Bridge jQuery UI droppable to Lift ajax handler - ajax

I'm working on a web application project using Scala / Lift. I would like to make my application support drag and drop to improve the user experience.
But I'm not quite sure how to bridge jQuery part with Lift.
Currently I've a working UI part, an div block has class named listRow is dragable with an HTML5 attribute data-stuffid which has an ID from database.
It can be dragged to an block named nextAction, and I could print out the data-stuffid field correctly in JavaScript.
Here is my JavaScript code block:
<script type="text/javascript">
$('.listRow').draggable({
revert: true
});
$("#nextAction").droppable({
accept: ".listRow",
tolerance: "pointer",
activeClass: "dropActive",
hoverClass: "dropHover",
drop: function(event, ui) {
var stuffID = ui.draggable.data("stuffid")
console.log(stuffID)
}
})
But I don't know how to call to a Lift AJAX handler, and pass stuffID to Lift in the case.
What I would like to do is have an Scala function likes the following:
def showDialog(stuffID: String): JsCmds
{
// Do some server side work, ex: querying database
// Return a javascript cmds likes SHtml.ajaxButton...etc.
Alert("SutffID:" + stuffID)
}
And when user drag a .listRow to "#nextAction", showDialog would be called, and return the javascript to browser and let browser execute it.

You probably looking for one of these two functions. I'd take a look at :
JsCmds.Function and SHtml.ajaxCall
JsCmds.Function will allow you to create a JavaScript function, and SHtml.ajaxCall will allow you to execute code via ajax. You'd create a function in your Lift CSS Selector and then you'd be able to call that functions directly from your jQuery code.
There are a lot of discussions on using both those, some relevant info might be:
https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!topic/liftweb/4EyE1EbcDDM
https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!topic/liftweb/aAmvSjPxcyI

When initializing jquery from lift, just send lift ajax callback as parameter

Related

does an onclick function go in model, view or controller?

I am using backbone.js and trying to stay strict to the model-view-controller structure as I learn it. I have an onclick function for a link in one of my views that I am not sure where to put. Is the best place to keep this in the render function of the view?
Thanks
More specifically, the onclick performs a facebook login and then adds the user to my database if they are not currently in it. Don't know if this changes anything.
Here is what I think I will go with:
var NewUserView = Backbone.View.extend({
el: $('#window'),
render: function(){
// Render
this.listeners();
},
listeners: function(){
// onclick and other listeners
}
});
From the Backbone documentation:
In Backbone, the View class can also be thought of as a kind of
controller, dispatching events that originate from the UI, with the
HTML template serving as the true view. We call it a View because it
represents a logical chunk of UI, responsible for the contents of a
single DOM element.
Here's the general way to handle events in Backbone:
var NewUserView = Backbone.View.extend({
el: $('#window'),
render: function() {
// Render
},
events: {
"click #facebookButton": "loginViaFacebook"
},
loginViaFacebook: {
// Perform facebook login and add user to database
}
});
Where do you want the link to appear? On View page right? So , you should keep it in the same view on which you want the link to appear.
But , if you are building an architecture rather than just a web application, then you should put the onclick function in some different file where you will keep all these function and then import them in the view as required or keeping them in separate files and bundling them for import on view page.
Please make a file and write all the functions in that file and include that file in the your view file and use the onClick in the anchor tag. Please let me know if this make sense.

Loading a hidden div into an AJAX jQuery UI tab (future DOM element)

I have been trying to manipulate content that is loaded into jQuery UI tabs via AJAX.
As you can imagine, these elements are "future" DOM elements and aren't manipulated by normal $(".someClass")functions.
I've read using .live() for event handling is now deprecated using jQuery 1.7+ and is replaced by the new .on() method.
My issue is that the div I want to hide, when it loads in an AJAX tab, must be manipulated after the initial DOM load and is not bound to a click event at first.
My functions, which are currently wrapped in $() are below.
I think I have the syntax correct for links that use a click handler, but I'm not sure of the correct way to ".hide()" my "hiddenStory" div at load.
I also think that the functions themselves shouldn't be wrapped in an overall $()?
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
$(function(){
// this .hiddenStory div below is what I want to hide on AJAX load
// need syntax and/or new methods for writing this function
$(".hiddenStory").hide();
// this is a function that allows me to toggle a "read more/read less" area
// on the "hiddenStory" div
$(".showMoreOrLess").on('click', (function() {
if (this.className.indexOf('clicked') != -1 ) {
$(this).removeClass('clicked');
$(this).prev().slideUp(500);
$(this).html("Read More" + "<span class='moreUiIcon'></span>");
}
else {
$(this).addClass('clicked');
$(this).prev().slideDown(500);
$(this).html("See Less" + "<span class='lessUiIcon'></span>");
}
}));
});
// prevents default link behavior
// on BBQ history stated tab panes with
// "showMoreOrLess" links
$('.showMoreOrLess').click(function (event)
{
event.preventDefault();
// here you can also do all sort of things
});
// /prevents default behavior on "showMoreOrLess" links
Could you set the display: none via CSS and override it when you wanted to show the element's content? Another option, if you have to do it this way would be to add the `$(".hiddenStory").hide() in the callback from the AJAX load that is populating the element. For example:
$(".hiddenStory").load("http://myurl.com", function(){
$(".hiddenStory").hide();
}
);
If you aren't using the .load method, you should have some sort of call back to tie into (e.g. success if using $.ajax...)

MVC2 - Submit form with AJAX and non-AJAX

Using MVC2 I have created a form using the Ajax helper in a view. The form posts to a controller which binds to a model object. A PartialViewResult is returned by the controller and the HTML gets updated into a div. So far, so good.
I now need to submit the same form and return the results in a generated file for the user to download. Obviously I don't want the file contents going into my div.
Is there an elegant way to handle this situation without having to hack it to bits? I'm fairly new to MVC / AJAX and it's still a point of confusion for me.
You may not use ajax call to download files. Following links may help you to do what you are trying to do
JQuery Ajax call for PDF file download
http://forums.asp.net/t/1683990.aspx/1
OK, so I couldn't find any simple solutions anywhere so I came up with my own. I remove the Ajax event handlers from the form when I want the download, put them back when I want the Ajax. I'm guessing there's a more elegant way to do this, as this feels like a 'clever trick'. I'm open to better suggestions but so far this is my preferred method.
Reference ToggleAjax.js on my page:
var ToggleAjax = function ($, form) {
var onclick = form.onclick,
onsubmit = form.onsubmit;
$('input[class*="ajax-enabled"]').click(function () {
form.onclick = onclick;
form.onsubmit = onsubmit;
});
$('input[class*="ajax-disabled"]').click(function () {
form.onclick = function () { };
form.onsubmit = function () { };
});
};
Then I call ToggleAjax on my page and pass in the form:
$(function () {
ToggleAjax($, $('form')[0]);
});
And of course I add the class ajax-enabled or ajax-disabled to the input controls.

TinyMCE not working in http request xhr ajax generated page

So i I have a page that contains links that call an httpRequest. The request calls a php file that grabs data from mysql and pre populates a form which is then returned to the browser/webpage. My problem is that when the page is returned to the browser via the httpRequest/ajax the text area does not display the tinymce editor, it just displays a normal text area. It looks like my request and ajax is working fine the text area just doesn't have the tinycme editor on it.
When i don't use ajax it works fine but when i put it in a separate file and call it via ajax it doesn't bring in the tinymce editor.
Does anyone know how to fix this problem so that my ajax generated page displays the text area with the tinymce editor. Thank you.
Lets presume that your thinyMCE instance is initialized with code below
// initialize tinyMCE in page
tinyMCE.init({
mode: "textareas",
theme: "advanced"
});
and you have some kind of button somewhere in the page. For purpose of this tip, i will not give it any ID but you may. Now, using jQuery you can easily attach event handler to that button which will call through AJAX your server and take content which you want to put tinyMCE editor. Code which will do such job would look somehow like below.
$(function() {
$("button").bind("click", function() {
var ed = tinyMCE.get('content');
ed.setProgressState(1); // Show progress
$.getJSON('/page/12.json', { /* your data */
}, function(data) {
ed.setProgressState(0); // Hide progress
ed.setContent(data["body"]);
}
});
});
});
You can see that on button.click ajax will call url /page/12.json which will return JSON as response. bare minimum of that response could be:
{
title: "Page title",
body: "<html><head><title>Page title</title>......</html>"
}
I attached anonymous function as callback which will handle response from server. and hide progress indicator which is shown before ajax call.
About JSON
JSON is shorten of JavaScript Object Notation. It is JavaScript code!!! So don't be confused about it. Using JSON you can make javascript object which can have attributes you can use later in your code to access particular peace of data which that object "holds". You can look at it as some kind of data structure if it is easier to you.
Anyway, to show you how this JSON can be created by hand look at examples below
var data = new Object();
data.title = "Page title";
data.body = "<html....";
or
var data = {
title: "page title",
body: "<html...."
};
it is very same thing.
If you want to learn more about JSON point your browser to http://json.org.
===== alternative =====
Alternative to json solution could be just plane ajax call to server and response can be plain HTML (from your question I can assume that you have something like this already). So instad of calling $.getJSON you can use $.get(url, callback); to do same thing. The code at the top of my answer will not dramatically change. Instead of geting JSON in response you will get string which is HTML.
----------- BOTTOM LINE -------
I prefer JSON since it can be easily extended later with other attributes, so there is no painful code changes later ;)
Problem here will be that when you return the full page and render it using the ajax response, your tinymce instance has not been shut down before.
In order to do this you can call this small piece of code before you render the ajax response:
tinymce.execCommand('mceRemoveControl',true,'editor_id');
In this case the editor should initialize correctly. You are not allowed to initialize a tinymce editor with the same id before shutting the first one down.
Strangely i ran into this problem yesterday. Following code should work, but YMMV. Trick is to use the correct steps in ajax events. I used the Regular TinyMCE and made use of the jQuery library already included.
Following goes into your tinyMCE initialization tinyMCE.init() . All of the below block should be outside the document.ready.
myTinyInit = {
//.......All essential keys/values ...........
setup : function(ed) {
ed.onChange.add(function( ed ) {
tinyMCE.triggerSave();
}) }
//.....................
};
// Init the tinyMCE
tinyMCE.init(myTinyInit);
This ensures the content is being saved regularly onto the textarea that holds the value. Next step is setting up the request events.
Normally tinyMCE mceAddControl before the ajax post and mceRemoveControl after the ajax success should do the trick. But I found that often does not work.
I used the form as the jQuery selector in my case.
jQuery( '.myForm' )
.find( 'textarea#myTextArea' )
.ajaxStart(function() {
// If you need to copy over the values, you can do it here.
// If you are using jQuery form plugin you can bind to form-pre-serialize event instead.
// jQuery( this ).val( tinyMCE.get( jQuery( this ).attr( 'id' )).getContent() );
}).ajaxSend( function() {
// ! - step 2
// My case was multiple editors.
myEds = tinyMCE.editors;
for( edd in myEds ) {
myEds[ eds ].remove();
}
// tinyMCE.get( 'myTextarea' ).remove();
// strangely mceRemoveControl didnt work for me.
// tinyMCE.execCommand( 'mceRemoveControl', false, jQuery( this ).attr('id'));
}).ajaxSuccess(function() {
// Now we got the form again, Let's put up tinyMCE again.
txtID = jQuery( this ).attr( 'id' );
// ! - step 3
tinyMCE.execCommand( 'mceAddControl', false, txtID );
// Restore the contents into TinyMCE.
tinyMCE.get( txtID ).setContent( jQuery( this ).val());
});
Problems i came across :
Using mceRemoveControl always gave me r is undefined error persistently.
If you get a blank tinyMCE editor, check the DOM whether the ID of the textarea is replaced with something like mce_02, this means that TinyMCE is being initialized again or something is wrong with the order. If so, the tinyMCE is duplicated with each save.
if you are new to JS, I recommend using jQuery with the form plugin, it might be easier for you. But do use the regular non-jquery tinyMCE, as it is well documented.
I fixed this problem by recalling the function after the ajax call. In this part of my ajax:
if (xmlhttp.readyState==4 && xmlhttp.status==200)
{
document.getElementById("Content").innerHTML=xmlhttp.responseText;
tinymce();
Now it works fine.

JSF Status bar / connection status information

I would like to implement a kind of information for my users about the progress status. I have found several components like:
Richfaces status or IceFaces onnection Status
So, I would like to add something like that to my page especially for ajax requests. What's the easiest way to implement it? I would not like to use one of those components, rather programming my own one but I can't imagine how and how much effort it takes :-)
I am thankfull for ideas...
The standard JSF implementation doesn't provide a ready-to-use component for this. The JSF 2.0 specification however outlines the following in chapter 13.3.5.2:
13.3.5.2 Monitoring Events For All Ajax Requests
The JavaScript API provides the jsf.ajax.addOnEvent function that can be used to register a JavaScript function
that will be notified when any Ajax request/response event occurs. Refer to Section 14.4 “Registering Callback
Functions” for more details. The jsf.ajax.addOnEvent function accepts a JavaScript function argument that will be
notified when events occur during any Ajax request/response event cycle. The implementation must
ensure the JavaScript function that is registered must be called in accordance with the events outlined in
Section TABLE 14-3 “Events”.
You can find here a blog of one of the Mojarra developers which contains basic examples. Here's an extract of relevance:
<h3> Status:</h3>
<textarea id="statusArea" cols="40" rows="10" readonly="readonly" />
A simple textarea, not even hooked
into the backend server data model.
Then in our javascript (for the demo,
in a separately loaded file, though it
could just as easily be in page) we
have:
var statusUpdate = function statusUpdate(data) {
var statusArea = document.getElementById("statusArea");
var text = statusArea.value;
text = text + "Name: "+data.source.id;
if (data.type === "event") {
text = text +" Event: "+data.name+"\n";
} else { // otherwise, it's an error
text = text + " Error: "+data.name+"\n";
}
statusArea.value = text;
};
// Setup the statusUpdate function to hear all events on the page
jsf.ajax.addOnEvent(statusUpdate);
jsf.ajax.addOnError(statusUpdate);

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