Extjs in document management system

Pavel Kurnosov      
Github: pavel-kurnosov   
LinkedIn: pavelkurnosov   

Who is this person?


Senior Software developer 
at Joint Collaboration AS    
6 years experience  
   
Github: pavel-kurnosov        
LinkedIn: pavelkurnosov      

WHAT WE BUILD


We build document management system for building and construction area.
                                       

What we are using 

  • Sencha ExtJs 4.1.2 for now, we always trying to be up to date 
  • Sencha CMD for compiling packaging and deployment process
  • Build our own theme using SASS
  • Jasmine, Istanbul and Grunt for testing and coverage
  • BadBoy for automate browser UI testing
  • Sencha Touch 2.3.0 with Phonegap and Testflight

problem 1: Extjs not support rest services in a way how we want


Sencha support only static links that allows you add id.

Sample:
What we have: 
http://yourhost/services/room/static/folder/static/{id}
What we need:
http://yourhost/services/room/{roomId}/folder/{folderId}

Solution 1:


Override buildUrl method every time when we need different url and paste correct values


 buildUrl: function(request) {
     request.url = '/services/'+roomId+'/folder/'+folderId;    
     return this.callParent(arguments);
 }


But this is painful and I am too lazy to do it every time

Solution 2:

 Add new cool stuff to extjs using override feature and sleep well 


 Ext.Ajax.request({
      url: 'room/{roomId}/folder/{folderId}/',
      params: {
          roomId: 1,
          folderId: '123-ss-ww-111'
      }
});

Extjs override tips


"Override members of this class, Ext.Loader  which can properly order the override and its target class and the build process can determine whether the override is needed based on the required state of the target class "

Usage:
Initially was introduced as functionality for community that allows to fix small bugs. 

Bad practice: developers start using instead of extend;

Problem 2: Extjs models not support POLYMORPHISM 


Solution:

Thank's for Neil McGuigan for his post:
 
What it's give us: 
  • Extjs stores can contain different models
  • We have limited polymorph functionality, that allows us to save a lot of code

Problem 3: extjs support only crud operation for models




Out of the box extjs support for models only CRUD operations

Extjs solution:

How it works in extjs

Ext.define('app.model.Folder', {
    extend: 'Ext.data.Model',
    proxy: {
        type: 'rest',
        url: 'rooms/{roomId}/documents/folder',
        api: {
            create: 'rooms/{roomId}/documents/folder/{parentNodeId}',
            read: 'rooms/{roomId}/documents/folder/{parentNodeId}',
            update: 'rooms/{roomId}/documents/folder/{parentNodeId}',
            destroy: 'rooms/{roomId}/documents/folder/{parentNodeId}',
        }
    }
});

Our solution:


    Ext.define('app.model.Folder', {
    extend: 'Ext.data.Model',
    proxy: {
        type: 'phrest',
        url: 'rooms/{roomId}/documents/folder',
         actionMethods: {
            'flagThisFolder': 'PUT'
        },

        api: {
            flagThisFolder: 'rooms/{roomId}/documents/folder/{nodeId}/markThisFolder'
        }
    },

    markFolder: function (callback) {
        var options = {};
        options.customAction = 'flagThisFolder';
        options.callback = callback;
        this.doPost(options);
    }
});

What it is give us:

  • Reduce a lot of code (create ajax request, listen response, parse and apply to model)
  • Move logic to model
  • Framework care about all issues

Source:

Problem 4: we don't use/know all extjs features

  • We did a lot of refresh, instead of allow models, update views
  • We didn't use xtemplate to make own components
  • Ext.util.Bindable - usefull util to put view logic inside view

Problem 5: instant update and user notification

Initially we always shows loader for each action

Solution:

We change extjs behavior on each operation

UI: SASS and Compass

Suggestions:
  • Use @UI for component changes
  • Use font icons ;)
  • Customize theme build to use only styles that you need

Unit Testing: Jasmine and Grunt

We use jasmine and Istambul for testing and test coverage

Grunt has sencha modules for testing and test coverage

Automation UI testing of extjs application


What we tried:
  • Cucumber
  • Siesta
  • Badboy



questions?

Extjs in document management system

By Pavel Kurnosov

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Extjs in document management system

Extjs in document management system

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