Crafter.CppDOM/README.md

# About

![alt text](https://github.com/Catcrafts/Crafter.Web/blob/master/hello.png?raw=true)

Crafter.CppDOM is a C++ library that exposes the browser DOM api's to C++ WebAssembly.

# HtmlElement vs HtmlElementView

The library provides two main classes for working with HTML elements:

## HtmlElementView
`HtmlElementView` is a base class that provides read and write access to HTML element properties and methods, but does **not** own the underlying DOM element. It's designed to be used when you want to interact with existing elements in the DOM without managing their lifecycle.

Key characteristics:
- Provides access to element properties and methods like `SetInnerHTML`, `SetStyle`, `AddClass`, etc.
- Supports event handling through various `Add*Listener` methods
- Does not delete the underlying DOM element when destroyed
- Used when you're working with elements that already exist in the DOM

## HtmlElement
`HtmlElement` is a derived class from `HtmlElementView` that adds ownership semantics. It creates a new DOM element when instantiated and properly manages its lifecycle.

Key characteristics:
- Inherits all functionality from `HtmlElementView`
- Creates and owns a new DOM element when constructed
- Automatically deletes the DOM element when the `HtmlElement` object is destroyed
- Used when you want to create new elements programmatically

# How to use
Please view the examples folder, this is a snippit from the HelloElement example:

```cpp
import Crafter.CppDOM;
using namespace Crafter::CppDOM;

int main(){
    HtmlElementView body("body");
    body.SetInnerHTML("Hello World!");
}
```
You can also view the wiki for more detailed information.

It is highly recommended to use this with [Crafter.Build](https://forgejo.catcrafts.net/Catcrafts/Crafter.Build), but it is not strictly required if the same way of injecting the env is followed. The following instructions will be for Crafter.Build.

## Quickstart
create a ``project.json`` in an empty folder, open it in your preferred text editor.
Create a basic project file, that describes your web project.
```JSON
{
    "name": "main",
    "configurations": [
        {
            "name": "executable",
            "implementations": ["main"],
            "target": "wasm32-wasi",
            "debug" : true,
            "dependencies": [
                {
                    "path":"https://forgejo.catcrafts.net/Catcrafts/Crafter.CppDOM.git",
                    "configuration":"lib-debug"
                }
            ],
        }
    ]
}
```

Save and close the file, create a ``main.cpp``
```cpp
import Crafter.CppDOM;
using namespace Crafter::CppDOM;

int main(){
    HtmlElementView body("body");
    body.SetInnerHTML("Hello World!");
}
```

Save and close, then run ``crafter-build build executable && caddy file-server --listen :8080 --root bin/executable``. if you have caddy installed, if not use your favorite static file server instead. Now you can open the browser at ``http://localhost:8080`` and ``Hello World!`` will appear in the browser.

This sample can also be viewed in the [HelloElement example](https://forgejo.catcrafts.net/Catcrafts/Crafter.CppDOM/src/branch/master/examples)