how to use method implemented in a view from another view : backbonejs - backbone.js

i want to call a method from view#1 which is already implemented in different view (view#2)..
how to achieve this in a nice n simple way.. using backbonejs.
App.Views.view1 = Backbone.View.extend({
events: {
'click .someclass1' : 'custom_method_1',
},
custom_method_1:function(e){
//now this method calls another method which is implemented in different view
custom_method_2();
},
});
App.Views.view2 = Backbone.View.extend({
events: {
'click .someclass2' : 'custom_method_2',
},
//// this method needs to be called from view1 also
custom_method_2:function(e){
},
});

If you search how to use the eventbus, you can do it like this:
// you can name the event 'custom_method_2' as you want
Backbone.Events.on('custom_method_2', App.Views.view2.custom_method_2);
Now you are listening to the event custom_method_2 on the Object Backbone.Events that you can consider as your eventsbus.
Then in view1:
custom_method_1:function(e){
//now this method calls another method which is implemented in different view
// custom_method_2();
Backbone.Events.trigger('custom_method_2', e);
},

Related

Unbinding event from component

I've got a view which contains several textarea components. The question is how to unbind 'click' event from the textarea that was clicked? Only from the particular one.
var StreamView = Backbone.View.extend({
el: "#stream",
events: {
"click textarea" : "addSendCommentButton"
},
addSendCommentButton : function(event) {
this.undelegateEvents();
}
});
If you want to unbind only a specific event you can use something like this:
addSendCommentButton : function(event) {
this.$el.off('click.delegateEvents' + this.cid, 'textarea');
}
Backbone attach the events using the jQuery on with a specific namespace delegateEvents plus the cid.
I am afraid that this also unbinds the events from other textareas. This is so because the off method needs the same selector that the passed to on as the jQuery documentation says:
To remove specific delegated event handlers, provide a selector
argument. The selector string must exactly match the one passed to
.on() when the event handler was attached.
Suggestion
You can have a similar behaviour changing a little your code:
var StreamView = Backbone.View.extend({
el: "#stream",
events: {
"click textarea.unfinished" : "addSendCommentButton"
},
addSendCommentButton : function(event) {
$(event.target).removeClass("unfinished");
}
});
Use a more specific selector to attach the event and remove that class when the callback is called.
YD1m answer is correct but I want to share with you another way how to do this.
If you want implement one-time event you can use one jQuery method.
You can do this in two ways:
By overriding delegateEvents method
By attaching event after rendering - this.$('textarea').one('click', _.bind(this. addSendCommentButton, this))
Check this:
var StreamView = Backbone.View.extend({
el: "#stream",
events: {
"click textarea" : "addSendCommentButton"
},
addSendCommentButton : function(e) {
e.target.removeEventListener('click', 'addSendCommentButton');
}
});

Trigger click event from one file from another in BackboneJS

in my project i am not able to trigger click event registered in one backbone view from another backbone view. its actually i am having a file type input placed hidden from the user and i need to trigger the file type input.
var FileView = Backbone.View.extend({
....
events : {
"click .delete-image" : "deleteFile",
}
....
});
var FilesView = Backbone.View.extend({
....
events : {
"click #attach" : "attachFile",
},
attachFile : function() {
this.fileView.trigger("click .delete-image");
}
....
});
but i tried like this the event is not get triggered. how is it possible.
the events hash attaches itself to the jquery element that represents the view, not the backbone view itself. So you would most likely have to do something like this:
attachFile : function() {
$('.delete-image', this.fileView.$el).trigger("click");
}
but I would discourage this kind of non-pattern and instead work towards using something we call an Event Aggregation pattern. You can find a collection of really good SO solutions next:
fire an event from one view to another in backbone
Backbone.js global events
Multiple view on same page with backbone.js

Right way for wiring backbone views

I have a two views:
1 LeftView (maximized when RightView is minimized & vice versa)
2 RightView (containing)
- collection of
- RightItemView (rendering RightItemModel)
When RightView is maximized and the user clicks a RightItemView, I want to maximize LeftView and display something according to the data from the clicked RightItemView.
What's the proper way to wire them?
I would recommend using the Backbone.Events module:
http://backbonejs.org/#Events
Basically, this line is all it takes to create your event dispatcher:
var dispatcher = _.clone(Backbone.Events);
Then all of your views can trigger/listen for events using the global dispatcher.
So, in RightItemView you would do something like this in the click event:
dispatcher.trigger('rightItemClick', data); // data is whatever you need the LeftView to know
Then, in LeftView's initialize function, you can listen for the event and call your relevant function:
dispatcher.on('rightItemClick', this.maximizeAndDisplayData);
Assuming your LeftView would have a function like so:
maximizeAndDisplayData: function(data) {
// do whatever you need to here
// data is what you passed with the event
}
The solution #jordanj77 mentioned is definitely one of the correct ways to achieve your requirement. Just out of curiosity, I thought of another way to achieve the same effect. Instead of using a separate EventDispatcher to communicate between the two views, why shouldn't we use the underlying model as our EventDispatcher? Let's try to think in those lines.
To start with, add a new boolean attribute to the RightItem model called current and default it to false. Whenever, the user selects the RightItemView, set the model's current attribute to true. This will trigger a change:current event on the model.
var RightItem = Backbone.Model.extend({
defaults: {
current: false,
}
});
var RightItemView = Backbone.View.extend({
events: {
'click li': 'changeCurrent'
}
changeCurrent: function() {
this.model.set('current', true);
}
});
On the other side, the LeftView will be handed a Backbone.Collection of RightItem models during creation time. You would anyways have this instance to supply the RightView isn't it? In its initialize method, the LeftView will listen for change:current event. When the event occurs, LeftView will change the current attribute of the model it is currently displaying to false and start displaying the new model that triggered this event.
var LeftView = Backbone.View.extend({
initialize: function() {
this.collection.on('change:current', this.render, this);
},
render: function(model) {
// Avoid events triggered when resetting model to false
if(model.get('current') === true) {
// Reset the currently displayed model
if (this.model) {
this.model.set('current') = false;
}
// Set the currently selected model to the view
this.model = model;
// Display the view for the current model
}
}
});
var leftView = new LeftView({
// Use the collection that you may have given the RightView anyways
collection: rightItemCollection
});
This way, we get to use the underlying model as the means of communication between the Left and Right Views instead of using an EventDispatcher to broker for us.
The solution given by #Ganeshji inspired me to make a live example
I've created 2 views for this.
var RightView = Backbone.View.extend({
el: $('.right_view'),
template: _.template('<p>Right View</p>'),
renderTemplate: function () {
this.$el.html('');
this.$el.append(this.template());
this.$link = this.$el.append('Item to view').children('#left_view_max');
},
events: {
'click #left_view_max' : 'maxLeftView'
},
maxLeftView: function () {
//triggering the event for the leftView
lView.trigger('displayDataInLeftView', this.$link.attr('title'));
},
initialize: function (options) {
this.renderTemplate();
}
});
var LeftView = Backbone.View.extend({
el: $('.left_view'),
template: _.template('<p>Left View</p>'),
renderTemplate: function () {
this.$el.html('');
this.$el.append(this.template());
},
displayDataInLeftView: function (data) {
this.$el.append('<p>' + data + '</p>');
},
initialize: function (options) {
//set the trigger callback
this.on('displayDataInLeftView', this.displayDataInLeftView, this);
this.renderTemplate();
}
});
var lView = new LeftView();
var rView = new RightView();
Hope this helps.

Backbone trigger two methods in one event

I am using Backbone and I have a view with events defined:
....
events: {
'click .search-button': 'setModelTerm',
'change .source-select': 'setModelSourceId',
'change .source-select': 'activateSource'
},
....
I would like to trigger two methods when the event change .source-select fires. The problem is that the last entry in the event object overrides the preceding entry.
How can I trigger two methods in one event?
(I am trying to prevent writing another method that calls those two methods)
You can pass a wrapper function in your hash of events to call your two methods.
From http://backbonejs.org/#View-delegateEvents
Events are written in the format {"event selector": "callback"}. The
callback may be either the name of a method on the view, or a direct
function body.
Try
events: {
'click .search-button': 'setModelTerm',
'change .source-select': function(e) {
this.setModelSourceId(e);
this.activateSource(e);
}
},
The only thing that is keeping you from adding the same event/selector pair is that events is a hash - jQuery can handle multiple bindings to the same element/event pair. Good news though, jQuery events allow you to namespace events by adding a .myNamespace suffix. Practically speaking, this produces the same results but you can generate many different keys.
var MyView = Backbone.View.extend({
events: {
'click.a .foo': 'doSomething',
'click.b .foo': 'doSomethingElse'
'click.c .foo': 'doAnotherThing', // you can choose any namespace as they are pretty much transparent.
},
doSomething: function() {
// ...
},
doSomethingElse: function() {
// ...
},
doAnotherThing: function() {
// ...
},
});
The events hash in your view is just a convenience "DSL" of sorts. Just bind your 2nd event manually inside initialize.
events: {
'click .search-button': 'setModelTerm'
},
initialize: function () {
_.bindAll(this);
this.on('click .search-button', this.doAnotherThing);
}

Multiple backbone views referencing one collection

I am trying to create my first backbone app and am having some difficulty getting my head around how I am meant to be using views.
What I am trying to do is have a search input that each time its submitted it fetches a collection from the server. I want to have one view control the search input area and listen to events that happen there (a button click in my example) and another view with sub views for displaying the search results. with each new search just prepending the results into the search area.
the individual results will have other methods on them (such as looking up date or time that they where entered etc).
I have a model and collection defined like this:
SearchResult = Backbone.model.extend({
defaults: {
title: null,
text: null
}
});
SearchResults = Backbone.Collection.extend({
model: SearchResult,
initialize: function(query){
this.query = query;
this.fetch();
},
url: function() {
return '/search/' + this.query()
}
});
In my views I have one view that represents the search input are:
var SearchView = Backbone.View.extend({
el: $('#search'),
events: {
'click button': 'doSearch'
},
doSearch: function() {
console.log('starting new search');
var resultSet = new SearchResults($('input[type=text]', this.el).val());
var resultSetView = new ResultView(resultSet);
}
});
var searchView = new SearchView();
var ResultSetView = Backbone.View.extend({
el: $('#search'),
initialize: function(resultSet) {
this.collection = resultSet;
this.render();
},
render: function() {
_(this.collection.models).each(function(result) {
var resultView = new ResultView({model:result});
}, this);
}
});
var ResultView = Backbone.view.extend({
tagName: 'div',
model: SearchResult,
initialize: function() {
this.render();
},
render: function(){
$(this.el).append(this.model.get(title) + '<br>' + this.model.get('text'));
}
});
and my html looks roughly like this:
<body>
<div id="search">
<input type="text">
<button>submit</button>
</div>
<div id="results">
</div>
</body>
In my code it gets as far as console.log('starting new search'); but no ajax calls are made to the server from the initialize method of the ResultSetView collection.
Am I designing this right or is there a better way to do this. I think because the two views bind to different dom elements I should not be instantiating one view from within another. Any advice is appreciated and if I need to state this clearer please let me know and I will do my best to rephrase the question.
Some problems (possibly not the only ones):
Your SearchView isn't bound to the collection reset event; as written it's going to attempt to render immediately, while the collection is still empty.
SearchView instantiates the single view ResultView when presumably it should instantiate the composite view ResultSetView.
You're passing a parameter to the SearchResults collection's constructor, but that's not the correct way to use it. See the documentation on this point.
You haven't told your ResultSetView to listen to any events on the collection. "fetch" is asynchronous. When completed successfully, it will send a "reset" event. Your view needs to listen for that event and then do whatever it needs to do (like render) on that event.
After fixing all the typos in your example code I have a working jsFiddle.
You see like after clicking in the button an AJAX call is done. Of course the response is an error but this is not the point.
So my conclusion is that your problem is in another part of your code.
Among some syntax issues, the most probable problem to me that I see in your code is a race condition. In your views, you're making an assumption that the fetch has already retrieved the data and you're executing your views render methods. For really fast operations, that might be valid, but it gives you no way of truly knowing that the data exists. The way to deal with this is as others have suggested: You need to listen for the collection's reset event; however, you also have to control "when" the fetch occurs, and so it's best to do the fetch only when you need it - calling fetch within the search view. I did a bit of restructuring of your collection and search view:
var SearchResults = Backbone.Collection.extend({
model: SearchResult,
execSearch : function(query) {
this.url = '/search/' + query;
this.fetch();
}
});
var SearchView = Backbone.View.extend({
el: $('#search'),
initialize : function() {
this.collection = new SearchResults();
//listen for the reset
this.collection.on('reset',this.displayResults,this);
},
events: {
'click button': 'doSearch'
},
/**
* Do search executes the search
*/
doSearch: function() {
console.log('starting new search');
//Set the search params and do the fetch.
//Since we're listening to the 'reset' event,
//displayResults will execute.
this.collection.execSearch($('input[type=text]', this.el).val());
},
/**
* displayResults sets up the views. Since we know that the
* data has been fetched, just pass the collection, and parse it
*/
displayResults : function() {
new ResultSetView({
collection : this.collection
});
}
});
Notice that I only created the collection once. That's all you need since you're using the same collection class to execute your searches. Subsequent searches only need to change the url. This is better memory management and a bit cleaner than instantiating a new collection for each search.
I didn't work further on your display views. However, you might consider sticking to the convention of passing hashes to Backbone objects. For instance, in your original code, you passed 'resultSet' as a formal parameter. However, the convention is to pass the collection to a view in the form: new View({collection: resultSet}); I realize that that's a bit nitpicky, but following the conventions improves the readability of your code. Also, you ensure that you're passing things in the way that the Backbone objects expect.

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