Can I query the server with a Backbone.js model?

Question

My model looks like that:

  var Item = Backbone.Model.extend({
    urlRoot: '/item/ajax_get'
  });

If I want to get a specific item from the database, I can do: item = new Item({id: 11});

But what if I don't know the id of the item that I want to fetch? Instead, I want to query the database (via AJAX) to get the most recent item sorted by timestamp. Is this possible with Backbone.js?

Not with Backbone only. You need some server-side code which can be called with some AJAX functions... — Balint Bako, Jul 27 '13 at 15:26
I can handle the server-side code, just not sure how to make it work with Backbone — Shamoon, Jul 27 '13 at 15:29

score 3 · Accepted Answer · edited Oct 25 '13 at 01:19

3

Backbone.js is designed for RESTful APIs so in those terms, what you're looking for is the first item of a collection sorted by the timestamp in descending order. That means what you're looking at is something like

GET /items/?count=1&sortBy=timestamp&order=descending

Which means you'd have something like the following code in backbone.js

var Item = Backbone.Model.extend({
});

var ItemCollection = Backbone.Collection.extend({
  model: Item,
  url: '/items/'
});

var collection = new ItemCollection();

collection.fetch({
  data: {
    count: 1,
    sortBy: 'timestamp',
    order: 'descending'
  }
}).then(function () {
  var myItem = collection.models[0];
}, function (error) {
  console.log(error);
});

edited Oct 25 '13 at 01:19

Robert Verdes

380
3
9

answered Jul 27 '13 at 15:33

quinnirill

814
4
6

Can this be sent as a POST, instead of a GET? – Shamoon Jul 27 '13 at 15:36
2

Sending it as `POST` instead of `GET` is not very restful; Backbone.js uses `POST` for saving newly created items. AFAIK you're going to have to use jQuery XHR directly, i.e. overwriting the `fetch` method of your model with something custom. – quinnirill Jul 27 '13 at 15:43

Can I query the server with a Backbone.js model?

1 Answers1