Backbone history do not start - backbone.js

i'm quite a newbie on Backbone, and this is driving me crazy:
I'm using backbone and Marionette.
Here is some code sample to begin :
var Backbone = require('backbone'),
Marionette = require('backbone.marionette'),
FastClick = require('fastclick');
var MainModule = require('./modules/main'),
HomeModule = require('./modules/home');
var app = new Marionette.Application();
app.vent.on('ready', function(e) {
Backbone.history.start({
pushState: true, // Use HTML5 history if available
hashChange: false, // or refresh pages if it isnt supported natively
root: '/',
})
});
and in my /module/home/index.js :
module.exports = function HomeModule(Module, App, Backbone, Marionette, $, _) {
// Register Sub modules
App.module('Home', LayoutModule);
App.module('Home', WallModule);
Module.Router = Marionette.AppRouter.extend({
appRoutes: {
'/': 'home',
'social-wall': 'socialwall'
}
});
var controller = {
home: function() {
App.mainRegion.show(new Module.Layout());
},
socialwall: function() {
controller.home();
App.mainRegion.currentView.scrollToSocialWall();
}
};
App.addInitializer(function() {
new Module.Router({ controller: controller });
});
};
The problem is that Backbone.history.start do not trigger anything. If i understand the code correctly, the history.start() should find the '/' route in the HomeModule and trigger the associated function... Am I wrong??
Why is this not working?????
In advance, thanks

found it!
as i said in the comment, it was a deployment error. The error was a bad package.json file on a npm install.
Tip to front-devs : when u're making a npm package to install and deploy a Marionette project, be sure to include Backbone first, and with an explicit version... including only Marionette will cause npm to install Backbone twice (on project root and in marionette modules), and this is a source of big troubles...

Related

AngularJS- Dynamic Loading of script files using LazyLoad- Webpack

Right now in my index.html page I have links to two CDN files one being a JS and the other a CSS file.
i.e.
in the the bottom of my body
https://somedomain.com/files/js/js.min.js
and in the head
https://somedomain.com/files/css/css.min.css
But right now they aren't needed on my homepage but just in one particular route. So I was looking into how I can lazy load these CDN resources when that routes gets hit i.e. /profile and only then ?
These aren't installed via bower or npm but just loaded via CDN url for example jquery. How in Angular 1 and Webpack can I lazy load that based on a route ?
Here you go.. It is made possible using oclazyload. Have a look at below code. A plunker linked below
I have a module Called myApp as below
angular.module('myApp', ['ui.router','oc.lazyLoad'])
.config(function ($stateProvider, $locationProvider, $ocLazyLoadProvider) {
$stateProvider
.state("home", {
url: "/home",
templateUrl: "Home.html",
controller: 'homeCtrl',
resolve: {
loadMyCtrl: ['$ocLazyLoad', function ($ocLazyLoad) {
return $ocLazyLoad.load('homeCtrl.js');
}]
}
})
.state("profile", {
url:"/profile",
templateUrl: "profile.html",
resolve: {
loadMyCtrl: ['$ocLazyLoad', function ($ocLazyLoad) {
return $ocLazyLoad.load('someModule.js');
}]
}
})
});
I have another module called someApp as below
(function () {
var mynewapp=angular.module('someApp',['myApp']);
mynewapp.config(function(){
//your code to route from here!
});
mynewapp.controller("profileCtrl", function ($scope) {
console.log("reached profile controller");
});
})();
I have a Live Plunker for your demo here
I have this JStaticLoader repo, to ease me loading static files whenever I need them. Though, it's not angularized, but you can still use it in your app as a directive, direct call it from your controller or even in the $rootScope to load your desired js.
JStaticLoader uses pure js and require no dependencies. It uses XMLHttpRequest to load the static files.
As an example use in your app.js (on $routeChangeStart or $stateChangeStart)
myApp
.run(['$rootScope', '$http', function ($rootScope, $http) {
var scriptExists = function (scriptId) {
if (document.getElementById(scriptId)) {
return true;
}
return false;
};
var addLazyScript = function (scriptId, url) {
if (scriptExists(scriptId)) return;
var js = document.createElement('script'),
els = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0];
js.id = scriptId;
js.src = url;
js.type = "text/javascript";
els.parentNode.insertBefore(js, els);
};
$rootScope.$on('$routeChangeStart', function (e, current) {
if (current.controller === 'MainCtrl') {
var pathUrls = ["https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/materialize/0.97.8/js/materialize.js"],
scriptId = 'lazyScript1';
if (scriptExists(scriptId)) return;
JStaticLoader(pathUrls, { files: ['js'] }, function (vals, totalTime) {
/* Success */
for (var i = 0; i < vals.length; i++) {
var path = vals[i];
addLazyScript(scriptId, path);
}
}, function (error, totalTime) {
/* Error */
console.warn(error, totalTime);
});
}
});
}]);
On the sample above, I get a js file by using xhr, and append it as a script in my document once it's finished. The script will then be loaded from your browser's cache.
Strictly talking about the Webpack -
Webpack is just a module bundler and not a javascript loader.Since it packages files only from the local storage and doesn't load the files from the web(except its own chunks).ALthough other modules may be included into the webpack which may do the same process.
I will demonstrate only some of the modules which you can try,as there are many such defined on the web.
Therefore a better way to lazy load the cdn from the another domain would be using the javascript loader - script.js
It can be loaded in the following way -
var $script = require("script.js");
$script = ("https://somedomain.com/files/js/js.min.js or https://somedomain.com/files/css/css.min.css",function(){
//.... is ready now
});
This is possible because the script-loader just evaluates the javascript in the global context.
References here
Concerning about the issue of lazy loading the cdn into the angular app
The following library Lab JS is made specifically for this purpose.
It becomes very simple to load and bloack the javascript using this library.
Here is an example to demonstrate
<script src="LAB.js"></script>
<script>
$LAB
.script("/local/init.js").wait(function(){
waitfunction();
});
<script>
OR
You can use the require.js
Here is an example to load the jquery
require.config({
paths: {
"jquery": "https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.8.1/jquery.min"
},
waitSeconds: 40
});
You should also consider the following paragraph from this article.
Loading third party scripts async is key for having high performance web pages, but those scripts still block onload. Take the time to analyze your web performance data and understand if and how those not-so-important content/widgets/ads/tracking codes impact page load times.

r.js cannot resolve dependencies mentioned in shim

I've recently joined a project which is built using Backbonejs, (uses Marionette for view rendering) + nodejs. They also use requirejs to load the backbonejs files. Would like to add at this stage, that I've never worked with backbonejs or requirejs before and hence I'm struggling with the issue I describe later.
Some code that will help explain the issue that I run into (All this code was already written by previous dev's)
Folder Structure:
/public
/js
/collection (consists all Backbone.js collections files)
/lib
/bower_components
/backone
/marionette
/etc
/models (consists all Backbone.js models files)
/views (consists all Backbone.js view files)
/main.js
/main.build.js
/app.js
/controller.js
/router.js
Code from files that I think relate to issue:
main.js
requirejs.config({
paths: {
'async': 'lib/bower_components/requirejs-plugins/src/async',
'jquery': 'lib/bower_components/jquery/dist/jquery.min',
'underscore': 'lib/bower_components/underscore/underscore-min',
'lodash': 'lib/bower_components/lodash/dist/lodash.min',
'backbone': 'lib/bower_components/backbone/backbone',
'marionette': 'lib/bower_components/marionette/lib/backbone.marionette.min',
'markercluster':'lib/markercluster',
'jquerymobile': 'lib/jquery.mobile-1.4.0.min',
'hogan': 'lib/template-2.0.0.min',
'templates': '/templates',
'real': 'lib/mainjs',
'touch': 'lib/jquery.touchSwipe.min',
'mouse': 'lib/jquery.mousewheel',
'moment': 'lib/moment-2.5.1.min',
'humanize': 'lib/bower_components/humanize-plus/public/dist/humanize.min',
'validator': 'lib/bower_components/validator-js/validator.min',
'real': 'lib/mainfile'
},
shim: {
backbone: {
deps: ["underscore"]
},
marionette: {
deps: ["backbone"]
},
templates: {
deps: ["hogan", "jquery"]
},
real: {
deps: ["jquery", "jquerymobile", "touch", "mouse"]
},
markercluster: {
exports: "MarkerClusterer"
},
humanize: {
exports: "humanize"
}
},
waitSeconds: 0
});
define('gmaps', ['async!http://maps.google.com/maps/api/js?v=3&key=AIzaSyBiV8f88yLWJ_IMSdP1fVNO1-gt3eLVSgg&sensor=true&callback=gMapsCallback'], function(){
// define('gmaps', ['http://maps.google.com/maps/api/js?v=3&sensor=false'], function(){
return window.google.maps;
});
require(['app', 'templates', 'real'], function(app) {
app.start({
version: "0.9.9"
});
});
main.build.js
({
baseUrl: ".",
name: "main",
wrapShim: true,
out: "main-built.js"
})
app.js
define(['underscore', 'controller', 'router', 'models/Cache', 'views/RootView'], function(_, Controller, Router, Cache, RootView) {
var Application = Marionette.Application.extend({
propertyListPageSize: 3,
initialize: function() {
_.templateSettings = { interpolate : /\{\{(.+?)\}\}/g };
},
onStart: function(options){
new RootView();
this.controller = new Controller();
this.router = new Router({controller: this.controller});
this.cache = new Cache();
this.context = {};
//this.evHistory = [];//#todo remove once BB/marionette navigation is in place
if(Backbone.history) Backbone.history.start({ pushState: false });
if(Backbone.history.fragment === "") this.navigate('home');
},
navigate: function(fragment, trigger, replace){
this.router.navigate(fragment, {trigger:trigger, replace:replace});
},
back: function() {
window.history.back();
}
});
app = new Application();
return app;
});
rootView.js
define(['marionette', 'views/HomeView', 'views/HeaderView', 'views/FooterView', 'views/MenuView', 'views/VideoView', 'views/LocationSearchView', 'views/LoginView', 'views/FindView', 'views/ServicesView', 'views/ValueView', 'views/PropertyListView', 'views/SideBySideView', 'views/ConfirmRegistrationView', 'views/ForgotPasswordView', 'views/CreateAccountView', 'views/UserHomeView', 'views/MyBrokerView', 'views/GiveFeedbackView', 'views/SeeFeedbackView', 'views/ViewingScheduleView', 'views/MyViewingsSummaryView', 'views/MyAccountView', 'views/ViewingConfirmView', 'views/ValueAddressPropertyListView'],
function(Marionette, HomeView, HeaderView, FooterView, MenuView, VideoView, LocationView, LoginView, FindView, ServicesView, ValueView, PropertyListView, SideBySideView, ConfirmRegistrationView, ForgotPasswordView, CreateAccountView, UserHomeView, MyBrokerView, GiveFeedbackView, SeeFeedbackView, ViewingScheduleView, MyViewingsSummaryView, MyAccountView, ViewingConfirmView, ValueAddressPropertyListView) {
var RootView = Marionette.LayoutView.extend({
...some view code
});
Use case I'm trying to solve:
So when I access the site in the browser, I notice in the debugger that it loads all the js files right at the beginning. During the load process my site is blank and user has to wait a while before he can use the site.
So what I've been able to understand is that when app is 'started' in main.js, app.js creates an instance of rootView.js , which in turn has all the views listed as dependencies. This triggers a download request for all the other views which in turn would solve their own dependencies and download all the relevant models and collections. Hence all files being downloaded when the user accessed the site.
Solution I've been trying:
Since requirejs is being used, I'm trying to use r.js to optimize and combine all the js files to reduce the number of downloads.
Issue I'm running into:
When i run r.js. i get the following error
Tracing dependencies for: main
Error: ENOENT: no such file or directory, open '/var/node_projects/rm/rm.src.server/src/public/js/underscore.js'
In module tree:
main
app
Error: Error: ENOENT: no such file or directory, open '/var/node_projects/rm/rm.src.server/src/public/js/underscore.js'
In module tree:
main
app
at Error (native)
If I add the underscore.js files directly to the specified path in the error, then I get the same error for marionette.js. What I think is happening is that app.js is not recognizing the shim'ed dependencies and hence its trying to find the files directly at specified path in the error.
Things I've tried:
- I've added wrapShim: true in the main.build.js file but that did not help
Honestly, I've been sitting on this for a couple of days and I'm not sure what I can do next and hence this post.
Any help/direction would be appreciated.
You need to include the same shim configuration in your build file, as wrapShim is not sufficient.
If shim config is used in the app during runtime, duplicate the config here. Necessary if shim config is used, so that the shim's dependencies are included in the build. Using "mainConfigFile" is a better way to pass this information though, so that it is only listed in one place. However, if mainConfigFile is not an option, the shim config can be inlined in the build config.
https://github.com/jrburke/r.js/blob/master/build/example.build.js

How to link a model to a router's routes

I know this is a beginner question, but I read the doc, some tutorials, and I still have a hard time making it work.
I have a simple php rest webservice, you can see the declared urls:
$app->get('/todos', 'getTodos');
$app->post('/todo/add', 'addTodo');
$app->put('/todo/update/:id', 'updateTodo');
$app->delete('/todo/delete/:id','deleteTodo');
Here is my backbone router:
var app.myRouteur = Backbone.Router.extend({
routes: {
"todos": "get",
"todo/add": "add",
"todo/update/:id": "update",
"todo/delete/:id" "delete"
},
get: function() {
alert('get route triggered');
},
add: function() {
},
update: function(id) {
},
delete: function(id) {
}
});
The router is instanciated as such:
var app = app || {};
var ENTER_KEY = 13;
$(function() {
new app.myRouteur();
Backbone.history.start({pushState: true, root: "/api/index.php/"});
new app.AppView();
});
My question is: what should I do so that the models automatically use those routes to communicate with the webservice?
Is this router supposed to define the webservice's urls or only backbone internal urls (and then webservice's urls should be declared in the model)?
I'm a bit lost and confused... not knowing what do to with this router...
1- The Router's routes are here just to organize your application and centerlize the workflow between you views. You can access them by tags or using Backbone.History.navigate() ...
2- The responsables of accessing your webservices are models with urlRoot and collections with url

Routing in Backbone.js / Marionette.js - no hashtags, route list and sub-routers

I have three questions about routing in Backbone.js / Marionette.js :
1) How can I get a list of all the routes my application's routers have registered ?
For example for Express.js (in Node.js) it would be app.routes.
I'm trying to do the same with Backbone.js / Marionette.js but couldn't find any property or method that did this.
2) I want to clean-up my URLs and remove the hashtag "#" in front of them, I know that they trigger the Routers so how can I manage to do this ?
I found the following script that prototypes the Backbone router, but it's more of a hack than a stable solution : Simple backbone routing without hash URLs
3) Is is possible to have sub-routers in Backbone.js / Marionette.js ?
What I mean by sub-router is a router which only handles a part of a url, e.g :
var AppRouter = Backbone.Router.extend({
routes: {
'articles' : 'MyArticleRouter'
}
});
var MyArticleRouter = Backbone.Router.extend({
routes: {
'science' : 'someMethod',
'literrature' : 'someOtherMethod'
}
});
This would categorise my URLs a little bit more by letting me define the main routes in AppRouter and all the subroutes (part after the second slash "/") in category-specific sub-routers.
So for the following URL : "hostname/articles/science", the routing process would look something like this :
1) pass "/articles/science" to AppRouter
2) AppRouter splits the URI and takes the "/articles" part
3) AppRouter finds the registered "/articles" route
4) AppRouter recognises that MyArticleRouter is bound to that URI element
5) AppRouter forwards the routing to that router and only passes the "/science" element as a route
6) MyArticleRouter routes "/science" to the someMethod() and runs it
Thank you in advance !
Answer for #1:
All the routes are registered in Backbone.history.handlers.
Answer for #2:
You can add a handler to every link in your site:
var application = new Backbone.Marionette.Application();
application.addInitializer(function(options) {
// Add class to target a browser, not as standalone app.
if(window.navigator.standalone != true) {
$('body').addClass('no-standalone');
}
// Prevent internal links from causing a page refresh.
$(document).on('click', 'a', function(event) {
var fragment = Backbone.history.getFragment($(this).attr('href'));
var matched = _.any(Backbone.history.handlers, function(handler) {
return handler.route.test(fragment);
});
if (matched) {
event.preventDefault();
Backbone.history.navigate(fragment, { trigger: true });
}
});
});
Of course make sure you use pushState:
if (!Backbone.history.started) {
Backbone.history.start({ pushState: true });
}
That last snippet must be run after you have initialized all your routers.
Answer for #3:
This may work a little to split your routes:
define([
'backbone',
'underscore',
'routers/dashboard',
'routers/anotherroute1',
'routers/anotherroute2'
],
function(Backbone, _, DashboardRouter, AnotherRoute1, AnotherRoute2) {
'use strict';
var application = new Backbone.Marionette.Application();
application.addInitializer(function () {
_.each([DashboardRouter, AnotherRoute1, AnotherRoute2], function(router) {
new router();
});
if (!Backbone.history.started) {
Backbone.history.start({ pushState: true });
}
});
return application;
});

BackboneJS + Requirejs: Backbone is null issue

In the router.js. The firebug console alerts Backbone is null there. Why???
app.js
define([
'order!jQuery',
'order!Underscore',
'order!Backbone',
'order!router' // Request router.js
],
function($, _, Backbone, Router){
App = {
initialize: function() {
console.log("app.js initalize");
Router.initialize();
}
};
return App;
});
router.js
define([
'order!Underscore',
'order!Backbone'
],
function(_, Backbone){
var AppRouter = Backbone.Router.extend({
// Console shows Backbone is null here, why?
// I'm sure the config is correct.
routes: {
'*actions': "defaultAction"
},
defaultAction: function(actions){
// We have no matching route, lets just log what the URL was
console.log('No route:', actions);
}
});
var initialize = function(){
console.log("Router initialize");
var app_router = new AppRouter;
Backbone.history.start();
};
return {
initialize: initialize
};
});
Backbone does not support the AMD and it doesn't register as module. When required it registers normally as a global Backbone object, also since 1.3 Underscore doesn't support AMD neither and if you will require Backbone and Underscore under Backbone and _ namespaces they will overwrite its values in this modules scope to undefined cause of that.
jQuery supports AMD but it also registers itself as a global instance. Basically it means that you don't need to require jquery, underscore and backbone multiple times - it's enough if you do it once in your requirejs main script
The alternative is to hack the backbone.js library.
Note: This will allow you to reference Backbone.js and underscore.js library within your require.js defines, but it will not stop them from being added to the global namespace/window object. This requires a little more hacking.
Find:
(function(){var l=this,y=
Replace it with:
define('backbone',['underscore','jquery'],function(_,$){
var l = this;
(function(){var y=
Add this to the bottom of the page:
return l.Backbone;
});
Then do the same for underscore.js
Prefix the beginning with:
define('underscore',function(){
Add to the bottom of the page:
return this._;
});

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