Let say you are defining a Backbone.js Model. From the documentation we have ...
new Model([attributes], [options])
This seems great for passing some default attributes to a model. When passed the model automatically inherits those attributes and their respective values. Nothing to do. Awesome!
On they other hand lets say we have a Collection of that model.
new Backbone.Collection([models], [options])
Okay, cool we can pass some initial models and some options. But, I have no initial models and no options I need to pass so let's continue. I am going to fetch the models from the server.
collection.fetch([options])
Well I don't have any options, but I want to pass some attributes to add to each models as it is fetched. I could do this by passing them as options and then adding them to the attributes hash in the initialize for the model, but this seems messy.
Is their a Backbone.js native way to do this?
You can pass the attributes as options to fetch and over-ride the collection's parse method to extend the passed options (attributes) on the response.
The solution would look like the following:
var Collection = Backbone.Collection.extend({
url:'someUrl',
parse:function(resp,options) {
if (options.attributesToAdd) {
for (var i=0;i<resp.length;i++)
_.extend(resp[i],options.attributesToAdd);
}
return resp;
}
});
Then to add attributes when you call fetch on the collection, you can:
var collection = new Collection();
collection.fetch({
attributesToAdd:{foo:'bar',more:'foobar'}
});
You may have to tweak the code a bit to work with your JSON structure, but hopefully this will get you started in the correct direction.
Related
I'm trying to retrieve the model, because I need to access certain attributes, but I cannot. I'm inside a view, which extends another one. This is how the view looks like:
var ImageGridControlView = GridControlView.extend({
//.... stuff ....
alert(this.model.get('property')) //This gives me an error in console and nothing is alerted.
});
In the class that the above code extends, the model can be retrieved, like this:
var GridControlView = ControlView.extend({
//.... stuff ....
alert(this.model.get('property')) //This shows the property value correctly
});
Why can't the model be retrieved from ImageGridControlView? What is the persistence of models across different classes, children, etc? I'm new to Backbone, and the official documentation only covers models superficially.
Your snippets are too small to actually find the problem, so we have to just guess. Most likely candidates are:
you are accessing this.model inside a function triggered by an event binding that is not properly bound, so this isn't actually your view instance. It could be a the source DOM element of the window object instead.
You aren't passing a model property in the options object provided to the view's constructor
I have a few models that don't just contain basic data attributes, but they might have one or two attributes that hold another models object.
This has been okay, but now I want to call
myRootModel.toJSON()
and I've noticed that it doesn't call .toJSON on the other models in my model that I'm trying to call toJSON() on.
Is there a way to override backbone model .toJSON to go through all fields, recursively, whether they are basic attributes, sub-models or collections? If not, can I override toJSON in each model / collection?
I'm aware of backbone-relational, but I don't want to go that route - I'm not using fetch/save, instead our API returns responses that I adjust in the models parse function and simply invoke new MyRootModel(data,{parse:true}).
Here's a way you can achieve such a thing (there's maybe another way):
Backbone.Model.prototype.toJSON = function() {
var json = _.clone(this.attributes);
for(var attr in json) {
if((json[attr] instanceof Backbone.Model) || (json[attr] instanceof Backbone.Collection)) {
json[attr] = json[attr].toJSON();
}
}
return json;
};
http://jsfiddle.net/2Asjc/.
Calling JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(model)) parses the model with all the sub-models and sub-collections recursively. Tried on Backbone version 1.2.3.
I have the following Backbone.js collection:
var Tags = Backbone.Collection.extend({
url: "/api/v1/tags/"
}),
How do I update one of the models in the collection so that it posts to /api/v1/tags/id and saves the data for that model.
So if I change name of model with id 2 in the collection
It should PUT to
/api/v1/tags/2 with the following data:
name: new name id: 2
I've also recently wanted to update particular model in the collection. The problem was that if I did use just model.save it didn't update the collection. The goal was to change the model in collection, change it on the server, update collection accordingly and not use the sync method. So for example I have my variable collection and I want to change the model with id = 2. So the first thing, I will create an instance model, like this: var model = collection.get(2)Then I will update the attributes on this particular model:model.set({name: 'new name'})Then I will save it to the server:model.save({}, {url:'/api/v1/tags/'+model.get('id')})Then we have to update collection accordingly to the changes:collection.set({model},{remove: false})set method - it's a 'smart' update of the collection with the list of the models you passed in parameters. remove: false parameter - it's a restriction for a collection to remove existing models in collection. More here.
The first thing you can miss is that in your corresponding Tag model you'll need to set "urlRoot" to match the Collection's "url". Otherwise it doesn't know about the collection at all:
var Tag = Backbone.Model.extend({
urlRoot: "/api/v1/tags"
});
var Tags = Backbone.Collection.Extend({
model: Tag,
url: "/api/v1/tags"
});
This is useful if you want to save the tag separately:
var tag = collection.get(2);
tag.set({key: "something"});
tag.save(); // model.save works because you set "urlRoot"
On the collection, "create()" is also "update()" if id is not null. That's not confusing. :) Therefore, this is pretty much equivalent to the previous sample:
collection.create({id: 2; key: "something"});
This will update the existing tag with id=2 and then trigger a PUT.
This is an ancient question; answering because I was searching for the same answer--you've probably long since solved this problem and moved on. :)
You can pass variables to the save method. It accepts all the options which jQuery's ajax method uses (unless you overrided Backbone.Sync)
You could do something like:
model.save( { name:'new name' } );
The id and PUT method will automatically be added by Backbone for you.
I have 2 post collections and a model as follows.
# router file
#posts = new MyApp.Collections.PostsCollection()
#posts.reset options.posts
#followed_posts = new MyApp.Collections.PostsCollection()
#followed_posts.reset options.followed_posts
# Post model file
class MyApp.Models.Post extends Backbone.Model
paramRoot: 'post'
follow_post: ->
# ajax call
console.log "_________Index:#{this.collection.indexOf(this);}"
console.log this.collection
console.log "_________Followed:"
console.log #followed_posts
class MyApp.Collections.PostsCollection extends Backbone.Collection
model: MyApp.Models.Post
url: '/posts_all'
What I am trying to do is when one of the model changed in one collection, I want to update the other model in other collection too.
These collections may or may not hold same models.
So let's say if a model in #posts changed in my Post model, I want to update that model in #followed_posts too. If #followed_posts doesn't have that model, I need to add a duplicate of the model to #followed_posts collection.
I can access the collection that model belongs, but I cannot access the other collection.
Any ideas appreciated, thanks.
If the two collections are antisocial and can't talk directly to each other, which is usually good design, then you'll need an intermediary -- a global event dispatcher. When a model changes, propagate that event to the dispatcher along with a reference to the model. Listen for the event in the other collection and use the model passed to check for existence and respond as needed.
EDIT:
Backbone's documentation mentions this pattern:
For example, to make a handy event dispatcher that can coordinate
events among different areas of your application: var dispatcher =
_.clone(Backbone.Events)
But in fact, this is such a common pattern that the Backbone object itself is extended with Events. So you can just do:
// In your Post model
#on "change", -> Backbone.trigger "post:change", this, #collection
// And then something like this in the collection class definition:
#listenTo Backbone, "post:change", (model, collection) =>
if post = #get model.cid
post.set model.toJSON()
else
#add model
Also, is followed posts a subset of posts? If so, why not put an attribute on the model designating it as followed? Then you could find all followed posts with a simple filter function.
I would strongly suggest that you should consider having a single collection and add some kind of attribute in the model to differentiate between what kind of posts they are.
I would like to access the calculated fields I have implemented in the model (backbone.js) from the template.
Do I need always to define a helper to do it?
I think the problem has to do with the way I pass the model to the template.
If I pass this.model.toJSON() I have access to the properties but not to the functions I have defined in it.
If I pass this.model directly I can access the function but not the properties of the backbone model.
Always pass this.model.toJSON() to your templates.
What you need to do to get your calculated values, is override your toJSON method on your model.
MyModel = Backbone.Model.extend({
myValue: function(){
return "this is a calculated value";
},
toJSON: function(){
// get the standard json for the object
var json = Backbone.Model.prototype.toJSON.apply(this, arguments);
// get the calculated value
json.myValue = this.myValue();
// send it all back
return json;
}
})
And now you have access to myValue from the the JSON that is returned by toJSON, which means you have access to it in the view.
The other option, as you mentioned, is to build helper methods and register them with Handlebars. Unless you have some functionality that changes based on how the template is being rendered, and/or what data is being passed to the template, I wouldn't bother with that.
Here is another possibility: (from the model initialize)
initialize: function() {
this.on("change", function () {
this.set({ calculatedColumn: this.get("otherColumn") }, { silent: true });
});
},
Computed properties in Backbone
I have had the same issue. #DerickBailey is right, of course, that overriding toJSON does the job. But it also leaks into the communication with the server (see muu's comment on his answer).
So eventually, I have built a Backbone plugin to specifically handle data export to templates, and do so with a minimum of fuss: Backbone.Marionette.Export. It also deals with nested structures, takes care of circular references etc. See the docs.
Here's how it works. Include the plugin file into your project and declare
MyModel = Backbone.Model.extend({
foo: function () {
return "I am a calculated value";
},
exportable: "foo" // <-- this is the one line you have to add
});
If you are a Marionette user, you are already done at this point. foo shows up in your templates as if it were a model attribute.
In plain Backbone views, just call myModel.export() or myCollection.export() instead of their toJSON counterparts when you render.
For methods taking arguments, there is an onExport handler. Examples, again, are in the docs.
The best way to do it is to add this to your model:
function initialize() {
this.set("calculatedColumn", function () { return this.otherColumn; });
}
A backbone model normally stores the actual data values internally in "model.attributes". That is why when you pass your model directly to the template, it only has functions added directly to model and not any data. And if you use model.toJSON() it is normally implemented in backbone as _.clone(model.attributes) (see backbone.js). So you have the data and not the functions added directly to the model. That is why the above works - you set the function on model.attributes, not on the model object itself. Do not reference model.attributes directly, use model.get("calculatedColumn") and model.set("calculatedColumn", ...).
So model.get("calculatedColumn") returns a function. If you go {{calculatedColumn}} in handlebars (assuming you're using handlebars), it shows the value returned by the function. But calculatedColumn will not be sent to the server because backbone does a JSON.stringify to model.toJSON in sync (in backbone.js) and JSON.stringify ignores functions. If you want JSON.stringify to not ignore the function (so the function is turned into a data value whenever toJSON is run on the model - during view rendering and model sync-ing), override model.toJSON just as #Derick Bailey described.
Also, you can derive your own BaseModel from Backbone.Model and override .toJSON and derive all your models from BaseModel if you need to. Then you would need a generic version of .toJSON that could be applied to any model.