angularfire-resource

Resource factory built on top of AngularFire

> Alpha release, feedback apreciated

Abstract

Resource instances are extended firebaseObject, so you'll find everything you're used to with firebase object, plus
+ createdAt / updatedAt timestamps
+ hooks (beforeCreate, afterCreate, beforeSave, afterSave)
+ a global instances map for each resource to ensure an instance is not retrieved 2 times from firebase
+ associations (hasOne, hasMany, hasAndBelongsToMany returning respectively a firebaseObject instance or association collections)

AssociationCollection instances are extended firebaseArray, plus
+ they are made of Resource instances
+ they can preload their own instances associations
+ they deal nicely with the firebase-util librairy for pagination & infinite scrolling work

Usage

Add the 'angularfire-resource' module as a dependency to your application module, and then define your model classes and their relations
through the FireResource factory

``javascript

angular.module('myApp', ['angularfire-resource'])

.factory('$firebase', function() {
return new Firebase('https://fireresourcetest.firebaseio.com/');
})

.factory('User', function(FireResource, $firebase) {
return FireResource($firebase.child('users'))
.hasMany('conversations')
.hasOne('displayedConversation', {className: 'Conversation', inverseOf: false, foreignKey: 'displayedConversationId' })
})

.factory('Conversation', function(FireResource, $firebase) {
return FireResource($firebase.child('conversations'), function(){
this.hasMany('users');
// customize the way you store foreign keys to be able to sort your association collection
this.hasMany('messages', {storedAt: 'createdAtDesc' }, function(baseRef, init){
// use firebase util to handle the pagination
init(new Firebase.util.Scroll(baseRef, '$value')).$next(5);
});
// use hooks
this.beforeCreate(function(){
this.createdAtDesc = - Date.now()
});
});
})

.factory('Message', function(FireResource, $firebase) {
return FireResource($firebase.child('messages'), function(){
// define one sided association (ie here no message foreign key will be set into the user model)
this.hasOne('user', { inverseOf: false });
this.hasOne('conversation');
});
})

`

The above code will maintain a deserialized data model with duplicated foreign keys, to allow security enforcement and easy admin queries.

`
root
|_ users
| |_ userId1
| | |_ displayedConversationId: conversationId1
| | |_ conversations
| | |_ conversationId1: true
| |_ userId2
| |_ conversations
| |_ conversationId1: true
|
|
|_ conversations
| |_ conversationId1
| |_users
| | |_ userId1: true
| | |_ userId2: true
| |_ messages
| |_ messageId1: aCustomValue
| |_ messageId2: aCustomValue
|
|
|_ messages
|_ messageId1
| |_ userId: userId1
| |_ conversationId: conversationId1
|_ messageId2
|_ userId: userId2
|_ conversationId: conversationId1

`

And now you can write some clean controllers :-)

`javascript

angular.module('myApp')

// Let's asume $currentUser is an instance of User retrieved from a resolve
.controller('ExamplesController', function($scope, Message, $currentUser){

// $query on all ( rootUrl/users )
$scope.allUsers = User.$query()

// $query on some, customizing your ref
$scope.someUsers = User.$query(function(baseRef, init){
init(new Firebase.util.Scroll(baseRef, 'presence')).$next(10)
});

// use $next and $prev to access the scroll instance of your custom ref (if firebase util is used)
$scope.loadMoreUsers = function(){
$scope.someUsers.$next(10)
};

// preload associations
$scope.conversations = $currentUser.$conversations().$include('messages')

// Instanciate new model
$scope.newMessage = Message.$new()
$scope.saveMessage = function(){
angular.extend($scope.newMessage, { userId: $currentUser.$id });

// save a new instance by adding it to a collection
$currentUser.$displayedConversation().$messages().$add($scope.newMessage)
$scope.newMessage = Message.$new();
};

// do sequential operations
$scope.createConversationWith = function(user) {
// create an instance into a collection
return $currentUser.$conversations().$create()
.then(function (conversation) {
// then add it to an other collection
conversation.$users().$add(user);
})
})

``

Demo

To have a more in depth look over a practical case, check out the demo

API / Documentation

In progress here