Meteor: sharing variables between helpers - meteor

Question

I am currently building a quizz app in Meteor and have three function within helpers
Template.quizPage.helpers({
//this helper finds the currentquiz and returns the currentquestion to the template
question: function(){
currentquiz = this.quiztitle;
currentQuestion = Session.get('currentQuestion') || 0;
return Quizzes.findOne({'quiztitle': currentquiz}).quizquestions[currentQuestion]
},
length: function (){
questionlength = $(Quizzes.findOne({'quiztitle': currentquiz}).quizquestions).length;
return questionlength;
},
answers: function(){
currentquiz = this.quiztitle;
currentQuestion = Session.get('currentQuestion') || 0;
return Quizzes.findOne({'quiztitle': currentquiz}).answers[1][currentQuestion]
}
});
As you can see some of this code is already duplicate (currentquiz = this.quiztitle). How can I share currentquiz between functions within a helper?
This is becoming a real problem as I need to define the variable currentquiz one time
currentQuestion = [0,0,0,0,0];
But current code resets the currentquestion any time I activate the helper in the template. I can;t define it above the function $(document.ready) wrap to set the variable or define it . This should be really easy right?

Answer 1

i know this is an old thread but I just came across the same problem. What you can do is define a reactive variable on the template level:
var abc;
Template.XY.rendered = function(){
abc = new ReactiveVar("abc");
},
Template.XY.helpers({
someFunction:function(){
return abc.get();
}
)}
I define a var abc; to bind the variable to the template instance (i guess this can also be done with this.abc = new ... )

Answer 2

To provide a variable available in the template helpers and events you just need to add it in the template instance.
In the onCreated function you can access the template instance with the keyword this.
Template.myTemplate.onCreated(function(){
this.mySharedVariable = new ReactiveVar("myValue");
});
In the helpers you can access to the templace instance with Template.instance().
Template.myTemplate.helpers({
myHelper1(){
const instance = Template.instance();
instance.mySharedVariable.get(); // Get the value "myValue"
// Do something
},
myHelper2(){
const instance = Template.instance();
instance.mySharedVariable.get(); // Get the value "myValue"
// Do something
}
});
In the events you can access to the template instance with the second parameter of the function.
Template.myTemplate.events({
'click .js-do-something' : function(event, instance){
instance.mySharedVariable.set("newValue"); // Set the value "newValue"
}
});
In the example above i'm using a ReactiveVar so if its value get changed the two helpers myHelper1 and myHelper2 will re-execute. But be free to use normal variable depending on your need.
PS: Because Session are global, you should not use Session if you only use this "shared" variable inside your template.