My goal is to write a SAPUI5 Fiori app with routing support. One mail goal is to have passable URLs. For example in an E-Mail like "please approve this: link". The link is an URL matched by my rounting config, e.g.index.html#/applicants/8.
I use a typical sap.m.SplitApp kind of application. Clicking a list item in masterview changes the URL to index.html#/applicants/[id of entry in JSON]. I can click on the list, my defined routes are getting matched and the apps loads the (applicant) data as expected.
However, and here comes my question, this doeas not work when using an URL directly, say pasting [my url]/index.html#/applicants/8 into my browser. The app is launched but no detail data is loaded. I have to click on another list item again to get the data.
Actually, the controller is called when passing the URL, but it seems the model is not initiated and undefined. My JSON model is bound in the createContent function of my Component.js
// Update 2015-05-14
The problems seems to be around the getData() function. I have the model, it has the entries, but getData() returns undefined for the first time my app is loaded. I recently read getData() is deprecated. How should I improve my coding below?
// Component.js
ui5testing.Component.prototype.createContent = function(){
// create root view
var oView = sap.ui.view({
id : "app",
viewName : "ui5testing.view.Main",
type : "JS",
viewData : {
component : this
}
var oModel = new sap.ui.model.json.JSONModel("model/mock_applicants.json");
oView.setModel(oModel);
[...]
return oView;
});
// Master controller
handleApplicantSelect : function (evt) {
var oHashChanger = sap.ui.core.routing.HashChanger.getInstance();
var context = evt.getParameter("listItem").getBindingContext();
var path = context.getPath();
var model = this.getView().getModel();
var item = model.getProperty(path);
oHashChanger.setHash("applicants/" + item.id);
},
// Detail controller
onInit: function() {
this.router = sap.ui.core.UIComponent.getRouterFor(this);
this.router.attachRoutePatternMatched(this._handleRouteMatched, this);
},
_handleRouteMatched : function(evt){
var objectId = evt.getParameter("arguments").id;
var model = this.getView().getModel();
var data = model.getData()["applicants"];
var pathId;
if (data) {
for (var i = 0; data.length; i++) {
if ( objectId == data[i].id ) {
pathId = i;
break;
}
}
var sPath = "/applicants/" + pathId;
var context = new sap.ui.model.Context(model, sPath)
this.getView().setBindingContext(context);
}
},
As you've figured out that getData() returns undefined for the first time, which means the model data is still not yet loaded. So you can make use of attachRequestCompleted method of the model & fire an event from the component & listen to that event in the detail controller to ensure the routerPatternMatched() gets executed only after the data is loaded.
//Component.js
var oModel = new sap.ui.model.json.JSONModel("model/mock_applicants.json");
oModel.attachRequestCompleted(jQuery.proxy(function(){
this.fireEvent("MockDataLoaded"); // fireEvent through component
},this));
oView.setModel(oModel);
//Detail controller
onInit : function(){
this.router = sap.ui.core.UIComponent.getRouterFor(this);
var oComponent = this.getOwnerComponent();
oComponent.attachEvent("MockDataLoaded",jQuery.proxy(function(){
this.router.attachRoutePatternMatched(this._handleRouteMatched, this);
},this));
}
Or the simplest & but the dirty way would be to make an synchronous request instead of an async request to load data.
var oModel = new sap.ui.model.json.JSONModel();
oModel.loadData(""model/mock_applicants.json",{bAsync:false});
oView.setModel(oModel);
Related
While performing a fetch() on my backbone collection, and instantiating models as children of that collection, I want to add one more piece of information to each model.
I thought that I could do this using set in the model initialize. (My assumption is that fetch() is instantiating a new model for each object passed into it. And therefore as each initialize occurs the extra piece of data would be set.
To illustrate my problem I've pasted in four snippets, first from my collection class. Second the initialize function in my model class. Third, two functions that I use in the initialize function to get the needed information from the flickr api. Fourth, and finally, the app.js which performs the fetch().
First the collection class:
var ArmorApp = ArmorApp || {};
ArmorApp.ArmorCollection = Backbone.Collection.extend({
model: ArmorApp.singleArmor,
url: "https://spreadsheets.google.com/feeds/list/1SjHIBLTFb1XrlrpHxZ4SLE9lEJf4NyDVnKnbVejlL4w/1/public/values?alt=json",
//comparator: "Century",
parse: function(data){
var armorarray = [];
var entryarray = data.feed.entry;
for (var x in entryarray){
armorarray.push({"id": entryarray[x].gsx$id.$t,
"Filename": entryarray[x].gsx$filename.$t,
"Century": entryarray[x].gsx$century.$t,
"Date": entryarray[x].gsx$date.$t,
"Country": entryarray[x].gsx$country.$t,
"City": entryarray[x].gsx$city.$t,
"Type": entryarray[x].gsx$type.$t,
"Maker": entryarray[x].gsx$maker.$t,
"Recepient": entryarray[x].gsx$recipient.$t,
"Flickrid": entryarray[x].gsx$flickrid.$t,
"FlickrUrl": "", //entryarray[x].gsx$flickrurl.$t,
"FlickrUrlBig": ""//entryarray[x].gsx$flickrurlbig.$t,
});
}
return armorarray;
}
});
Second, the initialization in my model.
initialize: function(){
//console.log("A model instance named " + this.get("Filename"));
item = this;
var flickrapi = "https://api.flickr.com/services/rest/?&method=flickr.photos.getSizes&api_key=<my_apikey>&photo_id=" + this.get("Flickrid") + "&format=json&jsoncallback=?";
sources = getFlickrSources(flickrapi);
sources.then(function(data){
sourceArray = parseFlickrResponse(data);
FlickrSmall = sourceArray[0].FlickrSmall;
console.log (FlickrSmall);
item.set("FlickrUrl", FlickrSmall);
console.log(item);
});
Notice here how I'm getting the "Flickrid" and using to get one more piece of information and then trying to add it back into the model with item.set("FlickrUrl", FlickerSmall);
console.log confirms that the property "FlickrUrl" has been set to the desired value.
Third, these are the functions my model uses to get the information it needs for the flicker api.
var getFlickrSources = function(flickrapi){
flickrResponse = $.ajax({
url: flickrapi,
// The name of the callback parameter, as specified by the YQL service
jsonp: "callback",
// Tell jQuery we're expecting JSONP
dataType: "jsonp"})
return flickrResponse;
}
var parseFlickrResponse = function(data){
flickrSourceArray = []
if (data.stat == "ok"){
sizeArray = data.sizes.size;
for (var y in sizeArray){
if (sizeArray[y].label == "Small"){
flickrSourceArray.push({"FlickrSmall": sizeArray[y].source});
}
else if (sizeArray[y].label == "Large"){
flickrSourceArray.push({"FlickrLarge": sizeArray[y].source});
}
}
}
return flickrSourceArray
}
But, fourth, when I try to perform the fetch and render the collection, I only get objects in my collection without the FlickrUrl property set.
//create an array of models and then pass them in collection creation method
var armorGroup = new ArmorApp.ArmorCollection();
armorGroup.fetch().then(function(){
console.log(armorGroup.toJSON());
var armorGroupView = new ArmorApp.allArmorView({collection: armorGroup});
$("#allArmor").html(armorGroupView.render().el);
});
var armorRouter = new ArmorApp.Router();
Backbone.history.start();
The console.log in this last snippet prints out all the objects/models supposedly instantiated through the fetch. But none of them include the extra property that should have been set during the initialization.
Any ideas what is happening?
What is this function ? getFlickrSources(flickrapi)
Why are you using this.get in the initialize function. Honestly it looks over-complicated for what you are trying to do.
If you want to set some parameter when you instantiate your model then do this var model = new Model({ param:"someparam", url:"someurl",wtv:"somewtv"});
If the point is to update your model just write an update function in your model something like update: function (newparam) { this.set;... etc and call it when you need it.
If I read you well you just want to set some params when your model is instantiated, so just use what I specified above. Here is some more doc : http://backbonejs.org/#Model-constructor
I hope it helps.
edit:
Put your call outside your model, you shouldn't (imo) make call inside your model this way it seems kinda dirty.
Sources.then(function(flickrdata) {
var mymodel = new Model({flicker:flickrdata.wtv});
});
It would be cleaner in my opinion.
So this is my first Backbone project and I'm wondering if I'm doing things in the best way. My app basically has two states, one of them displays a search box and the other displays a search box with a table under it. My router has routes for searching and for the initial landing page with just the search view. When the user types in the query the router navigates to the search route and the table view is added to the page. This is my router:
app.Router = Backbone.Router.extend({
routes: {
'': 'index',
'search/coords=:address&age=:age&rad=:rad': 'search'
},
search: function(address, age, rad){
app.statusView || (app.statusView = new app.StatusView());
app.searchView || (app.searchView = new app.SearchView());
app.trigger('status:loading');
app.Practices.fetch({
reset: false,
success: function() {
app.searchView.setElement($('#search-box')).render();
var searchQuery = new app.SearchQueryModel({age: age, coords: address.split(","), radius: rad});
if (!app.tableView){
app.tableView = new app.TableView({model: searchQuery});
} else {
app.tableView.model = searchQuery;
app.tableView.refresh();
};
}
});
app.trigger('status:clear');
},
index: function() {
app.statusView = new app.StatusView();
app.searchView = new app.SearchView();
app.footerView = new app.FooterView();
app.searchView.setElement($('#search-box')).render();
}
});
As you can see my views are instantiated in the index route and then the same views are used when you search, unless the user is going directly to the search page in which case the views are instantiated there. I'd be surprised if this wasn't very sub-optimal because it seems clumsy to be checking if the view already exists in the search route. Is there a better way of doing things?
Lets say its not bad, but there is one better approach.
As for now you router is in charge of hook-up URL with app astatus and also for view and model control. The second may be detached from Router, so you will need Controller abstraction, but Backbone does not provide Controller "from the box".
But this is not the problem, you can use plugin or take a look at Controller realization in Marionette.js
The main idea here is to split responsibilities between app part correctly:
1) Router - keeps routes and hook up URL with controller action
2) Controller - manage views and models (create, delete, fetch and so on)
3) View - listen to model and DOM events and render data
4) Model - provide actual data and work with data.
First of all welcome to Backbone. It is a lovely framework which can allow you to make things as beautiful or ugly as you'ld like. Your question is about where view instantiation should be, in terms of good practices. Of course it seems sort of wrong to do it there as it violates the Law of Demeter by handling both url routing and view instantiation.
But the views have to be run from somewhere right? If not the router then where?
So I have two responses:
If your app is simple and you just want to play with backbone then you're probably going to be fine. A lot of people let single page app frameworks complicate otherwise simple apps. I'm not trying to be lazy, but where you have it now is the natural beginner's choice in Backbone. If this is your case then stop here.
If you want to use the full power of backbone to custom make a framework then read on.
So my setup is designed to be able to start a new project using some boilerplate functions and create only a few classes which are specific to the new app. Route handling and all of that kind of thing seems low-level enough to me that it should be just part of some configuration that I don't want to look at often. The upshot is that my router looks like this:
define([
'autorouter'
], function(AutoRouter){
var AppRouter = AutoRouter.extend({
autoRoutes: {
":page" : "routeDirect",
":page/:object" : "routeDirect",
":page/:object/:action" : "routeDirect",
"": "routeDirect"
}
});
return AppRouter;
});
Then for each new project I have a file where I keep the non-default routes, for instance:
define(function(require){
return {
"schedule" : require('screens/schedule')
, "logout" : require('screens/logout')
, "login" : require('screens/login')
, "create" : require('screens/create')
, "upload" : require('screens/upload')
, "select" : require('screens/selection')
, "inventory" : require('screens/inventory')
, "describe" : require('screens/description')
}
});
I put each screen into it's own file (using requirejs for the multi-file dependency management). The extra variables get passed through to the screen.
Each screen is the brain for a particular user experience and is responsible for loading views and maybe handling some events while that screen is active.
If that seems like an interesting setup then here is how I did it:
For the router itself I use a boilerplate class which I borrowed from Derick Bailey with some slight modifications:
define([
'jquery', 'underscore', 'backbone'],
function($, _, Backbone) {
var AutoRouter = Backbone.Router.extend({
constructor: function(options){
Backbone.Router.prototype.constructor.call(this, options);
var that = this;
that.app = options.app;
if (this.autoRoutes){
that.processAutoRoutes(options.app, that.autoRoutes);
}
},
processAutoRoutes: function(app, autoRoutes){
var method, methodName;
var route, routesLength;
var routes = [];
var router = this;
for(route in autoRoutes){
routes.unshift([route, autoRoutes[route]]);
}
routesLength = routes.length;
for (var i = 0; i < routesLength; i++){
route = routes[i][0];
methodName = routes[i][1];
method = app[methodName];
router.route(route, methodName, method);
}
}
});
return AutoRouter;
});
I never have to look at it, but I do need to pass it an app instance. For example:
this.appRouter = new AppRouter({app : this});
Finally my route direction function:
define(function(require){
var pathParser = function(path){
return Array.prototype.slice.call(path);
}
var pathApply = function(path, routes, context){
var pathArray = pathParser(path);
var primary = pathArray[0];
if (routes.hasOwnProperty(primary)){
routes[primary].apply(context, pathArray.slice(1));
} else {
routes["default"].apply(context, pathArray.slice(1));
}
}
return function(path){
//NOTE PLEASE that this references AutoRouter
//Which has an app property
var oApp = this.app;
var pathRoutes = _.extend(require('urls'), {
"default" : require('screens/default')
});
pathApply(arguments, pathRoutes, oApp);
};
});
So, did I make things better? Well if you're doing something very simple with just a screen or two, then you certainly don't want to build this sort of setup from scratch. But if you're like me, and you want to be able to quickly produce new projects then having some boilerplate like the two classes above allows for one JSON object to tell the app which routes I should send to which screens. Then I can have all of the logic in the appropriate places, allowing separation of concerns. Which is why I think Backbone is so pleasant.
My understanding of your problem is that you are triggering a route each time you are hitting search.
If this is how you are doing it, then use view events hash (used to capture and handle events that happen in a view) for search.Don't use routes. Define an events hash in the view and have a callback to handle the search.
var myAppEventBus = _.extend({},Backbone.Events);
var myAppController = {
function : search(options) {
// create an instance of the collection and do a fetch call passing the
// search parameters to it.
var searchResultsCollection = new SearchResultsCollection();
// pass search criteria, the success and error callbacks to the fetch
// method.
var that = this;
searchResultsCollection.fetch(
{
data:that.options,
success : function() {
// Pass the fetched collection object in the trigger call so that
// it can be
// received at the event handler call back
var options = {
"searchResultsCollection" : that.searchResultsCollection;
};
myAppEventBus.trigger("search_event_triggered",options);
},
error : function() {
// do the error handling here.
}
}
);
}
};
// Application Router.
var MyAppRouter = Backbone.Router.extend({
routes : {
'search/coords=:address&age=:age&rad=:rad': 'search'
},
search : function(searchParams) {
// Fetch the query parameters and pass it to the view.
var routeSearchExists = false;
var searchOptions = {};
var options = {};
if(searchParams) {
routeSearchExists = true;
// If search params exist split and set them accordingly in
// the searchOptions object.
options.searchOptions = searchOptions;
}
// Create and render the search view. Pass the searchOptions
var searchView = new SearchView(options);
searchView.render();
// Create and render an instance of the search results view.
var searchResultsView = new SearchResultsView();
searchResultsView.render();
// If there are search parameters from the route, then do a search.
if(routeSearchExists) {
searchView.search();
}
}
});
// The main view that contains the search component and a container(eg: div)
// for the search results.
var SearchView = Backbone.View.extend({
el : "#root_container",
searchOptions : null,
initialize : function(options) {
// Intialize data required for rendering the view here.
// When the user searches for data thru routes, it comes down in the
// options hash which can then be passed on to the controller.
if(options.searchOptions) {
this.searchOptions = options.searchOptions;
}
},
events : {
"search #search_lnk":"initSearch"
},
initSearch : function(event) {
event.preventDefault();
var searchOptions = {};
// Fetch the search fields from the form and build the search options.
myAppController.search(searchOptions);
},
search : function() {
if(this.searchOptions) {
myAppController.search(searchOptions);
}
}
});
// The view to display the search results.
var SearchResultsView = Backbone.View.extend({
searchResultsCollection : null;
initialize : function(options) {
// Handling the triggered search event.
myAppEventBus.on("search_event_triggered",this.render,this);
},
render : function(options) {
//search results collection is passed as a property in options object.
if(options.searchResultsCollection)
//Render your view.
else
// Do it the default way of rendering.
}
});
SearchView is the root view that contains the search component and a container like div to hold the search results.
SearchResultsView displays the result of a search.
When search option is clicked, the event callback (initSearch) gets the entered search data.
The search method on myAppController object is invoked and the search query is passed.
An instance of the search collection is created and fetch is invoked passing it the search query and also the success and error callback.
On success, a custom backbone event is triggered along with the fetched collection.
The callback(render method in SearchResultsView) for this event is invoked.
The callback renders the results of the search.
When loading in the router an instance for both the views can be created(the results view will be empty) and attached to the dom.
If you wish to search by multiple query strings at the url then I would suggest you to use the following route.
search?*queryString.
In the route callback make a call to a utility function the splits the querystring and returns you a search object and pass on the search string to the view.
I'm new with backbone and faced the following problems. I'm trying to emulate some sort of "has many relation". To achieve this I'm adding following code to initialize method in the model:
defaults: {
name: '',
tags: []
},
initialize: function() {
var tags = new TagsCollection(this.get('tags'));
tags.url = this.url() + "/tags";
return this.set('tags', tags, {
silent: true
});
}
This code works great if I fetch models through collection. As I understand, first collection gets the data and after that this collection populates models with this data. But when I try to load single model I get my property being overridden with plain Javascript array.
m = new ExampleModel({id: 15})
m.fetch() // property tags get overridden after load
and response:
{
name: 'test',
tags: [
{name: 'tag1'},
{name: 'tag2'}
]
}
Anyone know how to fix this?
One more question. Is there a way to check if model is loaded or not. Yes, I know that we can add callback to the fetch method, but what about something like this model.isLoaded or model.isPending?
Thanks!
"when I try to load single model I get my property being overridden with plain Javascript array"
You can override the Model#parse method to keep your collection getting overwritten:
parse: function(attrs) {
//reset the collection property with the new
//tags you received from the server
var collection = this.get('tags');
collection.reset(attrs.tags);
//replace the raw array with the collection
attrs.tags = collection;
return attrs;
}
"Is there a way to check if model is loaded or not?"
You could compare the model to its defaults. If the model is at its default state (save for its id), it's not loaded. If it doesn't, it's loaded:
isLoaded: function() {
var defaults = _.result(this, 'defaults');
var current = _.wíthout(this.toJSON(), 'id');
//you need to convert the tags to an array so its is comparable
//with the default array. This could also be done by overriding
//Model#toJSON
current.tags = current.tags.toJSON();
return _.isEqual(current, defaults);
}
Alternatively you can hook into the request, sync and error events to keep track of the model syncing state:
initialize: function() {
var self = this;
//pending when a request is started
this.on('request', function() {
self.isPending = true;
self.isLoaded = false;
});
//loaded when a request finishes
this.on('sync', function() {
self.isPending = false;
self.isLoaded = true;
});
//neither pending nor loaded when a request errors
this.on('error', function() {
self.isPending = false;
self.isLoaded = false;
});
}
In my Backbone app, I have the following
playlistView = new PlaylistView({ model: Playlist });
Playlist.getNewSongs(function() {
playlistView.initialize();
}, genre, numSongs);
Playlist.getNewSongs() is called back when some ajax request is finished. I want to re-initialize the view then. However, I believe the way I'm doing it leads to this problem of a view listening to a same event twice. Is calling initialize() like this acceptable? If not, what should I do instead?
Update:
I wrote this chrome extension in Backbone to learn Backbone, and it's in a design hell at the moment. I am in the middle of refactoring the entire codebase. The snippet below is my PlaylistView initialize() code block.
var PlaylistView = Backbone.View.extend({
el: '#expanded-container',
initialize: function() {
var playlistModel = this.model;
var bg = chrome.extension.getBackgroundPage();
if (!bg.player) {
console.log("aborting playlistView initialize because player isn't ready");
return;
}
this.listenTo(playlistModel.get('songs'), 'add', function (song) {
var songView = new SongView({ model: song });
this.$('.playlist-songs').prepend(songView.render().el);
});
this.$('#song-search-form-group').empty();
// Empty the current playlist and populate with newly loaded songs
this.$('.playlist-songs').empty();
var songs = playlistModel.get('songs').models;
// Add a search form
var userLocale = chrome.i18n.getMessage("##ui_locale");
var inputEl = '<input class="form-control flat" id="song-search-form" type="search" placeholder="John Lennon Imagine">' +
'<span class="search-heart-icon fa fa-heart"></span>'+
'<span class="search-input-icon fui-search"></span>';
}
this.$('#song-search-form-group').append(inputEl);
var form = this.$('input');
$(form).keypress(function (e) {
if (e.charCode == 13) {
var query = form.val();
playlistModel.lookUpAndAddSingleSong(query);
}
});
// Fetch song models from bg.Songs's localStorage
// Pass in reset option to prevent fetch() from calling "add" event
// for every Song stored in localStorage
if (playlistModel.get('musicChart').source == "myself") {
playlistModel.get('songs').fetch({ reset: true });
songs = playlistModel.get('songs').models;
}
// Create and render a song view for each song model in the collection
_.each(songs, function (song) {
var songView = new SongView({ model: song });
this.$('.playlist-songs').append(songView.render().el);
}, this);
// Highlight the currently played song
var currentSong = playlistModel.get('currentSong');
if (currentSong)
var currentVideoId = currentSong.get('videoId');
else {
var firstSong = playlistModel.get('songs').at(0);
if (!firstSong) {
// FIXME: this should be done via triggering event and by Popup model
$('.music-info').text(chrome.i18n.getMessage("try_different_chart"));
$('.music-info').fadeOut(2000);
//console.log("something wrong with the chart");
return;
}
var currentVideoId = firstSong.get('videoId');
}
_.find($('.list-group-item'), function (item) {
if (item.id == currentVideoId)
return $(item).addClass('active');
});
},
It is not wrong but probably not a good practice. You did not post the code in your initialize but maybe you have too much logic here.
If you are simply initializing the view again so that the new data is rendered, you should use event listener as such:
myView = Backbone. View.extend ({
initialize : function() {
// We bind the render method to the change event of the model.
//When the data of the model of the view changes, the method will be called.
this.model.bind( "change" , this.render, this);
// Other init code that you only need once goes here ...
this.template = _.template (templateLoader. get( 'config'));
},
// In the render method we update the view to represent the current model
render : function(eventName) {
$ (this.el ).html(this .template ((this.model .toJSON())));
return this;
}
});
If the logic in your initiialize is something totally else, please include it. Maybe there is a beter place for it.
I am trying to nest a Collection View into a Model View.
In order to do so, I used Backbone's Marionnette Composite View and followed that tutorial
At the end he initializes the nested collection view like this:
MyApp.addInitializer(function(options){
var heroes = new Heroes(options.heroes);
// each hero's villains must be a backbone collection
// we initialize them here
heroes.each(function(hero){
var villains = hero.get('villains');
var villainCollection = new Villains(villains);
hero.set('villains', villainCollection);
});
// edited for brevity
});
How would you go doing the same without using the addInitalizer from Marionette?
In my project I am fectching data from the server. And when I try doing something like:
App.candidatures = new App.Collections.Candidatures;
App.candidatures.fetch({reset: true}).done(function() {
App.candidatures.each(function(candidature) {
var contacts = candidature.get('contacts');
var contactCollection = new App.Collections.Contacts(contacts);
candidature.set('contacts', contactCollection);
});
new App.Views.App({collection: App.candidatures});
});
I get an "indefined options" coming from the collection:
App.Collections.Contacts = Backbone.Collection.extend({
model: App.Models.Contact,
initialize:function(models, options) {
this.candidature = options.candidature;
},
url:function() {
return this.candidature.url() + "/contacts";
}
)};
That's because when you're creating the contactCollection, you're not providing a candidatures collections in an options object. You do need to modify your contact collection initialization code to something like:
initialize:function(models, options) {
this.candidature = options && options.candidature;
}
That way the candidature attribute will be set to the provided value (and if not provided, it will be undefined).
Then, you still need to provide the info when you're instanciating the collection:
App.candidatures.each(function(candidature) {
var contacts = candidature.get('contacts');
var contactCollection = new App.Collections.Contacts(contacts, {
candidature: candidature
});
candidature.set('contacts', contactCollection);
});
P.S.: I hope you found my blog post useful!