MooTools Quick Coding: Expand Abbreviation

One of the many great reasons for an official MooTools Forge is that I get to check one place to find numerous MooTools plugins that I've never seen before. One such plugin, Expand Abbreviation, allows the developer to create elements using ZEN-Coding methodology. Instead of coding numerous new Element blocks, Expand Abbreviation generates elements for you based on a string syntax.

Sample Usage

window.addEvent('domready', function() {
	// Generating Header
	document.body.expanAbbr( 'div#header>div#logo^text=Containing Logo+div#navigation+div#subnavigation' );

	// the Navigation with some li's and a's
	$('navigation').expanAbbr( 'ul>li*3>a^href=http://www.google.com,text=GOOGLE,target=_blank,title=a navigation link' );

	// the Navigation with some li's and a's
	$('subnavigation').expanAbbr( 'ul>li*5>a^href=http://www.nyt.com,text=NYT,title=a link' );

	// Generating Main Content Body with left and right column
	document.body.expanAbbr( 'div#main>div#content' );
	$('content').expanAbbr( 'div.box*24>h3^text=a little box+p^text=with some content' );
	$('content').expanAbbr( 'br^style=clear:both' );

	// Generating Footer and Sitemap Body
	document.body.expanAbbr( 'div#bottom>div#sitemap^text=The Sitemap+div#footer^text=The Footer' );
});

There's a lot there so lets take one and talk through what it does.

$('navigation').expanAbbr( 'ul>li*3>a^href=http://www.google.com,text=GOOGLE,target=_blank,title=a navigation link' );

The above code:

• Creates a UL element within the "navigation" element.
• Creates 3 list items within the UL
• Creates an A element within each link with assigned text and HREF and TARGET attributes.

Once the elements are in place, you can modify them as you could any other element. While this plugin likely wont be used by the majority of MooTools developers, it's a great option for those who want create elements quickly and with minimal code.