How to retrieve models without ember-data?

Question

I have an API which can't suitable for Ember-Data's Rest Adapter. There about 3 models, thus I decided to use plain old $.ajax from jQuery. I blown my mind while finding a way how to retrieve models and pass them to controller in a right way.

Consider the following example from guides:

App.Router.map(function(match) {
  match('/posts').to('posts');
});

App.PostsRoute = Ember.Route.extend({
  model: function() {
    return App.Post.findAll(); // Just renamed to .findAll.
  }
});

I found that .findAll method must return an instance of E.ArrayProxy, otherwise it's impossible to do things like this:

{{#if content}}
  ...
{{else}}
  <strong>Nothing to display</strong>
{{/if}}

And my implementation look so:

App.Post.reopenClass({
  findAll: function() {
    var result = Ember.ArrayProxy.create({content: []});

    $.getJSON('/posts', function(data) {
      $.each(data, function(i, row) {
        result.pushObject(App.Post.create(row));
      });
    });

    return result;
  }
});

I am pretty satisfied with this, but I can't imagine how to work with single object.

App.PostsRoute = Ember.Route.extend({
  model: function(params) {
    return App.Post.find(params.post_id);
  }
});

// This will not work for me. Controller's content property will alway be null.
App.Post.reopenClass({
  find: function(postId) {
    var result = null;

    $.getJSON('/' + postId, function(data) {
      result = App.Post.create(data);
    });

    return result;
  }
});

What is the solution?

Should I return dummy Ember.ObjectProxy instance with empty content and somehow let Ember know after content actually populated with object? What is a golden path?

Answer 1

You can use just a plain, old object which is basically how ember-data does it.

App.Post.reopenClass({
  find: function(postId) {
    // Set some default properties here.
    var result = Ember.Object.create({
      isLoaded: false
    });

    $.getJSON('/' + postId, function(data) {
      result.setProperties(data);
      result.set('isLoaded', true);
    });

    return result;
  }
});

Is this the golden path? Probably not, the more you dive into Ember the more you will want the rich set of features promised by ember-data. A few months back I wrote my own framework. Terrible compared to ember-data, but it didn't require root elements, side loaded data, underscored names, and supported embedded relationships. I am hopeful that ember-data will be addressing these as it matures and I know they have been hard at work making it easier to swap out adapters and serializers.