merging #179 + refactor, view 'attributes' for this.el

backbone.js

@@ -826,6 +826,9 @@
   // Cached regex to split keys for `delegate`.
   var eventSplitter = /^(\w+)\s*(.*)$/;
 
+  // List of view options to be merged as properties.
+  var viewOptions = ['model', 'collection', 'el', 'id', 'attributes', 'className', 'tagName'];
+
   // Set up all inheritable **Backbone.View** properties and methods.
   _.extend(Backbone.View.prototype, Backbone.Events, {
 
@@ -901,12 +904,10 @@
     // attached directly to the view.
     _configure : function(options) {
       if (this.options) options = _.extend({}, this.options, options);
-      if (options.model)      this.model      = options.model;
-      if (options.collection) this.collection = options.collection;
-      if (options.el)         this.el         = options.el;
-      if (options.id)         this.id         = options.id;
-      if (options.className)  this.className  = options.className;
-      if (options.tagName)    this.tagName    = options.tagName;
+      for (var i = 0, l = viewOptions.length; i < l; i++) {
+        var attr = viewOptions[i];
+        if (options[attr]) this[attr] = options[attr];
+      }
       this.options = options;
     },
 
@@ -916,8 +917,7 @@
     // an element from the `id`, `className` and `tagName` proeprties.
     _ensureElement : function() {
       if (!this.el) {
-        var attrs = {};
-        if (this.attributes) attrs = this.attributes;
+        var attrs = this.attributes || {};
         if (this.id) attrs.id = this.id;
         if (this.className) attrs['class'] = this.className;
         this.el = this.make(this.tagName, attrs);

test/view.js

@@ -84,6 +84,12 @@ $(document).ready(function() {
     ok(!view.el);
   });
 
+  test("View: with attributes", function() {
+    var view = new Backbone.View({attributes : {'class': 'one', id: 'two'}});
+    equals(view.el.className, 'one');
+    equals(view.el.id, 'two');
+  });
+
   test("View: multiple views per element", function() {
     var count = 0, ViewClass = Backbone.View.extend({
       el: $("body"),