Chapter 2: Feedback

Overview

Alright! Now, we get to build more sophisticated functionality! But, before we dive in, we’ll review where we left off. Then, we’ll render a dialog, create a form, and handle our first events. Along the way, we’ll refactor for cleaner code, explore schemas, and implement permissions.

Training

Pre-requisites

1. Understanding of the previous chapter, building a dashboard and adding a card with images and buttons.

Concepts Covered in This Chapter

1. Mercury - Event-handling and communication via Mercury.
2. Tests - TDD by the 3 laws!
3. Views - The visual representation of your skill provided by the Heartwood Skill.
4. Events - Custom event creation and handling.
5. Schemas - Data validation and normalization through schemas.
6. Permissions - Controlling access with permission contracts.
7. Listeners - Listening for backend events and responding appropriately.
8. Errors - Handling and displaying errors effectively.

Tools Used in This Chapter

1. spruce-cli - The Spruce Command Line Interface (CLI) is a tool that enables you create, build, and test your skills.
2. vscode - A free code editor that works on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
3. Development Theatre - The runtime that executes your skills.

Commands Used in This Chapter

Assertions

1. VC assert.renders.dialogue

   • Description: Asserts that a dialogue box is rendered on the view controller.

2. VC assert.renders.field

   • Description: Asserts that a specific field is rendered in the form.

3. assert.is.false

   • Description: Verifies that a specific condition or value is false.

4. form assert.field.renders.as

   • Description: Ensures that a form field is rendered as a specific type, e.g., a text area.

5. assert.is.equal

   • Description: Checks that two values are equal.

6. assert.renders.alert

   • Description: Confirms that an alert is displayed on the view.

Event Handling

1. event Faker.on

   • Description: Sets up a listener for a specified event to verify its behavior in tests.

2. event Faker.make.event.throw

   • Description: Simulates an event throwing an error for testing purposes.

3. client.emit

   • Description: Emits an event to a backend API.

4. client.emit.and.flatten.responses

   • Description: Emits an event and simplifies the response structure, commonly used when responses contain nested data.

View Controllers and Forms

1. form VC.get value

   • Description: Retrieves the value of a specific field from the form.

2. form VC.render

   • Description: Renders a form in the view controller.

3. form VC.set value

   • Description: Sets a value for a specific field in the form.

4. form assert.rendered.form

   • Description: Asserts that a form is correctly rendered.

5. form assert.field.renders

   • Description: Verifies that a specific form field is rendered.

View Setup

1. controller.Factory

   • Description: Creates a new instance of a controller for use in the application.

2. this.controller.card

   • Description: Initializes a card view controller encapsulating the necessary view components.

3. this.render.in.dialogue

   • Description: Renders a dialogue box with specific options and content.

4. build.form

   • Description: Builds a form object with fields, sections, and schema definitions.

Listener and Permissions

1. this.connect.to.API

   • Description: Establishes a connection to the API for emitting or listening to events.

2. build.permission.reference

   • Description: Creates a reference for a permission contract, specifying roles and permissions.

3. permissions.sync

   • Description: Synchronizes the permissions configuration to ensure it reflects the latest changes.

Terminal and CLI Commands

1. watch.views

   • Description: Watches for changes in views and rebuilds them automatically during development.

2. create.view

   • Description: Generates a new view controller file using the CLI.

3. sync.events

   • Description: Synchronizes the events configuration, ensuring event types and handlers are up-to-date.

4. sync.permissions

   • Description: Updates permission contracts and related configurations.

Schema and Data Handling

1. build.schema

   • Description: Constructs a schema definition, including fields, types, and validation rules.

2. normalize.against.schema

   • Description: Adjusts an object to match a defined schema, including type conversions and default values.

General Functions

1. handle.click.feedback

   • Description: Handles click events on the feedback button and triggers corresponding actions.

2. handle.submit

   • Description: Handles form submission logic, including validation and event emission.

3. submit.feedback

   • Description: Submits the feedback to the backend by emitting an event.

Test Utilities

1. test.protected.static

   • Description: Defines a protected static method used as a test case in the test framework.

2. this.VC.getformVC

   • Description: Retrieves the form view controller from a parent view controller.

Something Missing?

Now What?