data-target

Allows HTML anchors and forms to render the http response content inside another element through the usage of a data-target attribute

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data-target

Basic functionality

This library allows HTML anchors and forms to render the response of the request inside another element.

The element in which the response will be rendered inside must have it’s id attribute’s value replicated in the data-target attribute of the corresponding anchor or form.

After the response is rendered inside the target element, the library will look for more data-target attributes inside the inner HTML of the target element.

By default, the browser’s URL will not be changed after rendering the response inside the target element, but this behavior can be changed. Look at the “Configuration” section below for more information.

Please note that if the rendered response contains javascript code, this code will not be executed by the browser. If you want to execute javascript code according to the rendered response, you could listen to the data-target:loaded event to create your logic to load your modules. To see an example see the “Events” section below.

Example using an anchor:

<a href="/path" data-target="the-target-element-id">Click me!</a>
<div id="the-target-element-id">
    The content of this div will be replaced by the response of the HTTP request
</div>

Example using a form:

<form action="/path" method="post" data-target="the-target-element-id">
    <input type="text" name="name" />
    <button>Submit</button>
</form>
<div id="the-target-element-id">
    The content of this div will be replaced by the response of the HTTP request
</div>

Events

data-target:before-load

This a CustomEvent that is dispatched by the target element before the library sends an HTTP request.

targetElement.dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent('data-target:before-request', {
    bubbles: true,
    detail: {
        url: url.href,
    },
}));

You can get a reference of the target element by using the target property of the event.

data-target:loaded

This is a CustomEvent dispatched by the target element after it received the response of the HTTP request.

targetElement.dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent('data-target:loaded', {
    bubbles: true,
    detail: {
        url: url.href,
        responseStatusCode: response.statusCode
    }
}));

You can access the element which received the response through the target property of the event.

Example of using the events

You can, for example, use the events to show loading indicators and dynamically execute some functions from javascript modules:

<script type="module">
    window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', () => {
        const modulesMap = {
            [`${location.origin}/test`]: '/modules/test.js',
        };

        window.addEventListener('data-target:before-load', async (event) => {
            showLoadingIndicator(event.target);
            const scriptPath = modulesMap[event.detail.url];
            if (scriptPath) {
                const exportedMembers = await import(scriptPath);
                if (exportedMembers.onBeforeLoad) {
                    exportedMembers.onBeforeLoad(event);
                }
            }
        });

        window.addEventListener('data-target:loaded', async (event) => {
            const scriptPath = modulesMap[event.detail.url];
            if (scriptPath) {
                const exportedMembers = await import(scriptPath);
                if (exportedMembers.onLoaded) {
                    exportedMembers.onLoaded(event);
                }
            }
        });
    });
</script>

Configuration and programmatic access

This library exposes a global object inside the window object called dataTarget, which you can use to configure the library’s behavior and invoke the library programmatically.

The configuration is made by overriding the default implementations of the functions in window.dataTarget.config and the programmatic access is made through the window.dataTarget.$ object, which is freezed and cannot be changed.

// Typescript
export declare type DataTargetDefinitions = {
    config: {
        errorHandler: (
            error: unknown,
            urlOrInvokerElement?: string | URL | HTMLAnchorElement | HTMLFormElement
        ) => void;
        httpRequestDispatcher: (
            input: RequestInfo | URL,
            init?: RequestInit | undefined
        ) => Promise<{
            content: string;
            statusCode: number;
        }>;
    };
    $: {
        request: (
            urlOrInvokerElement: string | URL | HTMLAnchorElement | HTMLFormElement,
            targetElementId?: string,
            init?: RequestInit
        ) => Promise<void>;
        attach: (root: HTMLElement) => void;
    }
};

declare global {
    interface Window {
        dataTarget: DataTargetDefinitions;
    }
}

Configuration

window.dataTarget.config.errorHandler

The library calls this function whenever an error occurs.

Use this function to personalize your error logs capturing logic.

This is the default implementation:

{
    ...
    errorHandler: (error, urlOrInvokerElement) => console.error({ error, urlOrInvokerElement }),
    ...
}

window.dataTarget.config.httpRequestDispatcher

This function is used by the library do dispatch http requests.

You can reimplement this function if you need a more strict security control or any other requirement that may affect the http request dispatching logic, like changing the browser’s url or using a different fetching library.

This is the default implementation:

{
    ...
    httpRequestDispatcher: async (input, init) => {
        const response = await fetch(input, init);
        return {
            content: await response.text(),
            statusCode: response.status,
        };
    },
    ...
}

Programmatic access

window.dataTarget.$.request

This function allows you to dispatch an HTTP request programmaticaly.

Behind the scenes, it will also use the window.dataTarget.config.httpRequestDispatcher function.

There are some rules you need to follow to use this function:

window.dataTarget.$.attach

This function allows you to programmatically attach the library’s event listeners: