[#35,all][m]: crude error catching for backends based on timeouts (best we can do with JSONP) - fixes #35.

* Show errors in UI
* required some extensive refactoring to use done/fail on promise rather than then

src/backend.js

@@ -11,10 +11,38 @@ this.recline.Model = this.recline.Model || {};
 (function($, my) {
   my.backends = {};
 
+  // ## Backbone.sync
+  //
+  // Override Backbone.sync to hand off to sync function in relevant backend
   Backbone.sync = function(method, model, options) {
     return my.backends[model.backendConfig.type].sync(method, model, options);
   }
 
+  // ## wrapInTimeout
+  // 
+  // Crude way to catch backend errors
+  // Many of backends use JSONP and so will not get error messages and this is
+  // a crude way to catch those errors.
+  function wrapInTimeout(ourFunction) {
+    var dfd = $.Deferred();
+    var timeout = 5000;
+    var timer = setTimeout(function() {
+      dfd.reject({
+        message: 'Request Error: Backend did not respond after ' + (timeout / 1000) + ' seconds'
+      });
+    }, timeout);
+    ourFunction.done(function(arguments) {
+        clearTimeout(timer);
+        dfd.resolve(arguments);
+      })
+      .fail(function(arguments) {
+        clearTimeout(timer);
+        dfd.reject(arguments);
+      })
+      ;
+    return dfd.promise();
+  }
+
   // ## BackendMemory - uses in-memory data
   //
   // To use you should:
@@ -122,7 +150,7 @@ this.recline.Model = this.recline.Model || {};
               jsonp: '_callback'
           });
           var dfd = $.Deferred();
-          jqxhr.then(function(schema) {
+          wrapInTimeout(jqxhr).done(function(schema) {
             headers = _.map(schema.data, function(item) {
               return item.name;
             });
@@ -131,6 +159,9 @@ this.recline.Model = this.recline.Model || {};
             });
             dataset.docCount = schema.count;
             dfd.resolve(dataset, jqxhr);
+          })
+          .fail(function(arguments) {
+            dfd.reject(arguments);
           });
           return dfd.promise();
         }
@@ -150,7 +181,7 @@ this.recline.Model = this.recline.Model || {};
         cache: true
       });
       var dfd = $.Deferred();
-      jqxhr.then(function(results) {
+      jqxhr.done(function(results) {
         dfd.resolve(results.data);
       });
       return dfd.promise();
@@ -196,11 +227,14 @@ this.recline.Model = this.recline.Model || {};
             , dataType: 'jsonp'
           });
           var dfd = $.Deferred();
-          jqxhr.then(function(results) {
+          wrapInTimeout(jqxhr).done(function(results) {
             dataset.set({
               headers: results.fields
             });
             dfd.resolve(dataset, jqxhr);
+          })
+          .fail(function(arguments) {
+            dfd.reject(arguments);
           });
           return dfd.promise();
         }
@@ -221,7 +255,7 @@ this.recline.Model = this.recline.Model || {};
         , dataType: 'jsonp'
       });
       var dfd = $.Deferred();
-      jqxhr.then(function(results) {
+      jqxhr.done(function(results) {
         var _out = _.map(results.data, function(row) {
           var tmp = {};
           _.each(results.fields, function(key, idx) {

src/model.js

@@ -35,13 +35,12 @@ this.recline.Model = this.recline.Model || {};
     // this does not fit very well with Backbone setup. Backbone really expects you to know the ids of objects your are fetching (which you do in classic RESTful ajax-y world). But this paradigm does not fill well with data set up we have here.
     // This also illustrates the limitations of separating the Dataset and the Backend
     query: function(queryObj) {
-      this.queryState = queryObj || this.defaultQuery;
-      this.queryState = _.extend({size: 100, offset: 0}, this.queryState);
-
       var self = this;
       var backend = my.backends[this.backendConfig.type];
+      this.queryState = queryObj || this.defaultQuery;
+      this.queryState = _.extend({size: 100, offset: 0}, this.queryState);
       var dfd = $.Deferred();
-      backend.query(this, this.queryState).then(function(rows) {
+      backend.query(this, this.queryState).done(function(rows) {
         var docs = _.map(rows, function(row) {
           var _doc = new my.Document(row);
           _doc.backendConfig = self.backendConfig;
@@ -50,6 +49,9 @@ this.recline.Model = this.recline.Model || {};
         });
         self.currentDocuments.reset(docs);
         dfd.resolve(self.currentDocuments);
+      })
+      .fail(function(arguments) {
+        dfd.reject(arguments);
       });
       return dfd.promise();
     },

src/view.js

@@ -142,10 +142,14 @@ my.DataExplorer = Backbone.View.extend({
 
     // retrieve basic data like headers etc
     // note this.model and dataset returned are the same
-    this.model.fetch().then(function(dataset) {
-      self.el.find('.doc-count').text(self.model.docCount || 'Unknown');
-      self.query();
-    });
+    this.model.fetch()
+      .done(function(dataset) {
+        self.el.find('.doc-count').text(self.model.docCount || 'Unknown');
+        self.query();
+      })
+      .fail(function(error) {
+        my.notify(error.message, {category: 'error', persist: true});
+      });
   },
 
   query: function() {
@@ -158,6 +162,10 @@ my.DataExplorer = Backbone.View.extend({
       .done(function() {
         my.clearNotifications();
         my.notify('Data loaded', {category: 'success'});
+      })
+      .fail(function(error) {
+        my.clearNotifications();
+        my.notify(error.message, {category: 'error', persist: true});
       });
   },