Netzke Core is the bare bones of the Netzke framework. For pre-built full-featured components (like grids, forms, tab/accordion panels, etc), see netzke-basepack.
Notes on versioning:
- The latest released version is:
- The version under development (master): version.rb
- For other versions check corresponding branches
For rationale and mini-tutorial, refer to the meta gem's README. The README you're reading explains the Netzke architecture in detail. Some knowledge of Sencha Ext JS may be required to fully understand this overview.
What is a Netzke component
A Netzke component is a Ruby class (further referred to as "server class"), which is being represented by an Ext JS Component on the server-side (further referred to as "client class"). The responsibility of the server class is to "assemble" the client class and provide the configuration for its instance (further referred as "client class instance"). Even if it may sound a bit complicated, Netzke provides a simple API for defining and configuring the client class. See Client class for details.
Further, each Netzke component inherits convenient API for enabling the communication between the client and server class. See Client-server interaction for details.
With Netzke components being a Ruby class, and the client class being incapsulated in it, it is possible to use a Netzke component in your application by simply writing Ruby code. However, while creating a component, developers can fully use their Ext JS skills - Netzke puts no obstacles here.
A typical Netzke component's code is structured like this (on example of MyComponent):
your_web_app
app
components
my_component.rb <-- the Ruby class
my_component
some_module.rb <-- optional extra Ruby code
client
some_dependency.js <-- optional external JS library
init_component.js <-- optional override ("include") to the client class
extra_functionality.js <-- more override
my_special_button.css <-- optional custom CSS
Client class
The generated client class is inherited (as defined by the Ext JS class system) from an Ext JS class, which by default is Ext.panel.Panel
. For example, a component defined like this:
class HelloWorld < Netzke::Base
end
will have the following client class generated by Netzke (simplified):
Ext.define('Netzke.classes.HelloWorld', {"extend":"Ext.panel.Panel", "mixins":["Netzke.Base"]});
Netzke.Base
contains a set of client class methods and properties common to every Netzke component.
Extending HelloWorld
will be automatically reflected on the client-class level:
class HelloNewWorld < HelloWorld
end
will have the following client class generated (simplified):
Ext.define('Netzke.classes.HelloNewWorld', {"extend":"Netzke.classes.HelloWorld"});
Configuration of the client-class can be done by using the Netzke::Base.client_class
. For example, in order to inherit from a different Ext JS component, and to mix in the methods defined in the client
subfolder:
class MyTabPanel < Netzke::Base
client_class do |c|
c.extend = "Ext.tab.Panel"
c.include :extra_functionality
end
end
The code above will set the extend
property to "Ext.tab.Panel", and will mix in the following scripts:
-
app/components/my_tab_panel/client/my_tab_panel.js
(if that exists) app/components/my_tab_panel/client/extra_functionality.js
For more details on defining the client class, refer to Netzke::Core::ClientClassConfig.
Composition
Any Netzke component can define child components, which can either be statically nested in the compound layout (e.g. as different regions of the 'border' layout), or dynamically loaded at a request (as in the case of the edit form window in Netzke::Basepack::GridPanel
, for example).
Defining child components
You can define a child component by calling the component
class method which normally requires a block:
component :users do |c|
c.klass = GridPanel
c.model = "User"
c.title = "Users"
end
Nesting components
Declared components can be referred to in the component layout:
def configure(c)
super
c.items = [
{ xtype: :panel, title: "Simple Ext panel" },
:users
]
end
Dynamic loading of components
Next to being statically nested in the layout, a child component can also be dynamically loaded by using client class' netzkeLoadComponent
method:
this.netzkeLoadComponent('users');
this will load the "users" component and add it to the current container.
For more details on dynamic component loading refer to netzkeLoadComponent docs.
For more details on composition refer to Netzke::Core::Composition.
Actions, toolbars, and menus
Actions are used by Ext JS to share functionality and state among multiple buttons and menu items. Define actions with the action
class method:
action :show_report do |c|
c.text = "Show report"
c.icon = :report
end
The icon for this button will be images/icons/report.png
(see Icons support).
Refer to actions in toolbars:
def configure(c)
super
c.bbar = [:show_report]
end
Actions can also be referred to is submenus:
c.tbar = [{text: 'Menu', menu: {items: [:show_report]}}]
For more details on composition refer to Netzke::Core::Actions.
Client-server interaction
Communication between the client class and the corresponding server class is done by means of defining endpoints. By defining an endpoint on the server, the client class automatically gets access to an equally named method that calls the server.
Calling an endpoint from client class
By defining an endpoint like this:
class SimpleComponent < Netzke::Base
endpoint :whats_up do |greeting|
# ...
end
end
...the client class will obtain a method called whatsUp
, that can be called on the this.server
object like this:
this.server.whatsUp(greeting, callback, scope);
The last 2 params are optional:
-
callback
- function to be called after the server successfully processes the endpoint call; the function will receive, as its only argument, the result of theendpoint
block execution -
scope
- context in which the callback function will be called; defaults to the component's instance
As of version 1.0, the endpoint may receive an arbitrary number of arguments, for example:
this.server.doSomething('value 1', true, callback, scope);
class SimpleComponent < Netzke::Base
endpoint :do_something do |arg_1, arg_2|
# arg_1 == 'value 1'
# arg_2 == true
end
end
Calling client class methods from endpoint
An endpoint can instruct the client instance of the component to execute a set of methods in response, passing those methods arbitrary parameters, by using the client
method. For example:
class SimpleComponent < Netzke::Base
endpoint :whats_up_server do
client.set_title("Response from server")
client.my_method
end
end
Here the client class will first call its setTitle
method (defined in Ext.panel.Panel
) with parameter passed from the endpoint. Then a custom method myMethod
will be called with no parameters.
For more details on client-server communication see Netzke::Core::Services.
Icons support
Netzke can optionally make use of icons for making clickable elements like buttons and menu items more visual. The icons should be (by default) located in app/assets/images/icons
.
An example of specifying an icon for an action:
action :logout do |c|
c.icon = :door
end
The logout action will be configured with public/assets/icons/door.png
as icon.
For more details on using icons refer to Netzke::Core::Actions.
I18n
Netzke Core will automatically include Ext JS localization files based on current I18n.locale
.
Also, Netzke Core uses some conventions for localizing actions. Refer to Netzke::Core::Actions.
Routing
Any Netzke component can react on a specific hash-route in the URL, which can be achieved by specifying netzkeRoutes
hash on the client class, similarly to how Ext JS handles routes in its controllers:
// e.g. in my_component/client/my_component.js
{
netzkeRoutes: {
'users': 'onUsers',
'users/:id': 'onUser'
},
onUsers: function() {},
onUser: function(userId) {},
}
If a component gets loaded dynamically and it figures out that one of its routes is currently active, it'll trigger the corresponding handler after being rendered.
Authentication and authorization
You can access the instance of the Netzke controller via Netzke::Base.controller
. As it inherits from
ApplicationController
, it also has the access to the current_user
if that is defined.
Requirements
- Ruby >= 2.3.0
- Rails ~> 5.1.0
- Ext JS = 6.5.1
Installation
$ gem install netzke-core
For the latest ("edge") stuff, instruct the bundler to get the gem straight from github:
gem 'netzke-core', github: "netzke/netzke-core"
By default, Netzke assumes that your Ext JS library is located in public/extjs
. It can be a symbolic link, e.g.:
$ ln -s PATH/TO/YOUR/EXTJS/FILES public/extjs
(Make sure that the location of the license.txt distributed with Ext JS is exactly public/extjs/license.txt
)
Running tests
The bundled spec/rails_app
application used for automated testing can be easily run as a stand-alone Rails app. It's a good source of concise, focused examples. After starting the application, access any of the test components (located in spec/rails_app/app/components
) by using the following url:
http://localhost:3000/netzke/components/{name of the component's class}
For example http://localhost:3000/netzke/components/Endpoints
To run a specific Mocha JS spec (located in spec/mocha
) for a component, append ?spec={name of spec}
, for example:
[http://localhost:3000/netzke/components/Endpoints?spec=endpoints](http://localhost:3000/components/Endpoints?spec=endpoints)
To run all the tests (from the gem's root):
$ rake
This assumes that the Ext JS library is located/symlinked in spec/rails_app/public/extjs
. If you want to use Sencha CDN instead, run:
$ EXTJS_SRC=cdn rake
Contributions and support
Help developing Netzke by submitting a pull request when you think others can benefit from it.
If you feel particularily generous, you can support the author by donating a couple bucks a week at GitTip.
Useful links
- Project website
- Live demo (features Netzke Basepack, with sample code)
- Twitter - latest news about the framework
Copyright (c) 2009-2017 Good Bit Labs, released under the same license as Ext JS