Time for Action – defining a global layer object variable

Let's make the layer objects global variables access some properties of a layer, and call one of the layer's methods.

1. Make a copy of chapter3_ex2_options_config.html. Add the following lines right above the init() function:

   var wms_layer_map, wms_state_lines, wms_labels, wms_water_depth, wms_roads;

2. Inside your init() function, remove the var declaration before each of the layer object names. For example, the first line of your wms_layer_map definition should now look like this:

   wms_layer_map = new OpenLayers.Layer.WMS(

3. Save the file (we'll refer to it as chapter3_ex5_global_variables.html).

4. Open it up in Firefox and enable the Firebug console.

5. In the console panel, input and run: wms_layer_map;. You should see some output like this:

   Object { options=Object, more... }
   

6. Input and run the following command in Firebug:

   wms_layer_map.name

7. Here we are directly accessing a property of the layer. You should see the layer's name property output:

   Base...