Renderer Component Tree Expanders

The Renderer offers some utility functions for simplifying the tree-creation process. These functions are called expanders because they expand information you provide into a full component tree. These expanders are specified in the prototree itself by name and and are provided options to control the expansion process. For example:

var protoTree = {
    expander: {
        type: "fluid.renderer.repeat",
        repeatID: "recordType",
        controlledBy: "recordlist.name",
        pathAs: "elementPath",
        tree: { value: "${{elementPath}}" }
    }
};

This prototree above uses the fluid.renderer.repeat expander (described in more detail below), which repeats the provided tree based on the data found in data model at the path specified by controlledBy. The expander saves the developer the work of having to create a prototree with an array of Bound components with a ":" at the end of the ID (indicating a repeated element), one for each piece of data in the data model:

var protoTree = {
    recordType: {
        children: [
            { "recordType:": "${recordlist.name.0}" },
            { "recordType:": "${recordlist.name.1}" },
            { "recordType:": "${recordlist.name.2}" },
            { "recordType:": "${recordlist.name.3}" }
            // ...
        ]
    }
};

Using Expanders

Expanders are specified as wrappers around a component specification in the component tree: Instead of the usual componentID: {specification} form, the keyword expander is used, as shown below:

var tree = {
    expander: {
        type: "fluid.renderer.repeat",
        repeatID: "tab:"
        // ...
    }
};

You can also specify multiple expanders within a prototree by providing an array of expander specification in the expander field, as shown below:

var tree = {
    expander: [
        {
            type: "fluid.renderer.repeat",
            repeatID: "tab:"
            // ...
        },
        {
            type: "fluid.renderer.selection.inputs",
            selectID: "language"
            // ...
        }
        // ...
    ]
};

Available Expanders

Repetition Expander

The repetition expander takes care of replicating part of the prototree as many times as are required based on the data in the the model.

The following fields are supported by the fluid.renderer.repeat expander:

Example

In this example, the fluid.renderer.repeat expander is being used to declare a tree for a set of tabs. The controlledBy property indicates that the data model field of tabs contains the data to be used.

cspace.tabsList.modelToTree = function (model, options) {
    var tree = {
        expander: {
            type: "fluid.renderer.repeat",
            repeatID: "tab:",
            controlledBy: "tabs",
            pathAs: "tabInfo",
            tree: {
                tabLink: {
                    target: "${{tabInfo}.href}",
                    linktext: {
                        messagekey: "${{tabInfo}.name}"
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    };
    return tree;
};

Selection To Inputs Expander

The simple Select protocomponent format shown on the ProtoComponent Types page is sufficient for a <select> element, but radio buttons and check boxes must also have entries for each button or box. The selection to inputs expander will automatically generate these entries based on the options available in the select.

The following fields are supported by the fluid.renderer.selection.inputs expander:

Example

var tree = {
    expander: {
        type: "fluid.renderer.selection.inputs",
        rowID: "layout",
        labelID: "layoutLabel",
        inputID: "layoutChoice",
        selectID: "layout-checkbox",
        tree: {
            selection: "${layouts.selection}",
            optionlist: "${layouts.choices}",
            optionnames: "${layouts.names}"
        }
    }
};

Condition Expander

The condition expander provides a mechanism for selecting between two alternative renderer component sub-trees based on the outcome of a condition e.g. the boolean evaluation of a value, or the return value of a function call.

The following fields are supported by the fluid.renderer.condition expander:

Examples

In the following example, the condition is that.options.showDeleteButton. The renderer will evaluate the component's showDeleteButton option and if it is true will use the component tree specified by trueTree. Note that no falseTree is provided. If the option is false or not present, nothing will be rendered.

my.conditional.modelToTree = function (model, options) {
    var tree = {
        expander: {
            type: "fluid.renderer.condition",
            condition: options.showDeleteButton,
            trueTree: {
                deleteButton: {
                    decorators: [{
                        type: "attrs",
                        attributes: {
                            value: options.strings.deleteButton
                        }
                    }, {
                        type: "jQuery",
                        func: "prop",
                        args: {
                            disabled: options.checkDeleteDisabling
                        }
                    }]
                }
            }
        }
    };
    return tree;
};

In the following example, the condition is a call to the function cspace.header.assertMenuItemDisplay() with a particular argument taken from the itemName subcomponent. If the function call returns true, the renderer component subtree specified by trueTree will be used.

my.conditional.modelToTree = function (model, options) {
    var tree = {
        expander: {
            type: "fluid.renderer.condition",
            condition: {
                funcName: "cspace.header.assertMenuItemDisplay",
                args: "${{itemName}.hide}"
            },
            trueTree: {
                label: {
                    target: "${{item}.href}",
                    linktext: {
                        messagekey: "${{item}.name}"
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    };
};