t0yv0
commented
10 years ago For something little here, can use whatever works.
For clarity sake, how would an ideal router interface look like in F#/WebSharper? The Director one seems to be interesting but does it do the reverse (linking?).
If I had to design one right now, I would go for something like this:
/// Framework gives this little type that defines `'T -> Url` and `Url -> option<'T>`.
/// Contract on the type is that these have to round-trip.
type Routes<'T>
val Link : Routes<'T> -> 'T -> Url
val TryRoute : Routes<'T> -> Url -> option<'T>
/// Various combinators for routes..
/// Now, main operation is installing some routes as current router:
/// This is done once per application, and takes care of things like
/// history API and parsing current URL.
val Install : Routes<'T> -> Router<'T>
/// What can one do with a Router?
val Current : Router<'T> -> option<'T> // observe current route
val Changed : Router<'T> -> IEvent<'T> // observe when it changes
val Set : Router<'T> -> 'T -> unit // set current route, also pushes URL in History API
/// It is basically like a reactive variable we're thinking to introduce in W#.
/// Example usage:
type Action = | Home | About | Blog of id * int (* etc *)
let routes = Routes.Auto<Action>()
let router = Routes.Install routes
/// use router & routes in the application..
/// for example, can generate links `Routes.Link About routes`
/// can have content that depends on where we are by observing current route
/// can imperatively send the browser somewhere too - `Router.Set router Home`.
See WebSharper.UI.Next samples. This should allow us to build a simple single page app that could load and render markdown files as navigable HTML fragments.