Clay

Clay is a JavaScript library that makes it easy to add offline configuration pages to your Pebble apps. All you need to get started is a couple lines of JavaScript and a JSON file; no servers or HTML required.

Clay will by default automatically handle the 'showConfiguration' and 'webviewclosed' events traditionally implemented by developers to relay configuration settings to the watch side of the app. This step is not required when using Clay, since each config item is given the same messageKey as defined in package.json (or PebbleKit JS Message Keys on CloudPebble), and is automatically transmitted once the configuration page is submitted by the user. Developers can override this behavior by handling the events manually.

Clay is distributed as a Pebble package so it is super easy to include in your project. If you are upgrading from v0.1.x of Clay you need to follow the migration guide before you can get started.

If you would like to contribute to Clay, check out the contributing guide.

Getting Started (SDK 3.13 or higher)

1. Run pebble package install pebble-clay to install the package in your project
2. Create a JSON file called config.json and place it in your src/js directory.
3. In order for JSON files to work you may need to change a line in your wscript from ctx.pbl_bundle(binaries=binaries, js=ctx.path.ant_glob('src/js/**/*.js')) to ctx.pbl_bundle(binaries=binaries, js=ctx.path.ant_glob(['src/js/**/*.js', 'src/js/**/*.json'])).
4. Your index.js (app.js in SDK 3) file needs to require clay and your config file, then be initialized. Clay will by default automatically handle the 'showConfiguration' and 'webviewclosed' events. Copy and paste the following into the top of your index.js file:

var Clay = require('pebble-clay');
var clayConfig = require('./config.json');
var clay = new Clay(clayConfig);

5. Ensure pebble.enableMultiJS is set to true in your package.json.
6. Next is the fun part - creating your config page. Edit your config.json file to build a layout of elements as described in the sections below.
7. Make sure you have defined all of your messageKeys in your package.json. More info on how that works here.

Getting Started (CloudPebble)

1. Ensure JS Handling is set to CommonJS-style in your project settings.
2. Under Dependencies in the project navigation, enter pebble-clay as the Package Name and ^1.0.0 for the Version. You may use any specific version you like, however using ^1.0.0 will ensure you receive all minor version updates.
3. Create a JavaScript file called config.js with the following content. This will act as your config's root array element, from which the rest of the page is built up:

module.exports = [];

5. Your index.js file needs to require clay and your config file, then be initialized. Clay will by default automatically handle the 'showConfiguration' and 'webviewclosed' events. Copy and paste the following into the top of your app.js file:

var Clay = require('pebble-clay');
var clayConfig = require('./config');
var clay = new Clay(clayConfig);

6. Next is the fun part - creating your config page. Edit your config.js file to build a layout of elements as described in the sections below.
7. Make sure you have defined all of your message keys using Automatic assignment in your project settings. More info on how that works here.

Getting Started (Pebble.js)

If you are using Pebble.js and would like to use Clay, The setup process is a little different. Pebble.js does not currently support message keys so you will have to use v0.1.7 of Clay. Follow the instructions in the readme for that version.

Getting Started (Rocky.js)

If you are using Rocky.js and would like to use Clay, please be aware that this is currently unsupported. It is possible to install the Clay package and override the 'showConfiguration' and 'webviewclosed' events and handle them manually, but Rocky.js does not currently support persistent storage, so the settings must be loaded from the phone each time. You can find an example of using Clay with Rocky.js here.

Creating Your Config File

Clay uses JavaScript object notation (or JSON) to generate the config page for you. The structure of the page is up to you, but you do need to follow some basic rules.

Basic Config Structure

Your root element must be an array. This represents the entire page. Inside this array you place your config items. Each config item is an object with some properties that configure how each item should be displayed.

Example

NOTE for config.js (rather than config.json) a leading module.exports = is required.

[
  { 
    "type": "heading", 
    "defaultValue": "Example Header Item" 
  }, 
  { 
    "type": "text", 
    "defaultValue": "Example text item." 
  }
]

Components

Section

Sections help divide up the page into logical groups of items. It is recommended that you place all your input-based items in at least one section.

Properties

Example

{
  "type": "section",
  "items": [
    {
      "type": "heading",
      "defaultValue": "This is a section"
    },
    {
      "type": "input",
      "messageKey": "email",
      "label": "Email Address"
    },
    {
      "type": "toggle",
      "messageKey": "enableAnimations",
      "label": "Enable Animations"
    }
  ]
}

Heading

Manipulator: html

Headings can be used in anywhere and can have their size adjusted to suit the context. If you place a heading item at the first position of a section's items array then it will automatically be styled as the header for that section.

Properties

Example

{
  "type": "heading",
  "id": "main-heading",
  "defaultValue": "My Cool Watchface",
  "size": 1
}

Text

Manipulator: html

Text is used to provide descriptions of sections or to explain complex parts of your page. Feel free to add any extra HTML you require to the defaultValue

Properties

Example

{
  "type": "text",
  "defaultValue": "This will be displayed in the text element!",
}

Input

Manipulator: val

Standard text input field.

Properties

Example

{
  "type": "input",
  "messageKey": "email",
  "defaultValue": "",
  "label": "Email Address",
  "attributes": {
    "placeholder": "eg: [email protected]",
    "limit": 10,
    "type": "email"
  }
}

Toggle

Manipulator: checked

Switch for a single item.

Properties

Example

{
  "type": "toggle",
  "messageKey": "invert",
  "label": "Invert Colors",
  "defaultValue": true
}

Select

Manipulator: val

A dropdown menu containing multiple options.

Properties

Example

{
  "type": "select",
  "messageKey": "flavor",
  "defaultValue": "grape",
  "label": "Favorite Flavor",
  "options": [
    { 
      "label": "", 
      "value": "" 
    },
    { 
      "label": "Berry",
      "value": "berry" 
    },
    { 
      "label": "Grape",
      "value": "grape" 
    },
    { 
      "label": "Banana",
      "value": "banana" 
    }
  ]
}

If you wish to use optgroups, then use the following format:

{
  "type": "select",
  "messageKey": "flavor",
  "defaultValue": "grape",
  "label": "Favorite Flavor",
  "options": [
    { 
      "label": "", 
      "value": "" 
    },
    {
      "label": "Fruits",
      "value": [
        { 
          "label": "Berry",
          "value": "berry" 
        },
        { 
          "label": "Grape",
          "value": "grape" 
        },
        { 
          "label": "Banana",
          "value": "banana" 
        }
      ]
    }, 
    {
      "label": "Candy",
      "value": [
        { 
          "label": "Chocolate",
          "value": "chocolate" 
        },
        { 
          "label": "Cream",
          "value": "cream" 
        },
        { 
          "label": "Lollipop",
          "value": "lollipop" 
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Color Picker

Manipulator: color

A color picker that allows users to choose a color from the ones that are compatible with their Pebble smartwatch. The color picker will automatically show a different layout depending on the watch connected:

• Aplite (Firmware 2.x) - Black and white
• Aplite (Firmware 3.x) - Black and white. Will also include gray (#AAAAAA) if allowGray is set to true
• Basalt/chalk - The 64 colors compatible with color Pebble smartwatches.

Properties

Example

{
  "type": "color",
  "messageKey": "background",
  "defaultValue": "ff0000",
  "label": "Background Color",
  "sunlight": true,
  "layout": [
    [false, "00aaff", false],
    ["0055ff", "0000ff", "0000aa"],
    [false, "5555ff", false]
  ]
}

Example

{
  "type": "color",
  "messageKey": "background",
  "defaultValue": "ffffff",
  "label": "Background Color",
  "sunlight": false,
  "layout": "BLACK_WHITE"
}

Example

{
  "type": "color",
  "messageKey": "background",
  "defaultValue": "aaaaaa",
  "label": "Background Color",
  "sunlight": false,
  "allowGray": true
}

Radio Group

Manipulator: radiogroup

A list of options allowing the user can only choose one option to submit.

Properties

Example

{
  "type": "radiogroup",
  "messageKey": "favorite_food",
  "label": "Favorite Food",
  "options": [
    { 
      "label": "Sushi", 
      "value": "sushi" 
    },
    { 
      "label": "Pizza", 
      "value": "pizza" 
    },
    { 
      "label": "Burgers", 
      "value": "burgers" 
    }
  ]
}

Checkbox Group

Manipulator: checkboxgroup

A list of options where a user may choose more than one option to submit.

Properties

Example

{
  "type": "checkboxgroup",
  "messageKey": "favorite_food",
  "label": "Favorite Food",
  "defaultValue": [true, false, true],
  "options": ["Sushi", "Pizza", "Burgers"]
}

In the above example, Sushi and Burgers will be selected by default.

Generic Button

Manipulator: button

Properties

Example

{
  "type": "button",
  "primary": true,
  "defaultValue": "Send"
}

Range Slider

Manipulator: slider

The range slider is used to allow users to select numbers between two values.

NOTE If you set the step property to anything less than 1, it will multiply the final value sent to the watch by 10 to the power of the number of decimal places in the value of step. Eg: If you set the step to 0.25 and the slider has value of 34.5, the watch will receive 3450. The reason why this is necessary, is because you can not send floats to the watch via Pebble.sendAppMessage(). This allows your users to still be able to input values that have decimals, you must just remember to divide the received value on the watch accordingly.

Properties

Example

{
  "type": "slider",
  "messageKey": "slider",
  "defaultValue": 15,
  "label": "Slider",
  "description": "This is the description for the slider",
  "min": 10,
  "max": 20,
  "step": 0.25
},

Submit

Manipulator: button

The submit button for the page. You MUST include this component somewhere in the config page (traditionally at the bottom) or users will not be able to save the form.

Properties

Example

{
  "type": "submit",
  "defaultValue": "Save"
}

Message keys and array syntax

Clay supports (and requires in some cases) the use of array syntax for message keys. Also known as Automatic assignment in CloudPebble. More info here.

You can assign any component that does not return an array to a particular position in your message key. This is done by appending the position (zero indexed) wrapped in brackets to the end of the messageKey property. Do NOT include any spaces in your messageKey.

Example

{
  "type": "toggle",
  "messageKey": "light_switch[1]",
  "label": "Invert Colors",
  "defaultValue": true
}

In the above example, the value of the item will be accessible with MESSAGE_KEY_light_switch + 1 in your C code.

Components that return an array in their .get() method, such as the checkboxgroup will expect the corresponding message key to already be defined with the correct length. You CAN NOT use the array syntax in the messageKey property as this would be trying to create a 2 dimensional array.

Example

{
  "type": "checkboxgroup",
  "messageKey": "favorite_food",
  "label": "Favorite Food",
  "defaultValue": [true, false, true],
  "options": ["Sushi", "Pizza", "Burgers"]
}

In the above example, the value of the item will be accessible with MESSAGE_KEY_favorite_food, MESSAGE_KEY_favorite_food + 1, and MESSAGE_KEY_favorite_food + 2 in your C code.

Showing items for specific platforms and features

If you want particular items or sections to only be present in the config based on the connected watch's capabilities, you can include the "capabilities" property in the item. The "capabilities" property is an array of features that the connected watch must have in order for the item or section to be included in the page. Note: all capabilities in the array must be present for item/section to be included.

You can also prefix the capability with NOT_ to negate the capability. Eg: NOT_HEALTH will only be included in the page if the device does NOT support health.

Warning: Items that do not satisfy the capabilities will not be included in the page at all. You will not be able to use methods like clayConfig.getItemByMessageKey() to obtain a reference to them. However, this does mean that you will be able to have multiple items with the same messageKeyas long as they do not both satisfy the same conditions.

Examples

{
  "type": "text",
  "defaultValue": "This item will only be visible for watches that are rectangular and have a microphone"
  "capabilities": ["MICROPHONE", "RECT"],
}

{
  "type": "section",
  "capabilities": ["NOT_HEALTH"],
  "items": [
    {
      "type": "text",
      "defaultValue": "Only visible for watches that do not support health"
    }
  ]
}

Below is the full list of capabilities

Manipulators

Each component has a manipulator. This is a set of methods used to talk to the item on the page. At a minimum, manipulators must have a .get() and .set(value) method however there are also methods to assist in interactivity such as .hide() and .disable(). NOTE: There is currently no way to disable or hide an entire section. You must disable/hide each item in the section to achieve this effect.

When the config page is closed, the .get() method is run on all components registered with an messageKey to construct the object sent to the C app.

Many of these methods fire an event when the method is called. You can listen for these events with ClayItem.on(). NOTE These events will only be fired if the state actually changes. Eg: If you run the .show() manipulator on an item that is already visible, the show event will not be triggered.

html

button

val

checked

color

radiogroup

checkboxgroup

slider

Extending Clay

Clay is built to allow developers to add their own basic interactivity to the config page. This can be done in a number of ways:

Handling The 'showConfiguration' and 'webviewclosed' Events Manually

Clay will by default, automatically handle the 'showConfiguration' and 'webviewclosed' events. This allows the messageKey of each config item to be automatically delivered to the InboxReceivedHandler on the watch side. If you wish to override this behavior and handle the events yourself, pass an object as the 3rd parameter of the Clay constructor with autoHandleEvents set to false.

Example:

var Clay = require('pebble-clay');
var clayConfig = require('./config');
var clayConfigAplite = require('./config-aplite');
var clay = new Clay(clayConfig, null, { autoHandleEvents: false });

Pebble.addEventListener('showConfiguration', function(e) {
  
  // This is an example of how you might load a different config based on platform.
  var platform = clay.meta.activeWatchInfo.platform || 'aplite';
  if (platform === 'aplite') {
    clay.config = clayConfigAplite;
  }
  
  Pebble.openURL(clay.generateUrl());
});

Pebble.addEventListener('webviewclosed', function(e) {
  if (e && !e.response) {
    return;
  }

  // Get the keys and values from each config item
  var dict = clay.getSettings(e.response);

  // Send settings values to watch side
  Pebble.sendAppMessage(dict, function(e) {
    console.log('Sent config data to Pebble');
  }, function(e) {
    console.log('Failed to send config data!');
    console.log(JSON.stringify(e));
  });
});

Clay API (app.js)

Clay([Array] config, [function] customFn, [object] options)

Constructor Parameters

Properties

Methods

.getSettings() Example

// webviewclosed response
{
  "favorite_food": {"value": [1, 0, 1]},
  "cool_things_enabled": {"value": true},
  "user_name": {"value": "Jane Doe"},
  "date_of_birth[0]": {"value": 1989},
  "date_of_birth[1]": {"value": 11},
  "date_of_birth[2]": {"value": 28},
  "rating": {"value": 3.5, "precision": 1},
}

// resulting converted values

var messageKeys = require('message_keys');

messageKeys.favorite_food + 0 = 1;
messageKeys.favorite_food + 1 = 0;
messageKeys.favorite_food + 2 = 1;
messageKeys.cool_things_enabled = 1;
messageKeys.user_name = 'Jane Doe';
messageKeys.date_of_birth + 0 = 1989;
messageKeys.date_of_birth + 1 = 11;
messageKeys.date_of_birth + 2 = 28;
messageKeys.rating = 35;

Custom Function

When initializing Clay in your app.js file, you can optionally provide a function that will be copied and run on the generated config page.

IMPORTANT: This function is injected by running .toString() on it. If you are making use of require or any other dynamic features, they will not work. You must make sure that everything the function needs to execute is available in the function body itself.

This function, when injected into the config page, will be run with ClayConfig as its context (this), and Minified as its first parameter.

Make sure to always wait for the config page to be built before manipulating items. You do this by registering a handler for the Clay.EVENTS.AFTER_BUILD event (see below).

Example

app.js

var Clay = require('pebble-clay');
var clayConfig = require('./config');
var customClay = require('./custom-clay');
var userData = {token: 'abc123'}
var clay = new Clay(clayConfig, customClay, {userData: userData});

custom-clay.js

module.exports = function(minified) {
  var clayConfig = this;
  var _ = minified._;
  var $ = minified.$;
  var HTML = minified.HTML;

  function toggleBackground() {
    if (this.get()) {
      clayConfig.getItemByMessageKey('background').enable();
    } else {
      clayConfig.getItemByMessageKey('background').disable();
    }
  }

  clayConfig.on(clayConfig.EVENTS.AFTER_BUILD, function() {
    var coolStuffToggle = clayConfig.getItemByMessageKey('cool_stuff');
    toggleBackground.call(coolStuffToggle);
    coolStuffToggle.on('change', toggleBackground);
    
    // Hide the color picker for aplite
    if (!clayConfig.meta.activeWatchInfo || clayConfig.meta.activeWatchInfo.platform === 'aplite') {
      clayConfig.getItemByMessageKey('background').hide();
    }
    
    // Set the value of an item based on the userData
    $.request('get', 'https://some.cool/api', {token: clayConfig.meta.userData.token})
      .then(function(result) {
        // Do something interesting with the data from the server
      })
      .error(function(status, statusText, responseText) {
        // Handle the error
      });
  });
  
};

Clay API (Custom Function)

ClayConfig([Object] settings, [Array] config, [$Minified] $rootContainer)

This is the main way of talking to your generated config page. An instance of this class will be passed as the context of your custom function when it runs on the generated config page.

Properties

Methods

ClayItem( [Object] config )

Properties

Methods

In addition to the methods above, all the methods from the item's manipulator will be attached to the ClayItem. This includes .set() and .get().

Custom Components

Clay is also able to be extended using custom components. This allows developers to share components with each other.

Component Structure

Components are simple objects with the following properties.

ClayComponent

Registering a custom component.

Components must be registered before the config page is built. The easiest way to do this is in your app.js after you have initialized Clay:

var Clay = require('pebble-clay');
var clayConfig = require('./config.json');
var clay = new Clay(clayConfig);

clay.registerComponent(require('./my-custom-component'));

Minified

Minified is a super light JQuery-like library. We only bundle in a small subset of its functionality. Visit the Minified Docs for more info on how to use Minified. Below is the subset of methods available in Clay.

• $()
• $$()
• .get()
• .select()
• .set()
• .add()
• .ht()
• HTML()
• $.request()
• promise.always()
• promise.error()
• $.off()
• $.ready()
• $.wait()
• .on()
• .each()
• .find()
• _()
• _.copyObj()
• _.eachObj()
• _.extend()
• _.format()
• _.formatHtml()
• _.template()
• _.isObject()

Migrating from v0.1.x to v1.x

There were some changes in the 3.13 SDK that required Clay to undergo some major changes. For the majority of developers a simple find and replace over your config will do the trick.

appKey is now messageKey.

You will need to update your config files and change any items that use appKey to messageKey

Example

{
  "type": "toggle",
  "appKey": "invert",
  "label": "Invert Colors",
  "defaultValue": true
}

becomes:

{
  "type": "toggle",
  "messageKey": "invert",
  "label": "Invert Colors",
  "defaultValue": true
}

clayConfig.getItemByAppKey is now clayConfig.getItemByMessageKey.

If you have a custom function and are using the clayConfig.getItemByAppKey() method you will need to change this to clayConfig.getItemByMessageKey()

clay.getSettings() will now by default, return an object where the keys are numbers.

In the past, clay.getSettings() would return something that looked like:

{
  BACKGROUND_COLOR: 0,
  NAME: 'Jane Doe',
  ENABLE_TOOLS: 1
}

It now uses the values provided in the message_keys module to construct this object. The new format looks something like:

{
  10000: 0,
  10001: 'Jane Doe',
  10002: 1
}

If you wish to find out what keys are associated with what values, you must use the message_keys module.

var messageKeys = require('message_keys');

Pebble.addEventListener('webviewclosed', function(e) {
  // Get the keys and values from each config item
  var claySettings = clay.getSettings(e.response);

  // In this example messageKeys.NAME is equal to 10001
  console.log('Name is ' + claySettings[messageKeys.NAME]); // Logs: "Name is Jane Doe"
});

NOTE: The above only applies to the default behavior of the method. If you pass false to the second argument, a standard object will be returned with the messageKey as the key.

Pebble.addEventListener('webviewclosed', function(e) {

  clay.getSettings(e.response);
    /* returns:
    {
      10000: 0,
      10001: 'Jane Doe',
      10002: 1
    }
    */

  clay.getSettings(e.response, false);
    /* returns:
    {
      BACKGROUND_COLOR: {value: 0},
      NAME: {value: 'Jane Doe'},
      ENABLE_TOOLS: {value: true}
    }

    Notice that the value for ENABLE_TOOLS was not converted to a number from a boolean
    */
});

Checkbox groups now use arrays.

In the previous version of Clay, checkbox groups would split the values of the items with zeros. This made for clumsy usage on the C side. Checkbox groups are now much simpler to use thanks to message keys. You will however need to update you config to the new format.

Changes:

• defaultValue and the value that is returned by the .get() method is now an array of booleans.
• options are now an array of labels and do not have their own value
• Instead of splitting the result on the C side you now use the message key syntax. In the example below MESSAGE_KEY_favorite_food + 2 would have a value of 1

Old Format

{
  "type": "checkboxgroup",
  "appKey": "favorite_food",
  "label": "Favorite Food",
  "defaultValue": ["sushi", "burgers"],
  "options": [
    {
      "label": "Sushi",
      "value": "sushi"
    },
    {
      "label": "Pizza",
      "value": "pizza"
    },
    {
      "label": "Burgers",
      "value": "burgers"
    }
  ]
}

New Format

{
  "type": "checkboxgroup",
  "messageKey": "favorite_food",
  "label": "Favorite Food",
  "defaultValue": [true, false, true],
  "options": ["Sushi", "Pizza", "Burgers"]
}

Clay is now a pebble package

You no longer need to download a file into your project. Clay is now a Pebble package so you can go ahead and delete your clay.js and follow the getting started guide above to install clay in your project.

Prior to SDK 3.13, require paths were handled in a non-standard way. When requiring modules, the name of the module was sufficient (ie. require('config.json')). However, with the release of SDK 3.13, the require paths changed so that you now have to require the module by using its path relative to the file it's being required in. This means requiring the config module now is done in app.js by using require('./clay-config.json'). An incorrect path would result in an error similar to this:

[14:16:03] javascript> JavaScript Error:
Error: Cannot find module 'clay-config.json'
    at Object.loader.require (loader.js:66:11)
    at _require.require (loader.js:54:48)
    at Object.loader (src/js/app.js:1:1)
    at _require (loader.js:57:10)
    at Object.loader.require (loader.js:69:10)