AJAX Page Loads Using MooTools Fx.Explode

By  on  

Note: All credit for Fx.Explode goes to Jan Kassens.

One of the awesome pieces of code in MooTools Core Developer Jan Kassens' sandbox is his Fx.Explode functionality. When you click on any of the designated Fx.Explode elements, the elements "explode" off of the screen. Click again and they magically reappear. Don't believe me? Check out Kassens' example!

In speaking with Jan, his idea was to use this effect for page changes but never got around to it. I've completed this goal, albeit with some ugly code, but I think it's worth a look.

Kassens' MooTools Fx.Explode Class

/* created by legendary MooTools developer, Jan Kassens */
Fx.Explode = new Class({
	Extends: Fx.CSS,
	
	options: {
		grow: 0.5,
		expand: 1,
		transition: "expo:out",
		duration: 750
	},

	initialize: function(elements, options){
		this.elements = this.subject = $$(elements);
		this.parent(options);
		this.addEvent('complete', function(){
			this.clones.dispose();
			if (this.inverted) this.elements.setStyle('opacity', 1);
		}, true);
	},

	compute: function(from, to, delta){
		var now = {};
		for (var i in from){
			var iFrom = from[i], iTo = to[i], iNow = now[i] = {};
			for (var p in iFrom) iNow[p] = this.parent(iFrom[p], iTo[p], delta);
		}
		return now;
	},

	set: function(now){
		for (var i in now){
			var iNow = now[i];
			for (var p in iNow) this.render(this.clones[i], p, iNow[p], this.options.unit);
		}
		return this;
	},

	start: function(fromX, fromY, inverted){
		this.inverted = !!inverted;
		var from = {}, to = {};
		this.clones = $$(this.elements.map(function(el, i){
			var clone = el.clone();
			var coords = el.getCoordinates();
			clone.setStyles(coords).setStyle('position', 'absolute').inject(document.body);
			el.setStyle('visibility', 'hidden');
			
			var center = {
				x: coords.left + coords.width / 2,
				y: coords.top + coords.height / 2
			};
			
			var self = this;
			(function(prop, end){
				var parsed = self.prepare(clone, prop, end);
				if (self.inverted) {
					(from[i] = from[i] || {})[prop] = parsed.to;;
					(to[i] = to[i] || {})[prop] = parsed.from;
				} else {
					(from[i] = from[i] || {})[prop] = parsed.from;;
					(to[i] = to[i] || {})[prop] = parsed.to;
				}
				return arguments.callee;
			})
			('top', coords.top + (center.y - fromY) * this.options.expand - coords.height * this.options.grow / 2)
			('left', coords.left + (center.x - fromX) * this.options.expand - coords.width * this.options.grow / 2)
			('width', coords.width * (1 + this.options.grow))
			('height', coords.height * (1 + this.options.grow))
			('opacity', 0);
			
			return clone;
		}, this));
		return this.parent(from, to);
	}
});

My Usage / Example

var init = function (req) {
	var shown = true;
	var running = false;
	var explode = new Fx.Explode('#fx-contain *', {
		duration: 500,
		onComplete: function(){ running = false; }
	});
	var implode = new Fx.Explode('#fx-contain *', {
		onComplete: function(){ running = false; },
		transition: 'sine:in:out',
		duration: 500,
		grow: -1,
		expand: -.8
	});
	
	$$('#fx-contain a').each(function(el) {
		el.addEvent('click', function(e){
			e.stop();
			if (running) return;
			if (shown) explode.start(e.client.x, e.client.y);
			else implode.start(e.client.x, e.client.y, true);
			running = true;
			shown = !shown;
			req.send({
				url: el.get('href')
			});
		});
	});
};

/* making things happen */
window.addEvent('domready', function() {
	var req = new Request({
		method: 'get',
		data: {
			ajax: 1
		},
		onSuccess: function(response) {
			//fade in content
			$('fx-contain').set({
				html: response
			});
			init(req);
		}
	});
	init(req);
});

Like I said, my code isn't pretty but it works. Enjoy!

Recent Features

  • By
    5 More HTML5 APIs You Didn’t Know Existed

    The HTML5 revolution has provided us some awesome JavaScript and HTML APIs.  Some are APIs we knew we've needed for years, others are cutting edge mobile and desktop helpers.  Regardless of API strength or purpose, anything to help us better do our job is a...

  • By
    Serving Fonts from CDN

    For maximum performance, we all know we must put our assets on CDN (another domain).  Along with those assets are custom web fonts.  Unfortunately custom web fonts via CDN (or any cross-domain font request) don't work in Firefox or Internet Explorer (correctly so, by spec) though...

Incredible Demos

  • By
    Growl-Style Notifications Using MooTools Roar

    When I think of premier MooTools plugin developers, Harald "digitarald" Kirschner is usually one of the first people that come to mind. Harald has built some of MooTools' most popular plugins, including AutoCompleter, FancyUpload, and History Manager. My favorite plugin created...

  • By
    MooTools dwCheckboxes Plugin

    Update / Fix: The checkboxes will no longer toggle when the "mouseup" event doesn't occur on a checkbox. Every morning I wake up to a bunch of emails in my Gmail inbox that I delete without reading. I end up clicking so many damn checkboxes...

Discussion

  1. I love it! Maybe you should try setting overflow to hidden so no horizontal scrollbar gets created :) But apart from that, really fun example!

  2. Fabian Beiner

    I don’t like it. It’s to “noisy”…

  3. I really like it, but I surely agree with Chris in what he said. And as for Fabian’s comment, the explode creates a kind of “noisy” effect, could it work as the data just disappear or fades out then the new data loads? I think it’d make it nicer, smoother, and more professional!

  4. emehrkay

    I remember when this was shown in the IRC room. I remember him saying that it would work better with text if the parent element had a set width. You should try it in your example to see if it makes a difference.

  5. cssProdigy

    Great effect. Looks a bit unnecessary and not as smooth as some other things i’ve seen using MooTools.
    Nice job!

  6. People just aren’t ready for it yet. They’re still getting used to content fading in and out and smoothly animated changing heights and widths!

    I’d love to see a professional site utilize this.

Wrap your code in <pre class="{language}"></pre> tags, link to a GitHub gist, JSFiddle fiddle, or CodePen pen to embed!