How to get from one fetch request many models or collections - backbone.js

I have a fetch request which response looks like this.
response = {
id: 1,
title: 'text',
followers: [{}, {}] // array of objects
}
As you can see the response is an object which have an attribute follower which is an array of object.
I would like to create from this response one model and one collection,
one which have the following attributes:
response = {
id: 1,
title: 'text'
}
and the other one, a collection of models
followers: [{}, {}];
What is the appropriate way to active my goal?
Could I use Backbone.Relation?
If yes, there are some example?

I'm used to use the same approach than #lecstor but I like more do it in the initialize() like this:
initialize: function(){
this.followers = new Followers( this.get("followers") );
}

depending on your needs/views/etc, I would probably wrap that response in a model and create a collection of models for followers...
MyModel = Backbone.Model.extend({
urlRoot: '/url/to/get/response'
});
Follower = Backbone.Model.extend();
Followers = Backbone.Collection.extend({
model: Follower
});
this.model = new MyModel({ id: 1 });
var that = this;
this.model.fetch({
success: function(model, response){
that.collection = new Followers( model.get('followers') )
}
});
I think you could then update your model from the collection quite easily with:
this.model.set('followers', this.collection.toJSON())

why not have a model that contains the collections and sub-models?
essentially a view-model

Related

Backbone: Uncaught Error: A "url" property or function must be specified when saving model

I did read a lot of the questions regarding this particular message, but they don't seem to apply in my case.
I have this model:
app.Template = Backbone.Model.extend({
defaults: {
name: '',
templateType: null,
content: '',
defaultOfType: false,
createdAt: null,
updatedAt: null
}
});
This collection:
var Templates = Backbone.Collection.extend({
model: app.Template,
url: '/templates'
});
app.Templates = new Templates();
In my router:
this.view = new app.TemplateFormView({ model: new app.Template() });
And in that view:
initialize: function() {
this.listenTo(app.Templates, 'add', this.editTemplate);
app.Templates.add(this.model);
// rendering function, other stuff
},
saveMyTemplate: function(e) {
e.preventDefault();
var formData = {};
var oldData = this.model.previousAttributes();
$(e.target).closest("form").find(":input").each(function() {
var el = $(this);
formData[el.attr("id")] = el.val();
});
this.model.set(formData).save();
}
When I try to save the model, I get this error:
Uncaught Error: A "url" property or function must be specified
As you can see, the url is set in the collection and the model is a part of the collection. Any idea as to why the model doesn't seem to be a member of the collection?
Thanks!
You might want to look into model.urlRoot parameter.
Specify a urlRoot if you're using a model outside of a collection, to enable the default url function to generate URLs based on the model id. "[urlRoot]/id"
Normally, you won't need to define this. Note that urlRoot may also be a function.
Also check if your references are correct to app and app.Templates.

backbone.js getting data into collection and template

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.
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);
}
});
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.

Laravel 4 and Backbone not playing well together -- JSON improperly formatted

I'm trying to return JSON output from a Laravel route. Here's my route:
Route::get('main-contact-count', function() {
$mc = MainContact::where('flag', '=', '1')->count();
return Response::json(['count' => $mc]);
});
If I look at the response tab in Firebug, I'm getting back:
{"count":9}
The JSON encoding is missing the square brackets. This JSON is different than the JSON Laravel returns from a resourceful controller. It has the square brackets. Backbone parses it fine. Backbone doesn't parse the above JSON correctly. If you look at the length and models when you console.log a collection, they're both zero. You can, however, drill down into the object and you can find a count property set to 9.
How do I get the correct JSON out of Laravel?
Just for kicks and giggles, I'm posting my Backbone, in case I'm doing something hinky there:
App.Collections.Count = Backbone.Collection.extend({
model: App.Models.Count,
initialize: function(models, options) {
this.fetch({
success: function(data, options) {
// console.log(data.models);
}
});
if (options) {
this.url = this.url || options.url;
}
}
});
App.Views.Count = Backbone.View.extend({
tagName: 'span',
className: 'leadCount',
template: _.template($('#contactCount').html()),
initialize: function() {
},
render: function() {
this.$el.html(this.template(this.collection.toJSON()));
return this;
}
});
And in my route:
var mc = new (App.Collections.Count.extend({ url: 'main-contact-count' }))();
var mcv = new (App.Views.Count.extend({ collection: mc }))();
The JSON response sent by your service is a single JSON object ({...}) Your collection is not able to parse it because it expects an array of JSON objects ([{...}, {...}]).
If I've understood your code correctly, /main-contact-count is a specialized service whose function is to return and single datum: a count of contacts. If this is the case, Backbone.Collection may not be the correct solution. Collections are meant for... well, collections of things.
You should use just a model instead:
App.Models.Count = Backbone.Model.extend({
url:'main-contact-count'
});
var countModel = new App.Models.Count();
countModel.fetch({success: function(model, resp) {
var count = model.get('count');
});
Or even better, forego Backbone altogether and just fetch the data using jQuery:
$.getJSON('main-contact-count', function(response) {
var count = response.count;
});
try:
return Response::json(array(array('count' => $mc));

Empty backbone collection/model at working API?

i try to fetch a record of a rails-api (same host) into my backbone collection. i have the following code:
// Models
App.GeeksModel = Backbone.Model.extend({
urlRoot: "/geeks",
idAttribute: "id"
});
// Collections
App.GeeksCollection = Backbone.Collection.extend({
url: "/geeks",
model: App.GeeksModel
});
in my router i have the following
// Router
App.GeekRouter = Backbone.Router.extend({
routes: {
"": "index"
},
initialize: function() {
console.log("router - init");
},
index: function() {
console.log("route - index");
var geekCollection = new App.GeeksCollection();
var mapView = new App.GeeksMapView({ el: $("#foo"), model: geekCollection });
geekCollection.fetch();
}
});
when browsing the url, the view loads correctly and at the server i see, that one entry is fetched from the database. but as soon as i check the model length in my view using
this.model.length
the collection is empty... any advice on this?
thanks
EDIT 1:
when changing the index router method to
var mapView = new App.GeeksMapView({ el: $("#map"), collection: geekCollection });
and e.g. check for the collection length in the views intialize method
...
initialize: function() {
this.render();
console.log(this.collection.length);
},
...
it retunes 0 as well... so nothing changed!
I believe you want to do collection.length or if accessing from the model - each model holds reference to collection in which it was created model.collection.length - if this is referencing to collection doing just this.length should be enough, if it's a model then this.collection.length will do it for you.
Models have no property length so should always be undefined unless you define it yourself.

populating nested collection with nested json

Solution
in my route
Myapp.Routes = Backbone.Router.extend({
init: function(){
user = new User();
user.fetch({user,
success: function(response){
user.classlist = new classes(response.attributes.classes);
});
}
});
I've got a serialized json array being returned from my server, and I am trying to put the nested objects into my nested collections.
This answer, I thought was going to get me there, but I'm missing something.
How to build a Collection/Model from nested JSON with Backbone.js
The json which I am trying to populate my nested model with is
{first_name: "Pete",age: 27, classes: [{class_name: "math", class_code: 42},{class_name: "french", class_code: 18}]}
I create my user model
MyApp.Models.Users = = Backbone.Model.extend({
initialize: function(){
this.classlist = new MyApp.Collections.ClassList();
this.classlist.parent = this;
}
});
I had tried to follow the example on the other page, and use
this.classlist = new MyApp.Collections.ClassList(this.get('classes'));
this.classlist.parent = this;
but this.get('classes') returns undefined.
I've also tried getting the classes array through this.attributes.classes, but that is also undefined.
------------updated to include re-initialize --------------------
The function where I am initializing the user and classes is in the User routes and is called re-initialize. I use this function to fetch the user and their classes and store the object.
re_initialize: function(id){
user = new MyApp.Models.User();
MyApp.editingClasses.url = 'classes/'+id;
MyApp.editingClasses.fetch({
success: function(response){
MyApp.editingClasses.parse(response);
}
});
new MyApp.Views.ClassesInput();
},
As you can see, I'm calling the parse explicitly in the success function, but it isn't adding the classes to the collection.
I can't include the 'collection' because for some reason I can't access it in backbone.
the user model, after getting returned to backbone includes the classes array, which I am trying to put into the ClassList collection.
The user model object copied from the javascript terminal looks like this.
attributes: Object
created_at: "2012-01-05T16:05:19Z"
id: 63
classes: Array[3]
0: Object
created_at: "2012-01-18T20:53:34Z"
id: 295
teacher_id: 63
class_code: 42
updated_at: "2012-01-18T20:53:34Z"
class_name: math
__proto__: Object
1: Object
2: Object
length: 3
__proto__: Array[0]
You can use the parse function to pre-process the server response:
MyApp.Models.Users = Backbone.Model.extend({
parse: function(response) {
var classesJSON = response.classes;
var classesCollection = MyApp.Collections.ClassList(classesJSON);
response.classes = classesCollection;
return response;
}
});
var user = new MyApp.Models.Users();
user.fetch();
// You should now be able to get the classlist with:
user.get('classes');
That said, the approach suggested in the other question should also work. It could be that when your initialize function is called, the model hasn't yet been populated with the data?
For example, if you're doing:
var user = new MyApp.Models.Users();
It won't have any attributes yet to give to the classlist collection. Could that be your problem?
Okay! you can maybe fetch the classes this way :
Model :
window.person = Backbone.Model.extend({
defaults: { }
});
Collection :
window.ClassesCollection = Backbone.Collection.extend({
model: person,
url: "http://your/url/data.json",
parse: function(response){
return response.classes;
}
});
Router :
window.AppRouter = Backbone.Router.extend({
routes: {
"" : "init"
},
init: function(){
this.classesColl = new ClassesCollection();
this.classesColl.fetch();
this.classesView = new ClassesView({collection: this.classesColl});
}
});
View : (for rendering every classes)
window.ClassesView = Backbone.View.extend({
el: $('...'),
template: _.template($("...").html()),
initialize: function() {
this.collection.bind("reset", this.render, this);
},
render: function(collection) {
_.each( collection.models, function(obj){
...
//obj.get('class_name') or obj.get('class_code')
...
}, this );
...
return this;
}
});

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