config.$belt.animate({left: -config.paneloffsets[config.currentpanel]-(direction=='forward'? 100 : -30)+'px'}, 'normal', function(){
            config.$belt.animate({left: -endpoint+'px'}, 'slow', function(){config.onslideaction(this)})
         })
      }
      else
         config.$belt.animate({left: -endpoint+'px'}, 'slow', function(){config.onslideaction(this)})
      config.currentpanel=pindex
      this.statusreport(galleryid)
   },

   statusreport:function(galleryid){
      var config=stepcarousel.configholder[galleryid]
      var startpoint=config.currentpanel //index of first visible panel
      var visiblewidth=0
      for (var endpoint=startpoint; endpoint<config.paneloffsets.length; endpoint++){ //index (endpoint) of last visible panel
         visiblewidth+=config.panelwidths[endpoint]
         if (visiblewidth>config.gallerywidth){
            break
         }
      }
      startpoint+=1 //format startpoint for user friendiness
      endpoint=(endpoint+1==startpoint)? startpoint : endpoint //If only one image visible on the screen and partially hidden, set endpoint to startpoint
      var valuearray=[startpoint, endpoint, config.panelwidths.length]
      for (var i=0; i<config.statusvars.length; i++){
         window[config.statusvars[i]]=valuearray[i] //Define variable (with user specified name) and set to one of the status values
         config.$statusobjs[i].html(valuearray[i]) //Populate element on page with ID="user specified name" with one of the status values
      }
   },

   setup:function(config){
      //Disable Step Gallery scrollbars ASAP dynamically (enabled for sake of users with JS disabled)
      document.write('<style type="text/css">\n#'+config.galleryid+'{overflow: hidden;}\n</style>')
      jQuery(document).ready(function($){
         config.$gallery=$('#'+config.galleryid)
         config.gallerywidth=config.$gallery.width()
         config.$belt=config.$gallery.find('.'+config.beltclass) //Find Belt DIV that contains all the panels
         config.$panels=config.$gallery.find('.'+config.panelclass) //Find Panel DIVs that each contain a slide
         config.onpanelclick=(typeof config.onpanelclick=="undefined")? function(target){} : config.onpanelclick //attach custom "onpanelclick" event handler
         config.onslideaction=(typeof config.onslide=="undefined")? function(){} : function(beltobj){$(beltobj).stop(); config.onslide()} //attach custom "onslide" event handler
         config.oninit=(typeof config.oninit=="undefined")? function(){} : config.oninit //attach custom "oninit" event handler
         config.beltoffset=stepcarousel.getCSSValue(config.$belt.css('marginLeft')) //Find length of Belt DIV's left margin
         config.statusvars=config.statusvars || []  //get variable names that will hold "start", "end", and "total" slides info
         config.$statusobjs=[$('#'+config.statusvars[0]), $('#'+config.statusvars[1]), $('#'+config.statusvars[2])]
         config.currentpanel=0
         stepcarousel.configholder[config.galleryid]=config //store config parameter as a variable
         if (config.contenttype[0]=="ajax" && typeof config.contenttype[1]!="undefined") //fetch ajax content?
            stepcarousel.getremotepanels($, config)
         else
            stepcarousel.alignpanels($, config) //align panels and initialize gallery
      }) //end document.ready
      jQuery(window).bind('unload', function(){ //clean up
         jQuery.each(config, function(ai, oi){
            oi=null
         })
         config=null
      })
   }
}


Has anyone used this script? Any ideas? I've tried doing the obvious as in simple setTimeout on the body HTML tag, but I didnt know about the issue with calling methods from objects onLoad <- Apparently you cant.

Any ideas?