Formatter & Parser

Define formatter and parser to a field component definition when the field's value structure is different then the structure that the component can handle.

For example - if a field 'birthDate' value is a string and its component of 'DatePicker' can only accept Date() objects.

formatter-parser

Field Formatter Parser

To define field component formatter and parser - a definition is required in model.fields.someField.component object, and implementation is required in resources.conversions object.

Note: Define both formatter and parser if the field uses editable component (i.e component calls change value), and only formatter if the field uses readonly component (i.e component doesn't call change value).

Model

model.fields.someField.formatter and model.fields.someField.parser- object. Contains:

Name	Type	Description
name	required string	Represents the key in resources.conversions object
args	object	Custom data to pass to the conversion function

Resources

resources.conversions - object. Required only if formatter or parser defined in at least one of the fields. Key is the conversion name, and value is an object that contains:

Name	Type	Description
func	required function	Gets a value and return new value. Function can be `sync` or `async` function (that resolves to a new value). More info
defaultArgs	object	Default args for all fields. This will be shallow merged with field level conversion `args` before passed to the `func`

func

function ({ 
  id, 
  value, 
  state, 
  dependencies { id: { value } },
  args,
  context,
})

return value -

When used by formatter - value is the data value (from model.data) and return value is the formatted value (view value for component).
When used by parser - value is the view value (from component) and return value is the parsed value (data value).

Example

consider birthDate field which uses DatePicker component, which accepts only Date() objects, but your model.data.birthDate is a string value that represent a date in the server. So, field birthDate should define:

A formatter function that gets the data value (string date) and return it as Date() object (then DatePicker component can accept it).
A parser function that gets the view value (date object from the component) and return it as string (then it will be set back in the model.data).

import DatePicker from '../myComponents/DatePicker';
import dateformat from 'dateformat';

const model = {
  fields: {
    birthDate: {
      // ...
      component: {
        name: 'DatePicker',
      },
      formatter: { name: 'toDate' },
      parser: { name: 'formatDate', args: { format: 'mm/dd/yyyy' } },
    }
  },
  data: {
    birthDate: '06/22/1989',
  }
};

// Note: both 'toDate' and 'formatDate' are built-in conversions and are not required here.
// We added them just for the example.
const resources = {
  components: {
    DatePicker: { 
      renderer: DatePicker 
    },
  },
  conversions: {
    toDate: {
      func: (props) => { // return Date()
        return new Date(props.value); // here 'props.value' is the data value (string) taken from model.data
      }
    },
    formatDate: {
      defaultArgs: { format: 'mm-dd-yyyy' }, // can be overridden by field level args
      func: (props) => { // return string
        return dateformat(props.value, props.args.format); // here 'props.value' is the view value (Date object) from the component
      }
    }
  }
};

Shorthand

Definition shorthand for formatters / parsers can be found in definition shorthand documentation.

Built-in Conversions

Cofi also defines built-in conversions: 'toString', 'toNumber' and so on. Built-in conversions work out of the box, there's no need to define them in resources.conversions. Cofi extends custom resources.conversions object with the built-in conversions object.

Examples:

Define formatter / parser conversion that is not part of the built-in conversions. In this case - conversions functions should be supplied in resources.conversions object:

const model = {
  // ...
  fields: {
    // ...
    birthDate: {
      // ...
      component :{
        // ...
      },
      formatter: { name: 'myFormatter' },
      parser: { name: 'myParser' },
    }
  },
};

const resources = {
  conversions = {
    myFormatter: {
      func: (props) => {
        // ...
      },
    },
    myParser: {
      defaultArgs: { // defaultArgs are not required
        // ...
      }
      func: (props) => {
        // ...
      },
    }
  }
}

Define formatter / parser conversion that is part of the built-in conversion. In this case there is not need to supply conversion in resources.conversions object:

const model = {
  // ...
  fields: {
    // ...
    age: {
      // ...
      component :{
        // ...
      },
      formatter: { name: 'toNumber' },
      parser: { name: 'toString' },
    }
  },
  data: {
    age: '18', // as is string in the database
  }
};

// no need to define resources.conversions

Define formatter / parser conversion that is part of the built-in conversion and also define it in resources.conversions object in order to override the built-in function behavior (can override func / args / both):

const model = {
  // ...
  fields: {
    // ...
    age: {
      // ...
      component :{
        // ...
      },
      formatter: { name: 'toNumber' },
      parser: { name: 'toString' },
    },
  },
  data: {
    age: '18', // as is string in the database
  }
};

const resources = {
  conversions: {
    toString: { // override the default build in conversion 'toString'. You can also supply defaultArgs or only supply defaultArgs
      func: props => { 
        // return ... 
      }
    }
  }
};

The following are Cofi's built-in conversions and their usage:

toString

Convert value to string representation.

Expected value:

string / number / boolean / Date() / null / undefined

Returns:

string - if value is string / number / boolean / Date()
undefined - if value is undefined
null - if value is null

Example:

Age field has a string representation in the model.data, but uses a component that only gets number values

// model.fields.age
formatter: { name: 'toNumber' }
parser: { name: 'toString' }

// model.data
data: { age: '18' }

toNumber

Convert value to number representation.

Expected value:

string / number / boolean / Date() / null / undefined

Returns:

number - if value is string / number / boolean / Date()
undefined - if value is undefined
null - if value is null

Example:

Age field has a string representation in the model.data, but uses a component that only gets number values

// model.fields.age
formatter: { name: 'toNumber' }
parser: { name: 'toString' }

// model.data
data: { age: '18' }

toDate

Convert value to Date() representation.

Expected value:

string / number / Date() / null / undefined

Returns:

Date() - if value is string / number / Date()
undefined - if value is undefined
null - if value is null

Example:

Birthdate field has a number representation in the model.data, but uses a component that only gets date values

// model.fields.birthDate
formatter: { name: 'toDate' }
parser: { name: 'toNumber' }

// model.data
data: { birthDate: 1575715837659 }

toBoolean

Convert value to boolean representation.

Expected value:

string / number / boolean / null / undefined

Returns:

boolean - if value is string / number / boolean / null / undefined

Example:

CanViewVideo field has a string representation in the model.data, but uses a component that only gets boolean values

// model.fields.canViewVideo
formatter: { name: 'toBoolean' }
parser: { name: 'toString' }

// model.data
data: { canViewVideo: 'true' }

formatDate

Convert value to formatted date string.

Expected value:

Date() / null / undefined

Returns:

string - if value is Date() object
undefined - if value is undefined
null - if value is null

Default args:

Name	Type	Default	Description
format	string	'mm-dd-yyyy'	Format of a date in a string representation

Example:

Birthdate field has a string representation in the model.data, but uses a component that only gets Date() values

// model.fields.birthDate
formatter: { name: 'toDate' }
parser: { name: 'formatDate', args: { format: 'mm/dd/yyyy' } }

// model.data
data: { birthDate: '06/22/1989' }

split

Convert value to array representation containing split parts of value.

Expected value:

string / null / undefined

Returns:

string array - if value is string
undefined - if value is undefined
null - if value is null

Default args:

Name	Type	Default	Description
separator	string	','	Separates value using this

Example:

Friends field has a string representation in the model.data, but uses a component that only gets array values

// model.fields.friends
formatter: { name: 'split', args: { separator: ';' } } // default separator is ','
parser: { name: 'join', args: { separator: ';' } }

// model.data
data: { friends: 'Rachel;Ross;Monica' }

// split will return ['Rachel', 'Ross', 'Monica']

join

Convert value to string representation containing joined parts of value.

Expected value:

array / null / undefined

Returns:

string - if value is array
undefined - if value is undefined
null - if value is null

Default args:

Name	Type	Default	Description
separator	string	','	Join value using this
path	string	undefined	If array is array of objects - define a path to the sub data to join for each object in the array

Example:

Friends field has a string representation in the model.data, but uses a component that only gets array values

// model.fields.friends
formatter: { name: 'split', args: { separator: ';' } } // default separator is ','
parser: { name: 'join', args: { separator: ';' } }

// model.data
data: { friends: 'Rachel;Ross;Monica' }

// split will return ['Rachel', 'Ross', 'Monica']

Friends field has an objects array representation in the model.data, but uses a component that only gets string value

// model.fields.friends
formatter: { name: 'join', args: { path: 'name', separator: ', ' } }

// model.data
data: { 
  friends: [
    { name: 'Rachel'}, 
    { name: 'Monica' }, 
    { name: 'Ross' }
  ]; 
}

// join will return 'Rachel, Monica, Ross'

joinKeys

Convert keys of value to string representation containing joined parts of value's keys.

Expected value:

object / null / undefined

Returns:

string - if value is object
undefined - if value is undefined
null - if value is null

Default args:

Name	Type	Default	Description
separator	string	','	Join value using this

Example:

Colors field has an object representation in the model.data, but uses a component that only gets string

// model.fields.colors
formatter: { name: 'joinKeys', args: { separator: ', ' } } // default separator is ','

// model.data
data: { 
  colors: { 
    RED: 'Red', 
    BLUE: 'Blue', 
    GREEN: 'Green' 
  } 
}

// joinKeys will return 'RED, BLUE, GREEN'

joinValues

Convert values of value to string representation containing joined parts of value's values.

Expected value:

object / null / undefined

Returns:

string - if value is object
undefined - if value is undefined
null - if value is null

Default args:

Name	Type	Default	Description
separator	string	','	Join value using this
path	string	undefined	Define a path to the sub data to join each object in the object values

Example:

Colors field has an object representation in the model.data, but uses a component that only gets string

// model.fields.colors
formatter: { name: 'joinValues', args: { separator: ', ' } } // default separator is ','

// model.data
data: { 
  colors: { 
    RED: 'Red', 
    BLUE: 'Blue', 
    GREEN: 'Green' 
  } 
}

// joinValues will return 'Red, Blue, Green'

Colors field has an object representation in the model.data, but uses a component that only gets string

// model.fields.colors
formatter: { name: 'joinValues', args: { separator: ', ', path: 'label' } } // default separator is ','

// model.data
data: { 
  colors: { 
    RED: { label: 'Red' }, 
    BLUE: { label: 'Blue' }, 
    GREEN: { label: 'Green' }
  }
}

// joinValues will return 'Red, Blue, Green'

jsonStringify

Convert value to json string representation.

Expected value:

any / undefined

Returns:

undefined - if value is undefined
string - if value is any

Example:

CustomDate field has a string representation in the model.data, but uses a json editor component that only gets object values

// model.fields.customDate
formatter: { name: 'jsonParse' }
parser: { name: 'jsonStringify' }

// model.data
data: { 
  customData: '{"name":"Rachel","age":25}'
}

// jsonParse will return { 
//     name: "Rachel", 
//     age: 25, 
//   }

jsonParse

Convert value to object.

Expected value:

string / null / undefined

Returns:

object - if value is stringified string
undefined - if value is undefined
null - if value is null

Example:

CustomDate field has a string representation in the model.data, but uses a json editor component that only gets object values

// model.fields.customDate
formatter: { name: 'jsonParse' }
parser: { name: 'jsonStringify' }

// model.data
data: { 
  customData: '{"name":"Rachel","age":25}'
}

// jsonParse will return { 
//     name: "Rachel", 
//     age: 25, 
//   }