sigpro/docs/router.md

Routing: router( ) & Utilities

SigPro includes a built‑in, lightweight hash router to create single‑page applications (SPA). It manages the URL hash, matches components to routes with dynamic segments (:id), and automatically cleans up each page when you navigate away.

Function Signature

router(routes: Route[]): HTMLElement

Route Object

Property	Type	Description
path	string	The URL fragment pattern (e.g. "/", "/user/:id", or "*" for catch‑all).
component	Function	A function that returns a Node, a string, or a reactive view. Receives params object as argument.

Returns: A div element (with class "router-hook") that acts as the router outlet. The router automatically destroys the previous view and mounts the matched component when the hash changes.

You must import them (import { router } from 'sigpro/router'). The examples below assume the functions are already in scope.

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Usage Patterns

1. Defining Routes

Place the router element where you want the page content to appear. Inside the routes array, define your routes.

// remember import router
import { router } from 'sigpro/router'

const Home = () => h1("Home Page");
const UserProfile = (params) => h1(`User ID: ${params.id}`);
const NotFound = () => h1("404 – Page not found");

const App = () =>
  div({ class: "app-layout" }, [
    nav([
      a({ href: "#/" }, "Home"),
      a({ href: "#/user/42" }, "User 42")
    ]),
    router([
      { path: "/", component: Home },
      { path: "/user/:id", component: UserProfile },
      { path: "*", component: NotFound }
    ])
  ]);

mount(App, "#app");

2. Dynamic Segments (:id)

When a route contains a colon‑prefixed segment (like :id), the router extracts the corresponding value from the current hash and passes it as a property inside the params object to the component function.

// If the hash is #/user/42
const UserProfile = (params) => {
  console.log(params.id); // "42"
  return div(`User ${params.id}`);
};

3. Accessing Route Parameters Anywhere

The router maintains a reactive signal router.params that always holds the parameters of the currently matched route. You can read it anywhere in your app.

watch(() => {
  const params = router.params();
  console.log("Current route params:", params);
});

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Navigation Utilities

SigPro provides several helper functions to control navigation and read the router state.

router.to(path)

Navigates to the given path. It automatically formats the hash (e.g. "/dashboard" becomes "#/dashboard"). You can pass either a full hash string or a path without the #.

button({ onclick: () => router.to("/dashboard") }, "Go to Dashboard")

router.back()

Goes back one step in the browser’s history, just like calling history.back().

button({ onclick: () => router.back() }, "← Back")

router.path()

Returns the current route path without the leading #. This is a plain string, not a signal.

console.log(router.path()); // e.g. "/user/42"

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Automatic Cleanup

Every time you navigate to a new route, the router calls .destroy() on the previous view. This recursively disposes of:

• All watch effects created inside that page
• All event listeners attached via SigPro’s event binding
• Any nested when, each, or router instances

No manual cleanup is required – memory leaks are prevented automatically.

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Reactive Route Parameters

router.params is a reactive signal (created with $({})). You can watch it to react to parameter changes without re‑mounting the whole router outlet.

watch(() => router.params(), (params) => {
  console.log("Params changed:", params);
  // e.g. fetch new data when the :id changes
});

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Styling the Router Outlet

The router returns a div with the class "router-hook". You can style it just like any other element:

.router-hook {
  display: block;
  min-height: 60vh;
  animation: fadeIn 0.2s ease;
}

@keyframes fadeIn {
  from { opacity: 0; transform: translateY(8px); }
  to { opacity: 1; transform: translateY(0); }
}

If you want the router outlet to have no layout impact, you can set display: contents on it.

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Complete Example

import { mount } from 'sigpro';

const Home = () => div("Welcome home");
const About = () => div("About us");
const User = (params) => div(`User profile: ${params.id}`);

const App = () =>
  div([
    nav([
      a({ href: "#/" }, "Home"),
      a({ href: "#/about" }, "About"),
      a({ href: "#/user/5" }, "User 5")
    ]),
    router([
      { path: "/", component: Home },
      { path: "/about", component: About },
      { path: "/user/:id", component: User },
      { path: "*", component: () => div("404 – Not found") }
    ])
  ]);

mount(App, "#app");

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Summary

Function	Description
router(routes)	Creates a router outlet.
router.to(path)	Navigates to a new hash route.
router.back()	Goes back in history.
router.path()	Returns the current path without #.
router.params()	Reactive signal of the current route parameters.

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Vite Plugin: File-based Routing

The sigproRouter plugin for Vite automates route generation by scanning your pages directory. It creates a virtual module that you can import directly into your code, eliminating the need to maintain a manual routes array.

1. Project Structure

To use the plugin, organize your files within the src/pages directory. The folder hierarchy directly determines your application's URL structure. SigPro uses brackets [param] for dynamic segments.

my-sigpro-app/
├── src/
│   ├── pages/
│   │   ├── index.js          →  #/
│   │   ├── about.js          →  #/about
│   │   ├── users/
│   │   │   └── [id].js       →  #/users/:id
│   │   └── blog/
│   │       ├── index.js      →  #/blog
│   │       └── [slug].js     →  #/blog/:slug
│   ├── App.js                (Main Layout)
│   └── main.js               (Entry Point)
├── vite.config.js
└── package.json

---

2. Setup & Configuration

Add the plugin to your vite.config.js. It works out of the box with zero configuration.

// vite.config.js
import { defineConfig } from 'vite';
import { sigproRouter } from 'sigpro/vite';

export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [sigproRouter()]
});

---

3. Implementation

Thanks to SigPro's synchronous initialization, you no longer need to wrap your mounting logic in .then() blocks.

// src/main.js
import { mount } from 'sigpro';
import { router } from 'sigpro/utils';
import { routes } from 'virtual:sigpro-routes';

// The Core already has Router ready
mount(router(routes), '#app');

// src/App.js
import { routes } from 'virtual:sigpro-routes';

export default () => div({ class: 'layout' }, [
  header([
    h1("SigPro App"),
    nav([
      button({ onclick: () => Router.go('/') }, "Home"),
      button({ onclick: () => Router.go('/blog') }, "Blog")
    ])
  ]),
  // Only the content inside <main> will be swapped reactively
  main(Router(routes))
]);

---

4. Route Mapping Reference

The plugin follows a simple convention to transform your file system into a routing map.

File Path	Generated Path	Description
index.js	/	The application root.
about.js	/about	A static page.
[id].js	/:id	Dynamic parameter (passed to the component).
blog/index.js	/blog	Folder index page.
_utils.js	Ignored	Files starting with _ are excluded from routing.

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5. How it Works (Vite Virtual Module)

The plugin generates a virtual module named virtual:sigpro-routes. This module exports an array of objects compatible with Router():

// Internal representation generated by the plugin
export const routes = [
  { path: '/', component: () => import('/src/pages/index.js') },
  { path: '/users/:id', component: () => import('/src/pages/users/[id].js') },
  // ...
];

Because it uses dynamic import(), Vite automatically performs Code Splitting, meaning each page is its own small JS file that only loads when the user navigates to it.