Jquery/Javascript- how to call plugin function?

[eluser]umbungo[/eluser]
Using the infieldlabels jquery plugin (below) works fine normally, but there are occasions when i populate fields using javascript, and then the in-field labels are not faded / recreated. I am a bit of a noob to javascript and i'm not sure how to call the required function to re-check the content of the fields when required.

I tried calling $("label").inFieldLabels() (amongst other attempts) but this didn't work. [EDIT: this does clear the label if an input is added, but it doesn't fill it up again if the input is emptied]

Plugin source below;

Code:

(function ($){
    
    $.InFieldLabels = function (label,field, options){
        // To avoid scope issues, use 'base' instead of 'this'
        // to reference this class from internal events and functions.
        var base = this;
        // Access to jQuery and DOM versions of each element
        base.$label = $(label);
        base.label = label;

         base.$field = $(field);
        base.field = field;
        
        base.$label.data("InFieldLabels", base);
        base.showing = true;
        
        base.init = function (){
            // Merge supplied options with default options
            base.options = $.extend({},$.InFieldLabels.defaultOptions, options);

            // Check if the field is already filled in
            if(base.$field.val() != ""){
                base.$label.hide();
                base.showing = false;
            }
                        else base.showing = true;
            
            base.$field.focus(function(){
                base.fadeOnFocus();
            }).blur(function(){
                base.checkForEmpty(true);
            }).bind('keydown.infieldlabel',function(e){
                // Use of a namespace (.infieldlabel) allows us to
                // unbind just this method later
                base.hideOnChange(e);
            }).change(function(e){
                base.checkForEmpty();
            }).bind('onPropertyChange', function(){
                base.checkForEmpty();
            });
        };

        // If the label is currently showing
        // then fade it down to the amount
        // specified in the settings
        base.fadeOnFocus = function(){
            if(base.showing){
                base.setOpacity(base.options.fadeOpacity);
            };
        };
        
        base.setOpacity = function(opacity){
            base.$label.stop().animate({ opacity: opacity }, base.options.fadeDuration);
            base.showing = (opacity > 0.0);
        };
        
        // Checks for empty as a fail safe
        // set blur to true when passing from
        // the blur event
        base.checkForEmpty = function checkForEmpty(blur){
            if(base.$field.val() == ""){
                base.prepForShow();
                base.setOpacity( blur ? 1.0 : base.options.fadeOpacity );
            } else {
                base.setOpacity(0.0);
            };
        };
        
        base.prepForShow = function(e){
            if(!base.showing) {
                // Prepare for a animate in...
                base.$label.css({opacity: 0.0}).show();
                
                // Reattach the keydown event
                base.$field.bind('keydown.infieldlabel',function(e){
                    base.hideOnChange(e);
                });
            };
        };

        base.hideOnChange = function(e){
            if(
                (e.keyCode == 16) || // Skip Shift
                (e.keyCode == 9) // Skip Tab
              ) return;

            if(base.showing){
                base.$label.hide();
                base.showing = false;
            };
            
            // Remove keydown event to save on CPU processing
            base.$field.unbind('keydown.infieldlabel');
        };
      
        // Run the initialization method
        base.init();
    };
    
    $.InFieldLabels.defaultOptions = {
        fadeOpacity: 0.4, // Once a field has focus, how transparent should the label be
        fadeDuration: 300 // How long should it take to animate from 1.0 opacity to the fadeOpacity
    };
    

    $.fn.inFieldLabels = function(options){
        return this.each(function(){
            // Find input or textarea based on for= attribute
            // The for attribute on the label must contain the ID
            // of the input or textarea element
            var for_attr = $(this).attr('for');
            if( !for_attr ) return; // Nothing to attach, since the for field wasn't used
            
            
            // Find the referenced input or textarea element
            var $field = $(
                "input#" + for_attr + "[type='text']," +
                "input#" + for_attr + "[type='password']," +
                "textarea#" + for_attr
                );
                
            if( $field.length == 0) return; // Again, nothing to attach
            
            // Only create object for input[text], input[password], or textarea
            (new $.InFieldLabels(this, $field[0], options));
        });
    };
    
})(jQuery);