# Help contribute to Ember: non-block form linkTo
**URL:** https://discuss.emberjs.com/t/help-contribute-to-ember-non-block-form-linkto/2039
**Category:** Uncategorized
**Created:** [August 4, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://discuss.emberjs.com/t/help-contribute-to-ember-non-block-form-linkto/2039 "2013-08-04T16:08:27Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@machty](https://discuss.emberjs.com/u/machty)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://discuss.emberjs.com/t/help-contribute-to-ember-non-block-form-linkto/2039/1 "2013-08-04T16:08:27Z")
I’ve been trying to keep an eye out for simpler, lower-priority enhancements to Ember that would be well-suited to someone trying to start contributing or level up, and I think I’ve got a decently straightforward one in mind:
The `{{linkTo}}` helper presently can only be used in block form, e.g.
```
{{#linkTo 'about'}}The About page{{/linkTo}}
```
I’d like for it to be possible to rewrite the above in non-block form, e.g.
```
{{linkTo 'The About page' 'about'}}
```
The logic is simple: if a block is NOT provided (i.e. the helper is just invoked as `{{linkTo ...}}` and not `{{#linkTo ...}}block content{{/linkTo}}`), the first arg should be treated as the link text.
Also, if the first arg is not a quoted string, it should be treated as a bound path, e.g.
```
{{#each articles}}
{{linkTo title 'articles.show' this}}
{{/each}}
```
In this case, the generic links would use the article title as the link text, and if those article titles changed for any reason, the link text should update.
This seems like an ideal fit for a new contributor; just the right amount of challenge, but more or less localized, and should level up your knowledge of how bindings and helpers etc work in Ember.
Who wants it?
---
### Author:  [@machty](https://discuss.emberjs.com/u/machty)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2013, 4:40pm UTC](https://discuss.emberjs.com/t/help-contribute-to-ember-non-block-form-linkto/2039/2 "2013-08-04T16:40:25Z")
It goes without saying that I (and others) will be available to help whoever steps up on their way to getting this done.
---
### Author:  [@minznerjosh](https://discuss.emberjs.com/u/minznerjosh)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2013, 5:02pm UTC](https://discuss.emberjs.com/t/help-contribute-to-ember-non-block-form-linkto/2039/3 "2013-08-04T17:02:03Z")
Hello, @machty. Saw you at the most recent Ember NYC meet-up. I’d be really interested in tackling this one!
---
### Author:  [@machty](https://discuss.emberjs.com/u/machty)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2013, 5:25pm UTC](https://discuss.emberjs.com/t/help-contribute-to-ember-non-block-form-linkto/2039/4 "2013-08-04T17:25:23Z")
Go forth! Start with some failing test cases in `link_to_test.js` and lemme know if you run into any problems.
---
### Author:  [@ahazem](https://discuss.emberjs.com/u/ahazem)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2013, 10:00pm UTC](https://discuss.emberjs.com/t/help-contribute-to-ember-non-block-form-linkto/2039/5 "2013-08-04T22:00:14Z")
Okay, so I started with this simple failing [test case](https://gist.github.com/ahazem/6152055#file-link_to_test-js-L681), not entirely sure if it is sufficient to test the functionality/feature we’re working on, I’m not really good at testing ember.js apps, let alone testing ember.js itself, so, what do you think?
Anyway, as you can imagine, the test is failing because handlebars parser is expecting an OPEN\_ENDBLOCK:
```
Died on test #1 at eval (ember/~tests/helpers/link_to_test:681:1)
at eval (ember/~tests/helpers/link_to_test:698:3)
at eval (native)
at http://localhost:9292/minispade.js:17:31
at Object.minispade.globalEval (http://localhost:9292/minispade.js:18:14)
at Object.minispade.require (http://localhost:9292/minispade.js:31:20)
at http://localhost:9292/?module=The%20%7B%7BlinkTo%7D%7D%20helper:210:23: Parse error on line 1:
...t" id="about-link"}}
-----------------------^
Expecting 'CONTENT', 'COMMENT', 'OPEN_BLOCK', 'OPEN_INVERSE', 'OPEN_ENDBLOCK', 'OPEN', 'OPEN_UNESCAPED', 'OPEN_PARTIAL', got 'EOF'
Source:
Error: Parse error on line 1:
...t" id="about-link"}}
-----------------------^
Expecting 'CONTENT', 'COMMENT', 'OPEN_BLOCK', 'OPEN_INVERSE', 'OPEN_ENDBLOCK', 'OPEN', 'OPEN_UNESCAPED', 'OPEN_PARTIAL', got 'EOF'
at Object.parseError (http://localhost:9292/handlebars.js:306:11)
at Object.parse (http://localhost:9292/handlebars.js:358:22)
at Object.Handlebars.parse (http://localhost:9292/handlebars.js:676:28)
at Object.Ember.Handlebars.compile (ember-handlebars-compiler:264:26)
at Object.eval (ember/~tests/helpers/link_to_test:686:44)
at Object.Test.run (http://localhost:9292/qunit/qunit.js:190:18)
at http://localhost:9292/qunit/qunit.js:348:10
at process (http://localhost:9292/qunit/qunit.js:1420:24)
at http://localhost:9292/qunit/qunit.js:466:5
```
I have been fiddling with link\_to.js helper trying to figure out how to check whether a block is provided or not, I even checked other helpers that allow for blockless use, but I can’t get my head around the concept used.
I would love to hear your thoughts.
---
### Author:  [@machty](https://discuss.emberjs.com/u/machty)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2013, 10:14pm UTC](https://discuss.emberjs.com/t/help-contribute-to-ember-non-block-form-linkto/2039/6 "2013-08-04T22:14:04Z")
The template you’re using has invalid Handlebars code: `{{#linkTo "The About Page" "about" id="about-link"}}`
Specifically, you’re using a `#` as if you’re invoking `linkTo` in its block form, but you’re not providing a block. So, you should get rid of the `#` and you’ll be good to go.
---
### Author:  [@ahazem](https://discuss.emberjs.com/u/ahazem)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2013, 12:33am UTC](https://discuss.emberjs.com/t/help-contribute-to-ember-non-block-form-linkto/2039/7 "2013-08-05T00:33:10Z")
Oh, my bad. I totally overlooked that, I was thinking that it has something to do with how `linkTo` helper works, not because I provided an invalid handlebars code. The test is failing now because the helper is expecting a route in the first argument, hopefully this is an easy one.
---
### Author:  [@machty](https://discuss.emberjs.com/u/machty)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2013, 12:44am UTC](https://discuss.emberjs.com/t/help-contribute-to-ember-non-block-form-linkto/2039/8 "2013-08-05T00:44:51Z")
That’s the feature you’re implementing 🙂
---
### Author:  [@ahazem](https://discuss.emberjs.com/u/ahazem)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2013, 11:17am UTC](https://discuss.emberjs.com/t/help-contribute-to-ember-non-block-form-linkto/2039/9 "2013-08-05T11:17:14Z")
In brief, I did the following:
I started by adding another parameter in the linkTo function helper:
```
Ember.Handlebars.registerHelper('linkTo', function(text, name) {
});
```
but then of course, it broke every other test case in the `link_to_test.js` file, and I realized that it wouldn’t make a lot of sense to be expecting `text` argument every time `linkTo` is invoked especially since it is mostly used in block form, so I decided to work with the `arguments` array directly, and added a check to see if a block is provided or not, like the following:
```
if(!options.fn) {
console.log('a block is not used');
}
```
then I assigned `name` to the second argument if a block is not provided, as follow:
```
if(!options.fn) {
name = arguments[1];
}
```
so the test failed with a new message:
```
Error: More context objects were passed than there are dynamic segments for the route: about
```
After playing with `LinkView` and exploring how it works internally I realized the `hash.parameters` object is passed with `The About Page` and `about`, both of which are then added to the `paths` array in LinkView `init`. So, I thought, maybe we shouldn’t pass `The About Page` param at all?
I’m not sure I’m understanding how everything works internally, but I have been trying my best to decipher what goes where and so on. Anyway, my next step was trying to remove the first element of the `params` array inside the `linkTo` helper so I did the following:
```
hash.parameters = {
context: this,
options: options,
params: (options.fn) ? params : [].slice.call(params, 1) // checks if a block is given, if not remove the first element of the params array.
};
```
And, the first assertion passed, `href` was rendered properly with ‘#/about’ as its value, I even checked it worked properly through the browser, and found that the template renders with the link having its `href` present (and correct), but the link has no text (obviously):
```
```
I don’t know where to head next (I know the helper should use the first argument as the link text, not sure what to do though), would appreciate if you can help put me in the right direction.
P.S. This [gist](https://gist.github.com/ahazem/6155130#file-link_to-js) shows the `linkTo` helper after the changes I made.
---
### Author:  [@fanta](https://discuss.emberjs.com/u/fanta)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2013, 2:25pm UTC](https://discuss.emberjs.com/t/help-contribute-to-ember-non-block-form-linkto/2039/10 "2013-08-05T14:25:52Z")
yeah, the thing here is how to set the first argument as the template of the view, the documentation for a view says:
`{{view}}` inserts a new instance of `Ember.View` into a template passing its options to the `Ember.View`’s `create` method and using the supplied block as the view’s own template.
so, it is always expecting a block for the template. Do we need to set a default template when no block is given ? maybe.
---
### Author:  [@fanta](https://discuss.emberjs.com/u/fanta)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2013, 3:22pm UTC](https://discuss.emberjs.com/t/help-contribute-to-ember-non-block-form-linkto/2039/11 "2013-08-05T15:22:59Z")
@ahazem, I did something, but I’m not sure if it is the right thing to do, if you want to make your second tests pass, I defined the block where the linkTo is registered:
```
if(!options.fn) {
options.fn = function() {
return varWhereYouHaveTheText;
}
}
```
something like that.
---
### Author:  [@ahazem](https://discuss.emberjs.com/u/ahazem)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2013, 4:13pm UTC](https://discuss.emberjs.com/t/help-contribute-to-ember-non-block-form-linkto/2039/12 "2013-08-05T16:13:14Z")
@fanta Thanks! That’s exactly what I was looking for, I didn’t know assigning a function to `options.fn` with a return value of the link text would actually append the text to the link (but now that I think of it, it seems so logical).
So, both tests pass now, however, I’m sure there’s a more elegant solution out there, I will just wait for @machty to weigh in and explain how (if he has enough time and willingness) the inners of `LinkView` work and to give us some feedback too.
---
### Author:  [@machty](https://discuss.emberjs.com/u/machty)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2013, 4:25pm UTC](https://discuss.emberjs.com/t/help-contribute-to-ember-non-block-form-linkto/2039/13 "2013-08-05T16:25:00Z")
@ahazem do you have the latest code up somewhere?
---
### Author:  [@ahazem](https://discuss.emberjs.com/u/ahazem)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2013, 4:45pm UTC](https://discuss.emberjs.com/t/help-contribute-to-ember-non-block-form-linkto/2039/14 "2013-08-05T16:45:37Z")
@machty [Here][1] you are. [1]: [https://gist.github.com/ahazem/6157406](https://gist.github.com/ahazem/6157406)
---
### Author:  [@fanta](https://discuss.emberjs.com/u/fanta)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2013, 4:48pm UTC](https://discuss.emberjs.com/t/help-contribute-to-ember-non-block-form-linkto/2039/15 "2013-08-05T16:48:41Z")
@ahazem, don’t forget to run all tests, you might find some of them broken
---
### Author:  [@machty](https://discuss.emberjs.com/u/machty)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://discuss.emberjs.com/t/help-contribute-to-ember-non-block-form-linkto/2039/16 "2013-08-05T17:01:00Z")
@ahazem Looks good so far. Nice work!
Next up is adding test cases for the bound link title version which will look up the link text on the present context if the arg you provide is unquoted, e.g.
```
{{#each articles}}
{{linkTo title 'articles.show' this}}
{{/each}}
```
---
### Author:  [@ahazem](https://discuss.emberjs.com/u/ahazem)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2013, 5:08pm UTC](https://discuss.emberjs.com/t/help-contribute-to-ember-non-block-form-linkto/2039/17 "2013-08-05T17:08:41Z")
@fanta Thanks for pointing that out, I ran all tests and the “`linkTo` should pass jshint” failed because I missed a couple of semi-colons. Now fixed, all passes.
---
### Author:  [@ahazem](https://discuss.emberjs.com/u/ahazem)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2013, 4:22pm UTC](https://discuss.emberjs.com/t/help-contribute-to-ember-non-block-form-linkto/2039/18 "2013-08-06T16:22:38Z")
Well, I wrote this [test case](https://gist.github.com/6165784), it looks up the `index` controller and then sets `articles` array into the controller, then after booting the application and navigating to the root, we lookup the titles of the articles using `mapProperty` and test against them. The last two assertions ensure that `href` is rendered correctly.
Switching focus back again to the helper, I added the following code:
```
if(options.types[0] === "ID") {
linkText = get(this, linkText);
}
```
that check to see if the first argument type is an ID, not a string (in which case first argument would be unquoted), afterwards we lookup the current context ‘`this`’ to get the value of first argument. Now, the first two assertions pass, however, the other two fail (instead of having `/articles/1` it returns `/articles/` for instance) but I can’t figure out why.
@machty could you please have a look at the test case and my `link_to.js` file found [here](https://gist.github.com/ahazem/6166002#file-link_to-js-L480) (I know that the helper function needs some DRYing) and give me some feedback? 🙂
---
### Author:  [@machty](https://discuss.emberjs.com/u/machty)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2013, 4:56pm UTC](https://discuss.emberjs.com/t/help-contribute-to-ember-non-block-form-linkto/2039/19 "2013-08-06T16:56:45Z")
I’m gonna be mega busy today and tomorrow before heading out on a trip, so I’m hoping someone will be able to step up and advise if I’m slow going, but I’ll try to take a look shortly.
---
### Author:  [@ahazem](https://discuss.emberjs.com/u/ahazem)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2013, 3:39am UTC](https://discuss.emberjs.com/t/help-contribute-to-ember-non-block-form-linkto/2039/20 "2013-08-15T03:39:55Z")
Okay, so today I had the time to set down and have a closer look at the internals of `link_to.js` and `LinkView`. As it turns out, the aforementioned two assertions are failing because `Ember.Handlebars.resolveParams` goes through each param passed and if the param type is `ID` it is looked up using current context (if it’s a `STRING`, the param is returned as is).
Now, if we have the following code:
```
{{#each articles}}
{{linkTo title 'articles.show' this}}
{{/each}}
```
we could easily check to see if the second argument is a `STRING` and then change it to `ID`, but this wouldn’t be very thoughtful, would it? I have to admit I’m not getting anywhere with this.
[Next page](https://discuss.emberjs.com/t/help-contribute-to-ember-non-block-form-linkto/2039.md?page=2)