Spry Hacks

Question

Also Posted In: Spry framework for Ajax (Prerelease)
I am developing a web application that makes extensive use of
the Spry Framework. Essentially I am using Spry to display and page
through sets of xml results. I am making use of region states to
display a 'loading' state whilst the data for the region loads.
<div spry:state="loading">Loading XML data
...</div>
When I use a set interval to refresh the data - the loading
state continually flashes in and out as the data set is refreshed.
The region state is working exactly as it should - I just find it
unsightly.
Q. Is there a way to display the loading state just once
during the initial loading of a data set and not with every
subsequent refresh as set by the interval?
With the set refresh interval running, a constant stream of
changing data is displayed on the page. Again, this is working as
it should but I would like to draw users attention to new items in
the data set with some form of highlight.
Q. Is there a way to highlight or otherwise indicate that new
data is present since the last refresh. Example: I have a list of
items on the page - when a new item or items exist I would like to
highlight only those new items.
I hope my explanation of what I am trying to achieve makes
sense.
I have a couple of beers for anyone that can provide a
solution!
Craig

Answer 1

Hello,
Yes doing such functionality would be possible,
about states:
I stopped using Spry states my self, because it uses allot of
innerHTML refreshes. Which is costly for the browsers.
So I add a <div id="loading"></div> above my Spry
region. And add the css display:none to the region, so it would be
hidden at first.
Than i add a observer to the region.
var loaded = false;
Spry.Data.Region.addObserver('idofyourregionr',{
onPostUpdate:function(){
if(!loaded){
document.getElementById('loading').style.display = 'none';
loaded = true;
document.getElementById('idofyourregion').style.display = '';
about highlight:
would be possible, but rather "hard" to do.
You would need to store the old data in variable, because
your interval overwrites the current data.
Than you will need to check if a value has changed. And
figure out where it was, and than fire up the effects
on onPostUpdate. But sure its possible :)