Getting "reserved word 'function’" when trying to define coffee script function - function

I have this coffee script
#open_login_dialog = () ->
opt = {
autoOpen: false,
modal: true,
width: 'auto',
focus: function(e) ->
$(this).dialog('option', 'width', $("#loginBox").width())
}
Rails is reporting the cryptic error, “SyntaxError: [stdin]:184:12: reserved word 'function’”. It doesn’t tell me a line, but when I comment out the “focus:function” part everything works, which leads me to believe that’s the culprit. How do I write the above so that it plays nicely with coffee script?

As per #muistooshort's comment, You need to use coffeescript function syntax, which replaces function(a,b,c) with (a,b,c) ->
Secondly, you need to continue using : for assignment inside an object.
I would also suggest brushing up a little on coffeescript. This is my favourite resource on the language. A linter would also help to catch these basic syntax errors.
Your code can be further cleaned up:
#open_login_dialog = ->
opt =
autoOpen: false
modal: true
width: 'auto'
focus: ->
$(this).dialog 'option', 'width', $('#loginBox').width()
Explanation
If you don't expect any parameters, you can leave out the () from the function definition and just use the arrow ->.
You don't need {} brackets to define an object
When defining an object over multiple lines, there is no need for trailing commas
You aren't using the eventObject e in the focus listener, so that can be left out too.
Parenthesis are optional when calling functions and passing them parameters.

Related

Conditionally adding tags options parameter to select2

I have multiple elements on a page that are triggering a load of select2 to the element. I'm trying to conditionally check if the element has a certain class, and if so add the tag option; otherwise do not. I thought something like this would work, but it's not:
$('.element_to_add_select_two_on').select2({
tags:function(element) {
return (element.className === 'classname_i_am_targeting');
},
});
What am I missing here? I'm subjecting myself to the following buffoonery to get this to target and load:
$('.element_to_add_select_two_on').each((index,element) => {
let showTags = false;
if ($(element).attr('class').split(' ').includes('classname_i_am_targeting')) {
showTags = true;
}
$(element).select2({
tags:showTags,
});
});
There are a few problems with your first attempt. First, you are defining tags as a function when what you want is the result of the function, since tags needs to be defined as a boolean true or false. The other is that inside your .select2() call, you do not have access to the calling element $('.element_to_add_select_two_on') in the way that you think. It isn't an event that you are listening on, it's a function call that wants an object passed with its configuration.
You conveyed that your second method works, but it can be simplified with the jQuery hasClass() function:
$('.element_to_add_select_two_on').each((index, element) => {
$(element).select2({
tags: $(element).hasClass('classname_i_am_targeting'),
});
});
There is a much simpler way to do all of this, however, and it is much more flexible and already built into select2 via the way of data-* attributes (note, you need jQuery > 1.x). You can simply add data-tags="true" to any of your select elements with which you want tags enabled. These will override any configuration options used when initializing select2 as well as any defaults:
<select data-tags="true">
...
</select>

Term for an if condition that is always true

What to call an if where the condition is always true, like below?
if (functionThatAlwaysReturnsTrue()) {
// Some code that always runs
}
This is for a commit message, explaining when and why this bit of code came to be.
In the world of logic, these are known as tautologies.
In logic, a tautology (from the Greek word ταυτολογία) is a formula that is true in every possible interpretation.
For example, the function...
function isHungry() {
return true;
}
Will always evaluate to true, and would be considered a tautological function.

Passing a function as an attribute value

I was wondering if it was possible to pass a function foo() as an attribute func="foo()" and have it called this.func() inside of the polymer element?
<foo-bar func="foo()"></foo-bar>
Polymer({
is: 'foo-bar',
properties: {
func: Object,
},
ready: function() {
this.func();
}
});
I've been trying to get this working for ages with no luck.
Thanks in advance.
<foo-bar func="foo()"></foo-bar>
Polymer({
is: 'foo-bar',
properties: {
func: {
type: String, // the function call is passed in as a string
notify: true
},
attached: function() {
if (this.func) {
this.callFunc = new Function('return '+ this.func);
this.callFunc(); // can now be called here or elsewhere in the Polymer object
}
});
So the trick is that "foo( )" is a string when you first pass it to the Polymer element. I fought with this for a while as well and this is the only way I could find to get it done. This solution creates a function that returns your function call, which you assign as the value of one of your polymer element properties.
Some people might say you shouldn't use the Function constructor because it is similar to eval( ) and.... well you know, the whole 'eval is evil' thing. But if you're just using it to return a call to another function and you understand the scope implications then I think this could be an appropriate use-case. If I'm wrong I'm sure someone will let us know!
Here's a link to a nice SO answer about the differences between eval( ) and the Function constructor in case it can help: https://stackoverflow.com/a/4599946/2629361
Lastly, I put this in the 'attached' lifecycle event to be on the safe side because it occurs later than 'ready'. I'm not sure if an earlier lifecycle event or 'ready' could be used instead of 'attached'. Perhaps someone can improve this answer and let us know.

Explain question mark (?) used in ES6/JSX code

I'm using a library called react-forms in my React app. To better understand how it works I've been reading the code, but a convention keeps popping up which confuses me. Here's the ES6/JSX code:
'use strict';
var React = require('react/addons');
var cx = React.addons.classSet;
var Checkbox = React.createClass({
propTypes: {
/...code.../
},
render(): ?ReactElement {
/...code.../
},
onChange(e: {target: {checked: boolean}}) {
/...code.../
}
});
module.exports = Checkbox;
Note render(): ?ReactElement {}. That's the part which is confusing me. Could someone offer guidance on where to learn more about this syntax? I've hit a lot of dead ends via Google.
If you go to the package.json of react-forms, and look at the browserify section:
"browserify": {
"transform": [
[
"reactify",
{
"es6": true,
"target": "es5",
"stripTypes": true
}
]
]
},
stripTypes is enabled. It strips out things like ?ReactElement, which means it maybe returns a ReactElement (and otherwise null or undefined)
The {target: {checked: boolean}} means e has a target property, which has a checked property which is a boolean.
These are hints for the Flow type checker. You'll also see #flow in a comment at the top of all files that should be type checked. A type checker is a tool – like unit tests – that makes you more confident of your program's correctness, in a way that doesn't require manual testing. In many cases those little type annotations replace unit tests we'd otherwise write.
If you use flow in your project and try to do something like:
<Checkbox />
It would give you an type error because value and onChange are required props. Unlike the runtime props check, this happens without actually running the code (often as soon as you save the file).

In what contexts is interpolation legal in Angular, and why?

I know that Angular's string interpolation normally operates on expressions inside Handlebars-style {{ double curly braces }}, and by observation I know that I can use it in contexts like
text outside HTML tags: <span>{{ 'string literal expression ' }}</span>
attribute values inside HTML tags: link
and not to generate attributes themselves, i.e.
<a {{ 'href="/link/to/elsewhere"' }}>link</a>
does not get interpolated.
What I'm curious about is why: what are the rules on where interpolation does and doesn't happen, where this is documented, and what the design considerations or constraints are that led to this.
I guess this is because the document is parsed as HTML by the browser before Angular sees it, so the structure is dictated by HTML and the {{ stuff }} has to appear in places that are well-formed according to HTML even before interpolation happens. But I'd appreciate knowing the whole story.
What are the rules on where interpolation does and doesn't happen ?
Angular.js uses $compile service to compile a piece of DOM. The docs says:
The compilation is a process of walking the DOM tree and matching DOM elements to directives.
In the source code of compile.js there is a function collectDirectives, I trimmed it to show only the relevant code:
function collectDirectives(node, directives, attrs, maxPriority, ignoreDirective) {
var nodeType = node.nodeType;
// ....
switch(nodeType) {
case 1: /* Element */
// ....
// iterate over the attributes
for (var attr, name, nName, ngAttrName, value, nAttrs = node.attributes,
j = 0, jj = nAttrs && nAttrs.length; j < jj; j++) {
// ....
addAttrInterpolateDirective(node, directives, value, nName);
// ....
}
// ....
break;
case 3: /* Text Node */
addTextInterpolateDirective(directives, node.nodeValue);
break;
case 8: /* Comment */
// ....
break;
}
directives.sort(byPriority);
return directives;
}
As you can see, $compile search for interpolated content only inside attributes and text nodes when it iterates a piece of DOM.
Those functions, addTextInterpolateDirective and addAttrInterpolateDirective "translate" the interpolated expression into directives that $watch interpolated expressions and update the DOM element.
Where this is documented?
The compilation phase is documented here: http://docs.angularjs.org/guide/compiler
It's getting better every day but still some in-depth stuff are not clear until you read the source code itself. I guess some things are just too compilcated to explain without showing the code.
What the design considerations or constraints are that led to this?
I guess there are two reasons:
Angular operates on DOM nodes rather than strings, If angular needed to interpolate attributes or elements then It should operate on html strings which is probably bad for performance.
There is no major use case for such things.
If you still want to interpolate everything, do that kind of magic inside a directive:
An example:
app.directive('myAnchor',function(){
return {
restrict: "E",
transclude: true,
link: function(scope,element,attrs,ctrl,$transclude) {
attrs.$observe('interpolate', function(val){
var e = angular.element("<a " + val + "></a>");
$transclude(scope,function(clone){
e.append(clone);
});
element.replaceWith(e);
});
}
};
});
Be sure to read this:
What is the difference between the $parse, $interpolate and $compile services?