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Why does scroll event not trigger when rendering a template in a Backbone view?

In this code sample, a Backbone view is bound to a pre-existing DOM element. The scroll event triggers as expected.
In this alternate sample, the Backbone view renders the HTML instead of using a pre-existing DOM element. The scroll event doesn't fire.
Why?
The primary difference is the second sample does this:
this.$el.html(template);

This works:
http://jsfiddle.net/hKWR9/1/
$(function(){
var MyView = Backbone.View.extend({
className: 'scrollbox',
events: {
'click': 'onClick',
'scroll': 'onScroll'
},
initialize: function() {
this.render();
},
render: function() {
var template = '<div class="filler"></div>';
$('body').append(this.$el);
this.$el.html(template);
},
onClick: function() {
console.log('click');
},
onScroll: function() {
console.log("scroll");
}
});
var App = new MyView();
}());
Your fiddle doesn't work, because you defined your el with classname .scrollbox, while it should have been scrollbox. There doesnt seem to be a benefit in creating another 'scrollbox' within this '.scrollbox'.

Backbone.js firing other view's event

I'm working with an API and Backbone.js at the moment.
I have two views, both render to the same document element #viewContainer. Both of these views render a table with a couple strings to decribe them and a button that opens a form in a modal.
View 1
App.Views.TaskList = Backbone.View.extend({
el: "#viewContainer",
tagName: 'tr',
events: {
"click button": "showTaskForm"
},
showTaskForm: function (event) {
event.preventDefault();
var id = $(event.currentTarget).data("id");
var item = this.collection.get(id);
var formView = new App.Views.Form({
model: item
});
formView.render();
},
render: function () {
changeActive($('#tasksLink'));
var template = _.template($("#taskList").html(), {});
$('#viewContainer').html(template);
// loop and render individual tasks.
this.collection.each(function (model) {
var variables = {
name: model.get('name'),
button: model.getButton()
};
var template = _.template($("#task").html(), variables);
$("#taskTable tbody").append(template);
});
},
collection: App.Collections.Tasks,
});
View 2
App.Views.ProcessList = Backbone.View.extend({
el: "#viewContainer",
tagName: 'tr',
events: {
"click button": "showStartForm"
},
showStartForm: function (event) {
event.preventDefault();
var id = $(event.currentTarget).data("id");
var item = this.collection.get(id);
var formView = new App.Views.Form({
model: item
});
formView.render();
},
collection: App.Collections.Processes,
render: function () {
changeActive($('#processLink'));
var template = _.template($("#processList").html(), {});
$('#viewContainer').html(template);
this.collection.each(function (model) {
var variables = {
processId: model.get('id'),
processName: model.get('name'),
button: model.getButton()
};
var template = _.template($('#process').html(), variables);
$('#processList tbody').append(template);
});
} });
Neither of these views are rendered by default, both need to be activated by a button on the page and they over-write each other in the DOM. However, which ever view is rendered first, the click event of the buttons in that view are the ones that are always fired.
If there is any more information needed from me let me know and I will edit the question.

Be sure to call undelegateEvents() in the first view when you render the second.

Since you're listening for events on the same elements, essentially you attached two listeners for click events on the same button, and when you change your views you are not cleaning up these listeners.
Here's an article that talks about managing events on view change, which should be really helpful to you.
http://lostechies.com/derickbailey/2011/09/15/zombies-run-managing-page-transitions-in-backbone-apps/

As other posters have pointed out, you need to watch out for 'zombie' views (i.e. making sure you undelegate events). If you're building even a moderately complex app, you'll want something that can scale. I find this pattern useful:
var BaseView = Backbone.View.extend({
render: function () {
this.$el.html(this.template());
return this;
},
close: function () {
if (this.onClose) this.onClose();
this.undelegateEvents();
this.$el.off();
this.$el.remove();
}
});
Then whenever you build a view you can do:
var view = BaseView.extend({
//your code
//now the .close() method is available whenever you need to close
//a view (no more zombies!).
});

Marionette's CompositeView event not firing

I'm having trouble using Marionette's CompositeView. I render my model in my CompositeView using a template and want to add a click event to it. Somehow I can't get the events to work using the events: { "click": "function" } handler on the CompositeView... What am I doing wrong?
var FactsMenuItem = Backbone.Marionette.ItemView.extend({
template: tmpl['factsmenuitem'],
initialize: function() {
console.log('factsmenuitem');
},
onRender: function() {
console.log('factsmenuitem');
}
});
var FactsMenuView = Backbone.Marionette.CompositeView.extend({
template: tmpl['factsmenu'],
itemView: FactsMenuItem,
itemViewContainer: ".subs",
events: {
'click': 'blaat'
},
blaat: function() {
console.log('this is not working');
},
initialize: function() {
this.model.get('pages').on('sync', function () {
this.collection = this.model.get('pages');
this.render();
}, this);
},
onRender: function() {
console.log('render factsmenu');
}
});
var FactsLayout = Backbone.Marionette.Layout.extend({
template: tmpl['facts'],
regions: {
pages: ".pages",
filter: ".filter",
data: ".data"
},
initialize: function(options) {
this.currentPage = {};
this.factsMenu = new FactsMenu();
this.factsView = new FactsMenuView({model: this.factsMenu});
},
onRender: function() {
this.pages.show(this.factsView);
}
});
Edit:
I removed some code that made the question unclear...
The problem lies that the events of the non-collectionview of the compositeview (the modelView??) are not fired. I think this has something to do with the way the FactsLayoutView instantiates the compositeview...

The problem was caused by the way the region was rendered. In my FactsLayout is used this code:
initialize: function(options) {
this.currentPage = {};
this.factsMenu = new FactsMenu();
this.factsView = new FactsMenuView({model: this.factsMenu});
},
onRender: function() {
this.pages.show(this.factsView);
}
Apparently you can't show a view on a onRender function... I had to change the way the FactsLayout is initialized:
var layout = new FactsLayout({
slug: slug
});
layout.render();
var factsMenu = new FactsMenu({ slug: slug });
var factsView = new FactsMenuView({model: factsMenu});
layout.pages.show(factsView);

Maybe I did not understand your question well but if you need to listen an event fired from an item view within your composite view you should do like the following.
Within the item view test method.
this.trigger("test");
Within the composite view initialize method.
this.on("itemview:test", function() { });
Note that when an event is fired from an item of a CollectionView (a CompositeView is a CollectionView), it is prepended by itemview prefix.
Hope it helps.
Edit: Reading you question another time, I think this is not the correct answer but, about your question, I guess the click in the composite view is captured by the item view. Could you explain better your goal?

Old Backbone View Causing extra Event Triggers

OK, I've done some reading on this and I'm pretty sure I know what the problem relates to I Just don't know the best way to fix it. I've got the standard backbone router that sets me up with an item details view, then when I click on a button called "start" it creates a new view which takes me to a sort of a game that people can play with some buttons on the bottom that have "click" events attached. This second view is not called through the router but directly from the first view.
The problem is the second time someones goes back to the homescreen and does it again, this time there are two events attached to each button. The third time there are three events. Obviously the original views are still listening to these buttons. I've read about this and calling the Remove() method but is this what I need to do? If so where do I call remove? Relevant Code below:
1ST VIEW
window.GameDrillView = Backbone.View.extend({
initialize: function () {
this.render();
},
render: function () {
$(this.el).html(this.template(this.model.toJSON()));
return this;
},
events: {
"click .start" : "startGameDrill",
},
startGameDrill: function () {
var start = $('#start').val();.
var stop = $('#stop').val();.
var StartView = new GameDrillStartView({model: this.model, el: $('#content')[0], start: start, stop:stop});
}
});
START VIEW
window.GameDrillStartView = Backbone.View.extend({
// declare variables
initialize: function () {
this.render();
},
events: {
"click .nextstage" : "nextstage", // 2ND TIME THROUGH GETS CALLED TWICE
},
nextstage: function () {
// Do some stuff //
this.render(); //Re-render
},
render: function () {
// Do some variables stuff
this.$el.html(this.template(jQuery.extend(this.model.toJSON(), extended_options)));..
return this;
}
});

When changing view you need to call undelegateEvents() method from the Backbone.View. It disable listening all the elements events mentioned in events { } block. Also if you need to destroy old view you can call remove() method of the view which will call undelegateEvents() internally.
update (example from official site)
var Workspace = Backbone.Router.extend({
routes: {
"help": "help", // #help
"search/:query": "search", // #search/kiwis
"search/:query/p:page": "search" // #search/kiwis/p7
},
help: function() {
if (this.currentView)
this.currentView.undelegateEvents();
this.currentView = new HelpView();
},
search: function(query, page) {
if (this.currentView)
this.currentView.undelegateEvents();
this.currentView = new SearchView();
}
});

An option is to create only one instance of the view:
if(_.isUndefined(this.StartView))
this.StartView = new GameDrillStartView({model: this.model, el: $('#content')[0], start: start, stop:stop});
else
this.StartView.render();
In the render method of GameDrillStartView add the empty method
this.$el.html(this.template(jQuery.extend(this.model.toJSON(), extended_options)))
In this way you won't add more event listeners but you'll update the page everytime the user presses the button.
You can manage the life cycle of StartView in GameDrillView since it seems like a better place to do so.

Got same trouble. Messy solution:
var current_view = false;
var prev_view = false;
var AppRouter = Backbone.Router.extend({
routes: {
"events/:id": "viewEvent",
}
});
var app_router = new AppRouter;
app_router.on('route:viewEvent', function (event_id) {
var _event = new Event({id:event_id});
current_view = new EventView({
model: _event,
});
});
//Will be called after route:viewEvent
app_router.on('route', function () {
if(prev_view) {
prev_view.undelegateEvents();
}
prev_view = current_view;
});
Not sure, how to make it without having current_view and prev_view out of router scope.

Triggering event on an element in memory when testing Backbone Views

I am writing some integration tests for my Backbone views/models/collections. When I call render on my View, it simply renders a template to it's own el property, hence the html is simply stored in memory rather than on the page. Below is a simple model, and a view with a click event bound to a DOM element:
var model = Backbone.Model.extend({
urlRoot: '/api/model'
});
var view = Backbone.View.extend({
events: {
'click #remove': 'remove'
}
render: function () {
var html = _.template(this.template, this.model.toJSON());
this.$el.html(html);
},
remove: function () {
this.model.destroy();
}
});
I am using Jasmine to write my tests. In the test below all I want to do is spy on the remove function to see if it is called when the click event is fired for the element #remove which is present in the template I pass to the view.
// template
<script id="tmpl">
<input type="button" value="remove" id="remove"/>
</script>
// test
describe('view', function () {
var view;
beforeEach(function () {
view = new view({
template: $('#tmpl').html(),
model: new model()
});
});
it('should call remove when #remove click event fired', function () {
view.$('#remove').click();
var ajax = mostRecentAjaxRequest();
expect(ajax.url).toBe('/api/model');
expect(ajax.method).toBe('DELETE');
});
});
However, as the #remove element is in memory, and it hasn't actually been added to the DOM, I'm not sure how you would simulate the click event. In fact I'm not even sure if it's possible?
It may seem a bit strange to want to do this in a test, but with my tests I am trying to test behaviour rather than implementation, and this way I don't care what is happening in between - I just want to test that if the user clicks #remove a DELETE request is sent back to the server.

Looks to me like you forgot to call render() on the view before click()ing the button. And the model needs to have an id or backbone won't actually try to make a delete call to the server. I've tested plenty of views just like that before with no problems.
I just ran a similar test against jasmine 2.0 and jasmine-ajax 2.0.
live code:
var MyModel = Backbone.Model.extend({
urlRoot: '/api/model'
});
var MyView = Backbone.View.extend({
events: {
'click #remove': 'remove'
},
initialize: function(options) {
this.template = options.template;
},
render: function () {
var html = _.template(this.template, this.model.toJSON());
this.$el.html(html);
},
remove: function () {
this.model.destroy();
}
});
specs:
describe("testing", function() {
var view;
beforeEach(function() {
jasmine.Ajax.install();
view = new MyView({
template: '<input type="button" value="remove" id="remove"/>',
model: new MyModel({id: 123})
});
view.render();
});
it('should call remove when #remove click event fired', function () {
view.$('#remove').click();
var ajax = jasmine.Ajax.requests.mostRecent();
expect(ajax.url).toBe('/api/model/123');
expect(ajax.method).toBe('DELETE');
});
});