Backbone.js only creating first model, then returning the rest as undefined when parsing with Google Calendar - backbone.js

Question

Having some issues with pulling calendar events from Google Calendar using Backbone.
When I call collection.fetch() I am only getting a length of 1 returned, when there are 13 objects in the json.
I had a look at the parse:function(response) method that I am overriding in the Collection, and it is returning all 13 objects. I had a look at the add method in backbone.js, and the issue appears to occur on line 591:
models = _.isArray(models) ? models.slice() : [models];
When I wrap the line with console.log to check the status of the models variable:
console.log(models);
models = _.isArray(models) ? models.slice() : [models];
console.log(models);
I get the following result:
[Object,Object,Object,Object,Object,Object,Object,Object,Object,Object,Object,Object,Object] backbone.js:590
[child,undefined × 12]
I'm at a loss to explain why it would be failing on add. I have checked each model by changing the parse:function(response) method in the collection to return each object, and it works fine.:
parse: function(response) {
return response.feed.entry[5];
}
I have successfully parsed Google Calendar feeds with Backbone.js before, so I fear I am missing something really simple.
If I console.log response.feed the following is returned:
This is the full class:
/**
* Backbone
* #class
*/
var Gigs = Gigs || {};
Gigs.Backbone = {}
Gigs.Backbone.Model = Backbone.Model.extend();
Gigs.Backbone.Collection = Backbone.Collection.extend({
model: Gigs.Backbone.Model,
url: 'http://www.google.com/calendar/feeds/email#email.com/public/full?alt=json-in-script&orderby=starttime&callback=?',
sync: function(method, model, options) {
options.dataType = "jsonp";
return Backbone.sync(method, model, options);
},
parse: function(response) {
return response.feed.entry;
}
});
Gigs.Backbone.Controller = Backbone.View.extend({
initialize: function() {
var self = this;
this.collection = new Gigs.Backbone.Collection();
this.collection.on('reset', this.addElements, this);
this.collection.fetch();
},
addElements: function() {
log(this.collection);
}
});
var backbone = new Gigs.Backbone.Controller();

Answer 1

Apparently, Google Calendar provides its entries with an id wrapped in an object 1:
"id":{
"$t":"http://www.google.com/calendar/feeds/..."
}
which Backbone seems to dislike. A lot.
One simple solution would be to overwrite the id in your parse method:
parse: function(response) {
var entries=[];
_.each(response.feed.entry, function(entry,ix) {
entry.id=entry.id.$t;
entries.push(entry);
});
return entries;
}
And a Fiddle http://jsfiddle.net/bqzkT/
1 Check https://developers.google.com/gdata/docs/json to see how Google converts its XML data to JSON.
Edit : the problem comes from the way the data is returned with a straight XML to JSON conversion (requested via the alt=json-in-script parameter) wrapping the attributes in objects. Changing this parameter to alt=jsonc yields a much simpler JSON representation. Compare a jsonc output to the json-in-script equivalent.
See https://developers.google.com/youtube/2.0/developers_guide_jsonc#Comparing_JSON_and_JSONC for more info