COMM.JSONRenderer

Constructs nodes from JSON structures as GUI tree structures. Lowers the learning curve of GUI development, because Javascript knowledge is not required to define user interfaces. The main purpose is to ease the development of user interfaces by defining them as data on the server, converting the data to JSON GUI trees and letting the client handle the rest. The end result is the same as defining the structures in JavaScript code.

This class is still in development, so expect more features and documentation as it matures.

Inherits from:

Constructor Method

The constructor is invoked, when a new instance of COMM.JSONRenderer is created.

To create a new instance use COMM.JSONRenderer.nu( data, parent ) or new COMM.JSONRenderer( data, parent ).

constructor( data, parent )

Description

Renders JSON structured data, see some of the demos for usage examples.

Parameters:

data: The data structure used for building. parent: The parent view (or app) (Optional)

Class Methods

implement( interface )

Inherited from: HClass

Description

Copies the members of interface to a HClass or a class inherited from HClass.

Usage:

Defines an interface: 
// Create an interface class that calculates the area
var AreaInterface = HClass.extend({
  constructor: null,
  area: function() {
    return this.getWidth() * this.getHeight();
  }
});



// Create a class that contains the coordinates of a rectangle.
var Rectangle = HClass.extend({
  constructor: function( x, y, width, height ) {
    this.x = x;
    this.y = y;
    this.width = width;
    this.height = height;
  },
  getWidth: function() {
    return this.width;
  },
  getHeight: function() {
    return this.height;
  }
});


// Makes the Rectangle class implement the AreaInterface
Rectangle.implement( AreaInterface );

nu( )

Inherited from: HClass

Class members:

Description

nu is a protected class method.

It does the same thing as the new keyword, but it is a class method.

Parameters:

Any parameters are passed on to the constructor method.

Usage:

Creates a class MyClass, then creates two instances of it: myClassInstance1 and myClassInstance2. The end result is the same. 
var MyClass = HClass.extend({
  name: 'Foo',
  constructor: function( param1, param2 ){
    var logMsg = [ 'param1:', param1,
                   'param2:', param2,
                   'name:', this.name ];
    console.log( logMsg.join(' ') );
  }
});

// Construction using the new keyword:
var myClassInstance1 = new MyClass( 'one', 'two' );

// Construction using the nu method:
var myClassInstance2 = MyClass.nu( 'one', 'two' );
However, when extending in place, the benefits of the nu method become obvious.

// Extending in place with the new keyword:
var myExtendedClassInstance1 = new (
  MyClass.extend({
    name: 'Bar'
  })
)( 'one', 'two' );

// The same as above, but using the nu method:
var myExtendedClassInstance2 = MyClass.extend({
  name: 'Bar'
}).nu( 'one', 'two' );

extend( instance, static )

Inherited from: HClass

Description

The class method used to extend a class.

If the member name constructor is defined as null instead of a function block in the instance object block, the class is defined as a singleton (single instance class).

Parameters:

instance The object that defines the class instance members.
static The object that defines the static class members.

Returns:

Returns the extended class object.

Usage:

var Point = HClass.extend({
  constructor: function( x, y ) {
    this.x = x;
    this.y = y;
  }
});
var Rectangle = Point.extend({
  // Instance members:
  constructor: function( x, y, width, height ) {
    this.base( x, y );
    this.width = width;
    this.height = height;
  },
  getWidth: function() {
    return this.width;
  },
  getHeight: function() {
    return this.height;
  }
},


// Class Members
{ description: "this is a Rectangle",
  getClass: function() {
    return this;
  }
});

Instance Methods

die( )

defineInScope( definition )

render( )

findInScope( className )

renderNode( dataNode, parent )

undefineInScope( )

extEval( block )

toString( )

Inherited from: HClass

Protected instance method, returns the instance represented as a String.

valueOf( )

Inherited from: HClass

Protected instance method, returns the value of an instance.

base( )

Inherited from: HClass

This method can be called from any other method to invoke that method's parent

Other Instance Members

version = 0.7

prototype = { }

Inherited from: Object

Description

The prototype member of Object defines the instance members. These are copied to the instance object when the new keyword is called.