Cannot access all backbone model attributes from template - backbone.js

The problem I am trying to debug is that, in my backbone view, all the model attributes (name, id, email etc) are available, (I have console.log() the model attributes to verify this), however, when I render the view passing the model, only the name attribute is available in the template, all other attributes are undefined,please is there any thing I am missing, as this is my first backbone application and I have spent hours trying to debug this and have gone through many tutors online and my code seems correct, thanks
//BACKbone view method(I have verified and all the model values are available here)
var profileView=Backbone.View.extend({
el:$('#content'),
initialize:function(){
this.model.bind('change',this.render,this);
},
render:function(){
var self=this;
this.$el.html(_.template(profileTemplate,this.model.toJSON()));
}
});
//HTML TEMPLATE (profileTemplate), only the name attribute is available in the template, //browser gives an error of 'undefined' for all other attributes except the name attribute
<h1><%=name.first%> <%=name.last%> </h1>//displays correctly
<%=email%> //undefined
//SCHEMA
var AccountSchema=new mongoose.Schema({
email:{type:String,unique:true},
password:{type:String},
name:{
first:{type:String},
last:{type:String},
full:{type:String}
},
});
//IT IS SOLVED NOW, IT happened because I executed the fetch command on the model after calling the render method instead of before calling the render method
This is my router, I call the model.fetch() from the router after the view is created. The problem stopped when I called model.fetch() before the rendering of the before
define([''views/profile''],function(,ProfileView){
var router = Backbone.Router.extend({
currentView: null,
socketEvents: _.extend({}, Backbone.Events),
routes: {
'addcontact': 'addcontact',
'index': 'index',
'login': 'login',
'register': 'register',
'forgotpassword': 'forgotpassword',
'profile/:id': 'profile',
'contacts/:id': 'contacts',
"upload/:id":"upload"
},
profile: function(id) {
var model = new Account({id:id});
console.log('profile user:'+id);
this.changeView(new ProfileView({model:model})); //View is created here
model.fetch(); // model is fetched after view is rendered, cause for the problem in my case
}
});
return new router();
});

Related

Why backbone add extra parameter to url path?

I am using backbone.marionette (1.0.0) and node.js (0.10.22). Wondering why backbone add extra parameter when I try to save model data with node.js REST call.
model.js
Backbone.Model.extend ({
urlRoot: function (){
return '/path/' + myApp.companyId;
},
defaults: {
companyId: '',
// other attributes
},
// doesn't use 'id' in model instead companyId
idAttribute: 'companyId'
});
Before view is loaded, I would request model data with myApp.request ('entities:myModel') which issued model.fetch () and node.js backend would fire GET /path/1 route. No issue.
However, when an update button is clicked on the view, this.model.save () would fired PUT /path/1/1. It should be PUT /path/1, with only a single '1' in url path.
view.js:
clicked: function () {
var formData = Backbone.syphon.serialize (this);
this.model.set (formData);
var promise = this.model.save ();
promise.done ().fail ()
}
How can I stop backbone.sync from appending extra parameter to url path? Thanks for taking time out to read this, and I appreciate your help.
You're setting urlRoot incorrectly on the model. It should be
Backbone.Model.extend ({
urlRoot: "path",
// etc
});
Backbone willa dd the ids on it's own.
If you want to specify the ids in your function, use the url function.

backbone-relational: usage with standalone model without relations

I am using backbone-relational. The usage for a onetomany model works fine.
But I am having troubles using backbone-relational for a single/standalone model:
window.BeerOnlineShopPosition = Backbone.RelationalModel.extend({
urlRoot:"../api/beeronlineshoppositions",
idAttribute: 'id',
relations: [
],
defaults:{
"id":null,
"position_amount":""
}
});
window.BeerOnlineShopPositionCollection = Backbone.Collection.extend({
model:BeerOnlineShopPosition,
url:"../api/beeronlineshoppositions"
});
in main i have:
beeronlineshopproductDetails:function (id) {
var beeronlineshopproduct = BeerOnlineShopProduct.findOrCreate(id);
beeronlineshopproduct.fetch();
var beeronlineshopproduct_view = new BeerOnlineShopProductView({el: $('#content'), model: beeronlineshopproduct});
},
So, when jump to an existing records (...beeronlineshop/beeronlineshopproducts/#4), nothing happens. But debugging shows, that the fetch is executed and the view gets loaded. but the view is not rendered somehow.
When I refresh (f5), the view gets rendered correctly.
As mentioned the whole thing works for one-to-many model, so my question is:
did i make some trivial syntax-error on the model part?... or is there any other obvious reason for the troubles i have?
It may be because of the asynchronous request created by findOrCreate. beeronlineshopproduct.fetch() is making a request to the server but the view is being rendered before the server returns with a response.
You have two options. You can pass in the rendering of the view as a callback upon fetch's success like so:
beeronlineshop.fetch({
success: function() {
var beeronlineshopproduct_view = new BeerOnlineShopProductView({el: $('#content'), model: beeronlineshopproduct})
});
Or you can pass an initializer in your BeerOnlineShopProductView that listens to the its model syncing with the server, and calls for the view to re-render itself, like so:
window.BeerOnlineShopProductView = Backbone.View.extend({
initialize: function() {
this.listenTo (this.model, "sync", this.render)
},
})

Roles of backbone views, model, and router

I am developing a backbone application which is using require.js.
I want a user to enter in the 'id' for a model and then either be redirected to a view for that model if it exists, or display an error message if it does not. This sounds extremely simple, but I am having trouble figuring out the roles of each component.
In the application below, the user will come to an index page with an input (with id 'modelId') and a button (with class attribute 'lookup').
The following piece of code is the router.
define(['views/index', 'views/myModelView', 'models/myModel'],
function(IndexView, MyModelView, myModel) {
var MyRouter = Backbone.Router.extend({
currentView: null,
routes: {
"index": "index",
"view/:id": "view"
},
changeView: function(view) {
if(null != this.currentView) {
this.currentView.undelegateEvents();
}
this.currentView = view;
this.currentView.render();
},
index: function() {
this.changeView(new IndexView());
},
view: function(id) {
//OBTAIN MODEL HERE?
//var model
roter.changeView(new MyModelView(model))
}
});
return new MyRouter();
});
The following piece of code is the index view
define(['text!templates/index.html', 'models/myModel'],
function( indexTemplate, MyModel) {
var indexView = Backbone.View.extend({
el: $('#content'),
events: {
"click .lookup": "lookup"
},
render: function() {
this.$el.html(indexTemplate);
$("#error").hide();
},
lookup: function(){
var modelId = $("#modelId").val()
var model = new MyModel({id:modelId});
model.fetch({
success: function(){
window.location.hash = 'view/'+model.id;
},
error: function(){
$("#error").text('Cannot view model');
$("#error").slideDown();
}
});
},
});
return indexView
});
What I can't figure out is that it seems like the better option is for the index view to look up the model (so it can display an error message if the user asks for a model that doesn't exist, and also to keep the router cleaner). But the problem is that the router now has no reference to the model when the view/:id router is triggered. How is it supposed to get a hold of the model in the view() function?
I guess it could do another fetch, but that seems redundant and wrong. Or maybe there is supposed to be some global object that both the router and the view share (that the index view could put the model in), but that seems like tight coupling.
You can do something like this. You could do something similar with a collection instead of a model, but it seems like you don't want to fetch/show the whole collection?
With this type of solution (I think similar to what #mpm was suggesting), your app will handle browser refreshes, back/forward navigation properly. You basically have a MainView, which really acts more like a app controller. It handles events triggered either by the router, or by user interaction (clicking lookup or a back-to-index button on the item view).
Credit to Derick Bailey for a lot of these ideas.
In the Router. These are now only triggered if the user navigates by changing a URL or back/forward.
index: function() {
Backbone.trigger('show-lookup-view');
},
view: function(id) {
var model = new MyModel({id: id});
model.fetch({
success: function(){
Backbone.trigger('show-item-view', model);
},
error: function(){
// user could have typed in an invalid URL, do something here,
// or just make the ItemView handle an invalid model and show that view...
}
});
}
In new MainView, which you would create on app startup, not in router:
el: 'body',
initialize: function (options) {
this.router = options.router;
// listen for events, either from the router or some view.
this.listenTo(Backbone, 'show-lookup-view', this.showLookup);
this.listenTo(Backbone, 'show-item-view', this.showItem);
},
changeView: function(view) {
if(null != this.currentView) {
// remove() instead of undelegateEvents() here
this.currentView.remove();
}
this.currentView = view;
this.$el.html(view.render().el);
},
showLookup: function(){
var view = new IndexView();
this.changeView(view);
// note this does not trigger the route, only changes hash.
// this ensures your URL is right, and if it was already #index because
// this was triggered by the router, it has no effect.
this.router.navigate('index');
},
showItem: function(model){
var view = new ItemView({model: model});
this.changeView(view);
this.router.navigate('items/' + model.id);
}
Then in IndexView, you trigger the 'show-item-view' event with the already fetched model.
lookup: function(){
var modelId = $("#modelId").val()
var model = new MyModel({id:modelId});
model.fetch({
success: function(){
Backbone.trigger('show-item-view', model);
},
error: function(){
$("#error").text('Cannot view model');
$("#error").slideDown();
}
});
},
I don't think this is exactly perfect, but I hope it could point you in a good direction.

can't get application to work after namespacing

I have a Backbone app that is working properly, however, when I tried to reorganize the code under a namespace I can't get it to do anything. I can't even trigger events (by clicking on ids) for views that I know are getting initialized (through console log messages), so I'm wondering if I've introduced some fundamental flaw somehow. I'm following a pattern set out by this blog (in french) http://www.atinux.fr/2011/12/10/organiser-son-code-backbone-js-en-modules/
In the main application.js (see below), I instantiate all of the views and models after initiating the app on document ready. One change introduced as a result of creating this namespace was setting the models for the views with this.models.game
this.views.clock_view = new this.Views.clockView({ model: this.models.game});
Inside the modules folder, I had a views.js and a models.js. I created each view and object like this, prefaced with app.Views or app.Models accordingly
app.Views.announceView = Backbone.View.extend({
....
app.Views.optionsView = Backbone.View.extend({
...
This app.Views.optionsView is getting initialized (according to a console.log statement in the initializer) but when I click on #new_game, the console.log in the startNewGame is not getting triggered
'click #new_game': 'startNewGame'
// 'click .action_button': 'startNewGame'
},
startNewGame: function() {
console.log("startNewGame");
this.model.new();
},
As a result of the namespacing, one other key change I made was when I created new views inside one of the other views. Under the previous (non-namespaced app), I created individual question items from a QuestionListView
var view = new QuestionListItemView({ model: game });
but now I'm doing
var view = new app.Views.questionListItemView({ model: app.models.game })
because the instance of the model was saved to this.models.game in application.js, however, I also tried using 'this.models.game'
var view = new app.Views.questionListItemView({ model: this.models.game })
Either way, before the games model gets involved, I can't trigger the startNewGame function outlined above, so it's not solely an issue of how to identify the model.
I also wondered whether i should be using this.Views or app.Views after the 'new' when creating new views from within
var view = new app.Views.questionListItemView({ model: this.models.game })
I'd be grateful if you could help me identify any flaws I've introduced.
application.js
var app = {
// Classes
Collections: {},
Models: {},
Views: {},
// Instances
collections: {},
models: {},
views: {},
init: function () {
this.models.game = new this.Models.game();
this.views.story_view = new this.Views.storyView(); #doesn't have a model
this.views.clock_view = new this.Views.clockView({ model: this.models.game});
this.views.field_view = new this.Views.fieldView({ model: this.models.game});
this.views.options_view = new this.Views.optionsView({ model : this.models.game});
this.views.announcement_view = new this.Views.announceView({ model: this.models.game});
this.views.question_list_view = new this.Views.questionListView({ model : this.models.game});
this.views.question_list_item_view = new this.Views.questionListItemView({ model : this.models.game});
}
};
$(document).ready(function () {
app.init();
}) ;
The options view is getting initialized but I can't trigger the startNewGame function when I click that #id
app.Views.optionsView = Backbone.View.extend({
// el: $("#options"),
el: $("#options"),
initialize: function() {
console.log("app views OptionsView initialized");
// this.model.bind("gameStartedEvent", this.removeGetAnswerButton, this);
this.model.bind("gameStartedEvent", this.disableNewGame, this);
},
events: {
'click #demo': 'startDemo',
'click #new_game': 'startNewGame'
// 'click .action_button': 'startNewGame'
},
startDemo: function(){
console.log("start demo");
this.model.demo();
},
startNewGame: function() {
console.log("startNewGame");
this.model.new();
},
disableNewGame: function(){
$('#new_game').attr("disabled", true);
}
});
Update
My file structure looks like this
<%= javascript_include_tag 'application.js'%>
<%= javascript_include_tag 'modules/models'%>
<%= javascript_include_tag 'modules/views'%>
At the top of the views and models file, I just do something like this
app.Views.optionsView = Backbone.View.extend({
ie.. there is no further document ready. In fact, including another document ready in these files breaks the application.js init
Prior to using the namespace, I defined the element this way in the view
el: $("#options")
which, as was pointed out in the comments to this question, is not the ideal way to do it(see #muistooshort comment below), (even though it worked).
Defining the el this way instead
el: '#options'
got it working, and let Backbone "convert it to a node object" on its own.

loading multiple views in init function breaks one or the other

I'm building my first backbone.js app, and I've run into a problem when trying to initialize my app and display both recipes and a shopping list, both of which are different (yet related) backbone objects.
My init function is
var MyApp= {
Models: {},
Views: {},
Routers: {},
Collections: {},
AppView: {},
Init: function() {
new MyApp.Views.ShoppingList;
new MyApp.Routers.Recipes;
Backbone.history.start();
}
};
Strangely, when I use
new MyApp.Routers.ShoppingList;
new MyApp.Routers.Recipes;
I don't get the shopping list View, I only get the recipes.
I also don't get any errors.
The shopping list router is fairly basic
MyApp.Routers.ShoppingList = Backbone.Router.extend({
routes: {
"": "index",
"shopping_list/:id": "show"
},
index: function(){
console.log('this');
new MyApp.Views.ShoppingList();
}
});
so from what I understand, the app should load the router, and display the view, but I'm not getting that or the console.log.
--------------as requested, here is my 'recipes router'---------------
MyApp.Routers.Recipes = Backbone.Router.extend({
routes: {
"": "index",
"recipes/:id": "show"
},
index: function(){
if(!MyApp.RecipeList){
MyApp.RecipeList = new MyApp.Collections.RecipeList;
MyApp.RecipeList.page = 1;
} else {
MyApp.RecipeList.page++;
}
MyApp.RecipeList.url='/recipes?page='+MyApp.RecipeList.page;
MyApp.RecipeList.fetch({
add: true,
success: function() {
new MyApp.Views.RecipeList({ collection: MyApp.RecipeList});
},
error: function() {
new Error({ message: "Error loading documents." });
}
});
},
show: function(id){
var recipe = MyApp.RecipeList.get(id);
new MyApp.Views.RecipeView({ model: recipe});
},
newRecipe: function(){
new App.Views.Edit({ model: new Recipe() });
},
edit: function(id){
var recipe = new Recipe({ id: id});
recipe.fetch({
success: function(model, resp){
new App.Views.Edit({ model: recipe});
},
error: function(){
new Error({message: "Hey!? Were'd it go? sorry I can't find your recipe"});
window.location.hash = '#';
}
});
}
});
----------------- some progress -----------------------------
I may be wrong, but in commenting out sections of the router, I find that the problem may be caused by my 'routes' as they both have index where the url is empty. Commenting out the 'routes' in one controller/router causes the other controller/router to display.
I've changed the routes so that they are more representative of their namespace
routes{
"recipes" : "recipes"
},
recipes: function()...
but I'm still not getting the right information to display. I'm now trying to figure out if I need an initialize function and what that would look like, or if I've even debugged this properly
--------------------- update, I was using backbone wrong ------------------------
It turns out I believe that I was mis-understanding Routers and was thinking of them more like controllers, so I was calling multiple routers on load, but the page was only loading the last one which pointed to an empty route as you can only request a single url route at a time.
Now I'm loading multiple Views on load and only one router.
After instantiating your view, you still need to render it and add it to the DOM.
index: function(){
console.log('this');
var view = new MyApp.Views.ShoppingList();
//you don't have to append to the whole body, but this is just an example
$('body').append(view.render().el);
}

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