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Need general advice

in jQuery Mobile • 6 years ago

I have seen in several posts users being discouraged from using multi page documents beyond a very limited number of pages. Could someone take a few seconds to explain why ? Is it for performance (of the browser or JQM) reasons, because of limits JQM ability ?

The reason I am asking now is because I have always used multi page docs with something like 15-20 pages/popups etc and never had issues. This was necessary as the app needed to run offline (saving data entered in the browser "filesystem"

But I am willing to learn and do things differently, especially as I am about to embark in a rather complex app powered by JQM. This app will have to be able to work offline.

I also have in production a mix between multi page document and dynamically generated pages and by and large it works although I have seen here several times this practice as "not supported". What is the state of this ?

Thanks in advance for your input & advice

Didier

Replies(4)

watusiware

Re: Need general advice

6 years ago

It's beyond the ability of mobile browsers. Most limit the size of a document. With newer devices, the restriction is less, but the restriction can be quite severe on older ones.

As well, the time to download and then enhance all of the pages will test the patience of users.

If the user needs to work offline, the right solution is a native app (perhaps a "hybrid" app that uses HTML, like with PhoneGap/Cordova) or a "web app". (e.g. iPhone "save to home page".) For the latter, you need to have a "manifest" file that lists all of the documents that are part of the "app", and the mobile OS will download all of the pages and store them locally. (NOT in the normal browser cache.)

Google "web app".

I also have in production a mix between multi page document and dynamically generated pages and by and large it works although I have seen here several times this practice as "not supported". What is the state of this ?

That's not correct. What's not supported is a combination of multi-page documents and single-page documents. Or combination of multi-page document and one or more additional multi-page document. If you navigate between different a multi-page and either a single or multi-page, then you must use data-ajax='false ', which breaks most of what is good about JQM.

IMO, there is no need for multi-page documents, period. You can accomplish the same goals, with more granularity, by making use of data-dom-cache and data-prefetch .

I've never used a multi-page document. I've never created a dynamic page. I've created apps with hundreds of pages, using only single-page documents. When it is advantageous to keep some page handy in the document (such as an index page from which you might drill-down to detail) then I use data-dom-cache on that particular page to keep it hanging around.

IMO multi-page was a bad idea, and the developers have essentially admitted such. jQuery Mobile has been an evolving product. Somebody thought this was a Good Idea back before 1.0. Multi-page is convenient for making small examples, and it has been way over-used in the documentation, although much of that has now been corrected.

didiergm

Re: Need general advice

6 years ago

Thanks for your detailed explanations;

In my context (strictly B-to-B in an indsutrial context) multi page is very convenient and saves me from having to maintain PhoneGap & Cordova & Normal stuff.

I will however investigate web apps in more details to see what I can make of it.

Thanks again

Didier

watusiware

Re: Need general advice

6 years ago

I've never created a dynamic page.

I'll qualify that by saying I certainly create dynamic page content. Just not dynamic pages. I might use, say, a pagecreate callback to populate a page from localStorage.

jQuery Mobile make it rather complicated to create an entire page dynamically. Instead, I will typically have a skeleton page which then populates itself. I do this for a Google Map page, for example.

saves me from having to maintain PhoneGap & Cordova & Normal stuff.

That's easy to do with a Static Site Generator, or custom build script, though. I like Middleman as a SSG. Data + templates + a few custom helpers, and you can push-button publish all 3.

One of the problems with the "one big document" approach is that there's no guarantee that the browser cache will retain the document. And, so, after the user is done viewing YouTube on their lunch break, now you are eating bandwidth and wasting time to download it all over again.

Web app is a happy middle ground. It really doesn't take more than making a file that lists all of the documents that need to be permanently-cached. And they do away with the pesky browser chrome on iOS, and so you get something that looks more like a native app. And the very same site can be used as a regular website, in case the user doesn't want to save it as a webapp.

didiergm

Re: Need general advice

6 years ago

In fact - if webApp is the fancy name for "use an appcache" then I am using it already, just never thought about using it for multiple pages.

Thing is because of the nature of the apps I am writing I cannot and do not want to have users linking to pages in the middle of the app, and I really hate when the address bar changes - my users are easily confused so they will bookmark the wrong page and phone or email saying "it don't work".

I guess I mixed that up in my mind when I was learning JQM with the necessity to have a single file multi page

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