Ajile provides five directives for working with JavaScript modules: Import,
ImportAs, Load, Namespace, and Include. Each is explained and detailed in the
following sections.
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Import:
The Import directive is used to dynamically load an external JavaScript
module and make it accessible via its shortened name. A module's shortened
name is the portion following the last "." in its fully-qualified name.
If a module, system variable, object or function with the exact shortened
name already exists. The newly imported module will only be accessible via
its fully-qualified name. In this situation the ImportAs directive should be
used to import the module using an alias.
NOTE: The browser will not process the imported module until the currently
executing module or HTML script block is completely processed or executed.
Until that time, none of the variables or functions in the imported module
will be accessible. Use Ajile.AddImportListener() to be notified when the
imported script is ready for use.
Syntax:
Import ( moduleName [, location] [, namingStyle] [, container] )
Parameters:
moduleName - The fully-qualified name of the module or namespace to be imported.
location - Optional. The url or file path at which the specified module
can be located. When not specified the location parameter
defaults to the namespace's location or the Ajile module's
location if the namespace has not been created.
namingStyle - Optional. The naming style used by the specified module. The
namingStyle parameter can be any quoted notation character
i.e. ".", "/", "-", etc.
container - Optional. The object within which the imported module will be
accessible. When not specified, the container parameter
defaults to the browser's window object.
Examples:
The following statement:
Import ("com.iskitz.ajile.examples.ImportExample");
Imports the ImportExample module from the com.iskitz.ajile.examples namespace
using default settings for its location, namingStyle and container. If the
com.iskitz.ajile.examples namespace was not already defined, the ImportExample
module would be loaded using the com.iskitz.ajile namespace location and
naming style.
See:
- Import
- Include
- Ajile.AddImportListener()
- Load
- Namespace
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ImportAs:
The ImportAs directive is used to dynamically load an external JavaScript
module and make it accessible via the specified alias name. This directive
enhances the Import directive by removing the limitation of shortened name
accessiblity.
As with the Import directive, if the specified alias exactly matches the name
of an existing module, system variable, object or function the newly imported
module will only be accessible via its fully-qualified name. In this
situation a different alias name should be used.
NOTE: The browser will not process the imported module until the currently
executing module or HTML script block is completely processed or executed.
Until that time, none of the variables or functions in the imported module
will be accessible. Use Ajile.AddImportListener() to be notified when the
imported script is ready for use.
Syntax:
ImportAs ( aliasName, moduleName [, location] [, namingStyle] [, container] )
Parameters:
aliasName - The alias by which the imported module will be accessible.
moduleName - The fully-qualified name of the module or namespace to be imported.
location - Optional. The url or file path at which the specified module
can be located. When not specified the location parameter
defaults to the namespace's location or the Ajile module's
location if the namespace has not been created.
namingStyle - Optional. The naming style used by the specified module. The
namingStyle parameter can be any quoted notation character
i.e. ".", "/", "-", etc.
container - Optional. The object within which the imported module will be
accessible. When not specified, the container parameter
defaults to the browser's window object.
Examples:
The following statement:
ImportAs ("MyExample", "com.iskitz.ajile.examples.ImportExample");
Imports the ImportExample module from the com.iskitz.ajile.examples namespace
using the MyExample alias name. The module is imported using default settings
for its location, namingStyle and container. If the com.iskitz.ajile.examples
namespace was not already defined, the ImportExample module would be loaded
using the com.iskitz.ajile namespace location and naming style.
See:
- Import
- Include
- Ajile.AddImportListener()
- Load
- Namespace
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Include:
The Include directive is used to dynamically load an external JavaScript
module and make it accessible via its fully-qualified name. A module's
fully-qualified name is comprised of its full namespace and its short name.
If a module, object or function with the exact fully-qualified name already
exists, the module being included won't be accessible via its
fully-qualified name. In this situation the ImportAs directive should be used to
include the module using an alias.
NOTE: The browser will not process the included module until the currently
executing module or HTML script block is completely processed or executed.
Until that time, none of the variables or functions in the included module
will be accessible. Use Ajile.AddImportListener() to be notified when the
included script is ready for use.
Syntax:
Include ( moduleName [, location] [, namingStyle] [, container] )
Parameters:
moduleName - The fully-qualified name of the module or namespace to be included.
location - Optional. The url or file path at which the specified module
can be located. When not specified the location parameter
defaults to the namespace's location or the Ajile module's
location if the namespace has not been created.
namingStyle - Optional. The naming style used by the specified module. The
namingStyle parameter can be any quoted notation character
i.e. ".", "/", "-", etc.
container - Optional. The object within which the included module will be
accessible. When not specified, the container parameter
defaults to the browser's window object.
Examples:
The following statement:
Include ("com.iskitz.ajile.examples.IncludeExample");
Includes the IncludeExample module from the com.iskitz.ajile.examples namespace
using default settings for its location, namingStyle and container. If the
com.iskitz.ajile.examples namespace was not already defined, the IncludeExample
module would be loaded using the com.iskitz.ajile namespace location and
naming style.
See:
- Import
- ImportAs
- Ajile.AddImportListener()
- Load
- Namespace
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Load:
The Load directive is used to dynamically load an external JavaScript
module from the specified location.
NOTE: The browser will not process the loaded module until the currently
executing module or HTML script block is completely processed or executed.
Until that time, none of the variables or functions in the loaded module
will be accessible.
Syntax:
Load ( location [, container] [,code] [, defer] [, title] [, type] [, language] )
Parameters:
location - The url or file path where the external JavaScript module can
be located.
container - Optional. The object within which the loaded script will be
accessible. When not specified, the container parameter
defaults to the browser's window object.
code - Optional. JavaScript code to be executed.
defer - Optional. A boolean to indicate whether the browser should
delay processing of the loaded script until it' host page has
completed loading. true indicates
title - Optional. A string to be associated with the loaded script. The
default value is blank.
type - Optional. A string representing the content-type of script to
be loaded (i.e. "text/javascript"). This parameter defaults to
"text/javascript" when unspecified.
language - Optional. A string representing the loaded script's language
(i.e. "JavaScript"). This parameter defaults to "JavaScript"
when unspecified.
Examples:
The following statement:
Load ("http://ajile.iskitz.com/examples/Examples.js");
Loads the Examples module from the /examples/ directory on the
ajile.iskitz.com server using default values for its container, type, defer,
language, and title settings.
See:
- Import
- ImportAs
- Include
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Namespace:
The Namespace directive is used to create a unique JavaScript namespace if
none matching the specified name exists.
JavaScript modules that wish to be uniquely identifiable should use the
Namespace directive to declare their namespace membership. A module cannot be
defined as a member of a namespace that has not been created via the
Namespace directive. This is the reason why the Namespace directive must be
used prior to defining namespace member modules.
NOTE: Namespaces are immediately available after using the Namespace
directive.
Syntax:
Namespace (name [, location] [, namingStyle] [, container] )
Parameters:
name - A string representing the fully-qualified namespace to be
created.
location - Optional. The url or file path to be associated with the new
namespace. When not specified the location parameter defaults
to the parent namespace's location or the Ajile module's
location if the parent namespace has not been created.
namingStyle - Optional. The naming style used by the specified module. The
namingStyle parameter can be any quoted notation character
i.e. ".", "/", "-", etc.
container - Optional. The object within which the namespace will be
accessible. When not specified, the container parameter
defaults to the browser's window object.
Examples:
The following statements:
Namespace ("com.iskitz.ajile.examples");
com.iskitz.ajile.examples.MyExample = function()
{
this.message = "This is my example!";
};
Create the com.iskitz.ajile.examples namespace and define the MyExample
module. The namespace is created using default values for its location,
namingStyle, and container settings.
See:
- Import
- ImportAs
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