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I am just getting started with Flight.js and realized that component instances share local variables, but didn't find anything about it in the documentation.

This is what i mean:

flight.component(function () {

    var sharedBetweenAllInstances = true;

    this.notShared = true;

}).attachTo('.multiple-elements');

As example, if a component should count clicks on it, it could increment this.clicksCount for the number of clicks on each single instance, and increment var totalClicks for the total number of clicks on any instance of the component.

I didn't find anything about this in the documentation, so I wonder if flight components should be used this way?

Thank you!

Rudi
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1 Answers1

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I don't think that's a good idea (probably why they don't mention it in the docs). The function you setup as your "component" is actually applied as a functional mixin, along with any other mixins your component uses. So, while you might be able to access that variable when doing an .attachTo('.multip-selector') where you're setting up an instance on each of many components, you could still run into problem if attaching individually, or if the shared variable controls resources in which a race condition to access that shared resource becomes problematic.

From a "component" standpoint, you're better off pulling out any shared state into a separate data component or controller type component that can receive updates form the individual components and broadcast the shared state when it's updated.

Here's an example I put together using that scenario via jsbin: http://jsbin.com/qecupi/edit?js

David Atchley
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