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The collection nested inside firebase collection's model doesn't have add function

In my application, I am trying to use Firebase to store the real time data based on backbone framework.
The problem goes like this:
I have a sub level model and collection, which are both general backbone model and collection.
var Todo = Backbone.Model.extend({
defaults: {
title: "New Todo",
completed : true
}
});
var Todocollection = Backbone.Collection.extend({
model: Todo,
initialize: function() {
console.log("creating a todo collection...");
},
});
And then there is a high level model, which contains the sublevel collection as an attribute.
var Daymodel = Backbone.Model.extend({
defaults : {
day: 1,
agenda : new Todocollection()
}
});
and then for the higher level collection, I will firebase collection
var DayCollection = Backbone.Firebase.Collection.extend({
model: Daymodel
});
So far I can add data to the higher level collection correctly, which has a day attribute and an agenda attribute (which should be a TodoCollection).
The issue is when I try to add data to the sub-level collections, it can't work well.
this.collection.last()
.get("agenda")
.add({
title: this.input.val(),
completed: false
});
The above code will be inside the View part. And this.collection.last() will get the last model. get("agenda") should be the collection object.
But it can't work. The error shows that this.collection.last(...).get(...).add is not a function.
After debugging I found that this.collection.last().get("agenda") returns a general JS object instead of collection object.
I further debugged that if I use backbone collection as the outer collection DayCollection. Everything can go well.
How to solve such problem?

Why the default collection attribute is not a collection anymore?
When you fetch, or create a new Daymodel which I assume looks like this:
{
day: 1,
agenda : [{
title: "New Todo",
completed : false
}, {
title: "other Todo",
completed : false
}]
}
The default agenda attribute which was a Todocollection at first gets replaced by a raw array of objects. Backbone doesn't know that agenda is a collection and won't automagically populates it.
This is what Backbone does with the defaults at model creation (line 401):
var defaults = _.result(this, 'defaults');
attrs = _.defaults(_.extend({}, defaults, attrs), defaults);
this.set(attrs, options);
_.extend({}, defaults, attrs) puts the defaults first, but then, they're overwritten by the passed attrs.
How to use a collection within a model?
Below are three solutions to accomplish this. Use only one of them, or create your own based on the followings.
Easiest and most efficient way is don't.
Keep the Todocollection out of the Daymodel model and only create the collection when you need it, like in the hypothetical DayView:
var DayView = Backbone.View.extend({
initialize: function() {
// create the collection in the view directly
this.agenda = new Todocollection(this.model.get('agenda'));
},
/* ...snip... */
});
Then, when there are changes you want to persist in the model, you just put the collection models back into the Daymodel:
this.model.set('agenda', this.collection.toJSON());
Put the collection into a property of the model
Instead of an attribute, you could make a function which lazily create the collection and keeps it inside the model as a property, leaving the attributes hash clean.
var Daymodel = Backbone.Model.extend({
defaults: { day: 1, },
getAgenda: function() {
if (!this.agenda) this.agenda = new Todocollection(this.get('agenda'));
return this.agenda;
}
});
Then, the model controls the collection and it can be shared easily with everything that shares the model already, creating only one collection per instance.
When saving the model, you still need to pass the raw models back into the attributes hash.
A collection inside the attributes
You can accomplish what you're already trying to do with small changes.
Never put objects into the defaults
...without using a function returning an object instead.
var Daymodel = Backbone.Model.extend({
defaults: function() {
return {
day: 1,
agenda: new Todocollection()
};
},
});
Otherwise, the agenda collection would be shared between every instances of Daymodel as the collection is created only once when creating the Daymodel class.
This also applies to object literals, arrays, functions (why would you put that in the defaults anyway?!).
Ensure it's always a collection.
var Daymodel = Backbone.Model.extend({
defaults: { day: 1, },
initialize: function(attrs, options) {
var agenda = this.getAgenda();
if (!(agenda instanceof Todocollection)) {
// you probably don't want a 'change' event here, so silent it is.
return this.set('agenda', new Todocollection(agenda), { silent: true });
}
},
/**
* Parse can overwrite attributes, so you must ensure it's a collection
* here as well.
*/
parse: function(response) {
if (_.has(response, 'agenda')) {
response.agenda = new Todocollection(response.agenda);
}
return response;
},
getAgenda: function() {
return this.get('agenda');
},
setAgenda: function(models, options) {
return this.getAgenda().set(models, options);
},
});
Ensure it's serializable.
var Daymodel = Backbone.Model.extend({
/* ...snip... */
toJSON: function(options) {
var attrs = Daymodel.__super__.toJSON.apply(this, arguments),
agenda = attrs.agenda;
if (agenda) {
attrs.agenda = agenda.toJSON(options);
}
return attrs;
},
});
This could easily apply if you put the collection in a model property as explained above.
Avoid accidentally overriding the agenda attribute.
This goes alongside with point 2 and that's where it's getting hard as it's easy to overlook, or someone else (or another lib) could do that down the line.
It's possible to override the save and set function to add checks, but it gets overly complex without much gain in the long run.
What's the cons of collection in models?
I talked about avoiding it inside a model completely, or lazily creating it. That's because it can get really slow if you instantiate a lot of models and slower if each models is nested multiple times (models which have a collection of models, which have other collections of models, etc).
When creating it on demand, you only use the machine resources when you need it and only for what's needed. Any model that's not on screen now for example, won't get their collection created.
Out of the box solutions
Maybe it's too much work to get this working correctly, so a complete solution might help and there are a couple.
Backbone relational
backbone-nested
backbone-nested-models
backbone-deep-model

Bakbone model extend filtering a json

I am very new in backbone js.
I am trying to filter some specific key and values in backbone js model extend here is the code below.
var items = ["open","close"];
var ReportModel = Backbone.Model.extend({
url: function() {
return tab+".json";
}
});
where tabe is dynamic json file name.In my json file many key value pair are there but I want to load only those key which is mentioned in items list.
I saw some where using parse function but that a;so did not work out.Please do let me know how to filter the specific keys form json using the backbone.
I also tried creating a dict from json and pass it to model like.
var ReportModel = Backbone.Model.extend({
"open":{.......}
});
but there I am getting issue.
throw new Error('A "url" property or function must be specified');
Please help me out with this.

You are missing some steps to be succesfull on your task.
First a note about the error: Backbone expects a string on the url property while you're passing a function. If you want to use a function to return your url dinamically use urlRoot.
Now onto the real coding:
since you talk about a json file that has multiple key value, maybe you should declare your model as a key-value object, and then create a Backbone.Collection that will wrap your models.
A Backbone.Collection expose a lot of utilities that can help us modeling the results, in this case by using the where() function of our collection you will be able to filter the data after you have retrieved from the remote file.
Alternatively to filter your collection if you need more control over the function you can always call the undescore function filter() .
Please refer to the official documentation of underscore and backbone, as you will find a lot of functions that can help you and most of them have an example that shows how to use them.
Now that we have everything lets create our Backbone.Collection that will wrap your already defined model:
var ReportCollection = Backbone.Collection.extend({
model: ReportModel,
urlRoot: function(){
return 'yoururl.json';
}
});
now if you want to filter the result you can simply fetch the collection and perform a filter on it:
var myReports = new ReportCollection();
//call the fetch method to retrieve the information from remote
myReports.fetch({success: function(){
//the collection has been fetched correctly, call the native where function with the key to be used as a filter.
var filteredElements = myReports.where({my_filter_key : my_filter_value});
});
in your filteredElements you will have an array of object made up of all the model that matched the key/value passed to the where function.
If you need a new Collection from that you just need to pass the result as argument: var filteredCollection = new ReportCollection(filteredElements);

You can use _.pick() in the parse method as shown below:
var items = ["open", "close"];
var ReportModel = Backbone.Model.extend({
url: function() {
return tab + ".json";
},
parse: function(response) {
return _.pick(response, items);
}
});

Backbone collection, get specific attribute

I've set an attribute currentPage on my Backbone collection, however I seem to not be able to log it specifically.
onRender: function () {
App.log('this.collection.currentPage onRender')
App.log(this.collection)
App.log(this.collection.accountID)
App.log(this.collection.currentPage)
App.log(this.collection.get('currentPage'))
}
I do the fetch then show, and within onRender, the following console log is produced
where this.collection.currentPage and this.collection.get('currentPage') are undefined even though I can see currentPage as a defined ("2") attribute in the log output of this.collection. this.collection.accountID is working how I expected currentPage to work.
What am I doing wrong?
Edit: I am setting the attribute on the success of .fetch because the data is returned in the response headers. Something like this,
getAccountSegments: function (accountID) {
var accountSegmentsCollection = new Entities.Collections.AccountSegmentCollection({
accountID: accountID
});
accountSegmentsCollection.fetch({
success: function (collection, response, options) {
collection.currentPage = options.xhr.getResponseHeader('X-Current-Page');
}
});
return accountSegmentsCollection;
},
Someone stated below that I am not allowed to set attributes on the collection (except by way of the constructor, but that's before the fetch). So how else could I get this response header data into my view?

Collections in backbone js do not allow you to set attributes.
The best way to store meta information in a backbone collection is through plain javascript object.
For example:
var myCollection = Backbone.Collection.extend({
model: myModel,
metaInfo: {
currentPage: "2"
}
});
Then you can get the current page in your view using this.collection.metaInfo.currentPage

get in this context is a little confusing. In Backbone Models have attributes, but collections do not, this means that get on a collection is different from get on a model.
get on a model retrieves an attribute, while on a collection it will return a model (by id). You could extend your collection to have attribute getters and setters:
var pageCollection = Backbone.Collection.extend({
getAttribute: function(attr) {
return this.attributes?this.attributes[attr]:null;
},
setAttribute: function(attr,val){
this.attributes = this.attributes || {};
this.attributes[attr] = val;
}
});
You could then set your currentPage attribute:
pageCollection.setAttribute('currentPage', 'myPage');
And retrieve it:
App.log(pageCollection.getAttribute('currentPage');
Which should give you the functionality you are after.

Can you bind a simple javascript array to your ember.js template?

I'm using ember.js RC1 + ember-data rev 11 (but I also need some plain ajax for configuration like models). I want to loop over a simple objects list and display the records (note -here I create just a basic array)
The content I have bound has the following custom find method defined
App.Foo = DS.Model.extend({
name: DS.attr('string')
}).reopenClass({
records: [],
all: function() {
return this.records;
},
find: function() {
var self = this;
$.getJSON('/api/foo/', function(response) {
response.forEach(function(data) {
//say I want to kill everything in the array here for some strange reason...
self.records = [];
//the template still shows the record ... not an empty list ?
}, this);
});
return this.records;
}
});
My other model uses this directly
App.Related = DS.Model.extend({
listings: function() {
return App.Foo.find();
}.property()
});
Now inside my template
{{#each foo in related.listings}}
{{foo.name}}<br />
{{/each}}
The list loads up with whatever I put in the array by default (say I add a simple object using createRecord like so)
add: function(record) {
this.records.addObject(App.Foo.createRecord(record));
},
and when the template is rendered I see anything listed here... but as I put in the comments above, if I decide to remove records or null out the list that is bound it doesn't seem to reflect this in any way.
Is it possible to bind a simple array as I have and yet remove items from it using something basic such as splice? or even a drastic self.records = []; ?
self.records.splice(i, 1);
Even when I query the client manually after the splice or empty work it returns 0
console.log(App.Foo.all().get('length'));
Initially I see records, but then I see they are gone (yet the html doesn't change)

I understood your question this way, that the following remark is the point your are struggling with:
response.forEach(function(data) {
//say I want to kill everything in the array here for some strange reason...
self.records = [];
//the template still shows the record ... not an empty list ?
}, this);
You are wondering, why your template is showing no empty list? It's because you did not tell Ember when to update the template. You can tell Ember this way:
App.Related = DS.Model.extend({
listings: function() {
return App.Foo.find();
}.property("App.Foo.records.#each")
});
Now Ember knows, whenever something is added or removed from your array, it should update the listings property of your model. And therefore it knows that your view needs rerendering.
One additional remark to the orignal question regarding "simple javascript arrays". When you use Ember, you actually do not instantiate simple js arrays. When you declare:
var a = []; // is the same as -> var a = Ember.A();
Ember does some magic and wraps in an enhanced ember version of an array (Ember.NativeArray), which enables you to use such property dependency declarations mentioned above. This enables Ember to use ArrayObservers on those arrays, although they may feel like a plain JS Array.

You need to use the set method when you modify properties and get when you return them, or else Ember won't be able to do its magic and update the template.
In your case, there is an additional problem, which is that in find(), you return a reference to records before your asynchronous getJSON call replaces it with a new empty array. The calling method will never see the new array of records. You probably want to use clear() instead.
Your model should look something like this:
App.Foo = DS.Model.extend({
name: DS.attr('string')
}).reopenClass({
records: [],
all: function() {
// can't use 'this.get(...)' within a class method
return Ember.get(this, 'records');
},
findAll: function() {
var records = Ember.get(this, 'records');
$.getJSON('/api/foo/', function(response) {
records.clear();
// in this case my json has a 'foos' root
response.foos.forEach(function(json) {
this.add(json);
}, this);
}, this);
// this gets updated asynchronously
return records;
},
add: function(json) {
// in order to access the store within a
// class method, I cached it at App.store
var store = App.get('store');
store.load(App.Foo, json);
var records = Ember.get(this, 'records');
records.addObject(App.Foo.find(json.id));
}
});
Note that the addObject() method respects observers, so the template updates as expected. removeObject() is the corresponding binding-aware method to remove an element.
Here's a working jsfiddle.

Backbone Model: Keep Collection when saving

I have a simple Backbone model that looks like this:
(function () {
App.Company = Backbone.Model.extend({
defaults: {},
urlRoot: "/Contacts/Companies",
initialize: function () {
var contactPersons = this.get("ContactPersons") || [];
this.set("ContactPersons", new App.ContactPersonCollection(contactPersons));
}
});
})();
Whenever I save the model to the server, the ContactPersons collection is reset to an Array.
Is it really necessary for me to manually turn it into a collection, after a model is saved?
UPDATE: This works as intended -- See answer for better approach (IMHO)
(function () {
App.Company = Backbone.Model.extend({
defaults: {},
urlRoot: "/Contacts/Companies",
initialize: function () {
var contactPersons = this.get("ContactPersons") || [];
if (_.isArray(contactPersons)) {
this.set("ContactPersons", new App.ContactPersonCollection(contactPersons));
}
},
parse: function (response) {
if (response.ContactPersons && _.isArray(response.ContactPersons)) {
response.ContactPersons = new App.ContactPersonCollection(response.ContactPersons);
}
return response;
}
});
})();

When you send data back from the server, how are you handling the response? For example if you just send back a [{},{},{}] I don't think Backbone automatically knows to treat that as a collection. Thus, it sets the ContactPersons attribute as what it gets, your vanilla array.
What you can do, is override your set function inside your model which will take the array of objects passed in and write to the collection as proper. See this example:
set: function(attributes, options) {
if (_.has(attributes, 'ContactPersons') && this.get("ContactPersons")) {
this.get('ContactPersons').reset(attributes.ContactPersons);
delete attributes.ContactPersons;
}
return Backbone.Model.prototype.set.call(this, attributes, options);
}
So basically as long as your server response is properly namespaced (response.ContactPersons) then after parsing it will pass your response to the set function. The collection data is treated specially as a collection. Here, I'm just reseting the collection that already exists with the new data. All your other model attributes should continue to be passed on to the original set().
UPDATE - Growing doubt about own answer
I haven't been able to get this question/answer out of my mind. It certainly works, but I'm becoming unconvinced that using a modified set() vs. just doing things in parse() is any better. If someone has some comments on the difference between using a modified set() vs. parse() with nested models, I'd really welcome the input.