Backbone.js - problem when saving a model before previous save issues POST(create) instead of PUT(update) request

Question

I've developed a nice rich application interface using Backbone.js where users can add objects very quickly, and then start updating properties of those objects by simply tabbing to the relevant fields. The problem I am having is that sometimes the user beats the server to its initial save and we end up saving two objects.

An example of how to recreate this problem is as follows:

1. User clicks the Add person button, we add this to the DOM but don't save anything yet as we don't have any data yet.

   person = new Person();

2. User enters a value into the Name field, and tabs out of it (name field loses focus). This triggers a save so that we update the model on the server. As the model is new, Backbone.js will automatically issue a POST (create) request to the server.

   person.set ({ name: 'John' });

   person.save(); // create new model

3. User then very quickly types into the age field they have tabbed into, enters 20 and tabs to the next field (age therefore loses focus). This again triggers a save so that we update the model on the server.

   person.set ({ age: 20 });

   person.save(); // update the model

So we would expect in this scenario one POST request to create the model, and one PUT requests to update the model.

However, if the first request is still being processed and we have not had a response before the code in point 3 above has run, then what we actually get is two POST requests and thus two objects created instead of one.

So my question is whether there is some best practice way of dealing with this problem and Backbone.js? Or, should Backbone.js have a queuing system for save actions so that one request is not sent until the previous request on that object has succeeded/failed? Or, alternatively should I build something to handle this gracefully by either sending only one create request instead of multiple update requests, perhaps use throttling of some sort, or check if the Backbone model is in the middle of a request and wait until that request is completed.

Your advice on how to deal with this issue would be appreciated.

And I'm happy to take a stab at implementing some sort of queuing system, although you may need to put up with my code which just won't be as well formed as the existing code base!

Answer 1

I have tested and devised a patch solution, inspired by both @Paul and @Julien who posted in this thread. Here is the code:

(function() {
  function proxyAjaxEvent(event, options, dit) {
    var eventCallback = options[event];
    options[event] = function() {
      // check if callback for event exists and if so pass on request
      if (eventCallback) { eventCallback(arguments) }
      dit.processQueue(); // move onto next save request in the queue
    }
  }
  Backbone.Model.prototype._save = Backbone.Model.prototype.save;
  Backbone.Model.prototype.save = function( attrs, options ) {
    if (!options) { options = {}; }
    if (this.saving) {
      this.saveQueue = this.saveQueue || new Array();
      this.saveQueue.push({ attrs: _.extend({}, this.attributes, attrs), options: options });
    } else {
      this.saving = true;
      proxyAjaxEvent('success', options, this);
      proxyAjaxEvent('error', options, this);
      Backbone.Model.prototype._save.call( this, attrs, options );
    }
  }
  Backbone.Model.prototype.processQueue = function() {
    if (this.saveQueue && this.saveQueue.length) {
      var saveArgs = this.saveQueue.shift();
      proxyAjaxEvent('success', saveArgs.options, this);
      proxyAjaxEvent('error', saveArgs.options, this);
      Backbone.Model.prototype._save.call( this, saveArgs.attrs, saveArgs.options );
    } else {
      this.saving = false;
    }
  }
})();

The reason this works is as follows:

1. When an update or create request method on a model is still being executed, the next request is simply put in a queue to be processed when one of the callbacks for error or success are called.

2. The attributes at the time of the request are stored in an attribute array and passed to the next save request. This therefore means that when the server responds with an updated model for the first request, the updated attributes from the queued request are not lost.

I have uploaded a Gist which can be forked here.

Answer 2

A light-weight solution would be to monkey-patch Backbone.Model.save, so you'll only try to create the model once; any further saves should be deferred until the model has an id. Something like this should work?

Backbone.Model.prototype._save = Backbone.Model.prototype.save;
Backbone.Model.prototype.save = function( attrs, options ) {
    if ( this.isNew() && this.request ) {
        var dit = this, args = arguments;
        $.when( this.request ).always( function() {
            Backbone.Model.prototype._save.apply( dit, args );
        } );
    }
    else {
        this.request = Backbone.Model.prototype._save.apply( this, arguments );
    }
};