check if jQuery UI tabs have been initialized (without checking for class)

Question

Using jQuery UI tabs - and I've written a plugin that integrates with ui tabs. I've got the plugin setup to initiate jQuery UI tabs if it `.tabs()` hasn't been called, but this just does a simple class check: ``` if(!$globalTabs.hasClass("ui-tabs")){ $globalTabs.tabs(); } ``` But this is problematic, because often to avoid FOUC, developers add in the UI classes to the the tabs to get a better initial render before document.ready. I could check for a different class, such as `ui-widget1, but wondering if there's another/better way?

Accepted Answer

You can query the attached widget with data():

```
if (!$globalTabs.data("tabs")) {
    $globalTabs.tabs();
}
```

This behavior is documented in the Widget factory page of jQuery UI's Development & Planning Wiki:

Plugin instance accessible via `$( "#something" ).data( "pluginname" )`

- A reference to a jQuery object containing the DOM element is available as a property of the instance as `this.element`, so it is easy to go back and forth between the object and the element.

Update: From jQuery UI 1.9 onwards, the widget key becomes the widget's fully qualified name, with dots replaced with dashes, as in:

```
if (!$globalTabs.data("ui-tabs")) {
    $globalTabs.tabs();
}
```

Using unqualified names is still supported in 1.9 but is deprecated, and support will be dropped in 1.10.

check if jQuery UI tabs have been initialized (without checking for class)

Solution

Problem