Meteor how to synchronize Client session variable with Server data - ajax

I have some data stored on Client side by Session.set(...) (which then is rendered into a template).
This data is changing dynamically... on Server side, how can i synchronize it, so client would update templates any time data is changing on the server? Best method would be Publish/Subscribe, but it's designed for use with database.
this is what i end up so far:
if (Meteor.isClient) {
Session.setDefault('dynamicArray', [{text: "item1"},{text: "item2"}]);
Template.body.helpers({
dynamicData: function(){
return Session.get('dynamicArray');
}
});
// place for code to sync dynamicArray with server
}
if (Meteor.isServer) {
Meteor.startup(function () {
var dynamicArray = [{text: "item3"},{text: "item4"},{text: "item5"}];
// place for code to publish dynamicArray for client
});
}

Regarding your comment, you will need to creata a DynamicData Collection first, located outside the .isClient and .isServer conditionals. From there, .find() will allow you to collect data from the server in the form of a cursor, which can be iterated through using {{#each dynamicData}}. An example of how you might set up the collection and the helper is as follows:
DynamicData = new Collection('dynamicData'); //Sets up new Collection
if (Meteor.isClient) {
Template.body.helpers({
dynamicData: function(){
return DynamicData.find({}, {fields: {dynamicArray: [item1, item2, item3]})
}
});
}
Of course, this depends on how the document(s) you are retrieving are structured and what you are using them for. For instance, if you're only looking to return a single dynamicArray you might be better off using:
return DynamicData.findOne({}, {fields: {dynamicArray: [item1, item2, item3]}).dynamicArray;
...since this will return the array [item1, item2, item3] directly. This seems to be what you're looking for, since I had used the same method to replace an initial over-reliance on session data to sync information. Rather, the key point is to make server info available to the client through the helpers, which will bypass the need to sync via session data. Hope this helps.

Related

Deleting Apollo Client cache for a given query and every set of variables

I have a filtered list of items based on a getAllItems query, which takes a filter and an order by option as arguments.
After creating a new item, I want to delete the cache for this query, no matter what variables were passed. I don't know how to do this.
I don't think updating the cache is an option. Methods mentionned in Apollo Client documentation (Updating the cache after a mutation, refetchQueries and update) all seem to need a given set of variables, but since the filter is a complex object (with some text information), I would need to update the cache for every given set of variables that were previously submitted. I don't know how to do this. Plus, only the server does know how this new item impact pagination and ordering.
I don't think fetch-policy (for instance setting it to cache-and-network) is what I'm looking for, because if accessing the network is what I want after having created a new item, when I'm just filtering the list (typing in a string to search), I want to stay with the default behavior (cache-only).
client.resetStore would reset the store for all type of queries (not only the getAllItems query), so I don't think it's what I'm looking for either.
I'm pretty sure I'm missing something here.
There's no officially supported way of doing this in the current version of Apollo but there is a workaround.
In your update function, after creating an item, you can iterate through the cache and delete all nodes where the key starts with the typename you are trying to remove from the cache. e.g.
// Loop through all the data in our cache
// And delete any items where the key start with "Item"
// This empties the cache of all of our items and
// forces a refetch of the data only when it is next requested.
Object.keys(cache.data.data).forEach(key =>
key.match(/^Item/) && cache.data.delete(key)
)
This works for queries that exist a number of times in the cache with different variables, i.e. paginated queries.
I wrote an article on Medium that goes in to much more detail on how this works as well as an implementation example and alternative solution that is more complicated but works better in a small number of use cases. Since this article goes in to more detail on a concept I have already explained in this answer, I believe it is ok to share here: https://medium.com/#martinseanhunt/how-to-invalidate-cached-data-in-apollo-and-handle-updating-paginated-queries-379e4b9e4698
this worked for me (requires apollo 2 for cache eviction feature) - clears query matched by regexp from cache
after clearing cache query will be automatically refeteched without need to trigger refetch manually (if you are using angular: gql.watch().valueChanges will perform xhr request and emit new value)
export const deleteQueryFromCache = (cache: any, matcher: string | RegExp): void => {
const rootQuery = cache.data.data.ROOT_QUERY;
Object.keys(rootQuery).forEach(key => {
if (key.match(matcher)) {
cache.evict({ id: "ROOT_QUERY", fieldName: key })
}
});
}
ngrx like
resolvers = {
removeTask(
parent,
{ id },
{ cache, getCacheKey }: { cache: InMemoryCache | any; getCacheKey: any }
) {
const key = getCacheKey({ __typename: "Task", id });
const { [key]: deleted, ...data } = cache.data.data;
cache.data.data = { ...data };
return id;
}
}

Fabric.js - Sync object:modified event to another client

Collaboration Mode:
What is the best way to propagate changes from Client #1's canvas to client #2's canvas? Here's how I capture and send events to Socket.io.
$scope.canvas.on('object:modified',function(e) {
Socket.whiteboardMessage({
eventId:'object:modified',
event:e.target.toJSON()
});
});
On the receiver side, this code works splendidly for adding new objects to the screen, but I could not find documentation on how to select and update an existing object in the canvas.
fabric.util.enlivenObjects([e.event], function(objects) {
objects.forEach(function(o) {
$scope.canvas.add(o);
});
});
I did see that Objects have individual setters and one bulk setter, but I could not figure out how to select an existing object based on the event data.
Ideally, the flow would be:
Receive event with targeted object data.
Select the existing object in the canvas.
Perform bulk update.
Refresh canvas.
Hopefully someone with Fabric.JS experience can help me figure this out. Thanks!
UPDATED ANSWER - Thanks AJM!
AJM was correct in suggesting a unique ID for every newly created element. I was also able to create a new ID for all newly created drawing paths as well. Here's how it worked:
var t = new fabric.IText('Edit me...', {
left: $scope.width/2-100,
top: $scope.height/2-50
});
t.set('id',randomHash());
$scope.canvas.add(t);
I also captured newly created paths and added an id:
$scope.canvas.on('path:created',function(e) {
if (e.target.id === undefined) {
e.target.set('id',randomHash());
}
});
However, I encountered an issue where my ID was visible in console log, but it was not present after executing object.toJSON(). This is because Fabric has its own serialization method which trims down the data to a standardized list of properties. To include additional properties, I had to serialize the data for transport like so:
$scope.canvas.on('object:modified',function(e) {
Socket.whiteboardMessage({
object:e.target.toJSON(['id']) // includes "id" in output.
})
});
Now each object has a unique ID with which to perform updates. On the receiver's side of my code, I added AJM's object-lookup function. I placed this code in the "startup" section of my application so it would only run once (after Fabric.js is loaded, of course!)
fabric.Canvas.prototype.getObjectById = function (id) {
var objs = this.getObjects();
for (var i = 0, len = objs.length; i < len; i++) {
if (objs[i].id == id) {
return objs[i];
}
}
return 0;
};
Now, whenever a new socket.io message is received with whiteboard data, I am able to find it in the canvas via this line:
var obj = $scope.canvas.getObjectById(e.object.id);
Inserting and removing are easy, but for updating, this final piece of code did the trick:
obj.set(e.object); // Updates properties
$scope.canvas.renderAll(); // Redraws canvas
$scope.canvas.calcOffset(); // Updates offsets
All of this required me to handle the following events. Paths are treated as objects once they're created.
$scope.canvas.on('object:added',function(e) { });
$scope.canvas.on('object:modified',function(e) { });
$scope.canvas.on('object:moving',function(e) { });
$scope.canvas.on('object:removed',function(e) { });
$scope.canvas.on('path:created',function(e) { });
I did something similar involving a single shared canvas between multiple users and ran into this exact issue.
To solve this problem, I added unique IDs (using a javascript UUID generator) to each object added to the canvas (in my case, there could be many users working on a canvas at a time, thus I needed to avoid collisions; in your case, something simpler could work).
Fabric objects' set method will let you add an arbitrary property, like an id: o.set('id', yourid). Before you add() a new Fabric object to your canvas (and send that across the wire), tack on an ID property. Now, you'll have a unique key by which you can pick out individual objects.
From there, you'd need a method to retrieve an object by ID. Here's what I used:
fabric.Canvas.prototype.getObjectById = function (id) {
var objs = this.getObjects();
for (var i = 0, len = objs.length; i < len; i++) {
if (objs[i].id == id) {
return objs[i];
}
}
return null;
};
When you receive data from your socket, grab that object from the canvas by ID and mutate it using the appropriate set methods or copying properties wholesale (or, if getObjectById returns null, create it).

Is it a good practice to build a collection cache?

I'm experiencing with MongoDB with Node.js using the plugin node-mongodb-native. A problem I'm experiencing is the amount of nested callbacks. I'm trying to simplify a few things by lessening the code required for a query.
Instead of this ...
db.collection("test", function(err, collection) {
collection.find(...).toArray(function(err, results) {
// ...
});
});
... I was thinking of building an object which acts as a cache of collections so that the first callback is not necessary. I'm using the following code for building the object:
var collections = {};
["test", "foo"].forEach(function(name) {
db.collection(name, function(err, coll) {
collections[name] = coll;
});
});
With it, I'm able to clean up the first code snippet to:
collections.test.find(...).toArray(function(err, results) {
// ...
});
I was wondering whether this is a good practice. It works just fine, but I guess the callback of getting a collection is there for a reason. Does it make sense to build a collection cache as I'm doing now?
That completely depends on what a collection object is.
- Is it live?
- Is it connected to the database?
- Does it do any internal caching?
- Does it reflect new data?
Without knowing those details I recommend you create a lazy evaluation proxy.
Mongo.collection("test").find(...).toArray(function(err, results) {
// ...
});
The idea here is that you internally store the find command and when you call toArray you get the collection and invoke the find command on it, then invoke toArray.
This means your getting a new collection every time and avoid the "is caching safe" problem but still have a nice API.

Extjs store.on('save', afterSave(resp));

I have a simple ExtJs (3.4) Grid with a Writer. When the user makes some changes the store is saved to the server as follows:
store.on('save', afterSave(resp));
All is fine. However, I want to get a response as to wheather the record has been saved successfully, failed or an update conflict happed. How to best do this?
Are you using Ext.data.proxy.Ajax to load your stores? If so, you can use the reader property to evaluate and handle the server responses.
Another option would be to make AJAX called directly and handle the responses from there as well
I used exception listener to parse the data as suggested here. But, is this the right way to do this.
Ext.data.DataProxy.addListener('exception', function(proxy, type, action,
options, res) {
if (type == 'response') {
var success = Ext.util.JSON.decode(res.responseText).success;
if (success) {
console.log('UPDATE OK');
} else {
console.log('UPDATE FAILED');
}
}
});

Calling multiple views in CouchApp query

I need to search the CouchDB based on several criteria entered in a form. Name, an array of Tags and so on. I would then need various views to index on these fields. Ultimately, all the results will be collated in data.js and provided to mustache.html. Say there are 3 views - docsByName, docsByTags, docsById.
What I don't know is, how to query all these views in query.js. Can this be done and how ?
Or should the approach be of that to write one view that makes multiple emits for each search somehow ?
Thank you.
From what you say I assume you are using Evently, so I will quote from Evently primer:
The async function is the main star, which in this case makes an Ajax request (but it can do anything it wants). Another important thing to note is that the first argument to the async function is a callback which you use to tell Evently when you are done with your asynchronous action. [...] Whatever you pass to the callback function then becomes the first item passed to the data function.
In short: put your Ajax requests in async.js.
As a side note: Evently is only one of the possible choices to write a couchapp and it is not clear if it is maintained. However it works and it is easy to rearrange the code to not use it.
EDIT: here is a sample async function (cut&paste from an old program):
function(cb, e) {
var app = $$(this).app
;
app.db.openDoc('SOMEDOCID', {
error: function(code, error, reason) {
alert("Error("+code+" "+error+"): "+reason);
}
, success: function(doc) {
app.view('SOMEVIEWNAME', {
include_docs: true
, error: function(code, error, reason) {
alert("Error("+code+" "+error+"): "+reason);
}
, success: function(resp) {
resp.doc = doc;
cb(resp);
}
});
}
});
}

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