JavaScript Object Context

Version: 1.0.2

A JavaScript object change tracking module. This module can be used as a standalone container to track JavaScript objects for changes.

A sandbox demo Angular 1 app that uses the module can be found in this plunker.

Angular 2+

By using the ngDoCheck lifecycle hook in Angular 2+ you can have Angular automatically evaluate the context for changes.

Angular 1.x

To use with Angular 1.x you must include the 'ngObjectContext' module as a dependency and it will automatically evaluate the context for changes.

• API Documentation
• Development

API Documentation

• object evaluate()

  This is the change tracking engine. Checks if any of the property values in each of the tracked objects have any changes. Will recursively evaluate child properties that are arrays/objects themselves.

  • returns object A reference to this for chaining.

• boolean doesObjectExist(objectReference)

  Checks to see if the provided object has already been added to the context.

  • parameter object objectReference The object to test for existence.
  • returns boolean if the objects exists already, false otherwise.

• object add(obj, [isStatusNew])

  Adds an object to the context. Any changes to the properties on this object will trigger the context to have changes (after evaluate() is called) and notify any subscribers.

  This method wraps the passed in object in an object that it can work with. The passed in object will be copied so it can store its original state.

  If a meta property does not exist on the object then one will be added to it.

  Any changes that are made to this object can be seen by querying the changeset property.

  • parameter object obj The object to start tracking.
  • parameter boolean isStatusNew [optional] A boolean flag to indicate if this object is to be marked as 'New' or 'Unmodified'. Default value is falsy.
  • returns object A reference to this for chaining.

• object delete(obj, [hardDelete], [canRemoveMetadata])

  Marks the provided object as 'Deleted'. If the object doesn't exist, an exception will be thrown.

  If hardDelete is true, then the object will be instantly removed from the context. Any children of this object will also be removed.

  Note: When 'hard-deleting' an object, the _objectMeta property is looked at and its status is reverted to its original value before deletion.

  • parameter object obj The object to delete.
  • parameter boolean hardDelete [optional] A boolean flag to determine if the object should be removed or just marked as 'Deleted'. The default value is falsy.
  • parameter boolean canRemoveMetadata [optional] A boolean flag to determine if an objects metadata property is to be removed before deleting.
  • returns object A reference to this for chaining.
  • throws Errorif the provided object doesn't exist.

• boolean hasChanges([obj])

  Determines if any of the tracked objects in the context have any active changesets or are marked as 'New', 'Modified', or 'Deleted'. If an object is passed, then just that object will be tested for changes.

  • parameter object obj An existing context object to test for changes.
  • returns boolean True if changes exist, false otherwise.

• boolean hasChildChanges(obj)

  Determines if the provided object has any children that are marked as being changed.

  • parameter object obj The object to check.
  • returns boolean True if the object has child changes, false otherwise.
  • throws Error if the provided object could not be found.

• object clear(canRemoveMetadata)

  Removes all currently tracked objects, and resets the state of the context.

  This will usually be called when the state of the application is being destroyed, or if any object that are laoded into the context are no longer relevant.

  Note: When clearing the context, the _objectMeta property is looked at and its status is reverted to its original value before it is cleared.

  • parameter boolean canRemoveMetadata Whether or not the objects' metadata property is removed from itself before clear.
  • returns object A reference to this for chaining.

• array getObjects(returnMappedObjects)

  Returns all objects in the context in their current state.

  • parameter boolean returnMappedObjects If true is passed, then the internal objects are returned, otherwise the objects as they were added are returned in their current state.
  • returns array An array of all existing objects.

• array getUnmodifiedObjects(parentsOnly)

  Returns all objects that have status of 'Unmodified'.

  • parameter boolean parentsOnly Retrieve only parent objects if true, false will fetch all objects including children.
  • returns array An array of objects with a status of 'Unmodified'.

• array getModifiedObjects(parentsOnly)

  Returns all objects that have status of 'Modified'.

  • parameter boolean parentsOnly Retrieve only parent objects if true, false will fetch all objects including children.
  • returns array An array of objects with a status of 'Modified'.

• array getNewObjects(parentsOnly)

  Returns all objects that have status of 'New'.

  • parameter boolean parentsOnly Retrieve only parent objects if true, false will fetch all objects including children.
  • returns array An array of objects with a status of 'New'.

• array getDeletedObjects(parentsOnly)

  Returns all objects that have status of 'Deleted'.

  • parameter boolean parentsOnly Retrieve only parent objects if true, false will fetch all objects including children.
  • returns array An array of objects with a status of 'Deleted'.

• array getObjectsByType(requestedType)

  Attempts to find all objects in the context that have the requestedType noted in their metadata. If an object does not provide a type, its default type of 'Object' will be used.

  • parameter string requestedType The type of objects to fetch from the context.
  • returns array An array of objects found.

• object acceptChanges()

  Applies all changes in currently modified objects. After this, all objects that previously had a status that was not equal to 'Unmodified', will now have an 'Unmodified' status.

  If the object has a status of deleted, then the object will be removed from the context.

  Objects that were unchanged are not touched.

  • returns object A reference to this for chaining.

• array getChangeset(obj, [includeChildren])

  Returns the changeset for a specified object. If an object was not provided, then we return the changeset for all objects.

  If includeChildren is passed along with an object, then we fetch the changesets for all objects in the context, that have the provided object as a parent.

  • parameter object obj An object to search for.
  • parameter boolean includeChildren [optional] Include children of the provided (if possible)
  • returns array An array with the properties that have changed.
  • throws Error if the provided object could not be found.

• object getOriginal(objectReference)

  Returns a copy of the original unchanged object in the state that it was in when it was either added or last saved.

  If the object is not found then null is returned.

  • parameter object objectReference The object to search for.
  • returns object A copy of the original object, or null if not found.

• string getObjectStatus(obj)

  Gets an object status for the specified object reference.

  • parameter object obj The object to search for.
  • returns string The status of the requested object.
  • throws Error if obj could not be found.

• object rejectChanges([obj])

  Rejects changes for an object that exist in the context by setting the values in the object back its original values.

  If a single object is passed, it will be tested for existance, and then that one object will be reverted. If no object is passed, then all objects will be reverted.

  • parameter object obj [optional] An existing context object to reject changes for.
  • returns object A reference to this for chaining.
  • throws Error if obj is provided and could not be found.

• number subscribeChangeListener(listener)

  Subcribes the passed listener function that will be invoked when a change has occured.

  • parameter function listener A function to invoke when a change occurs to any objects in the context.
  • returns number The total number of subscribed listeners.
  • throws Error if listener is not a function.

• number unsubscribeChangeListener(listener)

  Unsubscribes the provided change listener.

  • parameter function listener A function reference to unsubscribe.
  • returns number The total number of subscribed listeners.
  • throws Error if listener was not subscribed first.

• void log()

  Output the state and all objects in the context to the console.

  • returns object A reference to this for chaining.

• object create()

  Call this when creating a new object. The object will be flagged as 'New' and will automatically be added to the context.

  • parameter string type The type of object to create.
  • parameter object obj THe object structure to add.
  • returns object A reference to this for chaining.

• array query(type, [params])

  Used for querying objects from the context by type. Query parameters are optional to filter the data further.

  • parameter string type The type of objects to query.
  • parameter object params [optional] An object containing properties and values to search for.
  • returns array An array of found objects.

Development

• Install karma (with the karma-coverage plugin):
  • npm install karma
  • npm install karma-coverage
  • npm install karma-jasmine
  • npm install jasmine-core
  • (Windows only) npm install -g karma-cli
  • karma init
  • karma start