willthemoor [1:17 AM] .
Just coming to realize the power of flat arrays within _data/data.json and the use of twig's random() function for mocking stuff in Pattern Lab. It's good living!
data.json
"schools" : [
"Georgetown",
"Harvard",
"Princeton",
"Yale"
],
"years" : [
"1996",
"2001",
"2006",
"2011"
]
foo.twig:
<li>Education: {{ random(schools) }}, {{ random(years) }}</li>
willthemoor [9:13 PM] .
random() is also handy for testing design resilience (etc) by 'conditionally' including data points. I should maybe note that I'm working on 'listing' type UI with many listings, each with many different potential data points (displayed directly in the listings).
{% if random(1) %}
// render some data point
{% endif %}
I went a step further because the listings are user generated and almost nothing is required so each data point is very hit and miss. Since some data points are a more commonly filled than others I added the following to _data/data.json:
"binary_lean_true": [0,0,1,1,1,1,1],
"binary_lean_false": [0,0,0,0,0,1,1],
Which allows for "probably" and "probably not" tests with {% if random(binary_lean_true) %} and {% if random(binary_lean_false) %}
Hmm... now that I've typed this out it occurs to me that it might also be possible to skip the probably/probably-not checks simply by adding blank entries to each flat array in data.json. Though I might hate myself a year from now when I'm wondering "wtf is with all of these empty array items??"
Bonus random() round because, dang, twig is friendly/forgiving 🙌:skin-tone-4: ! Want to test variable amounts of several data points without doing it manually? Say an entity is allowed between 0 and 5 school associations:
{% for i in 0..random(5) %}
{{ random(schools) }}
{% endfor %}
Possibly worth noting: PL hangs on to these 'random' values when refreshing the page manually (at least with Emulsify's PL settings) since it only re-renders the HTML when there's an actual change to a file.