Introductory examples

Detailed examples

Contacts editor example

This examples shows a fairly typical way to edit a nested data structure. Check the HTML source code to see how simple the viewmodel is, and how straightforward it is to bind the view to it.

Live example

Contacts

First name Last name Phone numbers
Delete
Add number

Source code: View

 
<h2>Contacts</h2>
<div id='contactsList'>
    <table class='contactsEditor'>
        <tr>
            <th>First name</th>
            <th>Last name</th>
            <th>Phone numbers</th>
        </tr>
        <tbody data-bind="foreach: contacts">
            <tr>
                <td>
                    <input data-bind='value: firstName' />
                    <div><a href='#' data-bind='click: $root.removeContact'>Delete</a></div>
                </td>
                <td><input data-bind='value: lastName' /></td>
                <td>
                    <table>
                        <tbody data-bind="foreach: phones">
                            <tr>
                                <td><input data-bind='value: type' /></td>
                                <td><input data-bind='value: number' /></td>
                                <td><a href='#' data-bind='click: $root.removePhone'>Delete</a></td>
                            </tr>
                        </tbody>
                    </table>
                    <a href='#' data-bind='click: $root.addPhone'>Add number</a>
                </td>
            </tr>
        </tbody>
    </table>
</div>

<p>
    <button data-bind='click: addContact'>Add a contact</button>
    <button data-bind='click: save, enable: contacts().length > 0'>Save to JSON</button>
</p>

<textarea data-bind='value: lastSavedJson' rows='5' cols='60' disabled='disabled'> </textarea>

Source code: View model

    var initialData = [
        { firstName: "Danny", lastName: "LaRusso", phones: [
            { type: "Mobile", number: "(555) 121-2121" },
            { type: "Home", number: "(555) 123-4567"}]
        },
        { firstName: "Sensei", lastName: "Miyagi", phones: [
            { type: "Mobile", number: "(555) 444-2222" },
            { type: "Home", number: "(555) 999-1212"}]
        }
    ];

    var ContactsModel = function(contacts) {
        var self = this;
        self.contacts = ko.observableArray(ko.utils.arrayMap(contacts, function(contact) {
            return { firstName: contact.firstName, lastName: contact.lastName, phones: ko.observableArray(contact.phones) };
        }));

        self.addContact = function() {
            self.contacts.push({
                firstName: "",
                lastName: "",
                phones: ko.observableArray()
            });
        };

        self.removeContact = function(contact) {
            self.contacts.remove(contact);
        };

        self.addPhone = function(contact) {
            contact.phones.push({
                type: "",
                number: ""
            });
        };

        self.removePhone = function(phone) {
            $.each(self.contacts(), function() { this.phones.remove(phone) })
        };

        self.save = function() {
            self.lastSavedJson(JSON.stringify(ko.toJS(self.contacts), null, 2));
        };

        self.lastSavedJson = ko.observable("")
    };

    ko.applyBindings(new ContactsModel(initialData));

Try it in jsFiddle