How to trigger the fetch method and how to set the url - backbone.js

Question

I'am redesigning my backbone application based on the answer of #20100 to this question The best way to fetch and render a collection for a given object_id.
Please read the comment on the code because I think is more clear, and my question looks better in smaller sizes.
// My View
define([
"js/collections/myCollection",
"js/models/myFeed"
], function (MyCollection, MyModel) {
var MyView = Backbone.View.extend({
tagName: 'ul',
initialize: function () {
this.collection = new MyCollection();
this.collection.on('add', this.onAddOne, this);
this.collection.on('reset', this.onAddAll, this);
// when I make myView = new MyView(_.extend( {el:this.$("#myView")} , this.options));
// myView.render is not called
// in order to trigger the render function I make the following… but probably there is a better way …
var that = this;
this.collection.fetch({
success: function () {
that.render();
}
});
}
});
return MyView;
});
// MyCollection
define([
"js/models/myModel"
], function (MyModel) {
var MyCollection = Backbone.MyCollection.extend({
model: MyModel, // add this
url: function () {
var url = "http://localhost/movies";
return url;
// if I look to the GET request the url is without idAttribute
// how can I attach the idAttribute to this url?
// should bb takes care of this?
}
});
return MyCollection;
});
//MyModel
define([
], function () {
var MyModel = Backbone.MyModel.extend({
idAttribute: 'object_id'
});
return MyModel
});

Answer 1

There's two paths you want to explore
Pre-populate your collection with your model data
In your example you're already doing this, but you're fetching a collection, the collection URL is http://localhost/movies, if you want an individual model take a look at the next point
Fetch each individual model only when you need it
In the assumption that you're trying to get an ID on a collection that is not pre-populated and are loading 1 model at a time, you will have to approach this a bit in a custom way by adding a method to your collection somewhat similarly to this
getOrFetch: function(id, options)
{
var model;
if (this.get(id))
{
model = this.get(id);
}
else
{
model = new this.model({
id: id
});
this.add(model);
model.fetch(options);
}
return model;
}
or add the function as Backbone.Collection.prototype.getOrFetch so you can use it on every Backbone Collection if you need it.