Backbone.LayoutManager compatibility plugin for Backbone.Forms. Works with Backbone v1.0 and LayoutManager v0.9.

Backbone.layoutManager.Forms.compat.js

define([
  'jquery',
  'lodash',
  'backbone',
  'backbone-forms'
], function($, _, Backbone, BackboneForms) {
  'use strict';

  /**
   * This class contains overrides & patches for the Backbone.Form class.
   *
   * Some of these changes were necessitated for compatibility with Backbone.layoutManager. Others
   * make my life easier.
   *
   * We are still using layoutmanager, we just have to modify some information to get them to play nice.
   */

  // Cache overriden functions
  var formInitialize = Backbone.Form.prototype.initialize;
  var formRender = Backbone.Form.prototype.render;

  _.extend(Backbone.Form.prototype, {

    /**
     * On View construction, set up a few compatibility layers between LM and Backbone.Form.
     * @param  {Object} options Options passed to this form.
     */
    initialize: function(options) {
      // Backbone.Form expects fieldsets in the options hash. This allows us
      // to define fieldsets right on the View.
      if (this.fieldsets) this.options.fieldsets = _.extend(this.options.fieldsets || {}, this.fieldsets);

      // Prevents subviews from inheriting any subclass (bad design, Backbone.Form)
      this.constructor = Backbone.Form;

      // Backbone.Form expects template data in `this.templateData`.
      if (_.isFunction(this.serialize)){
        var serialize = this.serialize;
        this.serialize = function(){
          this.templateData = serialize.apply(this, arguments);
          return this.templateData;
        };
      }

      // Backbone.Form looks for 'template' in options.template.
      if (this.template){
        this.options.template = this.template;
      }

      // This calls Backbone.Form's initialize.
      // Backbone.Form doesn't actually look at `this.options`, it just expects them to be passed in.
      // So pass them in.
      return formInitialize.call(this, this.options);
    },

    /**
     * Proxy Backbone.Forms rendering.
     */
    renderTemplate: function() {
      
      // If we have a layoutmanager template location in a string, find the template & use it.
      // XXX this may break if you grab async templates. Use grunt-jst if you can or 
      // rewrite this to work async.
      if (_.isString(this.template)){
        this.template = this.options.fetchTemplate(this.options.prefix + this.template);
      }

      // Call Backbone.Form's render method.
      formRender.apply(this, arguments);

      return this;
    }
  });

  // Turn off LayoutManager's management of these superclasses.
  _.extend(Backbone.Form.Fieldset.prototype, { manage: false });
  _.extend(Backbone.Form.Field.prototype, { manage: false });
  _.extend(Backbone.Form.Editor.prototype, { manage: false });

});