This project has been suspended in favor of https://github.com/gwagner57/OEMjs

cLASSjs

A JS library for defining

1. enumerations;
2. constructor-based classes (and class hierarchies) with semantic meta-data (e.g., for declarative constraint validation);
3. storage adapters that facilitate switching from one storage technology (such as IndexedDB) to another one (such as MySQL);
4. view models for model-based user interfaces.

Use Case 1: Handling Enumerations and Enumeration Attributes

Defining an Enumeration

var WeatherStateEL = new eNUMERATION ("WeatherStateEL", 
    ["sunny", "partly cloudy", "cloudy", "cloudy with rain", "rainy"]);

Using an Enumeration as the Range of an Attribute

var Weather = new cLASS({
    Name: "Weather",
    properties: {
      "weatherState": {range: WeatherStateEL, label: "Weather conditions"},
      "temperature": {range: "Decimal", label: "Temperature"}
    },
    methods: {...}
});

Using Enumeration Literals

Recall that enumeration literals are constants that stand for a positive integer (the enumeration index).

For instance, the enum literal WeatherStateEL.SUNNY stands for the enum index 1. In program code, we do not use the enum index, but rather the enum literal. For instance,

var theWeather = new Weather({
      weatherState: WeatherStateEL.SUNNY, // do not use the enum index value 1
      temperature: 30
})

Looping over an Enumeration

We loop over the enumeration WeatherStateEL with a for loop counting from 1 to WeatherStateEL.MAX:

for (let weatherState = 1; weatherState <= WeatherStateEL.MAX; weatherState++) {
  switch (weatherState) {
  case WeatherStateEL.SUNNY: 
    ...
    break;
  case WeatherStateEL.PARTLY_CLOUDY: 
    ...
    break;
  }
}

Use Case 2: Declarative Constraint Valdiation

cLASSjs allows defining property constraints in a model class created with cLASS:

var Book = new cLASS({
  Name: "Book",
  properties: {
    "id": {range:"NonEmptyString", label:"ISBN", pattern:/\b\d{9}(\d|X)\b/,
        patternMessage:"The ISBN must be a 10-digit string or a 9-digit string followed by 'X'!"},
    "title": {range:"NonEmptyString", min: 2, max: 50}, 
    "year": {range:"Integer", min: 1459, max: util.nextYear()},
    "edition": {range:"PositiveInteger", optional: true}
  }
});

Suitable range constraints can be defined by using one of the supported range keywords listed below.

• "String", "NonEmptyString", "Identifier", "Email", "URL", "PhoneNumber"
• "Integer", "PositiveInteger", "NonNegativeInteger", "AutoNumber"
• "Decimal", "Number", "Percent", "ClosedUnitInterval", "OpenUnitInterval"
• "Boolean"
• "DateTime", "Date"

The constraints defined for a property in a model class can be checked on input/change and before submit in an HTML form and, in addition, before commit in the add and update methods of a storage manager, using the generic validation method cLASS.check, as shown in the following example:

var formEl = document.querySelector("#Book-Create > form");
// loop over Book.properties and add event listeners for validation on input
Object.keys( Book.properties).forEach( function (prop) {
  var propDecl = Book.properties[prop];
  formEl[prop].addEventListener("input", function () {
	var errMsg = cLASS.check( prop, propDecl, formEl[prop].value).message;
	formEl[prop].setCustomValidity( errMsg);
  });
});

Use Case 3: Flexible Data Storage Management with Storage Adapters

cLASSjs comes with a sTORAGEmANAGER class and two storage adapters for using localStorage or ìndexedDB.

A storage manager works like a wrapper of the methods of an adapter. The storage manager methods invoke corresponding methods of its adapter. The following code example shows how to use a storage manager for invoking a data retrieval operation on a model class Book:

var storageAdapter = {name:"IndexedDB", dbName:"Test"};
var storageManager = new sTORAGEmANAGER( storageAdapter);
storageManager.retrieveAll( Book).then( list); 

Since the IndexedDB technology is much more powerful, it is normally preferred for local data storage. However, older browsers (such as IE 9) may not support it. In this case we can easily fall back to LocalStorage in the followig way:

var storageAdapter = {dbName:"Test"},
    storageManager = null;
if (!("indexedDB" in window)) {
  console.log("This browser doesn't support IndexedDB. Falling back to LocalStorage.");
  storageAdapter.name = "LocalStorage";
} else {
  storageAdapter.name = "IndexedDB";
}
storageManager = new sTORAGEmANAGER( storageAdapter);