= Sencha::Model

A simple Model mixin with adapters for various ORM frameworks such as ActiveRecord, DataMapper and MongoMapper.  Sencha::Model was originally created as part of the gem extjs-mvc[http://github.com/extjs/mvc] to assist with auto-generating ExtJS Stores (Ext.data.Store).  However, it can be useful for a variety of Javascript frameworks for rendering data on the client.


=== Installation
	% sudo gem install gemcutter
	% sudo gem install sencha-model


=== An ORM Model mixin:  Sencha::Model
sencha-model contains Model mixin named <tt>Sencha::Model</tt> which works for <b>three</b> popular ORM frameworks, ActiveRecord, DataMapper and MongoMapper.  The API for each framework is identical and an adapter can be created for just about any
ORM in about an hour.

Simply include the mixin into your model.  Use the class-method <tt>sencha_fields</tt> to specify those
fields with will be used to render a record to Hash for later JSON-encoding.

  class User < ActiveRecord::Base
    include Sencha::Model

    sencha_fields :exclude => [:password, :password_confirmation]
    
    # OR 
    sencha_fields :name, :description
    
    # OR
    sencha_fields :only => [:name, :description] # actually the same as above
    
    # OR
    sencha_fields :additional => [:computed] # includes all database columns and an additional computed field
    
    # OR define a column as a Hash
    sencha_fields :description, :name => {"sortDir" => "ASC"}, :created_at => {"dateFormat" => "c"}
	
    # OR render associations, association-fields will have their "mapping" property set automatically
    sencha_fields :name, :description, :company => [:name, :description]
    
    def computed
      name.blank? ? login : name
    end
  end

After including the model mixin <tt>Sencha::Model</tt>, try typing the following in <tt>irb</tt> console:
    >> User.sencha_schema
    => { :idProperty=>"id", :fields=>[
         {:type=>'int', :allowBlank=>true, :name=>"id"},
         {:type=>'string', :allowBlank=>false, :name=>"first", :defaultValue => nil},
         {:type=>'string', :allowBlank=>false, :name=>"last", :defaultValue => nil},
         {:type=>'string', :allowBlank=>false, :name=>"email", :defaultValue => nil}
       ]}

An auto-generated schema.  This field-names were originally designed to be consumed by an <tt>Ext.data.Store</tt> from the {Ext JS Framework}[http://extjs.com].  TODO: make the field-names configurable.

You can also define different sets of fields for different representations of your model.

E.g. with the following definition:

	class User < ActiveRecord::Base
	  include ExtJS::Model

	  sencha_fieldset :grid, [
	    :name, 
      :description, 
	    {:company => [:name, :description]}
	  ]

	  sencha_fieldset :combo, [:full_name]
	
	  ##
	  # computed field
	  #
	  def full_name
	    "#{first_name} #{name}"
	  end
	end

You can get store configs for both representations with
    User.sencha_schema(:grid)
or
    User.sencha_schema(:combo)
    
And the corresponding data for the representations with
    User.first.to_record(:grid)
or
    User.first.to_record(:combo)

=== A Testing Mixin:  Sencha::TestMacros
The <tt>sencha</tt> Gem includes a small set of testing macros to help unit-test models.
Using this macro requires the 'Shoulda' gem from thoughtbot

==== Usage
In individual model unit tests:
    class ModelTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase
      should_have_sencha_fields_for_fieldset :fieldset_name, [:name, :email, :city]
      #...
      #other tests
    end


== Note on Patches/Pull Requests

* Fork the project.
* Make your feature addition or bug fix.
* Add tests for it. This is important so I don't break it in a
  future version unintentionally.
* Commit, do not mess with rakefile, version, or history.
  (if you want to have your own version, that is fine but
  bump version in a commit by itself I can ignore when I pull)
* Send me a pull request. Bonus points for topic branches.

== Copyright

Copyright (c) 2009 Chris Scott. See LICENSE for details.