Dynamic updates when data changes.

Dynamic updates allow any part of the page to update itself based on change occurring  on the server.

To illustrate, begin with a simple element that display the number of assets in the system.

<div>${asset_count}</div>

In Python, the asset count would be retrieved as follows.

asset_count = server.eval(“@COUNT(example/asset)”)

When the view loads, it would process the asset count on the server side and then fill in the value in HTML.  The problem comes when someone else who is using the system adds another asset after a view has been loaded.  The data displayed is now out of date.  Normally the entire page, or in TACTIC’s case, the widget needs to be reloaded to update the correct value. However, knowing when data has changed presents a challenge.

Dynamic update solves this problem by providing a mechanism to update some part of the content based on some specified updated criteria.

For example, in the widget above, we will add an update through javascript:

<div class=”test_update”>${asset_count)</div>

In python, we would write:

kwargs[‘expr’] = “@COUNT(example/asset)”

asset_count = server.eval(kwargs.get(“expr”))

And in behaviors, we would add:

<behavior class=”test_update” event=”load”>

 var expr = kwargs.expr;

 spt.update.add( bvr.src_el, {

     expression: expr

 } );

</behavior>

This will check the expression periodically to see if the value has changed on the server.  It the value changes, such as a new asset was added, this would be detected and the value of the expression will replace what is inside the “test_update” element.  This is very useful for keeping values up to date on a page without having to refresh.

There is another argument called interval.  Normally, a dynamic update will check every couple of seconds, however, most data this is much too often.  It is possible to slow down the number of checks by setting the interval.

<behavior class=”test_update” event=”load”>

 var expr = kwargs.expr;

 spt.update.add( bvr.src_el, {

     expression: expr,

     Interval: 10,

 } );

</behavior>

This will do a check on the server about every 50 seconds.

If a widget is dependent on the values of a single SObject, then we can add search_key parameter instead and this will detect if any change to a particular SObject has been made.

<behavior class=”test_update” event=”load”>

 var search_key = bvr.kwargs.search_key;

 spt.update.add( bvr.src_el, {

     search_key: search_key,

     expression: “@GET(.status),

 } );

</behavior>

With the addition of a search_key, TACTIC will check if any changes have been made to that SObject.  If so, it will replace the “test_update” widget with the value returned from the corresponding expression.

In order to have more control, it is possible to run some javascript.

<behavior class=”test_update” event=”load”>

 var search_key = bvr.kwargs.search_key;

 spt.update.add( bvr.src_el, {

     search_key: search_key,

     cbjs_action: “spt.panel.refresh(bvr.src_el)”

 } );

</behavior>

This will update refresh the next parent refreshable widget when the corresponding SObject changes.  With a javascript callback, it is possible to do a wide variety of actions.

Finally, it is possible to attach a dynamic behavior purely in Python.

div = DivWdg()

div.add_update( {

   “expression”: expr

} )

This allows a widget that is entirely written using a Python class to make use of dynamic updates.

Dynamic updates provide a powerful and flexible means of update interface elements based on data changes on the server.  With careful judgement about what needs to be updated and how often, data viewed on a page will never be out of date.