Get it

You can get a copy of OriginJS from my Github repository.

Getting Started

First include origin.js in your page. You can do this with a script tag in the head of your page, or you can load it with require.js.

Using Origin is very easy. Here’s a very basic example.

Origin.bind('/', function() {

    //home page logic goes here
    //loaded on /#/ or /

});

Origin.bind('/about', function() {

    //about page logic goes here
    //loaded on /#/about

});

Your links would look like this.

<nav>
    <a href="#/">Home</a>
    <a href="#/about">About</a>
</nav>

This is far to simple an example for serious applications though so here is an example with a bit more complexity.

Origin.bind(['/:user/:profilePage', '/:user/:profilePage/+'], function(uris, data) {

    //will match hash urls such as
    // /#/RobertWHurst/Wall/
    // or even
    // /#/John_01/About/Data/1/0/1

    //get the dynamic data
    var user = data.user,
        profilePage = data.profilePage,
        profilePageSubUris = uris.splice(2);

    // load profile code here

}, function(uris, data) {

    //cleanup code for profile here

});

As you can see there is an optional callback for cleaning up when a different route is loaded. Also both callbacks get two arguments. The first is an array with each uri from the current url in the location hash. Even more interesting is the :user and :profilePage uris in the bind rules. These are id uris and capture any uri in the corresponding position in the hash url. The uri value gets added to the data object passed to the callback under a key by the same name as the rule uri. Here’s an example of what I mean.

Rule Uri = :user
            so           data.user === 'RobertWHurst'
Hash Uri = RobertWHurst

There there are two other operators you can use in your routes. The catchall, +, and the wild card uri, *. Catchalls are self explanatory they will match any uri and all that follow it. Good for things like 404 or black hole pages. Wildcards match like id Uris except the do not save the hash uri value to the data array.

Don’t use location.hash to change routes!

You don’t always want to use anchor tags to navigate your app. Sometimes you want to do this programatically. You can use location.hash if you really want to, it will work but you shouldn’t. Origin has a method for redirecting to other places. Its called Origin.go and can be uses as follows.

//If a route has been set for /home this will redirect to /#/home/. if no route exists it will redirect /home/
Origin.go('/home');

//Opens a new tab (or window) containing http://google.com/
Origin.go('http://google.com/');

//holding control while ether of these fire will yield a new tab (or window) regardless of the passed url.

As you can see above Origin.go(url) Allows to to load any page you like, not just hash routes. You don’t even have to think about it. Its predictable and yet feels magical. The choice is yours but I would highly recommend Origin.go(url) over location.hash.

Documentation

Bind

Origin.bind(route, entryCallback[, exitCallback]);

This method is the corner stone of this library. It binds your route logic to the routes of your application.

Arguments

route: The route you wish to bind. The route can contain dynamic uris such as *, +, or :someIdHere. entryCallback: The callback that will be executed when you route has been followed. exitCallback: The callback that will be executed when a different route is loaded.

Both the entry callback and the exit callback are passed two arguments; the uris from the hash url, and an object with data from any :someIdHeres you may have in your route.

Go

Origin.go(url);

At some point you may want to trigger routes or open other pages programatically. This is what Origin.go(url) is for. If Origin.bind is ying, Origin.go is yang.

Arguments

url: Any url you wish to follow. If the url is pointing to a binded route the router will load that route. No need to prefix with /#. If the url is not pointing to a binded route it will redirect to the url. If the url contains a domain it will open the url in a new tab (or window).

Update

Origin.update();

The Origin.update method should never need to be called, however in the event that something weird happens, for example your application looses focus on a hash change event, calling this function will force Origin to re check the hash and execute matching routes.

Credits

I (Robert Hurst) made this to enable me to build more robust applications without wasting time creating a half baked router. I’d like to share it with fellow devs. Feel free to fork this project and make your own changes.