jquery-1.2.6 element data

Added in jQuery-1.2, attaching data to elements can be hazardous.

// Store data
jQuery.data(elem, "name", "value");
// Read data
jQuery.data(elem, "name");

All data is stored in a central cache and completely garbage collected, as necessary.

Added in jQuery-1.2.3, can handle namespacing:

$("div").data("test", "original");
$("div").data("test.plugin", "new data");
$("div").data("test") == "original"; // true
$("div").data("test.plugin") == "new data"; // true

Advanced data handling can be overridden by plugins:

$(element).bind("setData.draggable", function(event, key, value) {
    self.options[key] = value;
}).bind("getData.draggable", function(event, key) {
    return self.options[key];
});