1
\$\begingroup\$

I'm creating a Backbone App, and although everything seems to work i'm afraid i might need to refactor very soon if I keep adding functionalities and views with this approach. I'm using Parse in the backend, meaning that the object Parse is equivalent to the Backbone.Model. I can't control my models since they've been optimized for mobile and here i need to display only certain key values of 3 different models.

Although there's nothing "wrong" (it works) it's only a matter of time until i start doing 'bigger' mistakes.

Here's my Router:

App.Controllers.Documents = Backbone.Router.extend({
 routes:{
    "story/:id" : "fullStory",
    "" : "index"
 },
// ...
 fullStory: function(id){
  var self = this;
  var query = new Parse.Query(Steps);
  query.equalTo("story", id)
  var steps = query.collection();

  steps.fetch({
   success: function() {

     new App.Views.Steps({ collection: steps });

     var title = new Story({ objectId: id });
     title.fetch({
          success: function(model, resp) {
          new App.Views.Title({ model: title});
          var idUser = title.toJSON().idUser;
          var user = new Parse.User({ objectId: idUser });
          user.fetch({
              success: function(){
                     // I just need the username key here...
                 new App.Views.Username({model:user,el:$("#user")});
              },
              error: function(){
                 new Error({ message: 'Could not find the user you requested.' });
              }
           })
         },
          error: function() {
            new Error({ message: 'Could not find that story.' });

           }
      })
    },
    error: function() {
      new Error({ message: "Error loading story." });
    }
  });
}

Given the way objects have been created in Parse I need to access 3 different objects, that's why i'm rendering the View in "parts". I'd like this function to render just a FullStory View with these 'sub views' inside of it but i'm unsure on how to do it 'cause the Parse.Objects need a reference to the other object -> var user = new Parse.User({ objectId: idUser }); where idUser is a key from another object.

Finally my Views:

App.Views.Steps = Backbone.View.extend({
 tagName : "ul",
 className: "steps",
 initialize: function() {
 this.render();
},
 render: function() {
   this.$el.html(_.template($("#story_steps").html())({ collection: this.collection }));
   $('#steps_wrapper').html(this.el);
 },
});

App.Views.Title = Backbone.View.extend({
 initialize: function() {
 this.render();
},
 render: function() {
  this.$el.html(_.template($("#story_title").html())({ model: this.model }));
  $('#title').html(this.el);
 }
});
App.Views.Username = Backbone.View.extend({
 initialize: function() {
 this.render();
},
 template: _.template('<%= name %>'),

  render: function() {
   this.$el.html(this.template(this.model.toJSON()));
  }
});
\$\endgroup\$
3
  • \$\begingroup\$ Why is title inside the response from steps.fetch? \$\endgroup\$
    – Bill Barry
    Jul 5, 2012 at 13:32
  • \$\begingroup\$ Does fetch return a Promise-like object? \$\endgroup\$
    – Bill Barry
    Jul 5, 2012 at 14:04
  • \$\begingroup\$ I'm not sure how to go about rendering one view with two models since they have relations. \$\endgroup\$
    – Maroshii
    Jul 5, 2012 at 14:14

1 Answer 1

1
\$\begingroup\$

The success function for the user.fetch statement is annoying. Just messing around, I am not sure this is any better as a whole (or if it even works):

var Util = {
    error: function (msg) {
        return function () { new Error({ message: msg }); };
    }
};

var controllers = {};

_.extend(controllers, Backbone.Events);

var events = {
    fullStory: 'fullStory',
    user: 'user'
};

controllers.on(events.fullStory, function (id) {
    var query = new Parse.Query(Steps),
        steps;
    query.equalTo("story", id);
    steps = query.collection();

    steps.fetch({
        success: function () {
            new App.Views.Steps({ collection: steps });
        },
        error: Util.error("Error loading story.")
        }
    });
});

controllers.on(events.fullStory, function (id) {
    var title = new Story({ objectId: id });
    title.fetch({
        success: function(model, resp) {
            var idUser;
            new App.Views.Title({ model: title });
            idUser = title.toJSON().idUser;
            controllers.trigger(events.user, idUser);
        },
        error: Util.error('Could not find that story.')
    });
});

controllers.on(events.user, function (idUser) {
    var user = new Parse.User({ objectId: idUser });
    user.fetch({
        success: function () {
            // I just need the username key here...
            new App.Views.Username({model:user, el:$("#user")});
        },
        error: Util.error('Could not find the user you requested.')
    });
});

App.Controllers.Documents = Backbone.Router.extend({
    routes: {
        "story/:id" : "fullStory",
        "" : "index"
    },

    fullStory: function (id) {
        controllers.trigger(events.fullStory, id);
    }
});
\$\endgroup\$
1
  • \$\begingroup\$ I know that function is annoying, that actually why I posted the question lol. I'm not sure how to go about rendering one view with two models since they have relations. I need to look more into this. Thanks for the answer! +1 \$\endgroup\$
    – Maroshii
    Jul 5, 2012 at 14:17

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