Meteor - how do I make this "reactive" using Deps? - javascript

On my client side, I display a list of users and a small chart for each user's points stored in the DB (using jQuery plugin called sparklines).
Drawing the chart is done on Template.rendered method
// client/main.js
Template.listItem.rendered = function() {
var arr = this.data.userPoints // user points is an array of integers
$(this.find(".chart")).sparkline(arr);
}
Now I have a Meteor method on the server side, that is called on a regular basis to update the the user points.
Meteor.methods({
"getUserPoints" : function getUserPoints(id) {
// access some API and fetch the latest user points
}
});
Now I would like the chart to be automatically updated whenever Meteor method is called. I have a method on the template that goes and calls this Meteor method.
Template.listItem.events({
"click a.fetchData": function(e) {
e.preventDefault();
Meteor.call("getUserPoints", this._id);
}
});
How do I turn this code into a "reactive" one?

You need to use reactive data source ( Session, ReactiveVar ) together with Tracker.
Using ReactiveVar:
if (Meteor.isClient) {
Template.listItem.events({
"click a.fetchData": function(e) {
e.preventDefault();
var instance = Template.instance();
Meteor.call("getUserPoints", this._id, function(error, result) {
instance.userPoints.set(result)
});
}
});
Template.listItem.created = function() {
this.userPoints = new ReactiveVar([]);
};
Template.listItem.rendered = function() {
var self = this;
Tracker.autorun(function() {
var arr = self.userPoints.get();
$(self.find(".chart")).sparkline(arr);
})
}
}
Using Session:
if (Meteor.isClient) {
Template.listItem.events({
"click a.fetchData": function(e) {
e.preventDefault();
Meteor.call("getUserPoints", this._id, function(error, result) {
Session.set("userPoints", result);
});
}
});
Template.listItem.rendered = function() {
var self = this;
Tracker.autorun(function() {
var arr = Session.get("userPoints");
$(self.find(".chart")).sparkline(arr);
})
}
}
Difference between those implementation :
A ReactiveVar is similar to a Session variable, with a few
differences:
ReactiveVars don't have global names, like the "foo" in
Session.get("foo"). Instead, they may be created and used locally, for
example attached to a template instance, as in: this.foo.get().
ReactiveVars are not automatically migrated across hot code pushes,
whereas Session state is.
ReactiveVars can hold any value, while Session variables are limited
to JSON or EJSON.
Source
Deps is deprecated, but still can be used.

The most easily scalable solution is to store the data in a local collection - by passing a null name, the collection will be both local and sessional and so you can put what you want in it and still achieve all the benefits of reactivity. If you upsert the results of getUserPoints into this collection, you can just write a helper to get the appropriate value for each user and it will update automatically.
userData = new Meteor.Collection(null);
// whenever you need to call "getUserPoints" use:
Meteor.call("getUserPoints", this._id, function(err, res) {
userData.upsert({userId: this._id}, {$set: {userId: this._id, points: res}});
});
Template.listItem.helpers({
userPoints: function() {
var pointsDoc = userData.findOne({userId: this._id});
return pointsDoc && pointsDoc.points;
}
});
There is an alternative way using the Tracker package (formerly Deps), which would be quick to implement here, but fiddly to scale. Essentially, you could set up a new Tracker.Dependency to track changes in user points:
var pointsDep = new Tracker.Dependency();
// whenever you call "getUserPoints":
Meteor.call("getUserPoints", this._id, function(err, res) {
...
pointsDep.changed();
});
Then just add a dummy helper to your listItem template (i.e. a helper that doesn't return anything by design):
<template name="listItem">
...
{{pointsCheck}}
</template>
Template.listItem.helpers({
pointsCheck: function() {
pointsDep.depend();
}
});
Whilst that won't return anything, it will force the template to rerender when pointsDep.changed() is called (which will be when new user points data is received).

Related

How to dynamically create and populate multiple objectStores on HTML5 IndexedDB in the same transaction?

Working on the IndexedDB API, I'm creating many objectStores that belong to the same database, in one transaction, when the user loads a webpage.
I order to do so, I created an object which contains many objectStores to be created, each one has it's name, data and index.
Then a function runs the object and effectively creates Database, objectStores and indexes for each one.
However of all OS's created, just the last member of the object gets populated. Say of 5 objects to be created and populated, 5 are created but only the last one is populated.
Clearly is a problem of overwriting or some issue related to the JS stack or asynchronicity.
I appreciate any help to make the code populate all OS not the last one.
My browser is Chrome 56, I fetch data from an API whose response is OK, and I'm coding on vanillajs. I appreciate your help in vanillajs, there is no way to use any library or framework different from what the modern Web Platform offers.
Here is the code:
On the HTML side, this is an example of the object:
var datastores = [{osName:'items', osEndpoint: '/api/data/os/1/1', osIndex:'value'}, {osName:'categories', osEndpoint: '/api/data/os/2/1', osIndex: 'idc'}];
On javascript:
var request = indexedDB.open(DB_NAME, DB_VERSION); // open database.
request.onerror = function (e) { // error callback
console.error("error: " + e.target.errorCode);
};
request.onupgradeneeded = function (e) { // the onupgradeneeded event which creates all schema, dataabase, objectstores and populates OS.
var db = this.result;
for (var i in datastores) { // loop the objectStore object.
var objectStore = db.createObjectStore(datastores[i].osName, {keyPath: "id"});
TB_NAME = datastores[i].osName; // instantiate each objectStore name.
objectStore.createIndex(datastores[i].osIndex, datastores[i].osIndex, { unique: false }); // create each index.
objectStore.transaction.oncomplete = function(e) { // oncomplete event, after creating OS...
fetchGet(datastores[i].osEndpoint, popTable); // runs a function to fetch from a designated endpoint and calls a function.
};
}
}
Now the functions: to fetch data and to populate data:
function fetchGet(url, function) { // fetch from API.
fetch(url, {
method: 'GET'
}).then(function(response) {
return response.json();
}).then(function(json) {
popTable (json);
}).catch(function(err) {
console.log('error!', err);
});
}
function popTable(json) {
var m = 0;
var tx = db.transaction(TB_NAME, "readwrite");
tx.oncomplete = function(e) {
console.log("Completed Transaction " + TB_NAME);
};
tx.onerror = function(e) {
console.error("error: " + e.target.errorCode);
};
var txObjectStore = tx.objectStore(TB_NAME);
for (m in json) {
var request = txObjectStore.add(json[m]);
request.onsuccess = function (e) {
console.log('adding... ' );
};
}
}
The for (var i in datastores) loop runs synchronously, updating the global TB_NAME variable every time. When the loop finishes, TB_NAME will be holding the name of the last object store.
By the time the asynchronous popTable calls run, TB_NAME will forever be holding the name of the last store, so that's the only one that will update. Try adding logging to popTable to see this.
You'll need to pass the current value of the store name along somehow (e.g. as an argument to fetchGet). Also note that although you pass popTable as a parameter when calling fetchGet you're not actually accepting it as an argument.
...
Specific changes:
Change how you call fetchGet to include the store name:
fetchGet(datastores[i].osEndpoint, popTable, datastores[i].osName);
Change the fetchGet function to accept the args:
function fetchGet(url, func, name) {
And then instead of calling popTable directly, do:
func(json, name);
And then change the definition of popTable to be:
function popTable(json, name) {
... and use name in the transaction.

Meteor running a Method asynchronously, using meteorhacks:npm package

I'm trying to use the Steam Community (steamcommunity) npm package along with meteorhacks:npm Meteor package to retreive a user's inventory. My code is as follows:
lib/methods.js:
Meteor.methods({
getSteamInventory: function(steamId) {
// Check arguments for validity
check(steamId, String);
// Require Steam Community module
var SteamCommunity = Meteor.npmRequire('steamcommunity');
var community = new SteamCommunity();
// Get the inventory (730 = CSGO App ID, 2 = Valve Inventory Context)
var inventory = Async.runSync(function(done) {
community.getUserInventory(steamId, 730, 2, true, function(error, inventory, currency) {
done(error, inventory);
});
});
if (inventory.error) {
throw new Meteor.Error('steam-error', inventory.error);
} else {
return inventory.results;
}
}
});
client/views/inventory.js:
Template.Trade.helpers({
inventory: function() {
if (Meteor.user() && !Meteor.loggingIn()) {
var inventory;
Meteor.call('getSteamInventory', Meteor.user().services.steam.id, function(error, result) {
if (!error) {
inventory = result;
}
});
return inventory;
}
}
});
When trying to access the results of the call, nothing is displayed on the client or through the console.
I can add console.log(inventory) inside the callback of the community.getUserInventory function and receive the results on the server.
Relevant docs:
https://github.com/meteorhacks/npm
https://github.com/DoctorMcKay/node-steamcommunity/wiki/CSteamUser#getinventoryappid-contextid-tradableonly-callback
You have to use a reactive data source inside your inventory helper. Otherwise, Meteor doesn't know when to rerun it. You could create a ReactiveVar in the template:
Template.Trade.onCreated(function() {
this.inventory = new ReactiveVar;
});
In the helper, you establish a reactive dependency by getting its value:
Template.Trade.helpers({
inventory() {
return Template.instance().inventory.get();
}
});
Setting the value happens in the Meteor.call callback. You shouldn't call the method inside the helper, by the way. See David Weldon's blog post on common mistakes for details (section Overworked Helpers).
Meteor.call('getSteamInventory', …, function(error, result) {
if (! error) {
// Set the `template` variable in the closure of this handler function.
template.inventory.set(result);
}
});
I think the issue here is you're calling an async function inside your getSteamInventory Meteor method, and thus it will always try to return the result before you actually have the result from the community.getUserInventory call. Luckily, Meteor has WrapAsync for this case, so your method then simply becomes:
Meteor.methods({
getSteamInventory: function(steamId) {
// Check arguments for validity
check(steamId, String);
var community = new SteamCommunity();
var loadInventorySync = Meteor.wrapAsync(community.getUserInventory, community);
//pass in variables to getUserInventory
return loadInventorySync(steamId,730,2, false);
}
});
Note: I moved the SteamCommunity = Npm.require('SteamCommunity') to a global var, so that I wouldn't have to declare it every method call.
You can then just call this method on the client as you have already done in the way chris has outlined.

After successfully deleting an item from my database table, my view does not update. (KnockoutJS w/Mapping and jQuery)

I've tried several different approaches, but I've been unsuccessful in having my view update its contents. My view contains a list of customers and a list of employees.
This represents what I've tried so far omitting employees as its essentially duplicated code.
function dbControl() {
var self=this;
self.customers = function() { $.ajax(...) }; // returns customers object
self.addCustomer = function() { $.ajax(...) };
self.delCustomer = function() { $.ajax(...) };
}
var DB = new dbControl();
var VM = {};
// Populate the VM
VM.selCustomer = ko.observable();
VM.customers = ko.mapping.fromJS(DB.customers);
VM.addCustomer = function() {
DB.addCustomer() // successfully adds to Database
VM.customers.push(); // push VM.selCustomer() into VM.customers
}
VM.delCustomer = function() {
DB.delCustomer() // succcessfully removes from Database
VM.customers.remove(); // removes VM.selCustomer() from VM.customers
}
// Knockout Binding
ko.applyBindings(VM);
The data-bind="foreach: customers" binding works on the webpage just fine and lists all the entries.
All the AJAX calls successfully LIST/ADD/DELETE from the Database properly, but the View does not update after a successful DELETE.
I've tried adding ko.mapping.fromJS(DB.customers, VM) to the end of the delete function in the VM as instructed in the DOCS:Then, every time you receive new data from the server, you can update all the properties on viewModel in one step by calling the ko.mapping.fromJS function again, but no luck.
I've tried adding VM.customers.valueHasMutated() to the VM and it still doesn't update.
I've tried creating an interval to run both previous attempts:
setInterval(function() {
VM.customers = [];
VM.customers = ko.mapping.fromJS(DB.customers);
VM.customers.valueHasMutated();
}, 1000);
Am I structuring this whole project wrong?
VM.addCustomer = function() {
DB.addCustomer() // successfully adds to Database
VM.customers.push(); // push VM.selCustomer() into VM.customers
}
VM.delCustomer = function() {
DB.delCustomer() // succcessfully removes from Database
VM.customers.remove(); // removes VM.selCustomer() from VM.customers
}
You're not passing anything to push or remove; those two methods of observableArray definitely want arguments. Depending on how the methods of DB are written, you may have the same problem with them.
Ok, so after more copy/pasting, I think I've solved my own problem:
The reason the View wasn't updating was because the data coming from the database was never being "re-called".
To fix the problem, within the add/delete functions in the VM, I had to call first the function that pulls the data from the server DB.getCustomers(), then make the ko.mapping.fromJS(DB.customers, {}, VM.customers) call.
function dbControl() {
var self = this;
getCustomers = function() {
$.ajax({
/* URL/TYPE/DATA/CACHE/ASYNC */
success: function() {
self.customers = data; // Now, DB.customers == Updated Data!
}
});
}
}
var DB = new dbControl();
VM = {};
VM.addCustomer = function() {
DB.addCustomer() // successfully adds to Database
//VM.customers.push(); <------ Remove the redundancy
DB.getCustomers(); // get the new list from the server
ko.mapping.fromJS(DB.customers, {}, VM.customers);
}
VM.delCustomer = function() {
DB.delCustomer() // succcessfully removes from Database
//VM.customers.remove(); <------ Remove the redundancy
DB.getCustomers(); // get the new list from the server
ko.mapping.fromJS(DB.customers, {}, VM.customers);
}

Meteor observe changes added callback on server fires on all item

Tracker.autorun(function() {
DATA.find().observeChanges({
added: function(id, doc) {
console.log(doc);
}
});
});
This code is being called on the server. Every time the meteor server starts, the added function fires for every single item in the database. Is there a way to have the added callback fire only when new items are added?
added will be called for every document in the result set when observeChanges is first run. The trick is to ignore the callback during this initialization period. I have an expanded example in my answer to this question, but this code should work for you:
(function() {
var initializing = true;
DATA.find().observeChanges({
added: function(id, doc) {
if (!initializing) {
console.log(doc);
}
}
});
initializing = false;
})();
Note that Tracker.autorun is a client-only function. On the server I think it only ever executes once.
I struggled with this for a long time. For some reason, David's answer did not work for me - it was firing after the initializing variable was set to false.
This pattern from Avi was successful for me:
var usersLoaded = false;
Meteor.subscribe("profiles", function () {
// at this point all new users sent down are legitimately new ones
usersLoaded = true;
});
Meteor.users.find().observe({
added: function(user) {
if (usersLoaded) {
console.log("New user created: ", user);
}
}
});
Since it is initialization issue, you can do this.
var observerOfMessages = Messages.find({}).observe({
added: function(doc){
if(!observerOfMessages) return;
console.log(doc)
}
});
This is more elegant actually.
Provide a selector for the query which does not match old items. If using mongo ObjectID as _id you could query for items that have _id greater than the latest item's:
const latest = DATA.findOne({}, {sort: {_id: -1}})
DATA.find({_id: {$gt: latest._id}}).observeChanges({
added: function() { ... }
})
Or with createdAt timestamp:
const currentTime = new Date()
DATA.find({createdAt: {$gt: currentTime}}).observeChanges({
added: function() { ... }
})
Here's another way to solve this:
Meteor.subscribe('messages', function() {
var messages = Messages.find();
var msgCount = messages.count();
messages.observe({
addedAt: function(doc, atIndex) {
if(atIndex > (msgCount - 1)) console.log('added');
}
});
});
Should only fire for docs added after the existing amount is delivered. It's important that this goes in an onReady callback for Meteor.subscribe so that the msgCount changes as your subscription does... if for example, you're paginating your subscriptions.
cursor.observe() documentation

Load data into local storage once?

I am using backbone.js I need a very simple way to render a local json file into the users local storage only one time. I am building a cordova app and I just want to work with local storage data.
I have hard coded a decent size .json file (list of players) into my collection, and I just want to load the .json file into the local storage if local storage on that device is empty which will only be once, upon initialization of the app.
I could use ajax, but I don't know how to write it to only inject data one time as "starter" data. So if you know how to do this I can upload the json file to my server and somehow fetch it.
I can inject the data if I go through a series of tasks, I have to disable the fetch method and render this code below in an each statement, plus the json has to be hardcoded into the collection, with a certain format.
playersCollection.create({
name: player.get('name'),
team: player.get('team'),
team_id: player.get('team_id'),
number: player.get('number'),
points: player.get('points')
})
I am trying to finish this lol I need to use it tonight to keep stats, I am almost there the structure works, when data is loaded I can add stats etc, but I need to get that data loaded, I pray someone can help!
Edit: I was able to put together some sloppy code last minuet that at least worked, thanks to #VLS I will have a much better solution, but Ill post the bad code I used.
// I fire renderData method on click
events: {
'click .renderData':'renderData'
},
// Inside my render method I check if "players-backbone" is in local storage
render: function() {
var self = this;
if (localStorage.getItem("players-backbone") === null) {
alert('yup null');
//playersCollection.fetch();
this.$el.append('<button class="renderData">Dont click</button>')
} else {
alert('isnt null');
this.$el.find('.renderData').remove();
playersCollection.fetch();
}
this.teams.each(function(team) {
var teamView = new TeamView({ model: team });
var teamHtml = teamView.render().el;
console.log($(''))
var teamPlayers = this.players.where({team_id: team.get('id')})
_.each(teamPlayers, function(player) {
var playerView = new PlayerView({ model: player });
var playerHtml = playerView.render().el;
$(teamHtml).append(playerHtml);
}, this);
this.$el.append(teamHtml);
}, this);
return this;
},
// method that populates local storage and fires when you click a button with the class .renderData
renderData: function() {
var self = this;
this.teams.each(function(team) {
var teamPlayers = this.players.where({team_id: team.get('id')})
_.each(teamPlayers, function(player) {
playersCollection.create({
name: player.get('name'),
team: player.get('team'),
team_id: player.get('team_id'),
number: player.get('number'),
points: player.get('points')
})
}, this);
}, this);
playersCollection.fetch();
return this;
}
This is obviously not the best way to go about it, but it worked and I was in such a hurry. The caveats are you have to click a button that populates the data, the collection is hard coded in, it's just overall not very elegant (but it works) the app did what it needed.
So big thanks to #VLS, I appreciate the effort to explain your code, and create a fiddle. Sorry I was so late!
You can extend your collection's fetch method and use it in conjunction with Backbone.localStorage, so inside your collection you'd have something like:
localStorage: new Backbone.LocalStorage("TestCollection"),
fetch: function(options) {
// check if localStorage for this collection exists
if(!localStorage.getItem("TestCollection")) {
var self = this;
// fetch from server once
$.ajax({
url: 'collection.json'
}).done(function(response) {
$.each(response.items, function(i, item) {
self.create(item); // saves model to local storage
});
});
} else {
// call original fetch method
return Backbone.Collection.prototype.fetch.call(this, options);
}
}
Demo: http://jsfiddle.net/5nz8p/
More on Backbone.localStorage: https://github.com/jeromegn/Backbone.localStorage

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