How to redirect to a play framework url from within javascript without hard-coding the url

Question

I need to do something seemingly quite simple.

In the same way that I can, from my scala.html file, create a link to another url, /entry, I need to do that from a javascript file.

i.e., from the scala.html:

    <div class="footer">
        <a href='@routes.Application.index()'>Home</a>
    </div>

from my javascript event:

function() myEvent {
    window.location="@routes.Application.entry()"; // DOESN'T WORK!
}

For routing from javascript, I've already had to setup my javascript routes for some ajax work I've already had to do.

My ajax work was calling a method 'findPersons()' so in my Application.java file, I had already:

public Result jsRoutes()
{
    response().setContentType("text/javascript");
    return ok(Routes.javascriptRouter(  "appRoutes",
                                        routes.javascript.Application.findPersons()));
}

Because I want to be able to redirect to my GET entry() method, I modified it to look like this:

public Result jsRoutes()
{
    response().setContentType("text/javascript");
    return ok(Routes.javascriptRouter(  "appRoutes",
                                        routes.javascript.Application.findPersons(),
                                        routes.javascript.Application.entry()));
}

Additionally I have these in my routes file:

GET     /entry              controllers.Application.entry()

POST    /findPersons        controllers.Application.findPersons()

When I am invoking my findPersons method, it is really nice and simple. It looks like this:

appRoutes.controllers.Application.findPersons().ajax({
    data: {
        personIdentifier : personIdentifier,
        surname : surname, 
        givenNames : givenNames
    },
    success : processDBQuery
});

For my simple redirect, I would like to be able to maintain the same loose coupling between my html/javascript code and the urls, as I can the ajax call above.

My redirect needs to occur on an event. Therefore, the easiest and quickest solution would have been simple to write:

function() myEvent {
    window.location="/entry";
}

However, then I would be hard-coding the URL (which I have managed to avoid for my ajax call above), no longer maintaining that loose coupling I would so much like to have.

However, I see no examples in the documentation, and from what I have in the generated javascript (for my routes) there is no chance.

Is there any way to achieve what I am after?

thanks for reading!

p.s., I should add; I guess I have also thought of the possibility of using the ajax call that is generated, I guess I can probably fetch the page I want... and there is probably a means of replacing the current document with the entire content of the fetched page. but that just sounds bad.... wrong...

or not?

I was rather hoping for a substitution, as is done in my html

i.e, my link as shown above is generated to look like this:

    <div class="footer">
        <a href='/'>Home</a>
    </div>

In the same way, I hoped there was some means of substitution in the javascript, so that the event function above ends up in being massaged into looking like this:

function() myEvent {
    window.location="/entry";
}

Answer 1

Jacques, from the above comments, helped me to realize a work-around.

From within my "assets located" javascript file, I can still refer to page/template located javascript.

Own-file/assets located javascript doesn't seem to be transformed how I expected. However, Page/template located javascript is transformed exactly how I require.

I can refer to a template located javascript function from my assets located javascript.

This means, I have a little work-around of one extra little function inside the template which does the redirection for me.

i.e.,

myJavascript.js:

    function personResultsListClickHandler(personId) {
        var fpersonId = personId;
        return function() {
            window.alert("hello! " + fpersonId);
            affectRedirect();
        };
    }

myTemplate.scala.html

@main("person lookup") {

    <script type="text/javascript">
        function affectRedirect(){  
            window.location="@routes.Application.entry()";
        } // Need this here so it will be transformed.
          // asset located javascript doesn't seem to get transformed like javascript here in template! :(...
    </script>

Another possibility is the fact that the Javascript object retrieved by calling:

appRoutes.controllers.Application.entry()

contains a url member. This url member is exactly what I can use to assign to window.location. However, it looks a bit unofficial.. in terms of 1. the member not being documented 2. not sure if the url member will exist in the future 3. the generated javascript is constructing an object dealing with ajax... and i'm just grabbing the URL member from it... it just feels... like a hack.

But i've tested this, and it works. See code below:

    function patientResultsListClickHandler(personId) {
        var fpersonId = personId;
        return function() {
            window.location=appRoutes.controllers.Application.entry(personId).url;
        //  window.location="/entry/" + fpersonId; // the sort of hard-coding of URL that
        };                                          // I wanted to avoid, but don't seem able to.
    }

Does anyone else have a better solution?