electronics-inventory/future-plans.md

Future Plans

App architecture

parse_url mutates too many module-level variables

parse_url() directly assigns to a large number of module-level state variables (section, grid_view_state, grid_tab, current_grid_id, grid_draft, current_panel_idx, grid_source_id, highlight_cell, selected_component_id). This is fragile and hard to reason about.

Preferred direction: represent the full UI state as a single immutable state object, and have parse_url() return a new state value rather than mutating globals:

function parse_url(path) {
    return { section, grid_view_state, current_grid_id, ... };
}
state = parse_url(location.pathname); render(state);

render() if/else chain

The render dispatcher is a long chain of bare else if branches. Replace with a lookup table:

const SECTION_RENDERERS = {
    components: render_components,
    inventory:  render_inventory,
    fields:     render_fields,
    grids:      render_grids,
    templates:  render_templates,
};
function render() { sync_nav(); SECTION_RENDERERS[section]?.(); }

app.mjs monolith

app.mjs is large. Consider splitting into per-section modules (views/components.mjs, views/grids.mjs, etc.) that each export their render function and own their local state.

Field system

Improvements

Field value parser chain

Similar to how name formatters use a template chain, field values could be passed through a parser chain that returns structured data based on field name/type hints. Examples:

• A field whose name contains tolerance could parse 20 as { negative: 20, positive: 20 } and -10/+30 as { negative: 10, positive: 30 }
• URL detection (currently hardcoded in render_field_value()) could be one parser in this chain rather than a special case
• Mouser/Digi-Key part numbers could be detected and return a structured link target

The parser chain would mirror the template system: user-defined or built-in parsers keyed by field name pattern, tried in order, returning structured data or null to pass through to the next. render_field_value() would then receive parsed data and render accordingly.

Field rendering integrations

With or without a parser chain, render_field_value() should gain:

• Mouser/Digi-Key part number fields → auto-craft links to product pages
• More URL-like patterns (without https:// prefix)

Long term

Renderer/parser result cache

Once parsers and formatters run per-render, a cache keyed on field value + template version would avoid redundant work on large inventories. Invalidated when any template changes. Not urgent — premature until the parser chain exists.

Field types

Currently all field values are free-text strings. Typed fields (numeric, enum/dropdown) would enable better formatting, validation, and range-aware search.

PDF / files

PDF page count and multi-page navigation

Currently only the first page thumbnail is shown. Could show page count and allow browsing pages in the lightbox.

Inventory

Inventory URL reflects selected entry

Similar to how components now reflect /components/:id in the URL, inventory entries have no URL state — refreshing loses context.

Grids

Grid URL state

Navigating into a grid viewer updates the URL correctly, but the grid list and draft state have no URL representation.