backbone.js getting data into collection and template - backbone.js

Question

i am new to backbone.js and need a little help sending data to a template. Im using a model with fetch, and a collection. here is the code :
(function($) {
var UserModel = Backbone.Model.extend({
urlRoot : '/users',
defaults : {
name : '',
email : ''
},
initialize : function() {
_.bindAll(this);
this.fetch();
},
parse : function(res) {
return JSON.stringify(res);
},
});
var users_coll = Backbone.Collection.extend({
//model: UserModel
initialize : function() {
var u = new UserModel();
this.model = u;
}
});
var displayView = Backbone.View.extend({
initialize : function() {
this.collection = new users_coll();
//_.each(this.collection.models, alert);
//console.log(this.collection);
//alert(JSON.stringify(this.collection.models));
this.render();
},
render : function() {
var tmpl = _.template($("#data-display-tpl").html());
this.$el.html(tmpl);
}
});
var view = new displayView({
el : $("#data-display")
});
})(jQuery);
it's working fine upto the model part. In the parse function of the model, i have used console.log() and everything seems fine. i get a properly formated json, and the fetch works fine too.
however in my collection i get nothing when i try console.log(user_coll.models).
i think i am probably missing something really small. not sure what, maybe the flow of things is all wrong.

Answer 1

I tried to modify your code just a bit to get poin trough...hope it helps clarify few basics.
I also didn't try provided example, but in theory it should work ;)
Here is how his example should be done...
Let's imagine Twitter app for example. Twitter app has only one model that represents one user in system. That's UserModel
var UserModel = Backbone.Model.extend({
urlRoot : '/user', // this is just for modifying one specific user
defaults : {
name : '',
email : ''
},
initialize : function() {
_.bindAll(this);
//this.fetch(); // WRONG: This call was "wrong" here
// fetch() should be done on Collection not model
},
parse : function(res) {
return JSON.stringify(res);
},
});
Now, you can have many lists of users on Twitter right. So you have two lists. In one list you have Friends users, and in other Family users
var UsersFriendsCollection = Backbone.Collection.extend({
model: UserModel // you tell Collection what type ob models it contains
url: '/users/friends',
initialize : function() {
// jabadaba whatever you need here
}
});
var UsersFamilyCollection = Backbone.Collection.extend({
model: UserModel // you tell Collection what type ob models it contains
url: '/users/family',
initialize : function() {
// jabadaba whatever you need here
}
});
...
var displayView = Backbone.View.extend({
initialize : function() {
this.collection = new UsersFriendsCollection();
this.collection.fetch(); // so you call fetch() on Collection, not Model
console.log(this.collection); // this should be populated now
//_.each(this.collection.models, alert);
//alert(JSON.stringify(this.collection.models));
this.render();
},
render : function() {
// collection data is avail. in templating engine for iteration now
var tmpl = _.template($( "#data-display-tpl" ).html(), this.collection);
this.$el.html(tmpl);
}
});

Answer 2

A collection's model attribute is meant for specifying what type of model the collection will contain and if specified you can pass the collection an array of raw objects and it will add and create them. From the docs
Override this property to specify the model class that the collection
contains. If defined, you can pass raw attributes objects (and arrays)
to add, create, and reset, and the attributes will be converted into a
model of the proper type
So when in your code you have
var u = new UserModel();
this.model = u;
You aren't actually adding the model to the collection. Instead you can use the collections add or fetch methods.