Backbone JS w/ Coffeescript basic GET - json

Question

I'm learning both CoffeeScript and Backbone JS. I want to load just one piece of equipment. Yes, I know I don't need Backbone JS for this - But it helps me to learn if I start with basics. As soon as the page loads, I want it to grab some JSON from the server, and display it on the page.
Here is my coffeescript so far:
jQuery ->
class Equipment extends Backbone.Model
defaults:
title:''
desc:''
url:'/getData'
class ItemView extends Backbone.View
tagName: 'div'
initialize: ->
_.bindAll #, 'render'
render: ->
$(#el).html """
<h1>#{#model.get 'title'}</h2>
<p>#{#model.get 'desc'}</p>
"""
#
class AppRouter extends Backbone.Router.extend
routes:
'':'getData'
getData: ->
#equipment = new #Equipment()
#equipmentView = new #ItemView
model: #equipment
#equipment.fetch()
$('div').html #equipmentView.render().el
appRouter = new AppRouter
Backbone.history.start()
I feel like I have all the pieces in place, and am getting no errors (either in compilation or running the page).
The basic JSON I expect back from the server is just a PHP page echoing this:
{
"title": "title",
"desc": "description"
}
What am I missing?

Answer 1

Does #equipment.fetch() even trigger a HTTP request?
To my understanding you must set the id: #equipment = new #Equipment(id:123) which would trigger a "/getData/123" request.
or specify the url in the fetch: #equipment.fetch(url:"/getData") to load
But then the view would still be empty, because the data isn't yet loaded when the View render() is executed. Backbone doesn't automatically update views when models change (Like EmberJS does).
Add #listenTo(#model, "change", #render) to the initialize method to re-render when the model changes.
I found a nice guide/tutorial for you
http://adamjspooner.github.com/coffeescript-meet-backbonejs/

Answer 2

You have to tell Backbone to route your initial url ('') like this :
Backbone.history.start pushState: true
You also should pass an id (I think Backbone will request /getData/undefined in your case and on a side note I think you should use coffee's fat arrows instead of bindAll (it's one of the many great thing about coffeescript, but then you should get rid of some of the #s because they won't refer to window anymore...