alloy-guides

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Translated

Titanium Alloy MVC official framework reference. Use when working with, reviewing, analyzing, or examining Alloy models, views, controllers, Backbone.js data binding, TSS styling, widgets, Alloy CLI, sync adapters, migrations, or MVC compilation. Explains how Backbone.js models and collections work in Alloy.

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Sourcemaccesar/titanium-sdk-skills
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NPX Install

npx skill4agent add maccesar/titanium-sdk-skills alloy-guides

Tags

Translated version includes tags in frontmatter
alloy-mvc-frameworktitanium-mobile-developmentbackbone-js-integrationtss-stylingalloy-cli

SKILL.md Content

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Alloy MVC framework guide

Reference for building Titanium mobile applications with the Alloy MVC framework and Backbone.js.

Project detection

:::info AUTO-DETECTS ALLOY PROJECTS This skill automatically detects Alloy projects when invoked and provides framework-specific guidance.
Detection occurs automatically - no manual command needed.
Alloy project indicators:
  • app/
    folder (MVC structure)
  • app/views/
    , 
    app/controllers/
    folders
  • app/models/
    folder
Behavior based on detection:
  • Alloy detected → Provides Alloy MVC documentation, Backbone.js patterns, TSS styling, widgets
  • Not detected → Indicates this skill is for Alloy projects only, does not suggest Alloy-specific features :::

Quick reference

TopicReference File
Core concepts, MVC, Backbone.js, conventionsCONCEPTS.md
Controllers, events, conditional code, argumentsCONTROLLERS.md
Models, collections, data binding, migrationsMODELS.md
XML markup, elements, attributes, eventsVIEWS_XML.md
TSS styling, themes, platform-specific stylesVIEWS_STYLES.md
Dynamic styles, autostyle, runtime stylingVIEWS_DYNAMIC.md
Controllers-less views, patternsVIEWS_WITHOUT_CONTROLLERS.md
Creating and using widgetsWIDGETS.md
CLI commands, code generationCLI_TASKS.md
PurgeTSS integration (optional addon)PURGETSS.md

Project structure

Standard Alloy project structure:
app/
├── alloy.js              # Initializer file
├── alloy.jmk             # Build configuration
├── config.json           # Project configuration
├── assets/               # Images, fonts, files (→ Resources/)
├── controllers/          # Controller files (.js)
├── i18n/                 # Localization strings (→ i18n/)
├── lib/                  # CommonJS modules
├── migrations/           # DB migrations (<DATETIME>_<name>.js)
├── models/               # Model definitions (.js)
├── platform/             # Platform-specific resources (→ platform/)
├── specs/                # Test-only files (dev/test only)
├── styles/               # TSS files (.tss)
├── themes/               # Theme folders
├── views/                # XML markup files (.xml)
└── widgets/              # Widget components

MVC quick start

Controller (
app/controllers/index.js
):
javascript
function doClick(e) {
    alert($.label.text);
}
$.index.open();
View (
app/views/index.xml
):
xml
<Alloy>
    <Window class="container">
        <Label id="label" onClick="doClick">Hello, World</Label>
    </Window>
</Alloy>
Style (
app/styles/index.tss
):
javascript
".container": { backgroundColor: "white" }
"Label": { color: "#000" }

Key concepts

  • Models/Collections: Backbone.js objects with sync adapters (sql, properties)
  • Views: XML markup with TSS styling
  • Controllers: JavaScript logic with 
    $
    reference to view components
  • Data Binding: Bind collections to UI components automatically
  • Widgets: Reusable components with MVC structure
  • Conventions: File naming and placement drive code generation

Critical rules

Platform-specific properties in TSS

:::danger CRITICAL: Platform-specific properties require modifiers Using 
Ti.UI.iOS.*
or 
Ti.UI.Android.*
properties in TSS without platform modifiers causes cross-platform compilation failures.
Example of the failure:
tss
// WRONG - Adds Ti.UI.iOS to Android project
"#mainWindow": {
  statusBarStyle: Ti.UI.iOS.StatusBar.LIGHT_CONTENT  // FAILS on Android!
}
Correct approach - use platform modifiers:
tss
// CORRECT - Only adds to iOS
"#mainWindow[platform=ios]": {
  statusBarStyle: Ti.UI.iOS.StatusBar.LIGHT_CONTENT
}

// CORRECT - Only adds to Android
"#mainWindow[platform=android]": {
  actionBar: {
    displayHomeAsUp: true
  }
}
Properties that always require platform modifiers:
  • iOS: 
    statusBarStyle
    , 
    modalStyle
    , 
    modalTransitionStyle
    , any 
    Ti.UI.iOS.*
  • Android: 
    actionBar
    config, any 
    Ti.UI.Android.*
    constant
Available modifiers: 
[platform=ios]
, 
[platform=android]
, 
[formFactor=handheld]
, 
[formFactor=tablet]
, 
[if=Alloy.Globals.customVar]
For more platform-specific patterns, see Code conventions (ti-expert) or Platform UI guides (ti-ui). :::

Common patterns

Creating a model

bash
alloy generate model book sql title:string author:string

Data binding

xml
<Collection src="book" />
<TableView dataCollection="book">
    <TableViewRow title="{title}" />
</TableView>

Platform-specific code

javascript
if (OS_IOS) {
    // iOS-only code
}
if (OS_ANDROID) {
    // Android-only code
}

Widget usage

xml
<Widget src="mywidget" id="foo" />

Compilation process

  1. Cleanup: Resources folder cleaned
  2. Build Config: alloy.jmk loaded (pre:load task)
  3. Framework Files: Backbone.js, Underscore.js, sync adapters copied
  4. MVC Generation: Models, widgets, views, controllers compiled to JS
  5. Main App: app.js generated from template
  6. Optimization: UglifyJS optimization, platform-specific code removal

References

Read detailed documentation from the reference files listed above based on your specific task.

Related skills

For tasks beyond Alloy MVC basics, use these complementary skills:
TaskUse This Skill
Modern architecture, services, patterns
ti-expert
Alloy CLI, config files, debugging errors
alloy-howtos
Utility-first styling with PurgeTSS (optional)
purgetss
Native features (location, push, media)
ti-howtos