how to stop timer with another function javascript

Question

So I have this code

function timer()
{
     setTimeout(function(){alert("Out of time")}, 3000); //Alerts "Out of time" after 3000 milliseconds
}
function resetTime()
{
     timer(); //this is not right, i thought it would override the first function but it just adds another timer as well which is not what I want
}
function stopTime()
{
     //What could go here to stop the first function from fully executing before it hits 3000 milliseconds and displays the alert message?
}

the function timer() starts as the page loads but if I have a button for stopTime() and I click on it, how do I stop the first function from executing and stop it from hitting the 3000 millisecond mark and alerting "Out of time"?

Answer 1

Use a variable with scope over all of your functions.

var myTimer;
...
myTimer = setTimeout(...);
...
clearTimeout(myTimer);