Backbone Stickit Handler for SharePoint and the Chosen Plugin

For those of you using Backbone.js and Backbone.Stickit for client-side SharePoint development, this is a quick article describing how to add a global Stickit handler for SharePoint Choice field rendered using the Chosen plugin for jQuery.

In this example, we have a SharePoint field with an internal name of WorkType (and a corresponding attribute in our Backbone model) that we want to render using the Chosen jQuery plugin through our Backbone view.

The following screenshot shows the end result:

In Stickit, we can create a global handler for specific elements (identified using standard selectors) that eliminates the need to manually create and attach 3rd-party controls outside of the normal Backbone and Backbone.Stickit flow.

Basic Steps

1. Define the HTML in your view template.
2. Add the global Stickit handler in your view.
3. Define your Stickit bindings as you normally would. When stickit(this.model, this.bindings) is called in your view's render() function, the control is automatically created and attached to the appropriate element.

	// In your HTML template...
	<label for="WorkType">Request Type</label>
	<select class="worktype chosen" id="WorkType" name="WorkType"></select>
	// In your view...
	// Stickit handler for Chosen plugin in SharePoint 2013
	Backbone.Stickit.addHandler({
	selector: "select.chosen",
	initialize: function($el, model, options) {
	$el.chosen();
	var up = function(m, v, opt) {
	if (!opt.bindKey) $el.trigger("chosen:updated");
	};
	this.listenTo(model, "change:" + options.observe, up)
	}
	});
	// In your view's stickit bindings
	".worktype": {
	observe: "WorkType",
	selectOptions: {
	collection: function () {
	var choices = [
	{
	"name": "Analysis", "value": "Analysis"
	}, {
	"name": "Design", "value": "Design"
	}, {
	"name": "Development", "value": "Development"
	}, {
	"name": "Testing", "value": "Testing"
	}, {
	"name": "Other", "value": "Other"
	}];
	return choices;
	},
	labelPath: "name",
	valuePath: "value",
	defaultOption: {
	label: "Select...",
	value: null
	}
	}
	}
	// For more details, see:
	// http://sharepoint.softwaredevelopmentoutpost.com/2016/01/backbonestickit-handler-for-sharepoint.html

view raw barkes.backbone.stickit.chosen.js hosted with ❤ by GitHub

The same technique can be used for a variety of client-side controls and plugins to simplify and add consistency to your SharePoint CSOM/JSOM code.