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JavaScript prototype inheritance and html canvas

I'm a Ruby developer who finally decided to learn JavaScript seriously. So I purchased some books and I started to dive in, but I got stuck quickly when I tried to understand prototypal inheritance...
One of the examples of the book is the following.
Given a Shape which prototype has a draw method, and two child shapes: a Triangle and a Rectangle which prototype inherit from Shape;
when I call the draw function on Triangle and Rectangle instances the method will draw them properly.
when I add a second method to show their name, every instance will log it properly.
Everything was understandable perfectly until I added a third method to fill the shapes... And only the last one get filled. no matter which one I call. Why? Is there something special in canvas?
Here is the code of the exercise:
function Point(x, y) {
this.x = x;
this.y = y;
}
function Shape() {
this.points = [];
this.init();
}
Shape.prototype = {
constructor: Shape,
init: function() {
if (this.context === undefined) {
Shape.prototype.context = document.getElementById('canvas').getContext('2d');
};
if (this.name === undefined) {
Shape.prototype.name = 'generic shape'
}
},
draw: function() {
var i, ctx = this.context;
ctx.strokeStyle = 'rgb(0,0,255)';
ctx.beginPath();
ctx.moveTo(this.points[0].x, this.points[0].y);
for (i = 1; i < this.points.length; i++) {
ctx.lineTo(this.points[i].x, this.points[i].y);
}
ctx.closePath();
ctx.stroke();
},
fill: function(color) {
var ctx = this.context;
ctx.fillStyle = color;
ctx.fill();
},
say_name: function() {
console.log('Hello my name is ' + this.name)
}
};
function Triangle(a, b, c) {
this.points = [a, b, c];
this.name = 'Triangle'
this.context = document.getElementById('canvas').getContext('2d');
}
function Rectangle(side_a, side_b) {
var p = new Point(200, 200);
this.points = [
p,
new Point(p.x + side_a, p.y), // top right
new Point(p.x + side_a, p.y + side_b), // bottom right
new Point(p.x, p.y + side_b) // bottom left
];
this.name = 'Rectangle'
this.context = document.getElementById('canvas').getContext('2d');
}
(function() {
var s = new Shape();
Triangle.prototype = s;
Rectangle.prototype = s;
})();
function testTriangle() {
var p1 = new Point(100, 100);
var p2 = new Point(300, 100);
var p3 = new Point(200, 0);
return new Triangle(p1, p2, p3);
}
function testRectangle() {
return new Rectangle(100, 100);
}
function make_me_crazy() {
var t = testTriangle();
var r = testRectangle();
t.draw();
r.draw();
t.say_name();
r.say_name();
t.fill('red');
}
make_me_crazy();
<canvas height='600' width='800' id='canvas' />
Thank you!
More details:
Why the function say_name is working exactly I expect saying: 'I am a triangle' or 'I am a rectangle' and never 'I am a generic shape', but the fill function fills the rectangle despite I'm calling it on a triangle instance? As people rightly answered to flip the two draw functions calls, I would specify better the following. The problem is not about the color of a shape, but the context pointer. why only the last shape is filled? If I add more shapes before calling fill only the last one get filled. This means I'm doing something wrong referring to the canvas. I supposed it was "the place where I draw shapes" but it seems more like "the last active shape"
How can I fix that code to make it working correctly filling the shape I want whenever I want? I mean. what if I want to have a function which receive an instance of a particular shape and fills it?
Is there any way to access a the draws contained into a canvas?

The core of the problem is the context - your shapes are sharing the single context of the canvas, and therefore it is not straight-forward to flip back and forth between objects. Instead, think of your order-of-operations as handling a single shape at a time and only moving on to the next one when you are done with the former.
Note the order of calls in the make_me_crazy function:
function Point(x, y) {
this.x = x;
this.y = y;
}
function Shape() {
this.points = [];
this.init();
}
Shape.prototype = {
constructor: Shape,
init: function(){
if (this.context === undefined) {
Shape.prototype.context = document.getElementById('canvas').getContext('2d');
};
if(this.name === undefined){
Shape.prototype.name = 'generic shape'
}
},
draw: function(){
var i, ctx = this.context;
ctx.strokeStyle = 'rgb(0,0,255)';
ctx.beginPath();
ctx.moveTo(this.points[0].x, this.points[0].y);
for (i = 1; i<this.points.length; i++) {
ctx.lineTo(this.points[i].x, this.points[i].y);
}
ctx.closePath();
ctx.stroke();
},
fill: function(color){
var ctx = this.context;
ctx.fillStyle = color;
ctx.fill();
},
say_name: function(){console.log('Hello my name is '+ this.name)}
};
function Triangle(a,b,c){
this.points = [a, b, c];
this.name = 'Triangle'
this.context = document.getElementById('canvas').getContext('2d');
}
function Rectangle(side_a, side_b){
var p = new Point(200, 200);
this.points = [
p,
new Point(p.x + side_a, p.y),// top right
new Point(p.x + side_a, p.y + side_b), // bottom right
new Point(p.x, p.y + side_b)// bottom left
];
this.name = 'Rectangle'
this.context = document.getElementById('canvas').getContext('2d');
}
(function(){
var s = new Shape();
Triangle.prototype = s;
Rectangle.prototype = s;
})();
function testTriangle(){
var p1 = new Point(100, 100);
var p2 = new Point(300, 100);
var p3 = new Point(200, 0);
return new Triangle(p1, p2, p3);
}
function testRectangle(){
return new Rectangle(100, 100);
}
function make_me_crazy(){
var t = testTriangle();
t.say_name();
t.draw();
t.fill('red');
var r = testRectangle();
r.draw();
r.say_name();
}
make_me_crazy();
<canvas height='600' width='800' id='canvas'></canvas>

About the points of your question.
For the first one: the key is this line of code
if(this.name === undefined){
Shape.prototype.name = 'generic shape'
}
When you instantiate Rectangle and Triangle, both of them set name.
In the other hand, the render method is only available in the Shape prototype.
About the second point (and the third one):
Maybe are you painting the Rectangle over the Triangle. Try to switch the order of the draw calls to check it.

Create a new function and call parameter from another function

I have a question here, I want to try something new for me about html5 javascript code. About how to create a function that call parameter from another function. I want to call parameter "circle" from function try() {, to draw another circle in canvas with different position
Here's my logic:
var canvas = ...;
var ctx = ....;
x = 0;
y = 0;
function try(circle,rect) {
(...)
circle[0] = .....; //x coordinates
circle[1] = .....; //y coordinates
rect[0] = .....;
rect[1] = .....;
ctx.arc(circle[0].circle[1],circle[2],0,Math.PI*2);
ctx.fill();
ctx.fillRect(0, 0, rect[0], rect[1]);
}
try([x,y,30], [x,y]);
function callParam() {
//Here i want to call parameter "circle",
//to draw another circle in canvas with different position
//can i put a code like this? :
anotherCircleX = try.circle[0] +200;
anotherCircley = try.circle[1] + 100;
}
callParam();
Help and teach me with solution and some example :)

Just store the circle value in global variable.
var circle_latest = [];
...
function try(circle, rect){
(...)
circle[0] = .....; //x coordinates
circle[1] = .....; //y coordinates
circle_latest = circle;
(...)
}
function callParam() {
anotherCircleX = circle_latest[0] +200;
anotherCircley = circle_latest[1] + 100;
}

maximum call stack size exceeded - no apparent recursion

I've spent about 12 hours looking through this code, and fiddling with it, trying to find out where there's a recursion problem because I'm getting the, "maximum call stack size exceeded," error, and haven't found it. Someone smarter than me please help me!
so far, all I found was that when I make the object, spot, a circle, object, the problem disappears, but when I make it a, 'pip', I get this stack overflow error. I've gone over the pip class with a friggin' microscope, and still have no idea why this is happening!
var canvas = document.getElementById('myCanvas');
//-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Classes
//-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
//=====================================================================================
//CLASS - point
function point(x,y){
this.x = x;
this.y = y;
}
//=====================================================================================
// CLASS - drawableItem
function drawableItem() {
var size = 0;
this.center = new point(0,0);
this.lineWidth = 1;
this.dependentDrawableItems = new Array();
}
//returns the size
drawableItem.prototype.getSize = function getSize(){
return this.size;
}
// changes the size of this item and the relative size of all dependents
drawableItem.prototype.changeSize = function(newSize){
var relativeItemSizes = new Array;
relativeItemSizes.length = this.dependentDrawableItems.length;
// get the relative size of all dependent items
for (var i = 0; i < this.dependentDrawableItems.length; i++){
relativeItemSizes[i] = this.dependentDrawableItems[i].getSize() / this.size;
}
// change the size
this.size = newSize;
// apply the ratio of change back to all dependent items
for (var i = 0; i < relativeItemSizes.length; i++){
this.dependentDrawableItems[i].changeSize(relativeItemSizes[i] * newSize);
}
}
//moves all the vertices and every dependent to an absolute point based on center
drawableItem.prototype.moveTo = function(moveX,moveY){
//record relative coordinates
var relativeItems = new Array;
relativeItems.length = this.dependentDrawableItems.length;
for (var i = 0; i < relativeItems.length; i++){
relativeItems[i] = new point;
relativeItems[i].x = this.dependentDrawableItems[i].center.x - this.center.x;
relativeItems[i].y = this.dependentDrawableItems[i].center.y - this.center.y;
}
//move the center
this.center.x = moveX;
this.center.y = moveY;
//move all the items relative to the center
for (var i = 0; i < relativeItems.length; i++){
this.dependentDrawableItems[i].moveItemTo(this.center.x + relativeItems[i].x,
this.center.y + relativeItems[i].y);
}
}
// draws every object in dependentDrawableItems
drawableItem.prototype.draw = function(ctx){
for (var i = 0; i < this.dependentDrawableItems.length; i++) {
this.dependentDrawableItems[i].draw(ctx);
}
}
//=====================================================================================
//CLASS - circle
function circle(isFilledCircle){
drawableItem.call(this);
this.isFilled = isFilledCircle
}
circle.prototype = new drawableItem();
circle.prototype.parent = drawableItem.prototype;
circle.prototype.constructor = circle;
circle.prototype.draw = function(ctx){
ctx.moveTo(this.center.x,this.center.y);
ctx.beginPath();
ctx.arc(this.center.x, this.center.y, this.size, 0, 2*Math.PI);
ctx.closePath();
ctx.lineWidth = this.lineWidth;
ctx.strokeStyle = this.outlineColor;
if (this.isFilled === true){
ctx.fill();
}else {
ctx.stroke();
}
this.parent.draw.call(this,ctx);
}
//=====================================================================================
//CLASS - pip
function pip(size){
circle.call(this,true);
}
pip.prototype = new circle(false);
pip.prototype.parent = circle.prototype;
pip.prototype.constructor = pip;
//----------------------------------------------------------------------
// Objects/variables - top layer is last (except drawable area is first)
//----------------------------------------------------------------------
var drawableArea = new drawableItem();
var spot = new pip();
spot.changeSize(20);
drawableArea.dependentDrawableItems[drawableArea.dependentDrawableItems.length] = spot;
//------------------------------------------
// Draw loop
//------------------------------------------
function drawScreen() {
var context = canvas.getContext('2d');
context.canvas.width = window.innerWidth;
context.canvas.height = window.innerHeight;
spot.moveTo(context.canvas.width/2, context.canvas.height/2);
drawableArea.draw(context);
}
window.addEventListener('resize', drawScreen);
Here's the demo: http://jsfiddle.net/DSU8w/

this.parent.draw.call(this,ctx);
is your problem. On a pip object, the parent will be circle.prototype. So when you now call spot.draw(), it will call spot.parent.draw.call(spot), where this.parent is still the circle.prototype…
You will need to explicitly invoke drawableItem.prototype.draw.call(this) from circle.prototype.draw. Btw, you should not use new for the prototype chain.

Why would you write code like that? It's so difficult to understand and debug. When I'm creating lots of classes I usually use augment to structure my code. This is how I would rewrite your code:
var Point = Object.augment(function () {
this.constructor = function (x, y) {
this.x = x;
this.y = y;
};
});
Using augment you can create classes cleanly. For example your drawableItem class could be restructured as follows:
var DrawableItem = Object.augment(function () {
this.constructor = function () {
this.size = 0;
this.lineWidth = 1;
this.dependencies = [];
this.center = new Point(0, 0);
};
this.changeSize = function (toSize) {
var fromSize = this.size;
var ratio = toSize / fromSize;
this.size = toSize;
var dependencies = this.dependencies;
var length = dependencies.length;
var index = 0;
while (index < length) {
var dependency = dependencies[index++];
dependency.changeSize(dependency.size * ratio);
}
};
this.moveTo = function (x, y) {
var center = this.center;
var dx = x - center.x;
var dy = y - center.y;
center.x = x;
center.y = y;
var dependencies = this.dependencies;
var length = dependencies.length;
var index = 0;
while (index < length) {
var dependency = dependencies[index++];
var center = dependency.center;
dependency.moveTo(center.x + dx, center.y + dy);
}
};
this.draw = function (context) {
var dependencies = this.dependencies;
var length = dependencies.length;
var index = 0;
while (index < length) dependencies[index++].draw(context);
};
});
Inheritance is also very simple. For example you can restructure your circle and pip classes as follows:
var Circle = DrawableItem.augment(function (base) {
this.constructor = function (filled) {
base.constructor.call(this);
this.filled = filled;
};
this.draw = function (context) {
var center = this.center;
var x = center.x;
var y = center.y;
context.moveTo(x, y);
context.beginPath();
context.arc(x, y, this.size, 0, 2 * Math.PI);
context.closePath();
context.lineWidth = this.lineWidth;
context[this.filled ? "fill" : "stroke"]();
base.draw.call(this, context);
};
});
var Pip = Circle.augment(function (base) {
this.constructor = function () {
base.constructor.call(this, true);
};
});
Now that you've created all your classes you can finally get down to the drawing:
window.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function () {
var canvas = document.getElementById("myCanvas");
var context = canvas.getContext("2d");
var drawableArea = new DrawableItem;
var spot = new Pip;
spot.changeSize(20);
drawableArea.dependencies.push(spot);
window.addEventListener("resize", drawScreen, false);
drawScreen();
function drawScreen() {
var width = canvas.width = window.innerWidth;
var height = canvas.height = window.innerHeight;
spot.moveTo(width / 2, height / 2);
drawableArea.draw(context);
}
}, false);
We're done. See the demo for yourself: http://jsfiddle.net/b5vNk/
Not only have we made your code more readable, understandable and maintainable but we have also solved your recursion problem.
As Bergi mentioned the problem was with the statement this.parent.draw.call(this,ctx) in the circle.prototype.draw function. Since spot.parent is circle.prototype the this.parent.draw.call(this,ctx) statement is equivalent to circle.prototype.draw.call(this,ctx). As you can see the circle.prototype.draw function now calls itself recursively until it exceeds the maximum recursion depth and throws an error.
The augment library solves this problem elegantly. Instead of having to create a parent property on every prototype when you augment a class augment provides you the prototype of that class as a argument (we call it base):
var DerivedClass = BaseClass.augment(function (base) {
console.log(base === BaseClass.prototype); // true
});
The base argument should be treated as a constant. Because it's a constant base.draw.call(this, context) in the Circle class above will always be equivalent to DrawableItem.prototype.draw.call(this, context). Hence you will never have unwanted recursion. Unlike this.parent the base argument will alway point to the correct prototype.

Bergi's answer is correct, if you don't want to hard code the parent name multiple times you could use a helper function to set up inheritance:
function inherits(Child,Parent){
Child.prototype=Object.create(Parent.prototype);
Child.parent=Parent.prototype;
Child.prototype.constructor=Child;
};
function DrawableItem() {
this.name="DrawableItem";
}
DrawableItem.prototype.changeSize = function(newSize){
console.log("changeSize from DrawableItem");
console.log("invoking object is:",this.name);
}
function Circle(isFilledCircle){
Circle.parent.constructor.call(this);
this.name="Circle";//override name
}
inherits(Circle,DrawableItem);
Circle.prototype.changeSize = function(newSize){
Circle.parent.changeSize.call(this);
console.log("and some more from circle");
};
function Pip(size){
Pip.parent.constructor.call(this,true);
this.name="Pip";
}
inherits(Pip,Circle);
var spot = new Pip();
spot.changeSize();
For a polyfill on Object.create look here.

Douglas Crockfords - how to call base method into an inherited class

I'm trying to construct a base class Shape using Crockford's inheritance pattern. Using this base Shape, I'm trying to draw a circle, a rectangle and a triangle. I'm kinda stuck. I didn't know how to call/modify the base method
function points(x,y) {
x = this.x;
y = this.y;
}
function Shape() {
return {
this.points: [ ],
init : function(){
if(typeof this.context === ‘undefined’){
var canvas = document.getElementById(‘canvas’);
var context = canvas.getContext(‘2d’);
}
},
draw: function(){
var context = this.context;
context.beginPath();
context.moveTo(this.points[0].x, this.points[0].y);
for(var i=1; i< this.parameter.length; i++){
context.lineTo(this.parameter[i].x, this.parameter[i].y);
}
context.closePath();
context.stroke();
}
};
}
function Circle(x, y, r){
var points = Shape();
point.x = x;
points.y = y;
points.r = r;
var baseMethod = that.draw;
that.draw = function(){
/*how to modify the base method to draw circle*/
};
}
function Rectangle(a, b, c, d){
var points = Shape();
point.a = a;
points.b = b;
points.c = c;
points.d = d
var baseMethod = that.draw;
that.draw = function(){
/*how to call base method to draw rectangle*/
};
}

You've got quite a few problems going on with your code. Firstly you need to make sure you've got your basic drawing code working before moving on to more complicated shapes such as circles and rectangles. Start with drawing lines. I've tidied up your code and got it working with drawing straight lines:
//returns basic point object which has
//two properties x & y
function point(x, y) {
return {
x: x,
y: y
}
}
//function that returns a shape object with all the
//mechanisms for drawing lines between points
function Shape(canvasID) {
return {
points: [], //not 'this.points' (which would most likely be window.points)
addPoint: function(x, y) {//adding a point to a shape is an operation of shape
this.points.push(point(x, y))
},
init: function() {
if (typeof this.context === 'undefined') {
var canvas = document.getElementById(canvasID);
var ctx = canvas.getContext('2d');
this.context = ctx; //add the context reference to the current shape object
}
},
draw: function() {
this.init();
var context = this.context;
context.beginPath();
var that = this; //create a local reference to the current 'this' object.
//insures us against any possible 'this' scope problems
context.moveTo(that.points[0].x, that.points[0].y);
for (var i = 1; i < that.points.length; i++) {
context.lineTo(that.points[i].x, this.points[i].y);
}
context.closePath();
context.stroke();
}
};
}
//Simple Line object - good for testing your
//basic drawing functionality
function Line(canvasID, x, y, x2, y2) {
var shape = Shape(canvasID);
shape.addPoint(x, y);
shape.addPoint(x2, y2);
shape.draw();
}
//Execute your drawing functionality after the
//window has loaded to make sure all your objects exist before
//trying to use them
window.onload = function() {
Line('canvas', 100, 100, 200, 200);
}
I'm not necessarily sold on whether this is the best way to approach what you are doing - but DC's basic approach is to create objects without having to use the "new" keyword. So he returns an object from a function call using the JavaScript object notation.
Now that you can draw a line, the next step is to draw a series of connected lines one after the other (a path). After that, create your rectangle. You need some code to tell your code where to start drawing the rectangle (the start x/y coordinate) and then you can have parameters denoting the height and width of the rectangle which will be used to calculate the coordinates of the rectangle's corners and passed to the shape object to be drawn in the same way the series of connected lines were drawn. One caveat, though, is to check if there is some sort of 'createRectangle' function on the context object (and same for circle). I don't actually know myself as I've not done this sort of work in HTML5/canvas - although I have in other environments.
Edit
Forgot to mention that you will need to make sure the doctype declaration of your html is html5. A lot of IDE's will automatically declare your html as html4. Html5 just needs: <!DOCTYPE html>
Also, make sure you declare a canvas element in the html body, something like this:
<canvas id="canvas" width="300" height="150">
</canvas>

Initiation of an object inside another

I have a piece of js software that is structured like so:
obj = new object[id]();
function wrapperFunction (e) {
var pos = findPos(this);
e._x = e.pageX - pos.x;
e._y = e.pageY - pos.y;
var func = obj[e.type];
if (func) {
func(e);
}
}
__
obj.line = function () {
this.started = false;
this.mousedown = function (e) {
}
this.mousemove = function (e) {
if (this.started) {
}
}
this.mouseup = function (e) {
if (this.started) {
}
}
}
The above code block is duplicated for multiple shapes so there is also a obj.square obj.circle etc...
I also have a shape object that is as follows.
function Shape (type, color, height, width, radius, x, y) {
this.type = type;
this.color = color;
this.h = height;
this.w = width;
this.r = radius;
this.points = ["x","y"];
this.points["x"] = [x];
this.points["y"] = [y];
};
I would like to initiate the shape object on a mousedown for each obj.* and populate the shape object with the propper info.
Now for the issue.
The radius is calcuated on every mousemove as well as height and width but when I add shapes = new Shape(circle, black, 10, 10, null, e._x, e._y) to the mousemove so it looks like...
this.mousemove = function (e) {
if (this.started) {
shapes = new Shape(circle, black, 10, 10, null, e._x, e._y);
}
}
The shape object does not create.
If I create the shape object inside the wrapper function instead of the mousemove then the object initiates but I cannot use radius or height/width.
How can I create an object inside another object inside a wrapper function so I can use calculated terms inside the created object? Is there an alternate route to take besides what I am doing?

Aside from wonkiness in the obj = new object[this.id](); line, I think you're just missing a this keyword:
this.mousemove = function (e) {
if (this.started) {
this.shapes = new Shape(circle, black, 10, 10, null, e._x, e._y);
}
}
Edit just noticed more wonkiness in your code (yes, that's a technical term :). I think you want to change these lines in the constructor:
this.points = ["x","y"]; // creates an array, which is indexed by numbers
this.points["x"] = [x]; // tacks on some ad-hoc properties to the array, which
this.points["y"] = [y]; // doesn't really make sense
to this:
this.points = {x: x, // I think this is what you actually mean to do.
y: y};