Import a custom element in javascript

Question

I am trying out using custom elements. I want to use JS to create the elements and add them to the DOM. If I use this all in one file with a basic html page all works fine.

'use strict';
class FlashCard extends HTMLElement {
constructor(cardSet) {
    super();
    this.cardSet = cardSet;
    this.cardNumber = 0;
}
connectedCallback() {
    this.id = 'flashcard';
    this.style.cursor = 'pointer';
    this.render(this.cardSet);
    this.addEventListener('click', this.onClick);
}

render() {
    this.innerHTML = this.cardSet[this.cardNumber];
}

onClick() {
    let deckSize = this.cardSet.length;
    if (this.cardNumber === deckSize-1) {
        this.cardNumber = 0;
    } else {
        this.cardNumber++;
    };
    this.render();
}
}
customElements.define('flash-card', FlashCard);
document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function() {
let card = new FlashCard(['a', 'b', 'c', 'd']);
document.getElementsByTagName('body')[0].appendChild(card);
});

My problems start when I try to split the code into separate files.

'use strict';
export default class FlashCard extends HTMLElement {
    constructor(cardSet) {
        super();
        this.cardSet = cardSet;
        this.cardNumber = 0;
    }
    connectedCallback() {
        this.id = 'flashcard';
        this.style.cursor = 'pointer';
        this.render(this.cardSet);
        this.addEventListener('click', this.onClick);
    }

    render() {
        this.innerHTML = this.cardSet[this.cardNumber];
    }

    onClick() {
        let deckSize = this.cardSet.length;
        if (this.cardNumber === deckSize-1) {
            this.cardNumber = 0;
        } else {
            this.cardNumber++;
        };
        this.render();
    }
}
customElements.define('flash-card', FlashCard);

And In a separate file

import FlashCard from './flashcard';

    document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function() {
    let card = new FlashCard(['a', 'b', 'c', 'd']);
document.getElementsByTagName('body')[0].appendChild(card);
});

I then transpile the javascript because of the export/import using a npm script in the package.json file

"watch": "watchify elements/*.js -t babelify --plugins transform-es2015-classes 
-o js/bundle.js --debug --verbose",

The error I get in Chrome 55 is

Failed to construct 'HTMLElement': Please use the 'new' 
operator, this DOM object constructor cannot be called as a function.

So the transpiled code is trying to call the constructor method on HTMLElement object, but the method is not a function in this case.

My question is how do I split up my code into separate files as I am attempting to above but in a way the transpiler can interpret correctly?

Supersharp · Accepted Answer · 2016-12-30 12:32:19Z

2

You should try to use Reflect.construct() instead of super() in the constructor() method.

var self = Reflect.construct( HTMLElement, [], Flashcard )
self.cardSet = cardSet
...
return self

Also, you can try this plugin that is supposed to fix the issue (I didn't test it).

edited Dec 30, 2016 at 12:32

answered Dec 30, 2016 at 12:24

Supersharp

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1 Comment

leonormes Over a year ago

Thank you @Supersharp. The Reflect.construct instead of super(); didn't work for me. I got an error saying I needed a super();. But the plugin worked brilliantly. I am hugely grateful as I have been staring at it for hours.

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