Access Nested Backbone Model Attributes from Mustache Template

Question

I have one Backbone model which has an attribute that is a reference to another Backbone model. For example, a Person has a reference to an Address object.

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Answer 1

I handled this by making another version of toJSON called deepToJSON that recursively traverses nested models and collections. The return value of that function can then be passed to a handlebars.js template.

Here is the code:

_.extend(Backbone.Model.prototype, {
  // Version of toJSON that traverses nested models
  deepToJSON: function() {
    var obj = this.toJSON();
    _.each(_.keys(obj), function(key) {
      if (_.isFunction(obj[key].deepToJSON)) {
        obj[key] = obj[key].deepToJSON();
      }
    });
    return obj;
  }
});

_.extend(Backbone.Collection.prototype, {
  // Version of toJSON that traverses nested models
  deepToJSON: function() {
    return this.map(function(model){ return model.deepToJSON(); });
  }
});