Infuser

What is it?

Infuser is a JavaScript library you can use to retrieve templates (or other files) asynchronously (or synchronously, if you must).

Why would I use it?

• It provides a consistent way to access external view data from the client.
• Choose your own local caching mechanism:
  • Store your templates locally in an in-memory cache
  • Store your templates (if your templating framework requires it) in Script elements in the DOM
  • Or - write your own storage provider
• Keep your templates tidy - If you're using a templating framework like jquery-tmpl or underscore templates, you don't have to keep all of your template/partial content in the same file. Separate your concerns, and simply pull them on an as-needed basis.
• Have static content you want to request as partials? Just like templates, just pull them as-needed and attach to the element of your choice.

How do I use it?

Check out the examples folder in this repository for more details.

JavaScript:

// Pulling static content
// When the DOM is ready...
$(function(){
    infuser.defaults.templateUrl= "./templates",// look for templates in a "templates" directory (relative to this page)
    infuser.defaults.templateSuffix= ".html"    // look for templates with an ".html" suffix (this is a default value, just showing as an example)
    infuser.defaults.templatePrefix = "tmpl_";  // look for templates with a "tmpl_" prefix
    // Now - wire up a click event handler that asynchronously fetches a static html file and appends it to an element
    $('#btnTemplate').click(function(){
        infuser.get("HelloWorld", function(template){
            var tgt = $("#target");
            target.hide().children().remove();
            tgt.append($(template)).fadeIn();
        })
    });
});

// Pulling a jquery-tmpl
var model = { names: ["Ronald", "George", "William", "Richard"] };
$(function(){
    $('#btnTemplate').click(function(){
        infuser.defaults.templateUrl= "./templates",
        infuser.get("Example", function(template){
            var tgt = $("#target");
            target.hide().children().remove();
            var div = $("<div />");
            $.tmpl(template, model).appendTo(div);
            tgt.append(div).fadeIn();
        })
    });
});

// Tell infuser how to produce a rendered template with the template engine of your choice
infuser.defaults.bindingInstruction = function(template, model) {
    return $.tmpl(template, model); //jquery-tmpl
};

// The 'infuse' method lets you retrieve, render and attach to the DOM in one call
// It takes a template name and an options object which can contain:
// preRender          - called before the template is 'rendered/attached' to the DOM
// render             - can be used to override the default rendering behavior for infuser
// postRender         - called after the template is rendered/attached to the DOM
// model              - option javascript object to be used to bind to a data-driven template
// useLoadingTemplate - true/false option to display a loading template (defined below)
// loadingTemplate    - object defining a template that can be displayed while the requested template is retrieved
//                      "loadingTemplate.content" - html content of the loading template
//                      "loadingTemplate.transitionIn(target)"  - enables hooks into rendering the loading template
//                      "loadingTemplate.transitionOut(target)" - enables hooks into how to remove loading template
// targetSelector     - CSS selector which resolves the target element to be used when rendering the template
//                      If you don't provide a targetSelector, infuser will try to find a target using the behavior
//                      defined in infuser.defaults.domTargetResolver (default behavior is finding a DOM element
//                      with an id matching template name)
// you can also just pass in the options object and include "templateId" as one of the members
$('#btnPlain').click(function(){
    infuser.infuse("HelloWorld", { postRender: togglePlain, targetSelector: "#targetPlain" });
});

$('#btnFancy').click(function(){
    infuser
        .infuse(
            "Example",
            {
                targetSelector: "#targetFancy",
                model: model,
                preRender: function(target, template) { $(target).children().remove().end().fadeOut().hide(); },
                render:    function(target, template) { $(target).append(template).slideDown('slow'); },
                postRender: toggleFancy
            }
    );
});

What about dependencies?

Infuser takes a dependency on jQuery (1.5.2 or greater) and Traffic Cop (see https://github.com/ifandelse/trafficcop).

In order to run the samples under the example folder, you need to:

• Install Node.js, and then "npm install". Then browse to http://localhost/spec/runner.html
• If you're on windows, you could set up a virtual directory under IIS at the top level of this repository (top level, or the script refs will break!)

Test dependencies (pick one & then browse to the spec/runner.html):

• Node.js
• IIS (set up virtual directory at root of repository)
• Other web server (just be sure and configure the hosting from the root of repo)