extjs4 - Best practice for overriding classes / properties in ExtJS?

Question

I have an Ext.form.field.Text and I want to override the setValue function.

What is the recommended way to override this class functionality in ExtJS? Ext.override?

Answer 1

For clarification: By real class modification I mean a intended permanent modification/extension of a class, which should always be done by extending a class. But it is not a temporary solution for just a specific problem (bug-fix, etc.).

You have at least four options how to override members of (Ext) Classes

• prototype I guess is well known and allows you to override a member for all instances of a class. You can use it like

  Ext.view.View.prototype.emptyText = "";
  

  While you can't use it like

  // callParent is NOT allowed for prototype
  Ext.form.field.Text.prototype.setValue = function(val) {
      var me = this,
          inputEl = me.inputEl;
  
      if (inputEl && me.emptyText && !Ext.isEmpty(value)) {
          inputEl.removeCls(me.emptyCls);
          me.valueContainsPlaceholder = false;
      }
  
      me.callParent(arguments);
  
      me.applyEmptyText();
      return me;
  };
  

  Here's a JSFiddle

  This variant should not be used for real class modifications.

• Ext.override does nearly the same then prototype but it fully applies to the ExtJS Class-system which allows you to use callParent()

  You can use it like

  // callParent is allowed for override
  Ext.override('Ext.form.field.Text', {
      setValue: function(val) {
          this.callParent(['In override']);
          return this;
      }
  });
  

  Here's a JSFiddle (c-p error fixed! Thanks to @nogridbag)

  Use case: I faced a (I think still existing) bad behavior of a radiogroup where ExtJS expect a object (key-value-pair) for correct setting of the value. But I have just one integer on my backend. I first applied a fix using Ext.override for the setValue() method and afterwards extend from radiogroup. There I just make a Key-Value-Pair from the given value and call the parent method with that.

  As @rixo mentioned this can be used for overriding a instance member. And may therefore be qualified for overriding even mixins (I never tested it myself)

  var panel = new Ext.Panel({ ... });
  Ext.override(panel, {
      initComponent: function () {
          // extra processing...
  
          this.callParent();
      }
  });
  

  This variant should not be used for real class modifications.

• Extending a existent class to apply additional behavior & rendering. Use this variant to create a subtype that behaves different without loosing the original type.

  In the following example we extend the textfield with a method to change the labelcolor when setting a new value called setColored and override the setValue method to take care of removing a label color when setValue is called directly

  Ext.define('Ext.ux.field.Text',{
      extend: 'Ext.form.field.Text',
      widget: 'uxtextfield',
      setColored: function(val,color) {
          var me = this;
          if (me.settedCls) {
              me.removeCls(me.settedCls);
          }
          me.addCls(color);
          me.settedCls = color;
          me.setValue(val,true);
      },
      setValue: function(val,take) {
          var me = this;
          if (!take && me.settedCls) {
              me.removeCls(me.settedCls);
          }
          me.callParent(arguments);
          return me;
      }
  });
  

  Here's a JSFiddle

• Overriding per instance will happen in really rare cases and might not be applicable to all properties. In such a case (where I don't have a example at hand) you have a single need for a different behavior and you might consider overriding a setting just per instance. Basically you do such things all times when you apply a config on class creation but most time you just override default values of config properties but you are also able to override properties that references functions. This completely override the implementation and you might allows don't have access to the basetype (if any exist) meaning you cannot use callParent. You might try it with setValue to see that it cannot be applied to a existing chain. But again, you might face some rare cases where this is useful, even when it is just while development and get reimplemented for productive. For such a case you should apply the override after you created the specific by using Ext.override as mentioned above.

  Important: You don't have access to the class-instance by calling this if you don't use Ext.override!

If I missed something or something is (no longer) correct, please comment or feel free to edit.

As commented by @Eric

None of these methods allow you to override mixins (such as Ext.form.field.Field). Since mixin functions are copied into classes at the time you define the class, you have to apply your overrides to the target classes directly