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Terms, Icons, and Labels

Many classes have shortcut names used when creating (instantiating) a class with a configuration object. The shortcut name is referred to as an alias (or xtype if the class extends Ext.Component). The alias/xtype is listed next to the class name of applicable classes for quick reference.

Access Levels

Framework classes or their members may be specified as private or protected. Else, the class / member is public. Public, protected, and private are access descriptors used to convey how and when the class or class member should be used.

Member Types

Member Syntax

Below is an example class member that we can disect to show the syntax of a class member (the lookupComponent method as viewed from the Ext.button.Button class in this case).

lookupComponent ( item ) : Ext.Component
protected

Called when a raw config object is added to this container either during initialization of the items config, or when new items are added), or {@link #insert inserted.

This method converts the passed object into an instanced child component.

This may be overridden in subclasses when special processing needs to be applied to child creation.

Parameters

item :  Object

The config object being added.

Returns
Ext.Component

The component to be added.

Let's look at each part of the member row:

Member Flags

The API documentation uses a number of flags to further commnicate the class member's function and intent. The label may be represented by a text label, an abbreviation, or an icon.

Class Icons

- Indicates a framework class

- A singleton framework class. *See the singleton flag for more information

- A component-type framework class (any class within the Ext JS framework that extends Ext.Component)

- Indicates that the class, member, or guide is new in the currently viewed version

Member Icons

- Indicates a class member of type config

- Indicates a class member of type property

- Indicates a class member of type method

- Indicates a class member of type event

- Indicates a class member of type theme variable

- Indicates a class member of type theme mixin

- Indicates that the class, member, or guide is new in the currently viewed version

Class Member Quick-Nav Menu

Just below the class name on an API doc page is a row of buttons corresponding to the types of members owned by the current class. Each button shows a count of members by type (this count is updated as filters are applied). Clicking the button will navigate you to that member section. Hovering over the member-type button will reveal a popup menu of all members of that type for quick navigation.

Getter and Setter Methods

Getting and setter methods that correlate to a class config option will show up in the methods section as well as in the configs section of both the API doc and the member-type menus just beneath the config they work with. The getter and setter method documentation will be found in the config row for easy reference.

History Bar

Your page history is kept in localstorage and displayed (using the available real estate) just below the top title bar. By default, the only search results shown are the pages matching the product / version you're currently viewing. You can expand what is displayed by clicking on the button on the right-hand side of the history bar and choosing the "All" radio option. This will show all recent pages in the history bar for all products / versions.

Within the history config menu you will also see a listing of your recent page visits. The results are filtered by the "Current Product / Version" and "All" radio options. Clicking on the button will clear the history bar as well as the history kept in local storage.

If "All" is selected in the history config menu the checkbox option for "Show product details in the history bar" will be enabled. When checked, the product/version for each historic page will show alongside the page name in the history bar. Hovering the cursor over the page names in the history bar will also show the product/version as a tooltip.

Search and Filters

Both API docs and guides can be searched for using the search field at the top of the page.

On API doc pages there is also a filter input field that filters the member rows using the filter string. In addition to filtering by string you can filter the class members by access level, inheritance, and read only. This is done using the checkboxes at the top of the page.

The checkbox at the bottom of the API class navigation tree filters the class list to include or exclude private classes.

Clicking on an empty search field will show your last 10 searches for quick navigation.

API Doc Class Metadata

Each API doc page (with the exception of Javascript primitives pages) has a menu view of metadata relating to that class. This metadata view will have one or more of the following:

Expanding and Collapsing Examples and Class Members

Runnable examples (Fiddles) are expanded on a page by default. You can collapse and expand example code blocks individually using the arrow on the top-left of the code block. You can also toggle the collapse state of all examples using the toggle button on the top-right of the page. The toggle-all state will be remembered between page loads.

Class members are collapsed on a page by default. You can expand and collapse members using the arrow icon on the left of the member row or globally using the expand / collapse all toggle button top-right.

Desktop -vs- Mobile View

Viewing the docs on narrower screens or browsers will result in a view optimized for a smaller form factor. The primary differences between the desktop and "mobile" view are:

Viewing the Class Source

The class source can be viewed by clicking on the class name at the top of an API doc page. The source for class members can be viewed by clicking on the "view source" link on the right-hand side of the member row.

Architect 3


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Controllers Reference

Controllers are the glue that binds the parts of an application together, implementing the business rules and logic that make your application behave as intended. They listen for events (usually from Views) and take some action based on the event, whether that is rendering Views, instantiating Models, or performing some other application logic. For example, if your app contains a tappable Logout button, a Controller listens to the button's tap event and takes the appropriate action, such as sending a move to another user in a game. A Controller lets Views handle the display of data and Models handle the loading and saving of data.

Working with Controllers in Architect

In Sencha's MVC package, Controllers manage Views. Views do not call out to Controllers to invoke methods. Views fire events, and Controllers respond to them. With Architect, you associate a View with a Controller by selecting the Controller in the Inspector, navigating to the Views config in the Config panel, and selecting from the list of available Views that shown in the dropdown list that appears there, or you can type the name of the View you want to select. Note that you have to add and build Views to your project before you can associate a View with a Controller.

You enable a Controller to respond to an event by adding a Controller action to the controller. using the Config panel:

  • In the Inspector, select the Controller to use
  • Go to the Config panel and navigate to Actions
  • Click the add button ("+") to the right under Value, and select Controller Action.
  • You will be prompted to choose a target type (a View) and an event for the action.

Once you choose the target View and event, Architect has everything it needs to subscribe to all user interface controls of that type.

For example in a Touch project, say you choose Ext.Button as the target type and the tap event. Architect automatically generates an onButtonTap method (which you can rename). It also generates a controlQuery of button. controlQuery specifies which UI controls the Controller needs monitor. It is akin to a CSS selector that works with components instantiated on the page. Double clicking the Controller action in the Inspector opens Code View for the action, where you can add your own code to determine the behavior that is triggered when a user taps the button.

Adding Controllers

Use the Inspector to add Controllers to either Ext JS or Sencha Touch projects: click the add button ("+") at the top right of the Inspector and select Controller from the list of components. Architect displays the Controller ("MyController") under the Controller node. From there, use the Config Panel to add functionality to the Controller. See the next section to learn how to do that.

You can also add Controllers through the Toolbox, where Controller, Controller Action, and Controller Reference are all available as standard components. This is not the recommended practice.

Main Controller configs

To set configs for a Controller, select that Controller in the Inspector, then open the Config panel. The most commonly used configs for both Ext JS and Sencha Touch projects are:

Actions. Click the add button next to Actions in the Config panel to add actions to a Controller. Select either Controller Action or Application Action. For Controller Action, follow the instructions in Config to choose a target type from the list of View components and an event for the action. Double-click the Controller Action in the Inspector to add custom code to the Action. Select (single-click) the Controller Action and Application Action in the Inspector to see available configs for them. Key Action configs are targetType, where you set the type of component targeted by the Action, and name, which binds an event to the target.

References. Click the add button next to References in Config to add a reference to a Controller, then follow the directions in Config to enter a name for the reference and a selector. Click the reference in the Inspector to edit these values in Config (the name is contained in the ref config). You should use the exact name of a View component in the application for the name and selector to reference only that specific View.

init. Click the add button next to init in Config to add init functions to a Controller. An init function sets up how a Controller interacts with a View, and is usually used in conjunction with another Controller function -- control. Control helps the Controller listen for events and take some action with a handler function. Double-click the init function in the Inspector to open the Architect code editor and add the code needed to add functionality to the init, including control and other functions.

onLaunch. Click the add button next to Actions in Config to add onLaunch functions to a Controller. Double-click the onLaunch function in the Inspector to open the Architect code editor and add the code needed to add functionality.

Controller configs for Touch projects

Controller configs are slightly different for Touch projects. Here are the additional main configs Architect makes available for mobile apps:

Before Filters. Click the add button next to Before Filters in Config to add a before filter, then select in the Inspector to see available configs. These are used to define filter functions that run before the function specified in the route. Examples include user authentication/authorization for specific actions or loading classes that are not yet on the page.

Routes. Click the add button next to Routes in Config to add a route, then select in the Inspector to see available configs. These are used to specify the routes of interest to a Controller, which provides history support within an app as well as the ability to deeply link to any part of an app for which we provide a route.

Other available configs

Architect also makes the following configs available for Controllers. Typically, these parts of your application are set at the application level. You only set them for Controllers if you want them to be available only for a particular Controller and not to be available at the application level:

Functions. Click the add button next to Functions in Config to add functions to the Controller. Select the function in the Inspector to view all function configs in the Config panel.

Models. Binds Models to the Controller. Names of Models added to a project are displayed as a scrolling list in the Value field on the right of Config; open the list by clicking the field (which by default includes the text "(none)").

stores. Binds stores to the Controller. Names of stores added to a project are displayed as a scrolling list in the Value field on the right of Config; open the list by clicking the field (which by default includes the text "(none)").

Views. Binds Views to the Controller; only top-level Views can be selected. Names of a project's top-level Views are displayed as a scrolling list in the Value field on the right of Config; open the list by clicking the field (which by default includes the text "(none)")

Additional resources

For more details about using Controllers in Architect, see the following:

Architect 3