phosphor-properties v2.0.0
phosphor-properties
A module for attached property descriptors.
Phosphor properties encapsulate several behaviors:
Creation - A property value can default to a static scalar value or be lazily created by invoking a value factory function.
Coercion - A property can coerce a user-provided value into a value which is guaranteed to be correct based on current state.
Notification - User code can be notified when a property value changes.
Attachment - A property can be defined for any object, not just for instances of the class which defines the property. This allows for extra state and behavior to be "attached" to arbitrary objects by external consumers of those objects.
These behavioral patterns are extremely useful for managing complexity in large applications. However, they are tedious and repetitive to implement manually. Phosphor properties reduce developer burden by bundling these behaviors into an efficient and type-safe form.
Package Install
Prerequisites
npm install --save phosphor-properties
Source Build
Prerequisites
git clone https://github.com/phosphorjs/phosphor-properties.git
cd phosphor-properties
npm install
Rebuild
npm run clean
npm run build
Run Tests
Follow the source build instructions first.
npm test
Build Docs
Follow the source build instructions first.
npm run docs
Navigate to docs/index.html
.
Supported Runtimes
The runtime versions which are currently known to work are listed below. Earlier versions may also work, but come with no guarantees.
- Node 0.12.7+
- IE 11+
- Firefox 32+
- Chrome 38+
Bundle for the Browser
Follow the package install instructions first.
npm install --save-dev browserify
browserify myapp.js -o mybundle.js
Usage Examples
Note: This module is fully compatible with Node/Babel/ES6/ES5. Simply omit the type declarations when using a language other than TypeScript.
Class authors should strive to maintain consistency in how their classes expose properties to consumers. The PhosphorJS project has adopted a set of conventions which cover property naming, behavior, and exposure. It is recommended for third party libraries to adopt these same conventions in order to ensure API consistency and maximal compatibility with libraries and meta tools which rely on these conventions.
When defining a property for use by instances of the same class:
Define the property as a static member of the class.
Ensure the class type is used as the property owner type.
Append the suffix
'Property'
to the static member name.Give the property a
name
which is the same as the static member name, minus the'Property'
suffix.Define a public getter/setter which delegates access to the static property. The getter/setter should contain no logic outside of delegation to the static property.
The name of the getter/setter should be the same as the
name
given to the property.Consumers should normally use the getter/setter to access the property, but meta tools and code generators are free to use the property API directly. This is why the getter/setter must be a pure delegate as described above.
When defining a property for use by instances of a different class:
Define the property as a static member of the class.
Ensure the instance type is used as the property owner type.
Append the suffix
'Property'
to the static member name.Give the property a
name
which is the same as the static member name, minus the'Property'
suffix.Define static methods to get and set the value of the property for a particular instance of the owner type. These two methods should contain no logic outside of delegation to the static property.
Name the static methods by prepending
'get'
and'set'
to the capitalized propertyname
.Consumers should normally use the static methods to access the property, but meta tools and code generators are free to use the property API directly. This is why the methods must be pure delegates as described above.
A property declared for instances of a different class is referred to as an attached property. The behavior and semantics of the property are defined by one class, but the property value belongs to a foreign instance. This pattern is useful when creating container objects which must associate container data with child objects in a way which doesn't require polluting the child class with extraneous data members.
Basic Value:
import {
Property
} from 'phosphor-properties';
class MyObject {
static valueProperty = new Property<MyObject, number>({
name: 'value',
value: 42,
});
get value(): number {
return MyObject.valueProperty.get(this);
}
set value(value: number) {
MyObject.valueProperty.set(this, value);
}
}
let obj = new MyObject();
obj.value; // 42
obj.value = 17; //
obj.value; // 17
Create Callback:
import {
Property
} from 'phosphor-properties';
class MyObject {
static oneProperty = new Property<MyObject, number[]>({
name: 'one',
value: [1, 2, 3],
});
static twoProperty = new Property<MyObject, number[]>({
name: 'two',
create: () => [1, 2, 3],
});
get one(): number[] {
return MyObject.oneProperty.get(this);
}
get two(): number[] {
return MyObject.twoProperty.get(this);
}
}
let obj1 = new MyObject();
let obj2 = new MyObject();
obj1.one; // [1, 2, 3]
obj1.two; // [1, 2, 3]
obj2.one; // [1, 2, 3]
obj2.two; // [1, 2, 3]
obj1.one === obj2.one; // true
obj1.two === obj2.two; // false
Changed Callback:
import {
Property
} from 'phosphor-properties';
class MyObject {
static valueProperty = new Property<MyObject, number>({
name: 'value',
value: 42,
changed: (owner, old, value) => { owner._onValueChanged(old, value); },
});
get value(): number {
return MyObject.valueProperty.get(this);
}
set value(value: number) {
MyObject.valueProperty.set(this, value);
}
private _onValueChanged(old, value): void {
console.log(`value changed: ${old}, ${value}`);
}
}
let obj = new MyObject();
obj.value; // 42
obj.value = 17; // logs: value changed: 42, 17
obj.value; // 17
Coerce Callback:
import {
Property
} from 'phosphor-properties';
class MyObject {
static checkableProperty = new Property<MyObject, boolean>({
name: 'checkable',
value: true,
changed: owner => { MyObject.checkedProperty.coerce(owner); },
});
static checkedProperty = new Property<MyObject, boolean>({
name: 'checked',
value: false,
coerce: (owner, value) => owner.checkable ? value : false,
});
get checkable(): boolean {
return MyObject.checkableProperty.get(this);
}
set checkable(value: boolean) {
MyObject.checkableProperty.set(this, value);
}
get checked(): boolean {
return MyObject.checkedProperty.get(this);
}
set checked(value: boolean) {
MyObject.checkedProperty.set(this, value);
}
}
let obj = new MyObject();
obj.checkable; // true
obj.checked; // false
obj.checked = true; //
obj.checked; // true
obj.checkable = false; //
obj.checked; // false
Notify Signal:
import {
IChangedArgs, Property
} from 'phosphor-properties';
import {
ISignal, Signal
} from 'phosphor-signaling';
class MyObject {
static stateChangedSignal = new Signal<MyObject, IChangedArgs<any>>();
static valueProperty = new Property<MyObject, number>({
name: 'value',
value: 42,
notify: MyObject.stateChangedSignal,
});
static nameProperty = new Property<MyObject, string>({
name: 'name',
value: 'John',
notify: MyObject.stateChangedSignal,
});
get stateChanged(): ISignal<MyObject, IChangedArgs<any>> {
return MyObject.stateChangedSignal.bind(this);
}
get value(): number {
return MyObject.valueProperty.get(this);
}
set value(value: number) {
MyObject.valueProperty.set(this, value);
}
get name(): number {
return MyObject.nameProperty.get(this);
}
set name(value: number) {
MyObject.nameProperty.set(this, value);
}
}
function logger(sender: MyObject, args: IChangedArgs<any>): void {
console.log(`name: ${args.name}, old: ${args.oldValue}, new: ${args.newValue}`);
}
let obj = new MyObject();
obj.stateChanged.connect(logger);
obj.value = 17; // logs: name: 'value', old: 42, new: 17
obj.name = 'Jane'; // logs: name: 'name', old: 'John', new: 'Jane'
Compare Callback:
import {
Property
} from 'phosphor-properties';
class MyObject {
static oneProperty = new Property<MyObject, number>({
name: 'one',
value: 42,
changed: () => { console.log('one changed'); },
});
static twoProperty = new Property<MyObject, number>({
name: 'two',
value: 19,
compare: (a, b) => true,
changed: () => { console.log('two changed'); },
});
static threeProperty = new Property<MyObject, number>({
name: 'three',
value: 100,
compare: (a, b) => false,
changed: () => { console.log('three changed'); },
});
get one(): number {
return MyObject.oneProperty.get(this);
}
set one(value: number) {
MyObject.oneProperty.set(this, value);
}
get two(): number {
return MyObject.twoProperty.get(this);
}
set two(value: number) {
MyObject.twoProperty.set(this, value);
}
get three(): number {
return MyObject.threeProperty.get(this);
}
set three(value: number) {
MyObject.threeProperty.set(this, value);
}
}
let obj = new MyObject();
obj.one; // 42
obj.two; // 19
obj.three; // 100
obj.one = 0; // logs: one changed
obj.one; // 0
obj.one = 1; // logs: one changed
obj.one; // 1
obj.one = 1; // no log
obj.one; // 1
obj.two = 0; // no log
obj.two; // 0
obj.two = 1; // no log
obj.two; // 1
obj.two = 1; // no log
obj.two; // 1
obj.three = 0; // logs: three changed
obj.three; // 0
obj.three = 1; // logs: three changed
obj.three; // 1
obj.three = 1; // logs: three changed
obj.three; // 1
Attached Property:
import {
Property
} from 'phosphor-properties';
class MyWidget {
// ...
}
class MyContainer {
static stretchProperty = new Property<MyWidget, number>({
name: 'stretch',
value: 0,
coerce: (owner, value) => Math.max(0, value),
});
static getStretch(widget: MyWidget): number {
return MyContainer.stretchProperty.get(widget);
}
static setStretch(widget: MyWidget, value: number): void {
MyContainer.stretchProperty.set(widget, value);
}
addWidget(widget: MyWidget): void {
let stretch = MyContainer.getStretch(widget);
// ...
}
}
let widget = new MyWidget();
MyContainer.setStretch(widget, 3);
let container = new MyContainer();
container.addWidget(widget);