Spark DSL Guide

Dala provides a Spark DSL for defining screens declaratively. This guide explains how to use it.

Overview

The Spark DSL allows you to define screens using a declarative syntax instead of writing render functions manually. It provides:

• Attribute declarations for screen state
• UI component entities for building the interface
• @ref syntax for referencing assign values in strings
• Compile-time verification for prop validation
• Automatic mount function generation

Getting Started

To use the Spark DSL, add use Dala.Spark.Dsl (or use Dala.Screen) to your screen module:

defmodule MyApp.CounterScreen do
  use Dala.Spark.Dsl

  attributes do
    attribute :count, :integer, default: 0
  end

  screen do
    name :counter
    column do
      gap :space_sm
      text "Count: @count"
      button "Increment", on_tap: :increment
    end
  end

  def handle_event(:increment, _params, socket) do
    {:noreply, Dala.Socket.assign(socket, :count, socket.assigns.count + 1)}
  end
end

Attributes

Attributes define the screen's state. They are automatically initialized in the generated mount/3 function.

Syntax

attribute :name, :type, default: value

Supported Types

• :integer
• :string
• :boolean
• :float
• :atom
• :list
• :map

Example

attributes do
  attribute :count, :integer, default: 0
  attribute :message, :string, default: "Hello"
  attribute :visible, :boolean, default: true
  attribute :items, :list, default: []
end

Screen Section

The screen section holds all UI components. It requires a name option:

screen do
  name :my_screen
  # components go here
end

Layout Containers

Container components support nested children via do...end blocks. Props are set inside the block:

Column (VStack)

column do
  padding :space_md
  gap :space_sm
  text "Title"
  text "Subtitle"
end

Row (HStack)

row do
  gap :space_sm
  icon "settings"
  text "Settings"
end

Box (ZStack)

Children overlap — useful for overlays:

box do
  image "bg.jpg"
  text "Overlay", text_color: :white
end

Scroll

scroll do
  padding :space_md
  text "Long content..."
end

Modal

modal do
  visible true
  on_dismiss :dismissed
  text "Modal content"
end

Pressable

pressable do
  on_press :card_tapped
  text "Tap me"
end

SafeArea

safe_area do
  text "Safe content"
end

Leaf Components

Leaf components have no children. They accept props as keyword arguments:

Text

text "Hello, world!"
text "Count: @count", text_size: :xl, text_color: :on_surface
text "Title", font_weight: "bold", text_align: :center

Button

button "Press me", on_tap: :button_pressed
button "Submit", on_tap: :submit, background: :primary, text_color: :on_primary
button "Disabled", on_tap: :action, disabled: true

Icon

icon "settings", text_size: 24, text_color: :on_surface
icon "chevron_right", on_tap: :navigate

Image

image "https://example.com/photo.jpg"
image "logo.png", width: 100, height: 100, resize_mode: :contain

TextField

text_field placeholder: "Enter name", on_change: :name_changed
text_field keyboard_type: :email, return_key: :next, on_submit: :next_field

Toggle

toggle value: true, on_change: :notifications_toggled, text: "Notifications"

Slider

slider value: 0.5, min_value: 0, max_value: 100, on_change: :volume_changed

Switch (legacy)

switch value: true, on_toggle: :toggled

Video

video "https://example.com/clip.mp4", autoplay: true, loop: true

Other Leaf Components

• divider() — horizontal divider line
• spacer() — flexible space (or spacer size: 20 for fixed)
• activity_indicator size: :large, color: :primary — loading spinner
• progress_bar progress: 0.7, color: :primary — progress bar
• status_bar bar_style: :light_content — status bar control
• refresh_control on_refresh: :reload, refreshing: false — pull-to-refresh
• webview "https://elixir-lang.org" — native web view
• camera_preview facing: :front — live camera feed
• native_view MyComponent, id: :my_view — platform-native component
• tab_bar tabs: [%{id: "home", label: "Home"}] — tab navigation
• list :my_list, data: @items — data-driven list

@ref Syntax

The @ref syntax allows you to reference assign values in strings. It's processed at compile time and replaced with runtime assign access.

Basic Usage

text "Count: @count"  # Becomes: "Count: " <> to_string(assigns[:count])

In Props

button "@message", on_tap: :press  # Button text uses the @message assign

Compile-time Verification

The DSL includes verifiers that check your declarations at compile time:

• Validates that all event handler props (on_tap, on_change, etc.) are atoms
• Validates that attribute types are supported
• Provides helpful error messages for misconfigurations

Generated Functions

The DSL transformers automatically generate:

mount/3

Initializes all attributes with their default values. Always generated, even without attributes:

def mount(_params, _session, socket) do
  socket = Dala.Socket.assign(socket, :count, 0)
  {:ok, socket}
end

render/1

Builds the component tree from your DSL declarations. Returns a list of top-level node maps:

def render(assigns) do
  [
    %{
      type: :column,
      props: %{gap: :space_sm},
      children: [
        %{type: :text, props: %{text: "Count: " <> to_string(assigns[:count])}, children: []}
      ]
    }
  ]
end

Event Handling

Event handlers are defined as regular handle_event/3 functions. The on_tap, on_change, etc. props reference these handlers by atom name:

def handle_event(:increment, _params, socket) do
  {:noreply, socket}
end

Integration with Dala.App

Register Spark DSL screens in your app's navigation/1 using Dala.App.screens/1:

defmodule MyApp do
  use Dala.App

  def navigation(_) do
    screens([MyApp.HomeScreen, MyApp.CounterScreen, MyApp.SettingsScreen])
    stack(:home, root: MyApp.HomeScreen)
  end
end

Migration from Manual Screens

To migrate an existing screen to the Spark DSL:

1. Add use Dala.Spark.Dsl (or keep use Dala.Screen) to your module
2. Move state declarations to attributes do ... end
3. Move render logic to the screen do ... end block
4. Remove the manual mount/3 and render/1 functions
5. Keep handle_event/3 functions as-is

Before

defmodule MyApp.Counter do
  use Dala.Screen

  def mount(_params, _session, socket) do
    {:ok, Dala.Socket.assign(socket, :count, 0)}
  end

  def render(assigns) do
    Dala.Ui.Widgets.column([padding: :space_md, gap: :space_sm], [
      Dala.Ui.Widgets.text(text: "Count: #{assigns.count}"),
      Dala.Ui.Widgets.button(text: "Increment", on_tap: :increment)
    ])
  end

  def handle_event(:increment, _params, socket) do
    {:noreply, Dala.Socket.assign(socket, :count, socket.assigns.count + 1)}
  end
end

After

defmodule MyApp.Counter do
  use Dala.Spark.Dsl

  attributes do
    attribute :count, :integer, default: 0
  end

  screen do
    name :counter
    column do
      padding :space_md
      gap :space_sm
      text "Count: @count"
      button "Increment", on_tap: :increment
    end
  end

  def handle_event(:increment, _params, socket) do
    {:noreply, Dala.Socket.assign(socket, :count, socket.assigns.count + 1)}
  end
end