I am doing a spec testing for a backbone view written in coffeescript.
I have this view
class Test.Views.MainView extends Backbone.View
el: $('ul')
initialize: ->
#collection.on 'add', #render
And here is my spec file
beforeEach ->
#collection = new Test.Collections.Services([{name:'test'}, {name:'build'}])
#main_view = new Test.Views.MainView
collection: #collection
When I run my spec, I got this error message
TypeError: this.collection is undefined
Why the collection isn't assigned to the view from the spec?
The compiled javascripts:
view.js
Test.Views.MainView = (function(_super) {
__extends(MainView, _super);
function MainView() {
this.render = __bind(this.render, this);
_ref = MainView.__super__.constructor.apply(this, arguments);
return _ref;
}
MainView.prototype.el = $('#main');
MainView.prototype.initialize = function() {
this.collection.on('change', this.render); //this line generates the error
};
The spec
beforeEach(function() {
this.collection = new Test.Collections.Services([{name:'test'}, {name:'build'}]);
return this.main_view = new Test.Views.MainView({
collection: this.collection
});
});
Related
Generally when design view for Collection(s), I would bind the collection to the view, and register related events to the collection like this:
var Book = Backbone.Model.extend({});
var BookList = Backbone.Collection.extend({
model: Book,
url: "/books"
});
var BookListItemView = Backbone.View.extend({
mtemplate: _.template($('#tpl_book_item').html()),
render: function () {
this.$el = $(this.mtemplate(this.model.toJSON()));
return this;
}
});
var BookListView = Backbone.View.extend({
el: '#content',
initialize: function () {
this.listenTo(this.collection, 'add', this.render);
this.listenTo(this.collection, 'remove', this.render);
},
render: function () {
this.$el.empty();
this.collection.each(function (item) {
this.$el.append(new BookListItemView({model: item}).render().$el);
}, this);
return this;
}
});
Use:
var books = new BookList();
var bookListView = new BookListView({
collection: books
});
books.fetch();
It worked as expected: render every book as defined in the template. However I found that there is a slight stuck in the page.
I am not sure if this is caused by the re-rendering the view? As shown, when the books.fetch complete, it will add books to the collection of books, for each book item, an add event will be triggered, then I will re-render the page by removing the exist item and iterate the collection.
Which means once there are 10 books, there will be 1+2+3+4...+10 loops for the BookListView.
I my opinion, once the add event triggered, I should not refresh the whole list but just add a new view to the BookListView, but how about the remove event, it seems that Backbone does not provide any internal method to get the view from the model, so once a model to be removed, I can not get the related view.
How do you handle this kind of suitation?
Do not bind your add to the render function. Instead create a dedicated add method for that.
var Book, BookList, BookListItemView, BookListView;
Book = Backbone.Model.extend({});
BookList = Backbone.Collection.extend({
model: Book,
url: "/books"
});
BookListItemView = Backbone.View.extend({
mtemplate: _.template($("#tpl_book_item").html()),
initialize: function() {
this.model.on("remove", this.remove);
},
render: function() {
this.$el = $(this.mtemplate(this.model.toJSON()));
return this;
}
});
BookListView = Backbone.View.extend({
el: "#content",
initialize: function() {
this.listenTo(this.collection, "add", this.addItem);
},
render: function() {
this.$el.empty();
this.collection.each((function(item) {
this.addItem(item);
}), this);
return this;
},
addItem: function(item) {
this.$el.append(new BookListItemView({
model: item
}).render().$el);
}
});
Let the models own View handle its own remove event.
I have 2 views, one is a list of "timetracks" and the other is a form to create a timetrack/s
The first one has a collection attached.
The second one, the timetraks form, it defines a "create" function that makes reference to the first one to rerender timetraks view once a new timetrack is created.
timetracks code:
define(['backbone','collections/timetracks', 'views/timetracks/item'], function(Backbone, instanceTimeTracksCollection, TimeTrackView){
var TimeTrackGrid = Backbone.View.extend({
//......
});
return TimeTrackGrid;
});
The form code:
define(['backbone', 'collections/timetracks'], function(Backbone, instanceTimeTracksCollection){
//...............
//next comes my issue:
create: function(){
instanceTimeTracksCollection.create(indexed_array,{
success: function(model, response) {
console.info('model created, response = ',response);
// timeTracksGrid is out of scope, timeTracksGrid would be an instance of timetracks.
timeTracksGrid.render();
},
error: function(error){
console.info('error=',error);
},
wait:true
});
}
});
... and finally I have app.js where the instances of both views are defined:
requirejs(['backbone','views/timetracks/new','views/timetracks/list'],
function(Backbone, newTimeTrackForm, timeTracksGrid) {
var grid = new timeTracksGrid();
var formView = new newTimeTrackForm();
});
How could I render the timetracks view once a new timetrack is created?
**************************** UPDATE *************************************
This is my new version of the code. The issue now is that "this.listenTo(this.collection, "add", this.render);" is overlapping with "this.collection.fetch". As a result the timetracks records are rendered multiple times.
// timetracks view
define(['backbone','collections/timetracks', 'views/timetracks/item'], function(Backbone, timeTracksCollection, TimeTrackView){
var TimeTrackGrid = Backbone.View.extend({
//....
initialize: function(){
_.bindAll(this, 'render', 'generateTimeTracks', 'appendTimeTrack');
this.listenTo(this.collection, "add", this.render);
this.render();
}
render: function(){
$(this.el).html("<table border='1'></table>");
this.collection.fetch({
success: this.generateTimeTracks
});
},
generateTimeTracks : function(){
var self = this;
_(this.collection.models).each(function(item){
self.appendTimeTrack(item);
}, this);
},
appendTimeTrack: function(item){
var timeTrackView = new TimeTrackView({
model: item
});
$('table', this.el).append(timeTrackView.render().el);
}
}
Some other changes:
on app.js instead doing {model:myCollection} as you suggested I'm doing {collection: myCollection}
my form code creates a new model by calling this.collection.create
Thanks again !
A different solution would be to create the views and your collection seperately.
Then in your app.js you could pass the collection to both views. In the initialize function of the TimeTrackGrid you should listen to the "add" event of models on the collections. When such an event is fired you should render the view.
In the create method of your form view you could add the data to your collection. This way your views don't have to know anything about each other which better conforms the Model and View separation.
Thus:
//the grid view
define(['backbone', 'collections/timetracks', 'views/timetracks/item'], function (Backbone, instanceTimeTracksCollection, TimeTrackView) {
var TimeTrackGrid = Backbone.View.extend({
initialize: function () {
//start listening to models being added
this.listenTo(instanceTimeTracksCollection, "add", this.render)
},
render: function () {
//render your view
return this;
}
});
return TimeTrackGrid;
});
//and the form view
define(['backbone', 'collections/timetracks'], function (Backbone, instanceTimeTracksCollection) {
//...............
//next comes my issue:
create: function () {
var data = //get the data from the form
instanceTimeTracksCollection.add(data) //if you have defined a model on your collection, backbone will automatically instantiate the model
}
});
//and you app -> notice the reference to the collection definition
requirejs(['backbone','views/timetracks/new','views/timetracks/list', 'collections/timetrackcollection'],
function(Backbone, newTimeTrackForm, timeTracksGrid) {
var instanceTimeTracksCollection = new TimeTracksCollection();
var grid = new timeTracksGrid({model : instanceTimeTracksCollection});
var formView = new newTimeTrackForm(model : instanceTimeTracksCollection);
});
EDIT=========================================================
fetch the config here
requirejs(['backbone','views/timetracks/new','views/timetracks/list'],
function(Backbone, newTimeTrackForm, timeTracksGrid) {
var grid = new timeTracksGrid();
var formView = new newTimeTrackForm();
var collection = new Collection();
collection.fetch()
});
change your view to:
define(['backbone','collections/timetracks', 'views/timetracks/item'], function(Backbone, timeTracksCollection, TimeTrackView){
var TimeTrackGrid = Backbone.View.extend({
//....
initialize: function(){
_.bindAll(this, 'render', 'generateTimeTracks', 'appendTimeTrack');
// maybe backbone does not fire the add event after fetch
// I believe it does, but I might be mistaken. You will have to look that up
this.listenTo(this.collection, "add", this.render);
this.render();
}
//model is passed to the render method by backbone
render: function(model){
$(this.el).html("<table border='1'></table>");
$('table', this.el).append(new TimeTrackView({model : model}).render().el);
},
//unused now
generateTimeTracks : function(){
var self = this;
// backbone has underscore build in
// so use this instead
this.collection.each(function(item){
//do something with item
}
_(this.collection.models).each(function(item){
self.appendTimeTrack(item);
}, this);
},
//unused now
appendTimeTrack: function(item){
var timeTrackView = new TimeTrackView({
model: item
});
$('table', this.el).append(timeTrackView.render().el);
}
}
I'm using Backbone.js 1.1.2 with jQuery 1.11.
I think I'm missing something very simple.
I've set up a model: Contact and a collection: ContactList.
I have success rendering ContactView views with models obtained from ContactList.fetch()
But when I try to bind a change event in the view initializer:
this.model.on('change', this.render, this);
... I get:
backbone Uncaught TypeError: Object #<Object> has no method 'on'
So I go back to the documentation and read that .on() is part of Backbone.Events, and somehow I need to extend my model to use this (and why is this not part of the out-of-the-box functionality for models??)
I've tried declaring
_.extend(this, Backbone.Events);
... inside of the initialize function for ContactView before declaring the binding, but no dice.
What do I need to do to get the Backbone.Events functionality working??
update: all relevant code (sans template)
var Contact = Backbone.Model.extend({
defaults: {
FirstName: '',
...[etc]
},
initialize: function() {
}
});
var ContactList = Backbone.Collection.extend({
model: Contact,
url: '/api/Contacts/getall'
});
var ContactView = Backbone.View.extend({
initialize: function() {
this.render();
this.model.on('change', this.render, this);
},
render: function () {
var template = _.template($('#contact_template').html(), this.model);
this.$el.html(template);
}
});
var contactList = new ContactList();
contactList.fetch({
success: function (collection, response, options) {
contactList.models.forEach(function (m) {
var $el = $('<li />')
.addClass('adminItem clearfix')
.appendTo($('#contactList'));
new ContactView({ el: $el, model: m.attributes });
});
}
});
This line is the source of trouble
new ContactView({ el: $el, model: m.attributes });
m.attributes is a plain js object. You want to pass along the actual model object:
new ContactView({ el: $el, model: m});
And because the collection has underscore methods mixed in you should be able to simplify it a bit to this:
contactList.each(function (m) {
var $el = $('<li />')
.addClass('adminItem clearfix')
.appendTo($('#contactList'));
new ContactView({ el: $el, model: m});
});
I am trying to understand the relationship between a model and a view. I've tried building a model and view to render that model.
I get the error Cannot call method 'toJSON' of undefined which I understand as the actual instance of the model is not being sent to the view.
I feel there is something missing in the initialize of the view?
The Model:
var sticky = Backbone.Model.extend({
defaults: {
title:"",
content:"",
created: new Date()
},
initialize: function() {
console.log("sticky created!");
}
});
The View:
var stickyView = Backbone.View.extend({
tagName:"div",
className:"sticky-container",
initialize: function() {
this.render();
console.log("stickyView created!");
},
render: function() {
$("#content-view").prepend(this.el);
var data = this.model.toJSON(); // Error: Cannot call method 'toJSON' of undefined
console.log(data);
var source = $("#sticky-template").html();
var template = Handlebars.compile(source);
$(this.el).html(template(data));
return this;
}
});
Creating new model and new instance of the view:
var Sticky = new sticky({title:"test"});
var StickyView = new stickyView();
You have to pass your model instance to your view, Backbone will do the rest:
constructor / initialize new View([options])
There are several special options that, if passed, will be attached directly to
the view: model, collection, el, id, className, tagName and
attributes.
which means you would create your view like this
var StickyView = new stickyView({model: Sticky});
And while you're at it, you could pass your compiled template and the DOM node you wish to set as your view element (and remove the tagName and className from your view definition) to avoid a strict coupling:
var stickyView = Backbone.View.extend({
initialize: function(opts) {
this.template = opts.template;
this.render();
console.log("stickyView created!");
},
render: function() {
var data = this.model.toJSON();
console.log(data);
this.$el.html(this.template(data));
return this;
}
});
var StickyView = new stickyView({
model: Sticky,
el: '#content-view',
template: Handlebars.compile($("#sticky-template").html())
});
Here is my Model View and Collection :
window.Report = Backbone.Model.extend({});
window.ReportCollection = Backbone.Collection.extend({
model: Report,
initialize: function(properties){
this.url = properties.url;
}
});
window.ReportCollectionView = Backbone.View.extend({
initialize: function(){
this.collection.reset();
this.render();
},
render: function(){
var self = this;
this.collection.fetch({
success: function(){
self.collection.each(function(model){
//pass model to subview
});
}
}
});
}
});
in the other part of the code I use the instantiate the above objects
var reportCollection = new ReportCollection({url:someURL});
var reportCollectionView = new ReportCollectionView({collection:reportCollection});
'someURL' is a REST based URL that returns JSON list of Objects
So far everything looks good. What I am trying to achieve is:
I must be able to refresh the 'reportCollection' by changing the url and this should trigger an updated 'reportCollectionView'. Thanks for any pointers
I suppose you could add a method to your collection which changes url and forces a fetch:
window.ReportCollection = Backbone.Collection.extend({
//...
changeUrl: function(url) {
this.url = url;
this.fetch();
}
});
and then bind to the "reset" event in your view:
window.ReportCollectionView = Backbone.View.extend({
initialize: function() {
_.bindAll(this, 'render');
this.collection.on('reset', this.render);
this.collection.reset();
},
//...
});
Then if you do this:
c = new ReportCollection(...);
v = new ReportCollectionView({ collection: c, ... });
You'll get your rendered view and then later you can:
c.changeUrl(...);
to set the new URL and that will trigger a render call on v.