Losing Scope when Repeating using View Render in Backbone.js - backbone.js

I'm a newbie at Backbone.js and am coming across a scope issue with a simple view & model scenario.
I've created a simple model with a single default "score" value. I also created a simple view containing a template rendered value of "score" and a button to increment score by one on each press. The view repeats the render every time the score value is changed.
I've got this to work but in a way that I think may be a botch. The template will only render the first time unless I cache the value of "this" in view variable "thisView". If I don't it seems to lose focus and the rendering errors. Is this a good idea? Or am I missing something about repeatedly applying the render.
Thanks for any advice
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Demo</title>
<style>
#view_container{background-color: rgba(12, 5, 11, 0.14);width: 100px;height: 100px;padding: 10px;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<script src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.4.4/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script src="http://ajax.cdnjs.com/ajax/libs/underscore.js/1.1.4/underscore-min.js"></script>
<script src="http://ajax.cdnjs.com/ajax/libs/backbone.js/0.3.3/backbone-min.js"></script>
<!-- View Template -->
<script type="text/template" id="view-template">
<div class="profileSpace">
<p>Score: <%= score %></p>
</div>
<button id="increaseScoreButton">Increase Score</button>
</script>
<div id="view_container"></div>
<script type="text/javascript">
(function ($) {
MyModel = Backbone.Model.extend({
defaults:{
score:0
},
initialize: function(){
},
increaseScore: function(){
//Increase Score by 1
var currentScore = this.get("score");
var newScore = currentScore +1;
this.set({score:newScore});
}
});
MyView = Backbone.View.extend({
el: $("#view_container"),
template: _.template($('#view-template').html()),
initialize: function(model){
thisView =this;
this.model.bind('change', this.render, this);
this.render();
},
events: {
"click #increaseScoreButton": "increaseScore"
},
increaseScore: function(){
this.model.increaseScore();
},
render: function(){
var currentScore = thisView.model.get("score");
var html = thisView.template({"score":currentScore});
$(thisView.el).html( html );
return thisView;
}
});
myModel = new MyModel;
myApp = new MyView({model:myModel});
})(jQuery);
</script>
</body>
</html>

You bind the change event via this.model.bind('change', this.render, this);
This syntax was introduced in Backbone 0.5.2 but you use Backbone 0.3.3 in your example.
0.5.2 — July 26, 2011
The bind function can now take an optional third argument to specify the this of the callback function.
Upgrade Backbone to a more recent version (0.9.2 as of today) and you should get the expected behaviour.
Or, as CoryDanielson pointed out in the comments, you could use _.bindAll to have a guaranteed context:
MyView = Backbone.View.extend({
initialize: function(model) {
_.bindAll(this, 'render');
this.model.bind('change', this.render);
this.render();
},
render: function(){
var currentScore = this.model.get("score");
var html = this.template({"score":currentScore});
$(this.el).html( html );
return this;
}
});

Related

Backbone Marionettejs view does not change when model changed

I follow the example from this book https://leanpub.com/marionette-gentle-introduction. My problem is that the view does not rerender when i change the model by clicking on the button. As the answer from this question , i don't need to do anything because Backbone/MarionetteJS smart enough to change the view.
Here is the code
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<title>Demo marionettejs</title>
<script src="./vendors/jquery/dist/jquery.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="./vendors/underscore/underscore.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="./vendors/backbone/backbone.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="./vendors/backbone.marionette/lib/backbone.marionette.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
</head>
<body>
<div id="main-region" class="container">
<p>Here is static content in the web page. You'll notice that it gets
replaced by our app as soon as we start it.</p>
</div>
<script type="text/template" id="contact-template">
<p><%- firstName %> <%- lastName %> : <%- time %> </p> <br />
<button>Change model</button>
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
var ContactManager = new Marionette.Application();
ContactManager.Contact = Backbone.Model.extend({});
ContactManager.ContactView = Marionette.ItemView.extend({
template: "#contact-template",
initialize: function () {
this.currentMeterId = null;
},
events: {
"click button": "changeModel"
},
modelEvents: {
"change": "modelChanged"
},
changeModel: function() {
this.model.set("time", (new Date()).toString());
},
modelChanged: function() {
console.log("Model changed : " + this.model.get('time'));
},
//EDIT
onRender: function() {
//Create jsTree here.
}
});
ContactManager.on("before:start", function () {
var RegionContainer = Marionette.LayoutView.extend({
el: "#app-container",
regions: {
main: "#main-region"
}
});
ContactManager.regions = new RegionContainer();
});
ContactManager.on("start", function () {
var alice = new ContactManager.Contact({
firstName: "Alice",
lastName: "Arten",
time: "#"
});
var aliceView = new ContactManager.ContactView({
model: alice
});
ContactManager.regions.main.show(aliceView);
});
ContactManager.start();
</script>
</body>
</html>
#Edit
This code is just sample. In my real app, I have an ajax task that changes DOMs in the view. This ajax task creates a tree (jsTree) in onRender event. If i use modelEvents: {"change": "render"}, my jsTree will be reload and lost its state. So I want only update the model values in the view, others DOMs is retain.
The accepted answer to the question you pointed points to another question which has the following:
modelEvents: {
'change': "modelChanged"
},
modelChanged: function() {
console.log(this.model);
this.render();
}
And the most upvoted answer suggests the same:
modelEvents: {
'change': 'fieldsChanged'
},
fieldsChanged: function() {
this.render();
}
a comment to the most upvoted answer suggests
just {'change': 'render'} does the trick too
Which means you can do
modelEvents: {
'change': 'render'
}
So somehow you need to tell marionette invoke render on model changes.
I don't think backbone and marionette couple is smart enough to know whether you need to render view on model changes or you don't want to unless you tell them ;)

Rendering a template getting the data from a model in Backbone

I'm having some issues with rendering my view in backbone getting the data from my model so I'd appreciate any help. Here goes my html code:
<ul id="datos">
</ul>
<script type="text/template" id="listado-template">
<h2>Mi listado</h2>
<li>Item 1: <%= item1 %></li>
</script>
<script>
modelo = new Modelo();
modeloView = new ModeloView({model: modelo});
</script>
And this are my model and my view:
Modelo = Backbone.Model.extend({
urlRoot: 'myurljson',
});
Backbone.View.extend({
tagName: "ul",
el: "#datos",
template: _.template($('#listado-template').html()),
initialize: function() {
this.model.on('change', this.render, this);
},
render: function() {
this.$el.append(this.template(this.model.toJSON()));
return this;
}
});
The problem is my template is not renderized well. I'm getting an undefined error with item1. But if I delete this tag li, the tag h2 is renderized so I guess the problem is in getting my data from my model through "myurljson". Any help? Thank you!
Underscore will fail if you try to render an undefined variable. See this Fiddle trying to reproduce your problem : http://jsfiddle.net/nikoshr/PELfV/
You can
define a default item1 property in your model wit a sensible value
Modelo = Backbone.Model.extend({
urlRoot: 'myurljson',
defaults: {
item1: ''
}
});
A demo at http://jsfiddle.net/nikoshr/PELfV/1/
or test the value before printing it
<script type="text/template" id="listado-template">
<li>Item 1: <% if (typeof item1!=="undefined") print(item1) %></li>
</script>
And its demo http://jsfiddle.net/nikoshr/PELfV/2/

Why doesn't this.$el.append() work?

I'm trying to follow along http://addyosmani.github.io/backbone-fundamentals. I'm not getting how $el is supposed to work in a view.
Here's my HTML:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8" />
<title>Dashboard</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Dashboard</h1>
<ol class="foo" id="recent-station">
</ol>
<!-- Templates -->
<script type="text/template" id="station-template">
<li><%= station %></li>
</script>
<!-- Javascript -->
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.9.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script src="http://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/underscore.js/1.4.4/underscore-min.js"></script>
<script src="http://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/backbone.js/1.0.0/backbone-min.js"></script>
<script src="static/js/script.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
And script.js is:
var RecentStation = Backbone.Model.extend( {
defaults: {
station: "",
},
initialize: function() {
console.log('initialized: ' + JSON.stringify(this));
this.on('change', function() {
console.log('changed: ' + JSON.stringify(this));
})
}
});
var RecentStationView = Backbone.View.extend( {
tagName: 'ol',
id: 'recent-station',
initialize: function() {
this.model.bind('change', _.bind(this.render, this));
},
render: function() {
console.log('render');
this.$el.append('<li>foo</li>');
$('ol#recent-station').append('<li>bar</li>');
return this;
},
});
var recent = new RecentStation();
var recentView = new RecentStationView({model: recent});
recent.set('station', 'My Station');
The interesting stuff is happening in the render function. I can see "render" logged to the console, and the "bar" text gets appended to the node, but not the "foo" text. I thought this.$el and $('ol#recent-station') were the same thing, but obviously not. What am I missing?
If you don't specify a dom element using el attribute, one will be created using tagName,id,className, and attributes from the view.
In your case you don't specify an el attribute in your view so you create an element that looks like:
<ol id='recent-station'></ol>
You then append <li>foo</li> into it, but your view element is still not in the DOM.
$('ol#recent-station') returns the dom element included in your html which is different than your view element, but has the same attributes.
So, in your example you would need to specify an existing element by supplying an el attribute.
var RecentStationView = Backbone.View.extend( {
// remove tagName and id
el:'#recent-station',
/* rest of your code below */
A fiddle with the changes, http://jsfiddle.net/DsRJH/.

why backbone view is not getting rendered

this is below is code which i am using for simple task add , view is not getting render, i am not able to find the mistake ,
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<title>Calculator</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="styles/bootstrap/css/bootstrap.min.css">
<script src="js/libs/jquery-1.9.1.min.js"></script>
<script src="js/libs/underscore-min.js"></script>
<script src="js/libs/backbone-min.js"></script>
<script type="text/template" id="display-template">
<div class="row">
<div class="span4">
<%=content%>
</div>
</div>
</script>
<script language="javascript">
var cdate;
var tasks={};
var app = app || {};
// App view responsible for rendering app
app.TaskView = Backbone.View.extend({
el: $('#tasks'),
template: _.template($('#display-template').html()),
initialize: function () {
this.render();
},
render: function () {
console.log("render called");
console.log(this.template());
this.$el.html(this.template());
}
});
app.task = Backbone.Model.extend({
defaults:{
content:null
}
});
app.bUsers = Backbone.Collection.extend({
model : app.task,
initialize: function(models, args) {
this.bind('add', this.renderone);
this.bind('remove', this.destroy); },
renderone:function(user){
console.log(user);
var view = new app.TaskView({model: user});
},
destroy:function(user){
$(user.view.el).remove();
}
});
app.Users = new app.bUsers();
$(document).ready(function() {
cdate=new Date();
$("#cdate").html(new Date());
$("#pre").click(function(){
cdate=new Date(cdate.getTime()-(1*24*3600*1000));
$("#cdate").html(cdate);
});
$("#next").click(function(){
cdate=new Date(cdate.getTime()+(1*24*3600*1000));
$("#cdate").html(cdate);
});
$("#submit").click(function(){
if(tasks[cdate]==undefined) tasks[cdate]=[];
tasks[cdate].push($("#task").val());
// app.appView = new app.TaskView({
// model: new app.task({"content":$("#task").val()})
// });
var data ={"content":$("#task").val()};
app.Users.add(data);
});
});
</script>
</head>
<body>
<a id="pre" href="#">Prev</a>
<div id="cdate"></div>
<a id="next" href="#">Next</a>
<input type="text" id="task" ></input>
<input type="button" value="submit" id="submit" ></input>
<div id="tasks"></div>
</body>
Oye, you've got a few problems.
To answer your specific question, your render method of your view should take your view's model instance and get something from this.model.toJSON() it to get at its data to pass to the template method (toJSON really returns "JSONable" objects).
But that's not all.
Besides a few html issues, you also have stylistic problems.
Collections generally should not be concerned with views, only data (*). Views should be concerned with with collections and models. Collections communicate to views via event binding, which I see you are doing. However, for reuse purposes, you may have more than one combination views that might want to listen to events in the collection. By setting up the event binding in the collection, you've effectively limited your collection for only one use.
Views can do alot. There's not much reason to manually add DOM event handlers when you can code the view to do it for you.
I haven't written Backbone in a little while (not by choice!), but generally found it was a good idea to have a view dedicated to the collection, and then have a separate model view that the collection view might create or destroy based upon whatever events took place.
Here's a bit of a cleanup of your code to give you a starting example:
http://jsfiddle.net/jfcox/SmPNv/
HTML:
<a id="pre" href="#">Prev</a>
<div id="cdate"> </div>
<a id="next" href="#">Next</a>
<input type="text" id="task" />
<input type="button" value="add" id="submit" />
<div id="tasks"></div>
Backbone definitions:
var defs = defs || {};
//first define the data handlers
defs.Task = Backbone.Model.extend({
defaults: function () {
return {
content: null,
addDate: (new Date()).toString()
};
}
});
defs.Users = Backbone.Collection.extend({
model: defs.Task
});
// App view responsible for rendering app
defs.SingleTaskView = Backbone.View.extend({
//since we can't control where the js is loaded, go ahead and make the template inline for jsFiddle demo.
tagName: 'div',
template: _.template('<div class="row"> <div class="span4"><%=content%></div> <em><%=addDate%></em> <button class="remove"> remove</remove> </div>'),
events: {
"click button.remove": "remove"
},
initialize: function (opts) {
this.model.on('change', this.render, this);
},
render: function () {
console.log("render called");
var modelBare = this.model.toJSON();
return this.$el.html(this.template(modelBare));
},
remove: function () {
//removes from local collection, does not delete on server
//for that, you'd want `this.model.destroy`
this.collection.remove(this.model);
//removes this view's element.
this.$el.remove();
}
})
defs.TasksView = Backbone.View.extend({
el: 'body',
events: {
"click #pre": "doPrevious",
"click #next ": "doNext",
"click #submit ": "doSubmit"
},
cdate: null,
initialize: function (opts) {
this.cdate = new Date();
this.render();
this.collection.on('add', this.renderone, this);
},
render: function () {
$("#cdate").html(this.cdate.toString());
},
doPrevious: function () {
this.cdate = new Date(this.cdate.getTime() - (1 * 24 * 3600 * 1000));
$("#cdate").html(this.cdate.toString());
},
doNext: function () {
this.cdate = new Date(this.cdate.getTime() + (1 * 24 * 3600 * 1000));
$("#cdate").html(this.cdate.toString());
},
doSubmit: function () {
var data = {
"content": $("#task").val()
};
this.collection.add([data]);
},
renderone: function (userModel) {
var view = new defs.SingleTaskView({
model: userModel,
collection: this.collection
});
this.$el.find('#tasks').append(view.render());
}
});
The application, itself.
var app = app || {};
app.users = new defs.Users();
(function ($) {
$(document).ready(function () {
app.usersview = new defs.TasksView({
collection: app.users
});
});
})(jQuery);
(*) This is a guideline, not an absolute rule, of course. If you think a collection might work as some sort of workflow manager, etc, that might be fine, but that's an advanced topic.
Edit: I included the template inline, partially for reasons that I don't trust jsFiddle with inline "text" scripts. I'm not recommending any way to handle that, just that's how I did it here.

backbone.js 'undefined' get request

This is my code:
$(function (){
var Slide = Backbone.Model.extend({
defaults: {
castid :1,
id :1
},
urlRoot: function(){
return 'slidecasts/' + this.get("castid") + '/slides/';
},
});
var SlideView = Backbone.View.extend({
el: $("#presentation"),
events: {
'click #next': 'next',
'click #previous': 'previous',
},
initialize: function(){
_.bindAll(this, 'render', 'next');
this.model.bind('change', this.render);
this.render();
},
render: function(){
this.model.fetch();
var variables = {
presentation_name: "This is a Slide-Number: ",
slidenumber: "xxx",
imageurl: this.model.url() +"/"+ this.model.get('imageLinks'),
slide_content: this.model.get("content")};
var template = _.template( $("#slide_template").html(), variables );
this.$el.html( template );
return this;
},
next: function(){
console.log(this.model.id);
this.model.nextslide();
},
previous: function(){
console.log("previous function in view");
}
});
testslide = new Slide();
var slideView = new SlideView({model: testslide});
});
This works fine but in the debug console I always see a GET Request to "slidecasts/1/slides/1/undefined" which of course fails. I don't really understand where I trigger this get request.
Edit - the template code
<script type="text/template" id="slide_template">
<label>Presentation <%= presentation_name %> </label> <br/>
<img src="<%= imageurl %>" id="slide_pic" /> <br/>
<textarea id="slide_content">
<%= slide_content %>
</textarea>
<div id="next">next slide </div>
<div id="previous">previous slide </div>
</script>
You have an asynchronous problem.
This is the sequence of events:
You call this.model.fetch() to populate the model.
You say variables.imageurl = this.model.url() + '/' + this.model.get('imageLinks').
The (asynchronous) fetch hasn't returned yet so this.model.get('imageLinks') is undefined.
You build the HTML and use this.$el.html(template) to update the page.
The browser renders your HTML using the incorrect imageurl from 2.
A bad GET request is logged because of 5.
The fetch from 1 returns from the server and triggers a 'change' event.
The 'change' event triggers a new call to render.
This render call has a fully populated this.model so variables.imageurl is correct and the HTML comes out right this time.
If you let the fetch trigger the render then the problem will go away:
initialize: function(){
_.bindAll(this, 'render', 'next');
this.model.bind('change', this.render);
this.model.fetch();
},
render: function() {
// As before except no this.model.fetch()
}
How I can't see the template you are using I'm just guessing here:
The problem is in this line:
this.model.url() +"/"+ this.model.get('imageLinks'),
Your template is trying to define an <img> element with such URL but the imageLinks attribute is undefined.

Resources