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Dynamically Adding CSS to Different Devices

Time Estimate: 15 minutes

Difficulty: Intermediate

Summary

This example shows how to dynamically include assets (CSS) in the rendered template of a mojit. The assets in this example are included in the rendered default template and device-specific templates.

The following topics will be covered:

  • configuring an application to dynamically include assets
  • using the addAssets method in the controller to dynamically add assets to both the rendered default and device-specific templates

Implementation Notes

The screenshot below shows the rendered iPhone template with dynamically included CSS and JavaScript.

https://s.yimg.com/oo/cms/products/mojito/code_exs/images/dynamic_assets.device_specific.preview_1029ca140.gif

The application.json in this code example configures Mojito to deploy mojit code to the client and to use the HTMLFrameMojit. To deploy mojit code to the client, you assign true to the deploy property as seen in the application.json below. The frame instance of HTMLFrameMojit becomes the parent mojit of the child instance of type device. The configurations for the context "device:iphone" define the identifier "iphone" for file resources with the selector property, so Mojito will know to use the template index.iphone.hb.html if the context is "device:iphone".

[
  {
    "settings": [ "master" ],
    "specs": {
      "frame" : {
        "type" : "HTMLFrameMojit",
        "deploy": true,
        "config": {
          "child" : {
            "type" : "device"
          }
        }
      }
    }
  },
  {
    "settings": [ "device:iphone" ],
    "selector": "iphone"
  }
]

In the controller for the device mojit, the index function has to determine what device is making the request and then attach the appropriate meta data and CSS. To determine the calling device, you use the ActionContext object to access the device property of the context object. Below is a partial ActionContext object that contains the context object:

"ac"{
 ...
 context:
 {
    site: '',
    device: 'iphone',
    lang: 'en',
    region: '',
    jurisdiction: '',
    bucket: '',
    flavor: '',
    tz: ''
  },
  ...
}

To dynamically add CSS and meta data from the controller, you use methods from the Assets addon. In the controller.server.js below, the index function determines the calling device using the context object seen above. To add metadata for the iPhone, the addBlob method is called from the Assets addon. The appropriate CSS file is dynamically attached to the template with ac.assets.addCss.

YUI.add('device', function(Y, NAME){
  Y.namespace('mojito.controllers')[NAME] = {

    index: function(ac) {
      var device = ac.context.device, css = '/static/device/assets/simple';
      if (device === 'iphone') {
        // Attach viewport meta-data
        ac.assets.addBlob('<meta name = "viewport" content = "width = device-width">', 'top');
        ac.assets.addBlob('<meta name = "viewport" content = "initial-scale = 1.0">', 'top');
        // Modify the style sheet name.
        css += '.' + device;
      }
      // Attach the style sheet.
      css += '.css';
      ac.assets.addCss(css, 'top');
      // Push data to the template.
      ac.done({
        title: "Device Assets",
        colors: [
          {id: "green", rgb: "#616536"},
          {id: "brown", rgb: "#593E1A"},
          {id: "grey",  rgb: "#777B88"},
          {id: "blue",  rgb: "#3D72A4"},
          {id: "red",   rgb: "#990033"}
        ]
      });
    }
  };
}, '0.0.1', {requires: ['mojito-assets-addon']});

The index.iphone template below contains CSS for controlling the orientation of the page, which is needed for displaying the page correctly on an iPhone. When the template is rendered, the CSS is dynamically added, and the Handlebars expressions are replaced with values. If the device making the call is an iPhone, the viewport meta data will also be added dynamically.

<script type="text/javascript">
  window.addEventListener('load', function() {
      setTimeout(updateView);
  }, false);
  var lastWidth = 0;
  var updateView = function() {
    window.scrollTo(0,1);
    if(window.innerWidth != lastWidth) {
      lastWidth = window.innerWidth;
      var orient = (lastWidth == 320) ? "portrait" : "landscape";
      document.body.setAttribute("orient", orient);
    }
  };
  // Changes background color of the header.
  // Note: JavaScript code should not be hard coded
  // into the template. It's done
  // here to simplify the code example.
  function setColor(id, color) {
    document.getElementById(id).style.backgroundColor = color;
  }
</script>
<style>
  body[orient="portrait"] {
    width: 320px;
    height: 480px;
  }
  body[orient="landscape"] {
    width: 480px;
    height: 320px;
  }
</style>
<div id="" class="mojit">
  <h2 id="header"></h2>
  <ul class="toolbar">
  </ul>
</div>

Setting Up this Example

To create and run device_assets:

  1. Create your application.

    $ mojito create app device_assets

  2. Change to the application directory.

  3. Create your mojit.

    $ mojito create mojit device

  4. To configure your application to use HTMLFrameMojit and include JavaScript, replace the code in application.json with the following:

    [
      {
        "settings": [ "master" ],
        "specs": {
          "frame" : {
            "type" : "HTMLFrameMojit",
            "deploy": true,
            "config": {
              "child" : {
                "type" : "device"
              }
            }
          }
        }
      },
      {
        "settings": [ "device:iphone" ],
        "selector": "iphone"
      }
    ]
    
  5. Update your app.js with the following to use Mojito’s middleware, configure routing and the port, and have your application listen for requests:

    'use strict';
    
    var debug = require('debug')('app'),
        express = require('express'),
        libmojito = require('mojito'),
        app;
    
        app = express();
        app.set('port', process.env.PORT || 8666);
        libmojito.extend(app);
    
        app.use(libmojito.middleware());
    
        app.get('/status', function (req, res) {
            res.send('200 OK');
        });
        app.get('/', libmojito.dispatch('frame.index'));
    
        app.listen(app.get('port'), function () {
            debug('Server listening on port ' + app.get('port') + ' ' +
            'in ' + app.get('env') + ' mode');
        });
        module.exports = app;
    
  6. Confirm that your package.json has the correct dependencies as show below. If not, update package.json.

    "dependencies": {
        "debug": "*",
         "mojito": "~0.9.0"
    },
    "devDependencies": {
        "mojito-cli": ">= 0.2.0"
    },
    
  7. From the application directory, install the application dependencies:

    $ npm install

  8. Change to mojits/device.

  9. Modify your controller to dynamically add assets to the rendered template by replacing the code in controller.server.js with the following:

    YUI.add('device', function(Y, NAME){
      Y.namespace('mojito.controllers')[NAME] = {
    
        index: function(ac) {
          var device = ac.context.device, css = '/static/device/assets/simple';
          if (device === 'iphone') {
            // Attach viewport meta-data
            ac.assets.addBlob('<meta name = "viewport" content = "width = device-width">', 'top');
            ac.assets.addBlob('<meta name = "viewport" content = "initial-scale = 1.0">', 'top');
            // Modify the style sheet name.
            css += '.' + device;
          }
          // Attach the style sheet.
          css += '.css';
          ac.assets.addCss(css, 'top');
          // Push data to the template.
          ac.done({
            title: "Device Assets",
            colors: [
              {id: "green", rgb: "#616536"},
              {id: "brown", rgb: "#593E1A"},
              {id: "grey",  rgb: "#777B88"},
              {id: "blue",  rgb: "#3D72A4"},
              {id: "red",   rgb: "#990033"}
            ]
          });
        }
      };
    }, '0.0.1', {requires: ['mojito-assets-addon']});
    
  10. To create the default index template, replace the code in views/index.hb.html with the following:

    <html>
      <head>
        <script type="text/javascript">
          // Changes background color of the header.
          // Note: JavaScript code should not be hard coded into the template. It's done
          // here to simplify the code example.
          function setColor(id, color) {
            document.getElementById(id).style.backgroundColor = color;
          }
        </script>
      </head>
      <body>
        <div id="" class="mojit">
          <h2 id="header"></h2>
          <ul class="toolbar">
          </ul>
        </div>
      </body>
    </html>
    
  11. To create the default iPhone template, create the file views/index.iphone.hb.html with the following:

    <script type="text/javascript">
      window.addEventListener('load', function() {
        setTimeout(updateView);
      }, false);
      var lastWidth = 0;
      var updateView = function() {
        window.scrollTo(0,1);
        if (window.innerWidth != lastWidth) {
          lastWidth = window.innerWidth;
          var orient = (lastWidth == 320) ? "portrait" : "landscape";
          document.body.setAttribute("orient", orient);
        }
      };
      // Changes background color of the header.
      // Note: JavaScript code should not be hard coded
      // into the template. It's done
      // here to simplify the code example.
      function setColor(id, color) {
        document.getElementById(id).style.backgroundColor = color;
      }
    </script>
    <style>
      body[orient="portrait"] {
        width: 320px;
        height: 480px;
      }
      body[orient="landscape"] {
        width: 480px;
        height: 320px;
      }
    </style>
    <div id="" class="mojit">
      <h2 id="header"></h2>
      <ul class="toolbar">
      </ul>
    </div>
    
  12. Create the file assets/simple.css for the CSS that is included in index.hb.html with the following:

    body {
      margin:auto;
      width: 40%;
    }
    h2 {
      text-align: center;
      padding: 10px 0px;
    }
    ul.toolbar {
      text-align: center;
      display: block;
    }
    .toolbar li { display:inline; }
    
  13. Create the file assets/simple.iphone.css for the CSS that is included in index.iphone.hb.html with the following:

    body {
      margin:auto;
      width: 40%;
    }
    h2 {
      text-align: center;
      padding: 5px 0px;
      width: 8.0em;
    }
    ul.toolbar {
      display: block;
      width: 17.0em;
    }
    .toolbar li {
      display:block;
      padding:.6em 0em .6em 0em;
    }
    
  14. From the application directory, run the server.

    $ node app.js

  15. To view your application, go to the URL:

    http://localhost:8666

  16. To see the page rendered for the iPhone, view the above URL from an iPhone or use the URL below with the device parameter:

    http://localhost:8666?device=iphone