domodel is front-end library that organizes the user interface into models (look) and bindings (behavior) it follows the principle of separation of concerns, it also introduce elements of the observable pattern for the communication between the different parts of the user interface.
Getting started
Installing
Setup a new project
npx create-domodel-app [name]
Setup as a dependency to an existing project
npm install domodel
Model
A model is a JSON representation of a DOM Element.
Let's take this model for example:
export default {
tagName: "button"
}
That would the equivalent of:
const button = document.createElement("button")
A model with children:
export default {
tagName: "div",
children: [
{
tagName: "h2",
identifier: "headline",
textContent: "Unveil a new world"
}
]
}
Notice the textContent property. You can set any Element properties in this fashion.
The identifier property is a model property.
- The term model will later be used to refer to both the model and its Binding to make it simpler.
Properties
Most properties listed in your model are defined at the Element level.
However custom properties are not set on the Element as they have unusual behaviors they are treated differently:
-
tagName- String - Passed tocreateElement -
children- Array - To add children to an Element -
identifier- String - To save and retrieve a Node -
model- Model - Specify the model that should be ran -
binding- Binding - Specify the Binding to use when running the model (modelproperty must be set) -
properties- Object - Specify the arguments to pass along the Binding (bindingproperty must be set)
Binding
Now that we're able to create models, we will learn how to turn them into a real Element ?
Properties
These properties are available from within the the instance of a Binding:
-
propertiesProperties passed along when instancing a binding. -
rootRoot Element of your model. -
identifierHosts individual Element previously tagged in the definition of the model (see Model properties).
Adding models to the DOM and managing them
We might know how to define models however they wont simply be added by defining them alone.
For that we have to use the Core.run method provided by DOModel object and tell it how to add them.
The first step in your project would be create or edit the main.js in src/, it is the entry point module that is defined in your index.html.
src/main.js
import { Core } from "domodel" // first we're importing DOModel
// It is preferred to use camel case and suffix model names with "Model" and binding names with "Binding" such as: RectangleModel and RectangleBinding.
import Model from "./model/model.js" // the model we defined earlier, it is our super model
import ModelBinding from ".model/model.binding.js" // the binding we will be defining .bindinglater
window.addEventListener("load", function() { // we only add the
Core.run(Model, {
method: Core.METHOD.APPEND_CHILD, // This is the default method and will append the children to the given parentNode.
binding: new ModelBinding({ myProp: "hello :)" }), // we're creating an instance of our binding (which extends the Binding class provided by DOModel) and passing it to the run method.
parentNode: document.body // the node we want to target in this case it is the node where we want to append the child node using appendChild.
})
})
Now that your main.js is created let's create your first Binding:
src/model/model.binding.js
import { Core } from "domodel" // you could import the library again and run yet another model inside this model
class ModelBinding extends Binding {
onCreated() {
const { myProp } = this.properties
console.log(myProp) // prints hello
// access your model root element through the root property: this.root
// access identifier with the identifier property:
this.identifier.headline.textContent = "The new world was effectively unveiled before my very eyes"
// you might even run another model inside this model
}
}
export default ModelBinding
Methods
APPEND_CHILDAppend your model toparentNodeINSERT_BEFOREInsert your model beforeparentNodeREPLACE_NODEReplaceparentNodewith your modelWRAP_NODEWrapparentNodeinside your modelPREPENDInsert your model before the first child ofparentNode
They are available through Core.METHOD.
Observable
An Observable is a way for your models to communicate with each other.
src/object/observable-example.js
import { Observable } from "domodel"
class ExampleObservable extends Observable {
// you can have a constructor
// getter setter...
// or even better, you could have methods.
}
export default ExampleObservable
Listening to events
EventListener
Here we associate the EventListener with our current binding and give it properties.observable as the observable to register the events to.
src/model/model.binding.js
import { Observable, Binding } from "domodel"
import ModelEventListener from "/model/model.event.js"
class ModelBinding extends Binding {
constructor(properties) {
super(properties, new ModelEventListener(properties.observable))
}
}
export default ModelBinding
Any method inside an EventListener is automatically registered as a listener to the given observable.
src/model/model.event.js
import { EventListener } from "domodel"
class ModelEventListener extends EventListener {
message(data) {
console.log(data)
}
}
export default ModelEventListener
observable.listen
Useful when you want to listen to other parts your UI.
src/model/model.binding.js
import { Observable, Binding } from "domodel"
class ModelBinding extends Binding {
onCreated() {
const observable = new Observable()
observable.listen("message", data => {
console.log(data)
})
}
}
export default ModelBinding
Emitting events
src/model/model.binding.js
import { Observable } from "domodel"
class ModelBinding extends Binding {
onCreated() {
const observable = new Observable()
observable.emit("message", { /* data go here */ })
}
}
export default ModelBinding
Running your model:
import { Core, Observable } from "domodel"
import Model from "/model/model.js"
import ModelBinding from "/model/model.binding.js"
const observable = new Observable()
Core.run(Model, { parentNode: document.body, binding: new ModelBinding({ observable }) })
Advanced
Nesting models
Method 1 - Import
src/model/application.js
import Model from "./model.js"
export default {
tagName: "div",
children: [
Model
]
}
Method 2 - Binding
src/model/application.binding.js
import { Core } from "domodel"
import Model from "./model.js"
import ModelBinding from "./model.binding.js"
class extends Binding {
onCreated() {
Core.run(Model, { parentNode: this.root, binding: new ModelBinding() })
}
}
export default class
Method 3 - "model" property
src/model/application.js
import Model from "./model.js"
import ModelBinding from "./model.binding.js"
export default {
tagName: "div",
children: [
{
model: Model,
binding: ModelBinding // optionnal
properties: {} // optionnal
identifier: "model" // optionnal
// Any other property is not handled.
}
]
}
Referencing to nested models
In some cases, you might want to reference to a nested model.
You can use the identifier, it will reference to an instance of the Binding you specified, in this case it would be an instance of ModelBinding.
Accessing the reference:
src/model/model.binding.js
import { Binding } from "domodel" // you could import the library again and run yet another model inside this model
class extends Binding {
onCreated() {
console.log(this.identifier.model) // returns an instance of ModelBinding
// You could access the root element of the nested model through:
console.log(this.identifier.model.root)
// and much more...
}
}
export default class
API
See https://thoughtsunificator.github.io/domodel.
Extensions
See https://github.com/topics/domodel-extension.
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