Inheriting and Extending Sitecore JavaScript
Whenever possible I try to extend Sitecore as cleanly as possible, such as trying to patch into pipelines and event handlers or overriding dialog without replacing the default ones. It’s not always possible and sometimes you just have to dive it and get things done. You’ll see the same thing in my blog posts, some are more “cleanly” implemented than others.
There have been a number of times when I need to supplement some existing code or to fix a bug in some Sitecore code. The usual way I have done this is to get dirty and edit the JS files directly. Not great, but it was quick 😀 It’s also the exact same thing that Sitecore Support does whenever we have to apply a JS fix.
I’ve generally found that it’s easier to extend C# code, since it’s where I am more familiar. But usually with the JS I have hacked and updated the default Sitecore files. Cos you know, when you simply need to add an extra 9 characters, you can’t be spending the whole day trying to figure out “a more clean way”. Ain’t nobody got time….
But that was then and this is now, so I’ll share some techniques for extending Sitecore JavaScript without resorting to direct file edits. It also makes it difficult to build something into a shareable and installable module. All of these methods require you to inject in some additional resource files that I have previously blogged about.
