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gridpilot.gg/docs/architecture/website/DISPLAY_OBJECTS.md
2026-01-19 00:46:46 +01:00

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# Displays
## Definition
A **Display** encapsulates **reusable, UI-only display logic**.
In this codebase, a Display is a **Frontend Value Object**:
- class-based
- immutable
- deterministic
- side-effect free
### Distinction from Domain Value Objects
While both are "Value Objects", they serve different layers:
1. **Domain Value Objects (Core):** Encapsulate business truth and invariants (e.g., `Money`, `EmailAddress`). They are pure and never contain formatting logic.
2. **Display Objects (Website):** Encapsulate presentation truth and formatting (e.g., `PriceDisplay`, `DateDisplay`). They are used to transform raw data or Domain Value Objects into user-ready strings.
It answers the question:
> “How should this specific piece of information be shown?”
Displays are **not screen-specific**.
They exist to avoid duplicating presentation logic across View Models.
**Naming Convention:**
- Displays MUST end with `Display` suffix
- Displays MUST be reusable across multiple screens
- Valid examples: `PriceDisplay`, `EmailDisplay`, `RatingDisplay`
- Invalid examples: `DashboardRatingDisplay`, `UserProfileDisplay`
---
## Responsibilities
A Display MAY:
- format values (money, dates, durations)
- handle localization only when localization inputs are deterministic (for example: mapping stable codes to stable labels)
- map codes to labels
- encapsulate UI display conventions
- be reused across multiple View Models
In addition, a Display MAY:
- normalize presentation inputs (for example trimming/casing)
- expose multiple explicit display variants (for example `shortLabel`, `longLabel`)
A Display MUST:
- be deterministic
- be side-effect free
- operate only on presentation data
A Display MUST:
- be implemented as a **class** with a small, explicit API
- accept only primitives/plain data in its constructor (or static factory)
- expose only primitive outputs (strings/numbers/booleans)
---
## Restrictions
A Display MUST NOT:
- contain business logic
- enforce domain invariants
- perform validation
- influence system behavior
- be sent back to the server
- depend on backend or infrastructure concerns
- **depend on environment-specific APIs** (e.g., `window`, `document`, `navigator`)
- **be serialized** (they are classes; only their primitive outputs are stored in `ViewData`)
In this repository, a Display MUST NOT:
- call `Intl.*`
- call `Date.toLocaleString()` / `Date.toLocaleDateString()` / `Date.toLocaleTimeString()`
Reason: these are runtime-locale/timezone dependent and cause SSR/hydration mismatches.
### Handling Client-Only Formatting
If a formatting requirement **strictly requires** client-only APIs (e.g., browser-native relative time or local timezone detection):
1. It MUST NOT live in a `Display Object`.
2. It SHOULD live in a **View Model** (which is client-only).
3. The Template should handle the transition from server-provided `ViewData` to client-updated `ViewData`.
### Best Practices for Time/Date Formatting
To avoid hydration mismatches while still providing good SEO and UX:
1. **Use UTC methods for Determinism:** In `Display Objects`, prefer `getUTCDate()`, `getUTCMonth()`, etc., over their local counterparts. This ensures the server and client produce the exact same string regardless of their local timezones.
2. **Hardcoded Arrays:** Use hardcoded arrays for month/day names instead of `Intl` to ensure consistency across environments.
3. **Pass "Now" as an Argument:** For relative time (e.g., "time ago"), pass the reference "now" timestamp as an argument to the `Display Object` instead of calling `Date.now()` inside it.
4. **The "Upgrade" Pattern:**
- **Server:** `ViewData Builder` uses a `Display Object` to produce a deterministic UTC-based string (e.g., "2024-01-18 15:00 UTC").
- **Client:** `View Model` uses client APIs (`Intl`, `toLocale*`) to produce a localized string (e.g., "3:00 PM") and updates the `ViewData`.
## Localization rule (strict)
Localization MUST NOT depend on runtime locale APIs.
Allowed approaches:
- API returns the exact labels/strings for the current user context.
- Website maps stable codes to stable labels using a deterministic table.
Forbidden approaches:
- any usage of `Intl.*`
- any usage of `toLocale*`
If a rule affects system correctness or persistence,
it does not belong in a Display.
---
## Ownership & Placement
- Displays belong to the **presentation layer**
- They are frontend-only
- They are not shared with the backend or core
Placement rule (strict):
- Displays live under `apps/website/lib/display-objects/*`.
- Filenames MUST match the class name with `.tsx` extension (e.g., `RatingDisplay.tsx` contains `class RatingDisplay`)
---
## Relationship to View Models and ViewData Builders
Displays are the **shared source of truth** for formatting logic across the website:
- **ViewData Builders (Server):** Use Displays to produce deterministic, formatted strings for SEO and initial SSR.
- **View Models (Client):** Use Displays to produce formatted strings for interactive UI and client-specific context.
Additional strict rules:
- View Models SHOULD compose Displays.
- ViewData Builders SHOULD use Displays for all formatting.
- **Templates and Components MUST NOT use Displays directly.** They must receive already-formatted primitive outputs (strings, numbers) via their props.
Reason: This keeps the rendering layer "dumb" and ensures that the `ViewData` remains the single source of truth for what is displayed on the screen.
- Displays MUST NOT be serialized or passed across boundaries.
---
## Testing
Displays SHOULD be tested because they often contain:
- locale-specific behavior
- formatting rules
- edge cases visible to users
Additionally:
- test determinism by running the same inputs under Node and browser contexts (where applicable)
- test boundary rules (no `Intl.*`, no `toLocale*`)
---
## Common Candidates (Found in Components)
The following patterns were identified in `apps/website/components` and SHOULD be migrated to Display Objects:
### 1. Date & Time
- **Month/Year:** `new Date().toLocaleDateString('en-US', { month: 'short', year: 'numeric' })``DateDisplay.formatMonthYear()`
- **Time only:** `new Date().toLocaleTimeString([], { hour: '2-digit', minute: '2-digit' })``DateDisplay.formatTime()`
- **Full Date:** `new Date().toLocaleDateString()``DateDisplay.formatShort()` (ensure UTC)
- **Relative Time:** `timeAgo(timestamp)` logic → `RelativeTimeDisplay.format(timestamp, now)`
### 2. Currency & Prices
- **Price with Symbol:** `$` + `amount.toFixed(2)``CurrencyDisplay.format(amount, 'USD')`
- **Compact Price:** `$` + `amount.toLocaleString()``CurrencyDisplay.formatCompact(amount)`
### 3. Numbers & Stats
- **Ratings:** `Math.round(rating).toLocaleString()``RatingDisplay.format(rating)`
- **Percentages:** `(val * 100).toFixed(1) + '%'``PercentDisplay.format(val)`
- **Consistency:** `${stats.consistency}%``ConsistencyDisplay.format(stats.consistency)`
- **Average Finish:** `avgFinish.toFixed(1)``FinishDisplay.format(avgFinish)`
- **Durations:** `duration.toFixed(2) + 'ms'` or `minutes:seconds``DurationDisplay.format(ms)`
- **Memory:** `(bytes / 1024 / 1024).toFixed(1) + 'MB'``MemoryDisplay.format(bytes)`
### 4. Status & Labels
- **Race Status:** Mapping `scheduled | running | completed` to labels → `RaceStatusDisplay`
- **Protest Status:** Mapping `pending | under_review | resolved` to labels → `ProtestStatusDisplay`
- **Action Status:** Mapping `PENDING | COMPLETED | FAILED` to labels → `ActionStatusDisplay`
### 5. Pluralization
- **Member Count:** `${count} ${count === 1 ? 'member' : 'members'}``MemberDisplay.formatCount(count)`
- **League Count:** `${count} ${count === 1 ? 'league' : 'leagues'}``LeagueDisplay.formatCount(count)`
---
## Existing Display Objects
- **[`DateDisplay`](apps/website/lib/display-objects/DateDisplay.ts)**: UTC-based date and time formatting.
- **[`CurrencyDisplay`](apps/website/lib/display-objects/CurrencyDisplay.ts)**: Deterministic currency formatting.
- **[`RaceStatusDisplay`](apps/website/lib/display-objects/RaceStatusDisplay.ts)**: Race status labels, variants, and icons.
- **[`RatingDisplay`](apps/website/lib/display-objects/RatingDisplay.ts)**: Rounded rating formatting with thousands separators.
- **[`RelativeTimeDisplay`](apps/website/lib/display-objects/RelativeTimeDisplay.ts)**: Deterministic relative time (requires "now" argument).
- **[`MemberDisplay`](apps/website/lib/display-objects/MemberDisplay.ts)**: Member count pluralization.
- **[`LeagueDisplay`](apps/website/lib/display-objects/LeagueDisplay.ts)**: League count pluralization.
---
## Summary
- Displays encapsulate **how something looks** (the single source of truth for formatting logic).
- View Models encapsulate **what a screen needs** (including client-specific "last mile" formatting).
- Both are presentation concerns.
- Neither contains business truth.
In one sentence: **Displays are the shared source of truth for deterministic formatting logic, used by both the server and the client.**
---
## Final Rule: Where does formatting go?
1. **Is it deterministic?** (e.g., currency symbols, fixed date formats, labels) → **Display Object**.
2. **Is it client-only?** (e.g., `Intl.*`, `toLocale*`, browser timezone) → **View Model**.
3. **Is it for SEO?****ViewData Builder** (using a Display Object).