How do I fetch a single model in Backbone?

Question

I have a Clock model in Backbone:

var Clock = Backbone.Model.extend({});

I'm trying to get an instance of that that has the latest information from /clocks/123. Some things I've tried:

a "class"-level method

Clock.fetch(123)
// TypeError: Object function (){ ... } has no method 'fetch'

creating an instance and then calling fetch on it:

c = new Clock({id: 123})
c.fetch()
// Error: A 'url' property or function must be specified

a collection

I tried creating an AllClocks collection resource (even though I have no use for such a thing on the page):

var AllClocks = Backbone.Collection.extend({
  model: Clock,
  url: '/clocks/'
});
var allClocks = new AllClocks();
allClocks.fetch(123);
// returns everything from /clocks/

How do I just get one API-backed Clock?

Answer 1

You probably should be accessing the object trough a collection and keeping it in the collection all the time. This is how to do it:

var AllClocks = Backbone.Collection.extend({
  model: Clock,
  url: '/clocks/'
});

var allClocks = new AllClocks();
my_clock = allClocks.add({id: 123});
my_clock.fetch()