backbone router and collection issue - backbone.js

Question

I have a collection and I need to access a model in the collection when a route is fired:
App.Houses = Backbone.Collection.extend({
model: App.House,
url: API_URL,
})
App.houseCollection = new App.Houses()
App.houseCollection.fetch();
App.HouseDetailRouter = Backbone.Router.extend({
routes: {
'': 'main',
'details/:id': 'details',
},
initialize: function() {
},
main: function() {
App.Events.trigger('show_main_view');
},
details: function(id) {
model = App.houseCollection.get(id);
console.log(model);
App.Events.trigger('show_house', model);
},
});
The result of that console.log(model) is undefined. I think that this is the case because the collection has not finished the fetch() call?
I want to attach the model to the event that I am firing so that the views that respond to the event can utilize it. I might be taking a bad approach, I am not sure.
One of the views that responds to the event:
App.HouseDetailView = Backbone.View.extend({
el: '.house-details-area',
initialize: function() {
this.template = _.template($('#house-details-template').html());
App.Events.on('show_house', this.render, this);
App.Events.on('show_main_view', this.hide, this);
},
events: {
'click .btn-close': 'hide',
},
render: function(model) {
var html = this.template({model:model.toJSON()});
$(this.el).html(html);
$(this.el).show();
},
hide: function() {
$(this.el).hide();
App.detailsRouter.navigate('/', true);
}
});
EDIT: Somewhat hacky fix: See details()
App.HouseDetailRouter = Backbone.Router.extend({
routes: {
'': 'main',
'details/:id': 'details',
},
initialize: function() {
},
main: function() {
App.Events.trigger('show_main_view');
},
details: function(id) {
if (App.houseCollection.models.length === 0) {
// if we are browsing to website.com/#details/:id
// directly, and the collection has not finished fetch(),
// we fetch the model.
model = new App.House();
model.id = id;
model.fetch({
success: function(data) {
App.Events.trigger('show_house', data);
}
});
} else {
// if we are getting to website.com/#details after browsing
// to website.com, the collection is already populated.
model = App.houseCollection.get(id);
App.Events.trigger('show_house', model);
}
},
});

Answer 1

Since you are using neither the callbacks nor events to know when the collection's fetch call completes, perhaps fetching the collection is generating an error, or the model you want is not included in the server response, or you are routing to the view before fetch has completed.
As to your approach, here are some miscellaneous tips:
better to pass the model to the view in the view's constructor's options parameter. render() takes no arguments and I think it is unconventional to change that.
Always return this from render() in your views
You can move your this.template = _.template code to the object literal you pass to extend. This code only needs to be run once per app load, not for each individual view
For now the simplest thing may be to instantiate just a model and a view inside your details route function, call fetch on the specific model of interest, and use the success callback to know when to render the view.