What is dojo.E?

dojo.E is a JavaScript library built on top of the popular Dojo Toolkit. The dojo.E library enables the creation of rich enterprise applications through an easy to use XML-based markup language. This XML markup allows developers to define user interfaces, handle events, make DOM modifications, and manage state.

What is dojo.E Markup and dojo.E Runtime?

dojo.E functionality is layered so users who do not require all the capabilities of dojo.E can use a smaller distribution.

Let's take a quick look at both distributions of dojo.E to see what it is that they can do in practice and how the XML looks.

dojo.E Markup

The dojo.E Markup converts XML fragments into HTML and/or JavaScript objects. An XML fragment can describe Dojo widgets, data sources, executable code (Macros) or pretty much anything. For example, this fragment allows you to create a Dijit Button:

 
<script type="text/xml" dojoType="dojoe.XmlScript">
	<ui>
		<dijit.form.Button label="Hello, World!"/>
	</ui>
</script>

For more details, go to the dojo.E Markup page.

dojo.E Runtime

The dojo.E Runtime can parse, store and execute XModify code that is loaded either during the page startup (embedded in script tags) or asynchronously (http requests). XModify code can be stored as Macros that can be executed programatically or triggered by events.

XModify describes the target elements and the changes to make. For example, this XModify code finds a button with an id MyButton and changes its label to Active:

 
<dojoe.Xmodify> 	
      <set-attribute query="MyButton"> 		
         <attribute value="Active" name="label"/> 	
      </set-attribute> 
</dojoe.Xmodify>

XModify code can also be generated and/or loaded dynamically in response to events on the client or loaded at startup and executed later.

Macro provides a container for XModify code, so multiple XModify statements can be executed together:

 
<declarations> 	
       <dojoe.Macro id="macro1"> 		
               <dojoe.Xmodify xmlns:xm="dojo">...</dojoe.Xmodify>
      </dojoe.Macro> 
</declarations>

Macros also support the use of parameters which allow the same Macro to produce different results.

Read more about Macros and XModify.