Using directive to store data

[Adam Fisk]

I'd like to use jquery.data to store single items of JSON in the HTML
element they're corresponding with, and I'm wondering how the
directives can handle that.

I want something like:

var directives = {
"div" : function (arg) {
$(div).data(json, arg.item);
...default behavior
}
};

...where div is my top-level element.

So this would be like a decorator around the default behavior. So I'm
wondering:

1) Can I call the default behavior from a directive, or trigger it
somehow?
2) Can I access that default div that would be returned to call the
jquery data(...,...) method on it?

Thanks so much -- fantastic project.

-Adam

[Mic Cvilic]

When your function directive is executed, the element does not exist
yet in the DOM.
So jquery.data can't be used in a directive.

You can add an attributes and its value with a directive:
'div[data-id]':function(arg){
return arg.item.firstName;}

It is ok if you want to store a single item. But it will be converted
as a string.
The result will be like <div data-id="Adam">
This strangely non namespaced "data-" comes from HTML5 specs.

For more serious storage you can build your cache system like
jquery.data(...)
Then set a data-id attribute as above and set/get in a global object
hash table(like jQuery.cache) your data with an id.
That's what I did for the app we are building.

cheers,

[Adam Fisk]

Thanks Mic-- I haven't explored jquery.cache, but that sounds very
promising. I'll have a look. You probably saw this, but jquery 1.3
went final late last night.

Thanks again.

-Adam