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31.

Promise Chaining

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Oh, but now we can get even cooler! The .catch() handler above reads the responseText off of the jqXHR object and uses its error data:

177 lines | web/assets/js/RepLogApp.js
// ... lines 1 - 2
(function(window, $, Routing) {
// ... lines 4 - 26
$.extend(window.RepLogApp.prototype, {
// ... lines 28 - 77
handleNewFormSubmit: function(e) {
// ... lines 79 - 86
this._saveRepLog(formData)
.then(function(data) {
// ... lines 89 - 90
}).catch(function(jqXHR) {
var errorData = JSON.parse(jqXHR.responseText);
self._mapErrorsToForm(errorData.errors);
});
},
// ... lines 96 - 156
});
// ... lines 158 - 175
})(window, jQuery, Routing);

If we want, we could simplify the code in the handler by doing that before we reject our Promise.

Controlling Resolved Values

Let me show you: copy the errorData line and move it down into the other .catch(). Now, when we call reject(), pass it this:

178 lines | web/assets/js/RepLogApp.js
// ... lines 1 - 2
(function(window, $, Routing) {
// ... lines 4 - 26
$.extend(window.RepLogApp.prototype, {
// ... lines 28 - 95
_saveRepLog: function(data) {
return new Promise(function(resolve, reject) {
$.ajax({
// ... lines 99 - 108
}).catch(function(jqXHR) {
var errorData = JSON.parse(jqXHR.responseText);
reject(errorData);
});
});
},
// ... lines 116 - 157
});
// ... lines 159 - 176
})(window, jQuery, Routing);

As soon as we do that, any .catch() handlers will be passed the nice, clean errorData:

178 lines | web/assets/js/RepLogApp.js
// ... lines 1 - 2
(function(window, $, Routing) {
// ... lines 4 - 26
$.extend(window.RepLogApp.prototype, {
// ... lines 28 - 77
handleNewFormSubmit: function(e) {
// ... lines 79 - 86
this._saveRepLog(formData)
.then(function(data) {
// ... lines 89 - 90
}).catch(function(errorData) {
self._mapErrorsToForm(errorData.errors);
});
},
// ... lines 95 - 157
});
// ... lines 159 - 176
})(window, jQuery, Routing);

We no longer need to worry about parsing the JSON.

Refresh! And submit the form. Yes! Now, if we ever need to call _saveRepLog() from somewhere else, attaching a .catch() handler will be easier: we're passed the most relevant error data.

Creating your own Promise objects is not that common, but it's super powerful, giving you the ability to perform multiple asynchronous actions and allow other functions to do something once they all finish.

Returning a Promise from a Handler

Now, there was an easier way to do this. Sometimes, inside a handler - like .then(), you'll want to make another asynchronous action:

178 lines | web/assets/js/RepLogApp.js
// ... lines 1 - 2
(function(window, $, Routing) {
// ... lines 4 - 26
$.extend(window.RepLogApp.prototype, {
// ... lines 28 - 95
_saveRepLog: function(data) {
return new Promise(function(resolve, reject) {
$.ajax({
// ... lines 99 - 101
}).then(function(data, textStatus, jqXHR) {
$.ajax({
// ... lines 104 - 107
});
// ... lines 109 - 112
});
});
},
// ... lines 116 - 157
});
// ... lines 159 - 176
})(window, jQuery, Routing);

That's exactly what's happening in _saveRepLog(). In this case, you can actually return a Promise from your handler.

Here's a simpler version of how our code could have looked to solve this same problem. Well, simpler at least in terms of the number of lines.

The first $.ajax() returns a Promise, and we immediately attach a .then() listener to it. From inside of that .then(), we return another Promise. When you do this, any other chained handlers will not be called until that Promise, meaning, the second AJAX call, has completed.

Let me say it a different way. First, because we're chaining .then() onto the $.ajax(), the return value of _saveRepLog() is actually whatever the .then() function returns. And what is that? Both .then() and .catch() always return a Promise object.

And, up until now, the value used by the Promise returned by .then() or .catch() would be whatever value the function inside returned. But! If that function returns a Promise, then effectively, that Promise is what is ultimately returned by .then() or .catch().

Tip

Technically, .then() should return a new Promise that mimics that Promise returned by the function inside of it. But it's easier to imagine that it directly returns the Promise that was returned inside of it.

That's a long way of saying that other chained listeners, will wait until that internal Promise is resolved. In our example, it means that any .then() handlers attached to _saveRepLog() will wait until the inner AJAX call is finished. In fact, that's the whole point of Promises: to allow us to perform multiple asynchronous actions by chaining a few .then() calls, instead of doing the old, ugly, nested handler functions.

Phew! Ok! Let's move on to one last, real-world example of using a Promise: inside an external library.