Patterns for implementing client-side JS models and collections with Knockout and Falcon

example.js

var User = BaseModel.extend({
	'url': 'user.json',
	'defaults': {
		'first_name': null,
		'last_name': null,
		'email': null
	}
});

var Users = BaseCollection.extend({
	'model': User,
	'initialize': function() {
		BaseCollection.prototype.initialize.apply(this);
	}
});

var users = new Users();
users.fetch().done(function() {
	
	/*
	Reference the underlying observableArray behind `users` at: users.models
	*/
	
	users.each(function(user) {
		
		/*
		Model attributes are observables and can be referenced lik so:
		user.first_name
		*/
		
		/*
		Reference 'unwrapped' attributes like so:
		user.get('first_name');
		*/
		
		/*
		Update attributes like so:
		user.set('first_name', 'Joe');
		*/
		
	});
	
});

falcon.basecollection.js

define(['falcon', 'underscore', 'knockout'], function(Falcon, _, ko) {

	var BaseCollection = Falcon.Collection.extend({

		'initialize': function() {
			this.createDefaultEvents();
		},

		'createDefaultEvents': function() {
			var self = this;
			this.on('sync', function() {
				_.each(self.models(), function(model) {
					model.trigger('sync');
				});
			});
		},

		'fetch': function(obj) {
			var self = this;
			obj = obj || {};
			var success;
			if ( _.isFunction(obj.success) ) {
				success = obj.success;
			}
			obj.success = function() {
				self.trigger('sync');
				if ( _.isFunction(success) ) {
					success();
				}
			}
			return Falcon.Collection.prototype.fetch.call(this, obj);
		},

		'subscribe': function() {
			return this.models.subscribe.apply(this.models, _.toArray(arguments));
		}

	});

	return BaseCollection;

});

falcon.basemodel.js

define(['falcon', 'knockout'], function(Falcon, ko) {

	var BaseModel = Falcon.Model.extend({

		'initialize': function(data) {
			var self = this;
			if ( !_.isObject(this.defaults) ) {
				this.defaults = {};
			}
			this.createCollections();
			this.createObservables();
			Falcon.Model.prototype.initialize.apply(this, _.toArray(arguments));
			_.defer(function() {
				self.trigger('ready');
			});
		},

		'fill': function(data) {
			var self = this;
			this.populateCollections(data);
			var stripped_data = {};
			_.each(data, function(value, key) {
				if ( key === 'id' || !_.isUndefined(self.defaults[key]) ) {
					stripped_data[key] = value;
				}
			});
			return Falcon.Model.prototype.fill.call(this, stripped_data);
		},

		'populateCollections': function(data) {
			var self = this;
			_.each(data, function(value, key) {
				if ( _.isArray(value) && Falcon.isCollection(self[key]) ) {
					self[key].fill(value);
					delete data[key];
				}
			});
		},

		'collections': {},

		'createCollections': function() {
			var self = this;
			_.each(this.collections, function(Collection, key) {
				self[key] = new Collection([], self);
			});
		},

		'createObservables': function() {
			var self = this;
			_.each(this.defaults, function(value, key) {
				if ( value === '' || _.isNull(value) ) {
					value = undefined;
				}
				self['_' + key] = ko.observable(value);
				self[key] = ko.computed({
					'read': function() {
						if ( self.getters[key] ) {
							return self.getters[key](self['_' + key]());
						} else {
							return self['_' + key]();
						}
					},
					'write': function(value) {
						self['_' + key](value);
					},
					'owner': self
				});
				self[key].subscribe(function(value) {
					self.trigger('change:' + key, value);
				});
			});
		},

		'fetch': function(obj) {
			var self = this;
			obj = obj || {};
			var success;
			if ( _.isFunction(obj.success) ) {
				success = obj.success;
			}
			obj.success = function() {
				self.trigger('sync');
				if ( _.isFunction(success) ) {
					success();
				}
			}
			return Falcon.Model.prototype.fetch.call(this, obj);
		},

		'parse': function(data) {
			return data;
			var self = this;
			var result = [];
			_.each(data, function(row, index) {
				var new_row = {};
				_.each(row, function(value, key) {
					if ( _.isArray(value) ) {
						/* This array represents a collection belonging to this object. */
						if ( Falcon.isCollection(self[key]) ) {
							self[key].fill(value);
						}
					} else {
						/* This is a standard key / value pair. */
						new_row[key] = value;
					}
				});
				result.push(new_row);
			});
			return result;
		},

		'serialize': function() {
			var self = this;
			var result = {
				'id': this.id
			};
			_.each(this.defaults, function(value, key) {
				result[key] = self.get(key);
			});
			_.each(this.collections, function(collection, key) {
				result[key] = self[key].serialize();
			});
			return result;
		},

		'getters': {}

	});

	return BaseModel;

});