this.subscribe and Template.instance().subscribe do not work - meteor

I am using Meteor 1.4.
Template.showProducts.onCreated(() => {
var handle = Meteor.subscribe("products");
//not working: var handle = this.subscribe("products");
//not working: var handle = Template.instance().subscribe("products");
Tracker.autorun(() => {
//not working: this.autorun
const isReady = Meteor.ready();
//not working: this.subscriptionsReady()
if(isReady){
const products = Products.find().fetch();
Session.set("prods", products);
}
});
});
If I use "this.subscribe", I got:
Uncaught TypeError: _this.subscribe is not a function
If I use "Template.instance()", I got:
Cannot read property 'subscriptionsReady' of null

If you use an arrow function, then the value of this which Meteor tries to pass in is lost. Instead use a regular anonymous function (function () { ... }).
You should then use this.autorun rather than Tracker.autorun. This will ensure that the autorun is cleaned up when the template disappears, and will allow Template.instance to work inside the autorun.

The problem is that you're passing the onCreated handler an arrow function, which does not allow binding of this (reference). As a result, Meteor is unable to correctly bind the template instance it has just created, and your subscriptions (and various other things) will fail.
The fix is just to pass onCreated a traditional JS function:
Template.showProducts.onCreated(function () {
...

Related

Meteor method does not return when passing a value

I am trying to pass a value in the callback of an async meteor method. "mongoCollections" is global variable
// Async method
let waiter = function(cb) {
setTimeout(() => {
cb(undefined, {data: 'test', other: mongoCollections})
}, 1000);
}
// Meteor method
Meteor.methods({
'getCollections': () => {
let func = Meteor.wrapAsync(waiter);
let res = func();
return res;
}
});
On the client
Meteor.call('getCollections', (err, res) => {
console.log(err, res)
});
The issue is that in its current state the client callback is not fired, no error or anything.
But if I remove the "other: mongoCollections" part of the object then the callback is fired. Why would sending mongoCollections prevent the callback from being fired at all? If there is an error how can I catch it?
My guess is that you are loosing your context between waiter() and the execution of cb(), which means that mongoCollections is undefined in cb(), thus the call fails.
Try to log mongoCollections in the anonymous function that you setTimeout for. It will probably show as undefined.
Or try it like this:
let waiter = function(cb) {
var _mongoCollections = mongoCollections;
setTimeout(() => {
cb(undefined, {data: 'test', other: _mongoCollections})
}, 1000);
}
(which puts mongoCollections in the closure instsead)
Another possibility (based on comment below): Your mongoCollections object is not serializable. You can try it by logging the result of JSON.stringify(mongoCollections). If this fails you have to extract the parts of the object you need, that can be serialized.
There are a number of things that could be happening here, but my guess is that an error is occurring somewhere and the error message is getting swallowed by a handler somewhere deeper.
You probably want to be using Meteor.setTimeout instead of vanilla setTimeout at a minimum. Have a look here: http://docs.meteor.com/api/timers.html#Meteor-setTimeout
Beyond that, I would follow the previous answerer's advice and try to make sure that mongoCollections is as global as you think it is. If the only change between the callback working and not working is the addition of a single symbol, then the culprit is likely that your added symbol is undefined.

MeteorJS ReactiveVar with database data

Clearly, I am doing something wrong with ReactiveVar because I cannot get it to work as I expect it should.
I am trying to set the value of an ReactiveVar by calling a Meteor.call method which returns the list of usernames. But it does not update when the usernames get changed in another part of the app.
I tried both:
Template.qastatistics.created = function () {
this.trackUsernames = new ReactiveVar(false);
var instance = Template.instance();
Meteor.call('trackUsernames', function (err, data) {
instance.trackUsernames.set(data);
});
};
and:
Template.qastatistics.helpers({
users: function () {
var usernames,
instance = Template.instance();
if (instance.trackUsernames.get() === false) {
Meteor.call('trackUsernames', function (err, data) {
instance.trackUsernames.set(data);
});
}
usernames = instance.trackUsernames.get();
...
But neither updates the list of usernames when these change in the database.
Is this even possible with ReactiveVars or have I completely misunderstood them?
EDIT: The usernames I mention are not from Meteor.users collection, but rather a distinct call from another collection that has usernames in it.
Fist of all I would use the onCreated function instead of defining created. That's a little more extendable and it's the new API. created is just kept around for backwards compatibility.
About your problem. You are right, you seem to have misunderstood what ReactiveVars do. They are a reactive data source. That means that when you call myReactiveVar.get in some Tracker.autorun (aka. reactive computation), the computation will rerun whenever myReactiveVar.set is called.
You got the first part right. Spacebars helpers always run inside their own computation. What you got wrong is thinking that a method call is a reactive action. That means, that you could call trackUsernames and set the trackUsernames ReativeVar again and the value in your template would update itself. But a method is only run once. It doesn't do anything fancy with reactivity.
A method call only transfers data once. When you publish a set of documents (like all users) on the other hand, they will be updated dynamically. Whenever a change happens inside that set of published documents, it will be synced to the client. So in general, it's a better idea to use publications and subscriptions to sync data reactively. If you'd want to use a method for the same thing you'd need to do some kind of polling (so your back in the stone-age again).
The easiest way to implement what you are trying to do is to use Meteor.users.find().fetch(). As it says in the docs fetch registers dependencies for all the documents you are fetching if it's being called from within a reactive computation.
First you'll need to properly set up your publications, so that users can see other users usernames. I'll leave that to you. Then you need to reimplement your helper
Template.qastatistics.helpers({
users: function () {
var usernames = _.pluck(Meteor.users.find().fetch(), 'username');
...
Thanks to suggestions from #kyll, I managed to get what I wanted by publishing the data I need:
server:
cope.publish.usernamesID = Random.id();
Meteor.publish("itemsusernames", function () {
self = this;
var initializing = true;
var handle = Items.find().observeChanges({
added: function (id) {
!initializing && self.changed(
"itemsusernames",
cope.publish.usernamesID,
Items.distinct("p4User"));
},
changed: function (id) {
!initializing && self.changed(
"itemsusernames",
cope.publish.usernamesID,
Items.distinct("p4User"));
},
removed: function (id) {
!initializing && self.changed(
"itemsusernames",
cope.publish.usernamesID,
Items.distinct("p4User"));
}
});
initializing = false;
self.added("itemsusernames", cope.publish.usernamesID, Items.distinct("p4User"));
self.ready();
self.onStop(function () {
handle.stop();
});
});
client:
users: function () {
var usernames = [],
oUsernames = ItemsUsernames.find().fetch();
if (!oUsernames[0]) return [];
usernames = $.map(oUsernames[0], function (value, index) {
if (!isNaN(index)) {
return [value];
}
});
...
And ofcourse: ItemsUsernames = new Mongo.Collection("itemsusernames");

Where do I set Session defaults so that they are available in my subscriptions?

I have a helper function that depends on a collection document lookup, the result of which it passes to a subscription via a Session. It then needs to query the documents from that subscription.
The code explains it better than I could.
Helper:
var selection = Selections.findOne()
var itemIds = function() {
return selection && selection.itemIds
}
var itemIdsArray = itemIds()
Session.set('itemIdsArray', itemIdsArray)
console.log(Session.get('itemIdsArray'))
_.each(Items.find({_id: {$in: itemIdsArray}}).fetch(), function(element, index, list) {
//doing stuff
})
Subscription:
Meteor.subscribe('itemsById', Session.get('itemIdsArray'))
Publication:
Meteor.publish('itemsById', function(itemIdsArray) {
return Items.find({_id: {$in: itemIdsArray}})
})
My console.log returns an undefined value before it returns the array of IDs. So undefined gets passed all the way to the publication, which complains of a null value (which is weird in itself) after $in and breaks.
My solution was to set the Session to default to [],
Session.setDefault(`itemIdsArray`, [])
which I honestly had high hopes that it'd work, but alas, it did not.
I've tried putting it inside IronRouter's onBeforeAction, I've tried putting it at the top of the helper, I've tried putting it pretty much anywhere but it still logs and returns undefined once before it gets the correct value.
I've also tried to move around my subscription, from waitOn to subscriptions to onAfterAction to onRendered, but those attempts have been utterly fruitless.
What should I do?
That's fairly typical behavior in Meteor. Session variables are not always ready at the time. The usual way of dealing with this is to introduce a guard in the helper that checks the variable is defined before doing anything else with it.
In your case something like this would work: itemsIdArray = itemIds() || [];
To answer the actual question you are asking, where do you set Session defaults that they are available in your subscriptions: it's not important where you set them, but when you access them. You can wait for the subscription to be ready using iron router's waitOn() function, or you can check the subscription handle's ready() function (see https://github.com/oortcloud/unofficial-meteor-faq#user-content-how-do-i-know-when-my-subscription-is-ready-and-not-still-loading)
If you return a subscription in your waitOn option of Iron Router you should have the data in your template then:
Router.route('/yourRoutePath/:_id', {
// this template will be rendered until the subscriptions are ready
loadingTemplate: 'loading',
waitOn: function () {
// return one handle, a function, or an array
return Meteor.subscribe('itemsById', this.params._id);
},
action: function () {
this.render('myTemplate');
}
});
Your template helper:
Template.myTemplate.helpers({
items: function() {
return Items.find();
}
});
I noticed that you publish Items collection and you want to use Selections collection in your helper. If you need more than one subscription, you can return an array of subscriptions in waitOn:
waitOn: function () {
// return one handle, a function, or an array
return [
Meteor.subscribe('itemsById', this.params._id),
Meteor.subscribe('selections')
];
}
WaitOn ensures that your template will be rendered when all subscriptions are ready.

Meteor client side collection needs to have all data populated before anything else

I'm trying to use a client side collection as a site configuration system. I insert documents representing my different pages, and the iron-router and navigation tabs all use them to determine what pages they are and what templates are represented by them. Each page uses a {{> contentTemplate}} inclusion helper to load it's relevant template.
It all works great, when the data has all loaded. When I restart the app on certain pages, the data hasn't loaded yet, and I receive the Exception from Deps recompute function: Error: Expected null or template in return value from inclusion function, found: undefined error.
Here's my javascript:
StoriesArray = [
{ category: 'teaching', contentTemplate: 'teachingHome', title: 'Teaching Home'},
...
];
Stories = new Meteor.Collection(null);
StoriesArray.forEach(function (story, index) {
story._id = index + '';
Stories.insert(story);
});
// in main.js
Template.teachingPost.contentTemplate = function() {
console.log(this);
console.log(this.contentTemplate);
return Template[this.contentTemplate];
};
// in router.js
this.route('teaching', {
layoutTemplate: 'teachingPost',
data: function() { return Stories.findOne({contentTemplate: 'teachingHome', category: 'teaching'}); }
});
The console logs in the contentTemplate helper above log twice, the first time as this:
Object {} main.js?1f560c50f23d9012c6b6dd54469bb32b99aa4285:45
undefined main.js?1f560c50f23d9012c6b6dd54469bb32b99aa4285:46
and the second time as this:
Object {category: "teaching", contentTemplate: "teachingHome", title: "Teaching Home"} main.js?1f560c50f23d9012c6b6dd54469bb32b99aa4285:45
teachingHome main.js?1f560c50f23d9012c6b6dd54469bb32b99aa4285:46
so the router is simply trying to load this data too early.
I've tried putting the StoriesArray loading process into different files all over my app, including lib, and even tried putting it into Meteor.startup, but it's always the same result.
The normal iron-router waitOn/subscription pattern doesn't really apply here, since this is a client side collection built with null, that has no server representation. I don't want this to have server representation, because this is static content that there's no need to go to my server for.
How do I ensure this information is done before continuing?
Untested, but per Iron Router's docs on waitOn:
Returning a subscription handle, or anything with a ready method from the waitOn function will add the handle to a wait list.
Also in general it's better to use find with data, rather than findOne, as find will return an empty cursor when the collection is empty as opposed to findOne returning undefined. So try this:
// in router.js
this.route('teaching', {
layoutTemplate: 'teachingPost',
data: function() {
return Stories.find({contentTemplate: 'teachingHome', category: 'teaching'});
},
waitOn: function() {
var handle = {};
handle.ready = function() {
if (Stories.find().count() !== 0)
return true;
else
return false;
}
return handle;
}
});
And adjust your Template.teachingPost.contentTemplate function to work with a cursor rather than an object.

angularFireCollection is not returning any data

I have no issues when using implicit updates (angelFire). However I need for some of my data use explicit updating. So I implemented angelFireCollection on the exact same ref I was using previously but despite the console.log explicitly saying that the read was granted and trying it with both with the onloadcallback and without, I don't get data directly into my assigned variable AND once the callback fires I get a strange looking object that DOES contain the data but not in the form I expect. My scope variable ends up with an empty collection. Never gets populated. Here is the code:
var streamController = function ($rootScope, $scope, $log, $location, angularFireCollection, profileService) {
//Wait for firebaseLogin...
$rootScope.$watch('firebaseAuth', init);
function init() {
if ($rootScope.firebaseAuth == false) {
return
};
var refUsers = new Firebase($rootScope.FBURL+'/users/'+$rootScope.uid);
$scope.profile = angularFireCollection(refUsers, function onload(snapshot) {
console.log(snapshot)
});
};
};
myApp.gwWebApp.controller('StreamController', ['$rootScope', '$scope', '$log', '$location', 'angularFireCollection', 'profileService',
streamController]);
}());
Here is what the console.log looks like ( ie; what snapshot looks like ):
>snapshot
T {z: R, bc: J, V: function, val: function, xd: function…}
Here is the earlier message before the snapshot was returned:
Firebase Login Succeeded! fbLoginController.js:16
FIREBASE: Attempt to read /users/529ccc5d1946a93656320b0a with auth={"username":"xxxxxxx#me.com","id":"529ccc5d1946a93656320b0a"} firebase.js:76
FIREBASE: /: "auth.username == 'admin'" firebase.js:76
FIREBASE: => false firebase.js:76
FIREBASE: /users firebase.js:76
FIREBASE: /users/529ccc5d1946a93656320b0a: "auth.id == $user" firebase.js:76
FIREBASE: => true firebase.js:76
FIREBASE:
FIREBASE: Read was allowed.
and finally the desired binding that ends up with an empty array: again from the console:
$scope.profile
[]
Anyone know what I could possibly be doing wrong?? This is like 5 lines of code. Frustrating.
I have put stops in angelFireCollection factory function and can see that the data is getting added to the collection in the callbacks inside that function but my binded variable never gets updated.
UPDATE
Ok experimenting with a plnkr. It seems that angularFireCollection EXPECTS your returning a LIST of items. The snapshot returns properly if you inspect snapshot.val() it will be whatever object structure was stored in firebase. IF you use angularFireCollection it does indeed bind to the variable HOWEVER it turns a non-list object into a garbled mess and you can not access the object user the normal dot operator. This is either a bug or it is a severe limitation of angularFireCollection which will cause me to revaluate how easily I can use firebase as the backend. I can't share my plnkr because it is accessing non-public data but tomorrow if i have time I will create a public firebase with an object store and demonstrate.
Ok. So it appears that indeed angularFireCollection is MEANT to be array based. Which is fine. It would be VERY helpful if the angularFire documentation was updated to make that clear. As such it is not an implicit vs explicit update technique.
For an explicit non-array based approach I have come up with the following code. Had I not been mislead by the documentation I would have gone down this path originally.
var MainCtrl = function($scope, angularFire) {
$scope.test = {};
var _url = 'https://golfwire.firebaseio.com/tmp';
var _ref = new Firebase(_url);
var promise = angularFire(_ref, $scope, 'implicit');
promise.then ( function(data){
$scope.explicit=angular.copy($scope.implicit );
});
}
You then work locally with the 'explicit' copy and when ready just update the 'implicit' by assigning: $scope.implicit = $scope.explicit.
Here is a plnkr: http://plnkr.co/edit/bLJrL1

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