package vdom

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Virtual DOM

A "Virtual application" (or "Elm-like" application) is described by two types:

  • model: the current state of the UI,
  • msg ("messages"): possible state transitions;

and by the following values:

  • init: the initial state of the application, plus some initial commands to be spawned;
  • view: a function mapping the current state to a "virtual" DOM tree (vdom);
  • update: a function that processes messages to update the current state, and potentially spawns some commands.

Commands represents (typically) asynchronous operations, such as querying a server, or waiting for some timer.

Messages can be generated either by a VDOM tree (to encapsulate DOM events) or by commands (to notify their outcome).

Commands

module Cmd : sig ... end
type js_object = ..
module Decoder : sig ... end

Custom elements

module Custom : sig ... end

Properties and event handlers

type mouse_event = {
  1. x : float;
  2. y : float;
  3. page_x : float;
  4. page_y : float;
  5. element_x : float Lazy.t;
  6. element_y : float Lazy.t;
  7. buttons : int;
  8. alt_key : bool;
  9. ctrl_key : bool;
  10. shift_key : bool;
}
type key_event = {
  1. which : int;
  2. alt_key : bool;
  3. ctrl_key : bool;
  4. shift_key : bool;
}
type paste_event = {
  1. text : string;
  2. selection_start : int;
  3. selection_end : int;
}
type 'msg msg_options = {
  1. msg : 'msg option;
  2. stop_propagation : bool;
  3. prevent_default : bool;
}
type +'msg event_handler =
  1. | Decoder : {
    1. event_type : string;
    2. decoder : 'a msg_options Decoder.t;
    3. map : 'a option -> 'msg option;
    } -> 'msg event_handler
  2. | CustomEvent of Custom.event -> 'msg option
type prop_val =
  1. | String of string
  2. | Int of int
  3. | Float of float
  4. | Bool of bool
type 'msg attribute =
  1. | Property of string * prop_val
  2. | Style of string * string
  3. | Handler of 'msg event_handler
  4. | Attribute of string * string

Event handlers

val on : ?prevent_default:unit -> ?stop_propagation:unit -> string -> 'msg option Decoder.t -> 'msg attribute
val on_with_options : string -> 'msg msg_options Decoder.t -> 'msg attribute
val on_js : ?prevent_default:unit -> ?stop_propagation:unit -> string -> (js_object -> 'msg option) -> 'msg attribute
val on_js_with_options : string -> (js_object -> 'msg msg_options) -> 'msg attribute
val onmousedown : ?prevent_default:unit -> ?stop_propagation:unit -> (mouse_event -> 'msg) -> 'msg attribute
val onmousedown_cancel : ?stop_propagation:unit -> (mouse_event -> 'msg option) -> 'msg attribute
val onmouseup : ?prevent_default:unit -> ?stop_propagation:unit -> (mouse_event -> 'msg) -> 'msg attribute
val onclick : ?prevent_default:unit -> ?stop_propagation:unit -> (mouse_event -> 'msg) -> 'msg attribute
val onclick_cancel : ?stop_propagation:unit -> (mouse_event -> 'msg option) -> 'msg attribute
val ondblclick : ?prevent_default:unit -> ?stop_propagation:unit -> (mouse_event -> 'msg) -> 'msg attribute
val oncontextmenu : ?stop_propagation:unit -> (mouse_event -> 'msg) -> 'msg attribute
val onfocus : ?prevent_default:unit -> ?stop_propagation:unit -> 'msg -> 'msg attribute
val onblur : ?prevent_default:unit -> ?stop_propagation:unit -> 'msg -> 'msg attribute
val oninput : ?prevent_default:unit -> ?stop_propagation:unit -> (string -> 'msg) -> 'msg attribute

Pass the value property of the event target.

val onchange_checked : ?prevent_default:unit -> ?stop_propagation:unit -> (bool -> 'msg) -> 'msg attribute

Pass the checked property of the event targer.

val onchange : ?prevent_default:unit -> ?stop_propagation:unit -> (string -> 'msg) -> 'msg attribute

Pass the value property of the event target.

val onchange_index : ?prevent_default:unit -> ?stop_propagation:unit -> (int -> 'msg) -> 'msg attribute

Pass the selected_index property of the event target.

val onmousemove : ?prevent_default:unit -> ?stop_propagation:unit -> (mouse_event -> 'msg) -> 'msg attribute
val onmouseenter : ?prevent_default:unit -> ?stop_propagation:unit -> (mouse_event -> 'msg) -> 'msg attribute
val onmouseleave : ?prevent_default:unit -> ?stop_propagation:unit -> (mouse_event -> 'msg) -> 'msg attribute
val onmouseover : ?prevent_default:unit -> ?stop_propagation:unit -> (mouse_event -> 'msg) -> 'msg attribute
val onkeydown : ?prevent_default:unit -> ?stop_propagation:unit -> (key_event -> 'msg) -> 'msg attribute
val onkeydown_cancel : ?stop_propagation:unit -> (key_event -> 'msg option) -> 'msg attribute
val onkeyup : ?prevent_default:unit -> ?stop_propagation:unit -> (key_event -> 'msg) -> 'msg attribute
val onkeyup_cancel : ?stop_propagation:unit -> (key_event -> 'msg option) -> 'msg attribute
val onpaste : ?prevent_default:unit -> ?stop_propagation:unit -> (paste_event -> 'msg option) -> 'msg attribute
val oncustomevent : (Custom.event -> 'msg option) -> 'msg attribute

Generic DOM properties

Generic DOM properties correspond to actual properties on DOM objects. The name of these properties is usually the same as the corresponding HTML attribute, but not always (e.g. "class" attribute, but "className" property).

val str_prop : string -> string -> 'msg attribute
val int_prop : string -> int -> 'msg attribute
val bool_prop : string -> bool -> 'msg attribute
val float_prop : string -> float -> 'msg attribute
val style : string -> string -> 'msg attribute

A sub-field of the "style" DOM property.

val attr : string -> string -> 'msg attribute
val int_attr : string -> int -> 'msg attribute
val float_attr : string -> float -> 'msg attribute

Common DOM properties

val class_ : string -> 'msg attribute
val type_ : string -> 'msg attribute
val type_button : 'msg attribute
val value : string -> 'msg attribute
val disabled : bool -> 'msg attribute
val add_class : string -> 'msg attribute list -> 'msg attribute list

Pseudo-attributes

Pseudo-attributes are interpreted in a special way by the infrastructure.

val scroll_to_show : align_top:bool -> 'msg attribute

When this pseudo-attribute is first applied to an element, its parent is automatically scrolled (vertically) to show the element.

val autofocus : 'msg attribute

When this pseudo-attribute is first applied to an element, the element gets focused.

val autofocus_if_visible : 'msg attribute

When this pseudo-attribute is first applied to an element, the element gets focused if the element is visible in the viewport.

val autofocus_counter : int -> 'msg attribute

When this pseudo-attribute is first applied to an element, or applied with a different counter as the previous time, the element gets focused.

val select : 'msg attribute

When this pseudo-attribute is first applied to an input or textarea element, select the content.

val autosubmit : 'msg attribute

When this pseudo_attribute is first applied to a form element, it will be submitted automatically.

VDOM

type +'msg vdom =
  1. | Text of {
    1. key : string;
    2. txt : string;
    }
  2. | Fragment of {
    1. key : string;
    2. children : 'msg vdom list;
    }
  3. | Element of {
    1. key : string;
    2. ns : string;
    3. tag : string;
    4. attributes : 'msg attribute list;
    5. children : 'msg vdom list;
    }
  4. | Map : {
    1. key : string;
    2. f : 'submsg -> 'msg;
    3. child : 'submsg vdom;
    } -> 'msg vdom
  5. | Memo : {
    1. key : string;
    2. f : 'a -> 'msg vdom;
    3. arg : 'a;
    } -> 'msg vdom
  6. | Custom of {
    1. key : string;
    2. elt : Custom.t;
    3. attributes : 'msg attribute list;
    4. propagate_events : bool;
    }

Generic VDOM constructors

type ('msg, 'res) elt_gen = ?key:string -> ?a:'msg attribute list -> 'res
val elt : ?ns:string -> string -> ('msg, 'msg vdom list -> 'msg vdom) elt_gen

A generic element.

val svg_elt : string -> ('msg, 'msg vdom list -> 'msg vdom) elt_gen

A generic element in the SVG namespace.

val text : ?key:string -> string -> 'msg vdom

A text node.

val fragment : ?key:string -> 'msg vdom list -> 'msg vdom

A fragment node (not appearing in the dom).

val map_attr : ('msg attribute list -> 'msg attribute list) -> 'msg vdom -> 'msg vdom

Map attributes of a vdom element

val map : ?key:string -> ('a -> 'b) -> 'a vdom -> 'b vdom

Wrap all messages generated by a VDOM tree with the provided function.

val memo : ?key:string -> ('a -> 'msg vdom) -> 'a -> 'msg vdom

Apply the function to generate a VDOM tree only if the function or its argument have changed (physically) from the previous synchronization.

Note that physical equality is used both for the function and its argument. In particular, this is unlikely to behave as expected if the function is defined inline (as an abstraction) or obtained by a (partial) function application. Instead, the functional argument should be a simple reference to a globally defined function.

TODO: n-ary versions.

val custom : ?key:string -> ?a:'msg attribute list -> ?propagate_events:unit -> Custom.t -> 'msg vdom

A custom kind of node. Usually not used directly.

Common elements

val div : ('msg, 'msg vdom list -> 'msg vdom) elt_gen
val input : ('msg, 'msg vdom list -> 'msg vdom) elt_gen
val txt_span : ('msg, string -> 'msg vdom) elt_gen

Virtual Application

val return : ?c:'msg Cmd.t list -> 'model -> 'model * 'msg Cmd.t
type ('model, 'msg) app = {
  1. init : 'model * 'msg Cmd.t;
  2. update : 'model -> 'msg -> 'model * 'msg Cmd.t;
  3. view : 'model -> 'msg vdom;
}
val app : init:('model * 'msg Cmd.t) -> update:('model -> 'msg -> 'model * 'msg Cmd.t) -> view:('model -> 'msg vdom) -> unit -> ('model, 'msg) app
val simple_app : init:'model -> update:('model -> 'msg -> 'model) -> view:('model -> 'msg vdom) -> unit -> ('model, 'msg) app

A simple app does not trigger commands.

val to_html : 'msg vdom -> string

Convert to HTML

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