How do I specify various URLs in a backbone app?

Question

I need one of my backbone models to hit a variety of URLs depending on the type of action being performed. How do I determine the action within the URL function so that I can specify the appropriate URL? For example:

DELETE: /myapipath/itemtype/id/
POST: /myapipath/special-path/
GET: /myapipath/special-path/?code=ABC

I know how to tell the difference between a POST and everything else: this.isNew()

But how do I tell the difference between a DELETE and a GET in a custom model.url function?

Please don't suggest that I change the server-side api. That isn't up to me.

Thanks!

Answer 1

Conceptually the url of a Backbone model is the primary GET url of the resource. To use a different url for some of the actions, override the model's sync function. Fortunately, Backbone makes it easy to override:

window.MyModel = Backbone.Model.extend({   // ... other stuff ...    url: '/myapipath/special-path/?code=ABC',    methodUrl: {     'create': '/myapipath/special-path/',     'delete': '/myapipath/itemtype/id/'   },    sync: function(method, model, options) {     if (model.methodUrl && model.methodUrl[method.toLowerCase()]) {       options = options || {};       options.url = model.methodUrl[method.toLowerCase()];     }     Backbone.sync(method, model, options);   } } 

Edit: I took another look at the Backbone source and noticed that it merges the whole options argument to build the params, not options.params, and updated my example accordingly.