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makel-dom

Easily create and retrieve DOM elements with CSS selectors and group event listeners

Installation

npm i makel-dom

What's new in v1.2.0

You can now add event listeners with Evans using CSS selectors, which also enables delegation. This allows the listeners to work on dynamically added elements. Only listeners added via CSS selectors support delegation, while those attached directly to elements do not.

evans('.item', {  // CSS selector string (uses delegation)
  'click': event => { 
      // triggers for elements with class="item", even those added to the DOM later
  }
})

Description

makel() creates dom elements while dom() retrieves them. Together, they make dynamically loading HTML simple and elegant.

For example, let's say we want to dynamically add a new blog post.

<!-- index.html -->
<body>
  <div id="blog-container">
    <article class="blog-post">
      <p>Paragraph 1</p>
      <img class="thumbnail" src="photo1.png">
    </article>

    <!-- we want to add another post here
    <article class="blog-post">
      <p>Paragraph 2</p>
      <img class="thumbnail" src="photo2.png">
    </article>
    -->
  </div>
  <script type="module" src="./index.js">
</body>

Doing this in plain JS can be a hassle.

// index.js
// typical way of dynamically add a blog post with javascript
let blog = document.createElement('article')
blog.classList.add('blog-post')
let p = document.createElement('p')
p.innerText = 'Paragraph 2'
let img = document.createElement('img')
img.classList.add('thumbnail')
img.src = 'photo2.png'
blog.appendChild(p).appendChild(img)
document.getElementById('blog-container').appendChild(blog)

With the help of makel() and dom(), things become easier.

// index.js
// using makel-dom
import {makel, dom} from "./node_modules/makel-dom/src/index.js"

let blog = makel('article.blog-post',
              makel('p', 'Paragraph 2'),
              makel('img.thumbnail[src=photo1.png]'))

dom('#blog-container').appendChild(blog)

Getting started

CommonJS

const {makel, dom} = require('makel-dom')

ES6

import {makel, dom} from "./node_modules/makel-dom/src/index.js"

Bundlers

To require() this module, your code will have to be running on a server that supports CommonJS. Alternatively, bundlers such as Browserify and Webpack can bundle the code for use with non-CommonJS servers.

// app.js
const {makel, dom, doms, evans} = require('makel-dom');

dom("body").appendChild(
  makel("p", "Hello World")
);

Then run the bundle command.

browserify app.js > bundle.js

<!-- index.html -->
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <script src="bundle.js"></script>
</html>

Script tag

You can also reference the code directly through a <script> tag. Download the source here.

# source root folder
npm run vanilla

The non-module version for use with <script> tags is in the dist folder, which can be moved into your project.

<!-- index.html -->
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <script src="./makel-dom.js"></script>
  <script>
  dom("body").appendChild(
    makel("p", "Hello World")
  );
  </script>
</html>

Usage

Basic

The simplest example is adding an empty div tag to the document's body.

const body = dom('body')
body.appendChild(makel()) // makel without parameters creates a <div>

Makel usages

Makel helps create DOM elements.

Syntax

makel(cssSelector)
makel(cssSelector, innerText /* , element1, element2, ... */)
makel(cssSelector, element /* , element2, element3, ... */)

Return value

An Element.

Examples

const {makel, dom} = require('makel-dom')

let elt = null

// some examples

elt = makel() // <div></div>

// create a span node with an id
elt = makel('span#my-id') // <span id="my-id"></span>

// add class
elt = makel('span.my-class') // <span class="my-class"></span>

// add id and class
elt = makel('span#my-id.my-class') // <span id="my-id" class="my-class"></span>

// add class and attributes
elt = makel('a[href=#].link') // <a class="link" href="#"></a>

// add content to the new element (text & other nodes)
elt = makel('div',
    'paragraphs',
    makel('p', 'paragraph 1'),
    makel('p', 'paragraph 2')
)
// <div>
//  paragraphs
//  <p>paragraph 1</p>
//  <p>paragraph 2</p>
// </div>

// add the generated element to the DOM
dom('body').appendChild(elt)

Dom usages

Dom is equivalent to document.querySelector().

Syntax

dom(cssSelector)
dom(element, cssSelector)

Return value

An Element that is the first matching element of the selector.

Examples

const {dom} = require('makel-dom')

// return the element in DOM with given id
// same as document.querySelector('#myid')
dom('#myid')  

// return the first <div> in DOM that contains a child <p>
// same as document.querySelector('div>p')
dom('div>p')

// return the first element with class blog-post
// same as document.querySelector('.blog-post')
dom('.blog-post')

In addition, Dom can select elements relative to another element, even ones not yet added to the DOM tree.

const {makel, dom} = require('makel-dom')

let elt = makel('',  // short for 'div'
            makel('#1'), // short for 'div#1'
            makel('#2.selected'),
            makel('#3.selected')
          )
 // <div>
 //  <div id="1"></div>
 //  <div id="2" class="selected"></div>
 //  <div id="3" class="selected"></div>
 // </div>

// highlight the first <div> in elt with class 'selected'
dom(elt, 'div.selected').style.backgroundColor = '#FFFF00'

// finally add to DOM
dom('body').appendChild(elt)

Doms usages

Overlooked by most, Dom has a brother Doms who likes to keep to himself. Yet when called upon, Doms is kind and offers plenty of help. Doms can find all the elements Dom misses.

Syntax

doms(cssSelector)
doms(element, cssSelector)

Return value

A NodeList.

Examples

const {doms} = require('makel-dom')

// return all <li> in DOM that is a child of <ol>
// same as document.querySelectorAll('ol>li')
doms('ol>li')
// NodeList(3) [
//   <li>item1</li>,
//   <li>item2</li>,
//   <li>item3</li>
// ]

Evans usages

Evans is a hoarder of events. Instead of assigning individual event listeners, Evans groups all listeners of an element together.

Syntax

evans(element, obj)
evans(cssSelector, obj)

Return value

None.

Examples

const {evans, dom} = require('makel-dom') 

const input = dom('#textbox')
const button = dom('#btn')

evans(input, {
    'input': event => console.log('user entered text'),
    'blur': event => console.log('user exited textbox')
})

evans(button, {
    'click': event => console.log(input.value)
})

/* Same as doing
input.addEventListener('input', event => console.log('user entered text'))
input.addEventListener('blur', event => console.log('user exited textbox'))
button.addEventListener('click', event => console.log(input.value))
*/

CSS Selectors

Evans can also add event listeners to elements using CSS selectors. These listeners are delegated, allowing them to work on dynamically added elements — elements that are created and inserted into the page after it has loaded. Only event listeners added using CSS selectors have delegation enabled, while those attached directly to elements do not.

<!-- index.html -->
<ul>
  <li class="item">Click to Add!</li>
</ul>

const {dom, makel, evans} = require('makel-dom') 

evans('.item', {  // css selector string (uses delegation)
  'click': event => { // triggers for <li class="item">, even those added later
    let el = makel('li.item', 'Click to add another!')
    dom('ul').append(el)
  }
})

/*
<!-- index.html -->
<ul>
  <li class="item">Click to Add!</li>
  <li class="item">Click to add another!</li>
</ul>
*/