Emberjs Computed Property Calculated for Unknown Reason - ember.js

So I have what I think is a simple Ember Object.
App.Playlist = Ember.Model.extend({
_clips: [],
clips: function() {
var self = this;
if(this.get('clipIds')) {
this.get('clipIds').forEach(function(id) {
self.get('_clips').addObject({});
}
}
}.property('clipIds')
});
The problem is that the clips computed property gets called infinitely until it raises an exception Uncaught RangeError: Maximum call stack size exceeded

Ray, this should be defined differently. Computed properties are defined like functions and Ember will handle calling your function when it observes a change to whatever dependencies you define.
App.Playlist = Ember.Model.extend({
myComputed: function () {
return this.get('clipIds').map(function (id) {
return Ember.Clip.create({id: id});
});
}.property('clipIds.#each'),
});
this code would watch some property called "clipIds" (whatever that is) and would return a list of Ember.Clip objects based on that array of clipIds.

So here is how I ended up fixing this for now. Still not sure why the computed property gets called repeatedly.
App.Playlist = Ember.Model.extend({
clips: [],
loadClips: function() {
var self = this;
if(this.get('clipIds')) {
this.get('clipIds').forEach(function(id) {
self.get('clips').addObject({});
}
}
}.observes('clipIds.#each')
});

Related

Promise result in Ember Data computed property

I'm trying to make a call to an external API and use the results as a computed property in my Ember Data model. The result is fetched fine, but the computed property returns before the Promise resolves, resulting in undefined. Is this a use case for an Observer?
export default DS.Model.extend({
lat: DS.attr(),
lng: DS.attr(),
address: Ember.computed('lat', 'lng', function() {
var url = `http://foo.com/json?param=${this.get('lat')},${this.get('lng')}`;
var addr;
var request = new Ember.RSVP.Promise(function(resolve, reject) {
Ember.$.ajax(url, {
success: function(response) {
resolve(response);
},
error: function(reason) {
reject(reason);
}
});
});
request.then(function(response) {
addr = response.results[0].formatted_address;
}, function(error) {
console.log(error);
})
return addr;
})
});
Use DS.PromiseObject. I use the following technique all the time:
import DS from 'ember-data';
export default DS.Model.extend({
...
address: Ember.computed('lat', 'lng', function() {
var request = new Ember.RSVP.Promise(function(resolve, reject) {
...
});
return DS.PromiseObject.create({ promise: request });
}),
});
Use the resolved value in your templates as {{address.content}}, which will automatically update when the proxied Promise resolves.
If you want to do more here I'd recommend checking out what other people in the community are doing: https://emberobserver.com/?query=promise
It's not too hard to build a simple Component that accepts a DS.PromiseObject and show a loading spinner while the Promise is still pending, then shows the actual value (or yields to a block) once the Promise resolves.
I have an Ember.Service in the app I work on that's composed almost entirely of Computed Properties that return Promises wrapped in DS.PromiseObjects. It works surprisingly seamlessly.
I've used the self.set('computed_property', value); technique in a large Ember application for about three months and I can tell you it have a very big problem: the computed property will only work once.
When you set the computed property value, the function that generated the result is lost, therefore when your related model properties change the computed property will not refresh.
Using promises inside computed properties in Ember is a hassle, the best technique I found is:
prop: Ember.computed('related', {
// `get` receives `key` as a parameter but I never use it.
get() {
var self = this;
// We don't want to return old values.
this.set('prop', undefined);
promise.then(function (value) {
// This will raise the `set` method.
self.set('prop', value);
});
// We're returning `prop_data`, not just `prop`.
return this.get('prop_data');
},
set(key, value) {
this.set('prop_data', value);
return value;
}
}),
Pros:
It work on templates, so you can do {{object.prop}} in a template and it will resolve properly.
It does update when the related properties change.
Cons:
When you do in Javascript object.get('prop'); and the promise is resolving, it will return you inmediately undefined, however if you're observing the computed property, the observer will fire again when the promise resolves and the final value is set.
Maybe you're wondering why I didn't returned the promise in the get; if you do that and use it in a template, it will render an object string representation ([object Object] or something like that).
I want to work in a proper computed property implementation that works well in templates, return a promise in Javascript and gets updated automatically, probably using something like DS.PromiseObject or Ember.PromiseProxyMixin, but unfortunately I didn't find time for it.
If the big con is not a problem for your use case use the "get/set" technique, if not try to implement a better method, but seriously do not just use self.set('prop', value);, it will give your a lot of problems in the long-term, it's not worth it.
PS.: The real, final solution for this problem, however, is: never use promises in computed properties if you can avoid it.
PS.: By the way, this technique isn't really mine but of my ex co-worker #reset-reboot.
Create a component (address-display.js):
import Ember from 'ember';
export default Ember.Component.extend({
init() {
var url = `http://foo.com/json?param=${this.get('lat')},${this.get('lng')}`;
Ember.$.ajax(url, {
success: function(response) {
this.set('value', response.results[0].formatted_address);
},
error: function(reason) {
console.log(reason);
}
});
}
});
Template (components/address-display.hbs):
{{value}}
Then use the component in your template:
{{address-display lat=model.lat lng=model.lng}}
The below works by resolving inside the property and setting the result.
Explained here:
http://discuss.emberjs.com/t/promises-and-computed-properties/3333/10
export default DS.Model.extend({
lat: DS.attr(),
lng: DS.attr(),
address: Ember.computed('lat', 'lng', function() {
var url = `http://foo.com/json?param=${this.get('lat')},${this.get('lng')}`;
var self = this;
var request = new Ember.RSVP.Promise(function(resolve, reject) {
Ember.$.ajax(url, {
success: function(response) {
resolve(response);
},
error: function(reason) {
reject(reason);
}
});
}).then(function(response) {
self.set('address', response.results[0].formatted_address);
})
})
});

Mutual Exclusion in an Ember ArrayController

I have a list of items in an array controller. Clicking on an item makes it "active", but I’d like only one item to be active at any a time (akin to radio buttons).
I have this working by storing the active item in a computed property, then toggling its active state in an action on the array controller, see: http://emberjs.jsbin.com/wavay/2/edit
However, this doesn’t handle the case where an item is made active by some other means i.e. not through the action.
I have experimented with observing the isActive change (using .observesBefore('#each.isActive')), and flipping the state of the activeItem, but of course, this approach causes an infinite loop.
Is there a better way?
This can be solved using a combination of Ember.reduceComputed and observers.
The removedItem and addedItem callbacks in Ember.reduceComputed are given access to the object which has changed, as well as instanceMeta, which can be used to store the “active” item:
App.IndexController = Ember.ArrayController.extend({
itemController: 'item',
activeItem: Ember.reduceComputed('#this.#each.isActive', {
initialValue: null,
removedItem: function (accumulatedValue, item, changeMeta, instanceMeta) {
if (item.get('isActive')) {
var previousActiveItem = instanceMeta.activeItem;
if (previousActiveItem) previousActiveItem.set('isActive', false);
return instanceMeta.activeItem = item;
}
return instanceMeta.activeItem = null;
},
addedItem: function (accumulatedValue, item, changeMeta, instanceMeta) {
return instanceMeta.activeItem;
}
})
…
However if activeItem is not accessed anywhere, removedItem and addedItem will never be called, and therefore items will remain active until they are manually toggled. To fix this, an observer can be set up to call this.get('activeItem') whenever an isActive property is changed:
setActiveItem: function () {
this.get('activeItem');
}.observes('#each.isActive')
See the updated jsbin: http://emberjs.jsbin.com/wavay/3/edit?js,output
Related: David Hamilton’s presentation on Array Computing Properties.
A possible solution based on your toggleActive implementation is available here.
This solution works if the "active" flag is updated only with the toggleActive controller method. So far the controller represents the state, it makes sense that provides the api to update its data correctly.
App.IndexController = Ember.ArrayController.extend({
itemController: 'item',
activeItem: function() {
return this.findBy('isActive');
}.property('#each.isActive'),
toggleActiveModel: function(model) {
var controller = this.findBy('model', model);
this._toggleActive(controller);
},
_toggleActive: function(controller) {
var previouslyActive = this.get('activeItem');
if(previouslyActive && previouslyActive !== controller) {
previouslyActive.set('isActive', false);
}
controller.set('isActive', !controller.get('isActive'));
},
actions: {
toggleActive: function(controller) {
this._toggleActive(controller);
},
toggle: function(modelValue) {
this.toggleActiveModel(modelValue);
}
}
});

How to make a computed property that depends on a global class attribute?

I wanna create a property that depends on a global attribute:
App.Test= Em.Object.extend();
App.Test.reopenClass({ all: Em.A() });
App.Other = Em.object.extend({
stuff: function() {
return "calculated stuff from this.get('foo') and App.Test.all";
}.property('foo', 'App.Test.all.#each.bar')
});
As a workarround I could create a observer and always set a dummy property with a new random value to trigger the property change, but is there a better way to do this?
I need this for some caching. I've a really crazy, and single threaded backend. So I write my own Model classes. So I try to reimplement a bit of the logic in the client for a better caching.
Ive an Item class (App.Item) and another class where each instance has a calculated reduced list of Items.
App.Model = Em.Object.extend({
});
App.Model.reopenClass({
all: Em.A(),
load: function(hash) {
return this.get('all').pushObject(this.create(hash));
}
});
App.Item = App.Model.extend({
});
App.List = App.Model.extend({
loadedInitItems: false,
items: function() {
if(!this.get('loadedInitItems')) { this.set('loadedInitItems', true); Backend.call('thelist', function(item) { App.Item.load(this); }); }
return App.Item.all.filter(function(item) {
// heavy filter stuff, depends on a lot of propertys on the current list instance
});
}.property('someprops', 'App.Item.all.#each.foo')
});
Backend.call represents some AJAX stuff
the point is, that now any item could change so that the filter will return something diffrent. And there are other places om the application, where the user can add Items. I dont want to call the backend again, because its very slow! And I know that the backend will not modify the list! So I wanna cache it.
This is just a reduced example of my use case, but I think've described the point. In reallity I have this dozend of times, with over 25000 objects.
have you tried adding 'Binding' to your property and then the value you want to bind to ?, something like this:
App.PostsController = Em.ArrayController.extend({
nameOfYourVariableBinding: "App.SomeObject.propertyYouWantToBindTo"
})
It looks like the problem is the double uppercase letter. So App.test ist working, but not App.Foo.test.
But I was able to find a Solution with the ArrayProxy.
Its about this:
App.Model = Em.Object.extend({
});
App.Model.reopenClass({
all: Em.A(),
load: function(hash) {
return this.get('all').pushObject(this.create(hash));
}
});
App.Item = App.Model.extend({
});
App.List = App.Model.extend({
loadedInitItems: false,
items: function() {
var self = this;
if(!this.get('loadedInitItems')) {
this.set('loadedInitItems', true);
Backend.call('thelist', function(item) {
App.Item.load(this);
});
}
return Em.ArrayProxy.extend({
content: App.Item.all,
arrangedContent: function() {
return this.get('content').filter(function(item) {
// heavy filter stuff, depends on a lot of propertys on the current list instance
// use self.get('someprops')
})
}.property('content.#each.foo')
});
}.property('someprops')
items: function() {
if(!this.get('loadedInitItems')) { this.set('loadedInitItems', true); Backend.call('thelist', function(item) { App.Item.load(this); }); }
return App.Item.all.filter(function(item) {
// heavy filter stuff, depends on a lot of propertys on the current list instance
});
}.property('someprops', 'App.Item.all.#each.foo')
});

ComputedProperty doesn't get updated

I have this test application which should print "filtered" and "changed" each time the applications view is clicked, because a computed property is called. However the property binding is only triggered when updating the property with an empty array:
window.App = Ember.Application.create({
Settings: Ember.Object.create({
filter: []
}),
ApplicationView: Ember.View.extend({
click: function(event) {
filter = App.get('Settings.filter');
console.dir(filter);
if (App.get('Room.filtered')) {
filter = filter.filter(function(item) {
return item != App.get('Room.name');
});
} else {
filter.push(App.get('Room.name'));
}
App.set('Settings.filter', filter);
}
})
});
Room = Ember.Object.extend({
name: "test",
_filterer: function() {
console.dir("changed");
}.observes('filtered'),
filtered: function() {
console.dir("filtered");
filter = App.get('Settings.filter');
for (var i = 0; i < filter.length; i++) {
if (filter[i] == this.get('name')) return true;
}
return false;
}.property('App.Settings.filter', 'name').volatile()
});
App.Room = Room.create();
setTimeout(function() {App.set('Settings.filter', ['test']); }, 3000);
Here is the jsbin: http://jsbin.com/edolol/2/edit
Why is the property binding only triggered when setting the Setting to an empty array? And why does it trigger when doing it manually in the timeout?
Update
Here is a working jsbin: http://jsbin.com/edolol/11/edit
When you're going to add/remove items from an array, and not change the entire array, you need to inform the computed property to observe the items inside the array, not only the array itself:
The syntax is:
function() {
}.property('App.settings.filter.#each')
The reason it was working with setTimeout is because you were replacing the entire array instead of the items inside it.
I fixed your jsbin: http://jsbin.com/edolol/10/edit
I fixed some minor other stuff such as filter.push is now filter.pushObject (Using Ember's MutableArray).
And after changing the filter array (filter = filter.filter()) you need to set the new filter variable as the property: App.set('Settings.filter', filter);
The Problem is that I have used .push() to add to App.Settings.filter and .filter() to remove from it. The first approach does not create a new array, the latter does. Thats why removing from that array has worked, but not adding.
I assume that using Ember.ArrayProxy and an observer for .#each would have worked. But thats out of my knowledge. This little problem is solved by just creating a new array though.
filter = App.get('Settings.filter').slice(0);

temporary suspension of ember observers

With Ember.js, I have the following scenario:
My Class has a property that require some manipulation at instanciation.
To achieve that, I'm calling a function that does the work from init. I also want to observe this propery change, so that if consumer will set new value at run time I will run my manipulation logic over the new value.
The problem is, that as part of the init flow, I'm setting myself the new value to the property after manipulation, and this invokes the trigger (as expected). I do not want this code to run twice.
Consider the following code. 'here' will be printed twice to the console.
var MyObj = Ember.Object.extend({
prop: null,
init: function init() {
this._super.apply(this, arguments);
this._applyProp();
},
_applyProp: function prop() {
console.log('here');
var prop = this.get('prop');
if (prop === 'Dan') {
prop = 'Hi' + prop;
}
this.set('prop', prop);
}.observes('prop')
});
MyObj.create({prop: 'Dan'});
Any advice will be really appreciated.
Having an observer that sets the property it is observing seems like a bad idea. Your particular example could be achieved using a computed property getter/setter:
var MyObj = Ember.Object.extend({
prop: function(key, value) {
if (value !== undefined) {
if (value == 'Dan') {
return 'Hi ' + value;
}
return value;
}
}.property(),
});
MyObj.create({prop: 'Dan'});
Would this be sufficient to cover your use cases?