How to use Meteor methods inside of a template helper

Question

How can I define a Meteor method which is also callable in a template helper?

I have these two files:

file: lib/test.js

Meteor.methods({
             


        

Answer 1

Methods on the client side are asynchronous, and their return value is always undefined. To get the actual value returned by the method, you need to provide a callback:

Meteor.call('method', 'argument', function(error, result) {
    ....
});

Now, there's no easy way to use the result in your helper. However, you can store it in your template as a data object and then return it in the helper:

Template.template.created = function() {
    var self = this;
    self.data.elephantDep = new Deps.Dependency();
    self.data.elephant = '';
    Meteor.call('getElephant', 'greenOne', function(error, result) {
        self.data.elephant = result;
        self.data.elephantDep.changed();
    });
};

Template.template.showElephant = function() {
    this.elephantDep.depend();
    return this.elephant;
};