Any recommendations for deep data structures with Backbone?

Question

I\'ve run into a headache with Backbone. I have a collection of specified records, which have subrecords, for example: surgeons have scheduled procedures, procedures have equip

Answer 1

I would separate out the different surgeons, procedures, equipment, etc. as different resources in your web service. If you only need to update the equipment for a particular procedure, you can update that one procedure.

Also, if you didn't always need all the information, I would also lazy-load data as needed, but send down fully-populated objects where needed to increase performance.

Answer 2

This can be helpful in you case: https://github.com/PaulUithol/Backbone-relational

You specify the relations 1:1, 1:n, n:n and it will parse the JSON accordingly. It also create a global store to keep track of all records.

Answer 3

So, one way I solved this problem is by doing the following:

1. Have all models inherit from a custom BaseModel and put the following function in BaseModel:

       convertToModel: function(dataType, modelType) {
           if (this.get(dataType)) {
               var map = { };
               map[dataType] = new modelType(this.get(dataType));
               this.set(map);
           }
       }
   

2. Override Backbone.sync and at first let the Model serialize as it normally would:

   model.set(response, { silent: true });

3. Then check to see if the model has an onUpdate function:

               if (model.onUpdate) {
                   model.onUpdate();
               }
   

4. Then, whenever you have a model that you want to generate submodels and subcollections, implement onUpdate in the model with something like this:

           onUpdate: function() {
               this.convertToModel('nameOfAttribute1', SomeCustomModel1);
               this.convertToModel('nameOfAttribute2', SomeCustomModel2);
           }