tsQuery - JS library wrapper for FormAPI

Hi, I'm new here. I created a small JS library to simplify some of the scripting involved with dynamic manipulation of data capture forms (item addressing, events).

I decided to open source it, hoping it can help someone else. It was created to solve my own unique problem at my current workplace, so it doesn't have everything for everyone. Feature and pull requests are welcome. :-)

https://github.com/kaimallea/tsquery

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Rick Poulin

That's a pretty neat concept, but there's not a lot of meat in here. If you added much more of the same jQuery-style functionality, this could be really useful.

One question though, are there any dependencies you haven't mentioned? I noticed that in your README you show an example where you call each() on an array, without ever extending the Array prototype with that function.

kmallea

That's a pretty neat concept, but there's not a lot of meat in here. If you added much more of the same jQuery-style functionality, this could be really useful.

One question though, are there any dependencies you haven't mentioned? I noticed that in your README you show an example where you call each() on an array, without ever extending the Array prototype with that function.

Hi, there are no dependencies. The .each() method is included. Queries return a special tsQuery object (much like jQuery objects), which have the built-in methods (like each, on, val) available to take action. I need to document all of the available methods; you can view them in the source for now.

What type of "meat" are you looking for? The features that it includes now were for my own specific purposes. I'm open to suggestions!

The most important feature, imo, is event management. The FormsAPI currently only allows a single handler per item event. But with this you register multiple handlers on a single item's onItemChange, for example. This allowed me to break away from having long, complex handlers that try to do too much.

151113_SuperintendentMonthlyReport.rptdesign

Migrateduser

Hi, I'm new here. I created a small JS library to simplify some of the scripting involved with dynamic manipulation of data capture forms (item addressing, events).

I decided to open source it, hoping it can help someone else. It was created to solve my own unique problem at my current workplace, so it doesn't have everything for everyone. Feature and pull requests are welcome. :-)

https://github.com/kaimallea/tsquery

This is interesting. Will surely try it out. Thank you for sharing.

Rick Poulin

Hi, there are no dependencies. The .each() method is included. Queries return a special tsQuery object (much like jQuery objects), which have the built-in methods (like each, on, val) available to take action. I need to document all of the available methods; you can view them in the source for now.

Right, I missed that the first time I glanced over your code. Nice.

What type of "meat" are you looking for? The features that it includes now were for my own specific purposes. I'm open to suggestions!

The most important feature, imo, is event management. The FormsAPI currently only allows a single handler per item event. But with this you register multiple handlers on a single item's onItemChange, for example. This allowed me to break away from having long, complex handlers that try to do too much.

Yeah, the event handling is a real nice touch. In terms of additional requirements, I don't have any particularly good ideas off hand. The combination of your selectors and each() can get pretty powerful on their own. I'd say replicant instance manipulation is always tricky w.r.t. asynchronous operation, so adding a function that's a kind of addInstanceThenExecute(callback) would be nice. Another common one is calendar / datepicker widgets, so including an implementation of that as part of your script would be nice, esp. if you can combine it with some kind of $('*_date').calendar() -style selector that would hook the onCallout event for all matching fields... that kind of thing.

If you've got the time to spare and really want to bulk up your library for community use, just keep tabs on the FormsPub forum and build subroutines for the problems that come up frequently.

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kmallea

Right, I missed that the first time I glanced over your code. Nice.

Yeah, the event handling is a real nice touch. In terms of additional requirements, I don't have any particularly good ideas off hand. The combination of your selectors and each() can get pretty powerful on their own. I'd say replicant instance manipulation is always tricky w.r.t. asynchronous operation, so adding a function that's a kind of addInstanceThenExecute(callback) would be nice. Another common one is calendar / datepicker widgets, so including an implementation of that as part of your script would be nice, esp. if you can combine it with some kind of $('*_date').calendar() -style selector that would hook the onCallout event for all matching fields... that kind of thing.

If you've got the time to spare and really want to bulk up your library for community use, just keep tabs on the FormsPub forum and build subroutines for the problems that come up frequently.

I haven't done any async operations in TS forms yet, I'll have to play around with that to see what could be made easier. I'll definitely keep an eye on the forums to see what common problems can be solved. Thanks for your input!