Descriptor.js

Descriptor is an extensible utility for describing and working with criteria in a unified format.

Descriptor is used primarily for:

• Describing datasets with a unified format
• Test if a value matches a Descriptor
• Filter an array for values matching the parameters of the Descriptor
• Idempotent serialization that can be used as unique keys for caching datasets
• Parse and stringify into multiple formats
• Comparing descriptors granularity(which we use for optimizing caches and HTTP requests)

What can you do with it?

Example

var descriptor={entityName:"Todo", predicate:"completed!=true"};

var filter=Descriptor.compile(descriptor);

var uncompletedTodos=todos.filter(filter);

What is provided out of the box?

For pre-built functionality, including default in your project gives you:

• Exports/Imports JSON, SQL and a non-standardized queryString format
• Basic store/collection/object descriptors

Example

Let's say you want to extend Descriptor's capability to include a parameter for logging out what's going on.

Descriptor.register("shouldLog", function(objectInDataset, parameterValue){

   if(parameterValue===true)
   {
      console.log(objectInDataset)
   }

   return true; // the object passes the criteria for this test
});

Features

1. Unified
   Provides a high-level, unified interface for describing queries/datasets.
2. Portable
   Outputs discrete, serializable strings that can be used as unique keys.
3. Extensible
   Has standard query features but offers hooks for teaching it new tricks.

Unified

Use Descriptor to describe and represent any dataset.

For example, HTML elements:

var navLinkDescriptor=new Descriptor({
   entityName:"a",
   predicate:"/href!=null"
});

var links=Descriptor.match(document.body);

Serializable

Descriptor is easily serializable for portability.

new Descriptor({entityName:"Task", sortBy:"dateCompleted"})
// becomes...
 /Task?predicate=&sortBy=dateCompleted

Becomes:

{
   entityName:"Task",
   predicate: [
      {dateDue}
   ],
   sortBy:
}

toQueryString()

Outputs:

/Task?predicate={}&sortBy=dateCompleted

Extensible

Descriptor.addComponent("ignore", function(o){

});

The array extensions add the ability to filter a data structure based on the Descriptor definition.

var criteria={
   entityName:"Task",
   predicate:"dateDue<$NOW",
   sortBy:"dateDue",
   limit:5
};

var filter=Descriptor.compile(criteria);

var top5OverdueTasks=filter(allTasks);