Any way to detect when an {{if/else}} block is shown?

I have an input box that I want to display and set focus on when a button is clicked. The issue is that the input is hidden until said button is clicked, and when I try to set focus, it doesn’t work. I’m assuming it’s because the $.focus() call happens before the input is rendered.

Non-working example: http://meteorpad.com/pad/ia54Tdabbn8YzzoTe/blockShown

It would be great if there were some way to say “as soon as the content in this {{if}} block is rendered, call $.focus() on the input”

I would have the {{if}} block depend upon a reactive data source, and wrap the $.focus() function inside of a tracker.autorun function which also contains the same reactive data source that the {{if}} block is responding to.

var someReactiveVariable = ReactiveVar('something');

Template.sometemplate.helpers({
  shouldShow: function(){
   return someReactiveVariable.get() === 'another thing';
 }
});

Template.sometemplate.onRendered({
  Tracker.autorun(function () {
    if(someReactiveVariable.get() === 'another thing'){ 
      $.focus();
    }
  });
});

The best pattern to achieve that is to create a separate template for what you want to render within the if block and put your initialization code within the onRender callback of that template.

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@serkandurusoy Yeah, that was my thinking too. I just didn’t want to have a separate template for about one line of HTML code. :slight_smile: But this seems like the simplest way.

It also pays off later on down the road if/when you find yourself enhancing that piece of template with other functionality or if/when you find out you can actually reuse that snippet over another place in your app :smile:

In similar cases, I don’t think of it as “a line of HTML” but as “a unit of interface” and more often than not it’s a unit that could stand in its own, warranting a template.

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