JavaScript¶

As of Elgg 1.9, we encourage all developers to adopt the AMD (Asynchronous Module Definition) standard for writing JavaScript code in Elgg. The 1.8 version is still functional and is described below.

Contents

AMD
- 1. Define your module as asynchronous JavaScript
- 2. Tell Elgg to asynchronously execute your module in the current page
Migrating JS from Elgg 1.8 to AMD / 1.9
Traditional JavaScript (1.8)
Core functions available in JS
- Ajax helper functions
- Hooks

AMD ¶

Defining and loading a module in Elgg 1.9 takes two steps:

Define your module as asynchronous JavaScript.
Tell Elgg to asynchronously execute your module in the current page.

1. Define your module as asynchronous JavaScript ¶

You can define a module by creating a view or registering a URL.

Defining modules as a view¶

Modules defined by creating views are immediately available for use and require no registration. To register a module named my/module, create the view views/default/js/my/module.js.

A basic module could look like this:

define(function(require) {
        var elgg = require("elgg");
        var $ = require("jquery");

        return function() {
                // Some logic in here
        };
});

Define your module via a URL¶

You can define an existing AMD module using elgg_define_js(). Traditional (browser-globals) JavaScript files can also be defined as AMD modules if you shim them by setting exports and optionally deps.

Warning

Calls to elgg_define_js() must be in an init, system event handler.

<?php

    elgg_register_event_handler('init', 'system', 'amd_init');

    function amd_init() {
            // AMD module as the view js/backbone
            elgg_define_js('backbone');

            // AMD module with a different path
            elgg_define_js('backbone', array(
                    'src' => '/vendors/backbone/backbone.js',
            ));

            // Shimmed AMD module
            elgg_define_js('jquery.form', array(
                    'src' => '/vendors/jquery/jquery.form.js',
                    'deps' => array('jquery'),
                    'exports' => 'jQuery.fn.ajaxForm',
            ));
    }

Some things to note¶

Do not use elgg.provide() or elgg.require() anymore. They are fully replaced by define() and require() respectively.
Return the value of the module instead of adding to a global variable.
Static views (.css, .js) are automatically minified and cached by Elgg’s simplecache system.

2. Tell Elgg to asynchronously execute your module in the current page ¶

Once an AMD module is defined, you can use require(["my/module"]) from JavaScript to access its “exported” value.

Also, calling elgg_require_js("my/module") from PHP tells Elgg to execute the module code on the current page.

Migrating JS from Elgg 1.8 to AMD / 1.9 ¶

Current 1.8 JavaScript modules will continue to work with Elgg.

We do not anticipate any backwards compatibility issues with this new direction and will fix any issues that do come up. The old system will still be functional in Elgg 1.9, but developers are encouraged to begin looking to AMD as the future of JS in Elgg.

Traditional JavaScript (1.8)¶

Register third-party libraries with elgg_register_js:

elgg_register_js('jquery', $cdnjs_url);

This will override any URLs previously registered under this name.

Load a library on the current page with elgg_load_js:

elgg_load_js('jquery');

This will include and execute the linked code.

Tip

Using inline scripts is strongly discouraged because:

They are not testable (maintainability)
They are not cacheable (performance)
Doing so forces some scripts to be loaded in <head> (performance)

Inline scripts in core or bundled plugins are considered legacy bugs.

Core functions available in JS ¶

elgg.echo()

Translate interface text

elgg.echo('example:text', ['arg1']);

elgg.system_message()

Display a status message to the user.

elgg.system_message(elgg.echo('success'));

elgg.register_error()

Display an error message to the user.

elgg.register_error(elgg.echo('error'));

elgg.forward()

elgg.normalize_url()

Normalize a URL relative to the elgg root:

// "http://localhost/elgg/blog"
elgg.normalize_url('/blog');

Redirect to a new page.

elgg.forward('/blog');

This function automatically normalizes the URL.

elgg.parse_url()

Parse a URL into its component parts:

// returns {
//   fragment: "fragment",
//   host: "community.elgg.org",
//   path: "/file.php",
//   query: "arg=val"
// }
elgg.parse_url(
  'http://community.elgg.org/file.php?arg=val#fragment');

elgg.get_page_owner_guid()

Get the GUID of the current page’s owner.

elgg.register_hook_handler()

Register a hook handler with the event system.

// old initialization style
elgg.register_hook_handler('init', 'system', my_plugin.init);

// new: AMD module
define(function (require) {
    var elgg = require('elgg');

    // [init, system] has fired
});

elgg.trigger_hook()

Emit a hook event in the event system.

// allow other plugins to alter value
value = elgg.trigger_hook('my_plugin:filter', 'value', {}, value);

elgg.security.refreshToken()

Force a refresh of all XSRF tokens on the page.

This is automatically called every 5 minutes by default.

This requires a valid security token in 1.8, but not in 1.9.

The user will be warned if their session has expired.

elgg.security.addToken()

Add a security token to an object, URL, or query string:

// returns {
//   __elgg_token: "1468dc44c5b437f34423e2d55acfdd87",
//   __elgg_ts: 1328143779,
//   other: "data"
// }
elgg.security.addToken({'other': 'data'});

// returns: "action/add?__elgg_ts=1328144079&__elgg_token=55fd9c2d7f5075d11e722358afd5fde2"
elgg.security.addToken("action/add");

// returns "?arg=val&__elgg_ts=1328144079&__elgg_token=55fd9c2d7f5075d11e722358afd5fde2"
elgg.security.addToken("?arg=val");

elgg.get_logged_in_user_entity()

Returns the logged in user as an JS ElggUser object.

elgg.get_logged_in_user_guid()

Returns the logged in user’s guid.

elgg.is_logged_in()

True if the user is logged in.

elgg.is_admin_logged_in()

True if the user is logged in and is an admin.

elgg.config.get_language()

Get the current page’s language.

There are a number of configuration values set in the elgg object:

// The root of the website.
elgg.config.wwwroot;
// The default site language.
elgg.config.language;
// The current page's viewtype
elgg.config.viewtype;
// The Elgg version (YYYYMMDDXX).
elgg.config.version;
// The Elgg release (X.Y.Z).
elgg.config.release;

Ajax helper functions ¶

The JS engine includes many features related to AJAX. Some are specific to Elgg, and some extend jQuery’s native AJAX features.

elgg.get()

Wrapper for jQuery’s $.ajax(), but forces GET and does URL normalization. Accepts all standard jQuery options.

// normalizes the url to the current <site_url>/activity
elgg.get('/activity', {
   success: function(resultText, success, xhr) {
      console.log(resultText);
   }
});

elgg.post()

Wrapper for jQuery’s $.ajax(), but forces POST and does URL normalization. Accepts all standard jQuery options.

elgg.action()

Calls an Elgg action with the data passed. This handles outputting of system messages and errors.

elgg.action('friend/add', {
   data: {
      friend: 1234
   },
   success: function(json) {
      // do something
   }
});

Hooks ¶

The JS engine has a hooks system similar to the PHP engine’s plugin hooks: hooks are triggered and plugins can register callbacks to react or alter information. There is no concept of Elgg events in the JS engine; everything in the JS engine is implemented as a hook.

Registering a callback to a hook¶

Callbacks are registered using elgg.register_hook_handler(). Multiple callbacks can be registered for the same hook.

The following example registers the elgg.ui.initDatePicker callback for the init, system event. Note that a difference in the JS engine is that instead of passing a string you pass the function itself to elgg.register_hook_handler() as the callback.

elgg.provide('elgg.ui.initDatePicker');
elgg.ui.initDatePicker = function() { ... }

elgg.register_hook_handler('init', 'system', elgg.ui.initDatePicker);

The callback¶

The callback accepts 4 arguments:

hook - The hook name
type - The hook type
params - An object or set of parameters specific to the hook
value - The current value

The value will be passed through each hook. Depending on the hook, callbacks can simply react or alter data.

Triggering custom hooks¶

Plugins can trigger their own hooks:

elgg.hook.trigger_hook('name', 'type', {params}, "value");

Available hooks¶

init, system: This hook is fired when the JS system is ready. Plugins should register their init functions for this hook.
ready, system: This hook is fired when the system has fully booted.
getOptions, ui.popup: This hook is fired for pop up displays (“rel”=”popup”) and allows for customized placement options.