Pass variable with set value to a function in JavaScript

Question

I have a little span element which I CSSed the f*** out of so that it appears as a switch. It kind of like this:

<Span class="switchbody" value="on"><span class="switchcover">on</span></span>

I wanted to know, if I added an onclick="editswitch()" to the first span element, would it be possible if I passed a Variable containing a unique value so that the JavaScript function knows which switch I am talking about without me having to write a million functions doing exactly the same thing to different elements?

If it is possible, how would I do that

PS I have tried

<span onclick="getId = "switch one";">

If it is possible, no jquery or php, etc. Just JavaScript.

Answer 1

Use this to refer to the object that fired the event. For example:

 function editswitch(me) { alert(me.id); } 

 <span id="span1" onclick="editswitch(this)">I'm the first span</span> <br/> <span id="span2" onclick="editswitch(this)">I'm the second span</span>