return object value from helper (meteor)

Question

I have a helper function which takes in a parameter and returns an object.

objectReturnHelper: function(param1) {
   var obj1 = collectionName.findOne(param1).count1;
   var obj2 = collectionName.findOne(param1).count2;;
   return {
        obj1: _.range(0, obj1),
        obj2: _.range(0, obj2)
    };
}

Now I want to access the values of the objects individually. This is how I am trying to do :

{{#each objectReturnHelper id obj1}}
        <p>TEST</p>
{{/each}}

But it is producing no results. But if I remove the parameter, it works fine :

objectReturnHelper: function() {
   var obj1 = 5;
   var obj2 = 10;
   return {
        obj1: _.range(0, obj1),
        obj2: _.range(0, obj2)
    };
}


{{#each objectReturnHelper.obj1}}
        <p>TEST</p>
{{/each}}

Any insights?

Answer 1

To better reflect the structure of your objects, you can use #with to properly access object context. Within this context you can create a range for each item, within the given range using #each

{{#with objectReturnHelper id}}
  {{#each this.obj1}}
    <p>Test (1)</p>
  {{/each}}
  {{#each this.obj2}}
    <p>Test (2)</p>
  {{/each}}
{{/with}}

If your helper produces unexpected results you are going good with having a non invasive fallback:

objectReturnHelper: function(param1) {
   var query = collectionName.findOne(param1)
   if (!query) return null

   var obj1 = query.count1;
   var obj2 = query.count2;

   return {
        obj1: obj1 >= 0 ? _.range(0, obj1) : null,
        obj2: obj1 >= 0 ? _.range(0, obj2) : null,
    };
}

You can then catch this fallback inside with using else that automatically triggers when the context is falsey:

{{#with objectReturnHelper id}}
  {{#each this.obj1}}
    <p>Test (1)</p>
  {{/each}}
  {{#each this.obj2}}
    <p>Test (2)</p>
  {{/each}}
{{else}}
  <p>No data found</p>
{{/with}}

You can of course configure it to a different fallback, where the else catches inside the each blocks:

{{#with objectReturnHelper id}}
  {{#each this.obj1}}
    <p>Test (1)</p>
  {{else}}
    <p>No data found</p>
  {{/each}}
  {{#each this.obj2}}
    <p>Test (2)</p>
  {{else}}
    <p>No data found</p>
  {{/each}}
{{/with}}