every widget should self-identify (feature request)

[didiergm]

Problem: there is no unique way to tell what a widget is from a js routine.

Context: when writing generic modules to, for example reset each widget to a default value writing a generic routine is fairly difficult and not consistent as each widget has a different way of being changed and refreshed on screen. (this could also streamline form validations, reset, display of data etc ...)

for example refreshing a select element is different whether the widget is a slider or a select menu.
// exerpt form a form display refresh routine
....
// this is weird for a flip-switch
$('select.ui-slider-switch', pageid).slider('refresh');
// this is for a 'normal' select
$('select', pageid).not('.ui-slider-switch').selectmenu('refresh');
...

checking for .ui-slider-switch is too close to jqm and may fail in a future release if some css changes.

So I suggest to populate a new "data-widget-is" value indicating which widget has been created when jqm enhances the markup. in my example "widget-is" would be equal to either flipswitch or selectmenu, or maybe expand the use of data-role

benefit: this would make interacting with jqm widgets easier, more consistent and less reliant on some specific markup, subject to change in a future release.

[jaspermdegroot]

@didiergm

I am closing this as a feature request. However, I wonder what would be the difference between the data- attribute that you suggest and data-role. You can also set an ID for the native element and use it as selector.