Sigment Guide

Introduction

Sigment is a lightweight reactive framework designed for developers who want speed, simplicity,
and full control of the DOM without virtual DOM and transpilers.

Installation

Install via npm:

npm install sigment

Or create a new project:

npx create-sigment-app my-app

📁 Project Structure

Sigment keeps your project clean and organized. Here’s the recommended structure:

// Root directory
/
├── src/
│   ├── assets/
│   │   └── css/
│   │       └── index.css
│   ├── components/
│   │   └── Hello.js
│   └── Main.js
├── index.html
├── jsconfig.json
├── vite.config.js
├── global.d.ts
├── package.json

🔹 `src/` Directory

assets/ — Contains static files like global CSS.
components/ — Reusable components go here.
Main.js — Application entry point.

🔹 Root-Level Files

index.html — The main HTML page.
jsconfig.json — Helps with module resolution and IntelliSense.
vite.config.js — Vite config for development/build setup.
global.d.ts — TypeScript declaration for global types like CSS modules.
package.json — Project metadata and dependencies.

Example `index.html`

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en-US">
  <head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, height=device-height, initial-scale=1.0, minimum-scale=1.0">
    <title>sigment start</title>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="/src/assets/css/index.css">
  </head>
  <body>
    <div id="root"></div>
    <script type="module" src="/src/Main.js"></script>
  </body>
</html>

🚀 Main Entry Point

Your application starts from Main.js / ts. It imports your components and mounts them into the DOM using Sigment’s MyApp and mount() API.

import { MyApp, mount } from "sigment";
import Hello from "./components/Hello";

MyApp.cleanHtml(true);

function Main() {
  mount("root", Hello());
}

Main();

export default Main;

🔎 What’s Happening?

MyApp.cleanHtml(true) — remove the <properties> like id and other for clean html recommended to set true just in production.
mount("root", Hello()) — Renders the Hello component into the root div.
The Main() function runs on startup and mounts the app.

🚀 Hello component

Example of Hello component.

export default function Hello() {
  return div("Hello, world!");
}

Hello component — return html and render at the end at root.

Hello World

Create elements directly using tag functions:

document.body.appendChild(
  div("Hello Sigment!")
);

Or

export default function App() {
  return div("Hello, world!");
}

Main Entry


  document.getElementById("root")?.appendChild(App());
  
  Or
  
  mount("root",App())

mount

sigment provide simple way to connect to dom you can use mount :

Main Entry


  instead of:
  
  document.getElementById("root")?.appendChild(App());
  
  you can do
  
  mount("root",App())

Nested Elements

You can nest elements directly by placing them as children inside a parent tag function like div, ul, etc.

Example – Nested Structure

function NestedExample() {
  return div(
    h2("Profile"),
    p("User Info:"),
    ul(
      li("Name: Alice"),
      li("Email: [email protected]")
    )
  );
}

The outer div acts as a container. All child elements are nested inside it, maintaining clean structure.

Reactive Signals

Use createSignal or just signal to make reactive state:

const [count, setCount] = signal(0);

button({ onclick: () => setCount(count() + 1) }, count)

`createEffect`

createEffect tracks reactive dependencies and runs the provided function when they change. It's useful for side effects like logging, animations, or syncing state.

Why is this useful?

createEffect helps you respond to state changes without manually wiring up event listeners or re-computing values. It automatically re-runs when any reactive signal used inside changes.

import { signal, createEffect } from "sigment";

function Counter() {
  const [count, setCount] = signal(0);

  createEffect(() => {
    console.log(`Count changed: ${count()}`);
  });

  return button({
    onClick: () => setCount(count() + 1)
  }, "Increment");
}

Every time you click the button, the signal count updates, triggering the effect and logging the new value.

Global Signals

Create global signals with createGlobalSignal or globalSignal.

create new file for example globalState.js or ts and add globalSignal like in the example below.

import { createGlobalSignal } from "sigment";

createGlobalSignal('userName', '');
createGlobalSignal('userMail', '');

export const GlobalKeys = {
  userName: 'userName',
  userMail: 'userMail'
};

To read global from any place in code you can do:

const [userName] = useGlobalSignal(GlobalKeys.userName);

To write global from any place in code you can do:

const [userName, setUserName] = getGlobalSignal(GlobalKeys.userName);
setUserName("some name");

Custom Tags

Dynamically define new tags with addSigment:

addSigment("card");
card("Content inside card");
// Renders: <s-card>Content inside card</s-card>

addSigment("myCard"); // before capital latter will add dash and the capital latter will convert to lower case
myCard("Custom element");
// Renders: <my-card>Custom element</my-card>

addSigment("card", "div");
card("Alias for div");
// Renders: <div>Alias for div</div>

Using with TypeScript

If you're using TypeScript, declare the types for your custom tags to enable type checking and IntelliSense. It's best to put these declarations and registrations in a shared file like sigments.ts.

import { addSigment } from "sigment";

type Child = string | HTMLElement;
type Props<T extends keyof HTMLElementTagNameMap> =
  Partial<HTMLElementTagNameMap[T]> & Record<string, any>;

declare global {
  function signin(props: Props<"div">, ...children: Child[]): HTMLElement;
  function signin(...children: Child[]): HTMLElement;

  function sectionheader(props: Props<"section">, ...children: Child[]): HTMLElement;
  function sectionheader(...children: Child[]): HTMLElement;
}

addSigment("signin");
addSigment("sectionheader");

export {};

Note: You can use addSigment() anywhere in your project, regardless of whether you're using TypeScript. If you're using TypeScript, you only need to define the type declarations like shown above once—typically in a shared file like sigments.ts—but the addSigment() call itself can be used anywhere in your codebase.

3 Ways to Bind

Using a Local Signal:

function LocalExample() { 
  const [name, setName] = signal("");

  return div(
    div("type your name:",
      input({ type: "text", onInput: (e) => setName(e.target.value) })
    ),

    // First way: as a separate child function
    div('Hi i am first way to bind', () => name()),

    // Second way: inline in template string
    div(() => `Hi i am second way to bind, ${name()}`),

    // Third way: interpolated placeholder
    div(`Hi i am third way to bind: {{name}}`)
  );
}

Fragment

Fragment(...children) allows you to group multiple elements without introducing an actual DOM wrapper.

Example – Without Fragment

function Card() {
  return div(
    h2("Title"),
    p("Some text")
  );
}

Renders:

<div>
  <h2>Title</h2>
  <p>Some text</p>
</div>

Example – With Fragment

function Card() {
  return fragment(
    h2("Title"),
    p("Some text")
  );
}

Renders:

<h2>Title</h2>
<p>Some text</p>

Why is this useful?

No extra DOM nodes – keeps your HTML clean
Better performance – fewer elements mean less memory and faster rendering
Zero styling impact – no unexpected box models or spacing from wrappers
Logical grouping – lets you group elements structurally in code

Note: Fragments render their children in O(1) time without creating an additional DOM node themselves. Only the children appear in the final DOM.

🎨 Styling in Sigment: Global CSS vs. CSS Modules

Sigment supports both global CSS files and scoped CSS modules — giving you flexibility in how you style your components.

✅ 1. Importing Global CSS

import './hello.css';

Effect: All class names defined in hello.css are available globally across the app.
Usage: Just pass the class name as a string in the class attribute.

Example (hello.css):

.hi {
  font-size: 20px;
  color: darkblue;
}

In component:

p({ class: "hi" }, 'Hello from Sigment')

🎯 2. Using CSS Modules

import styles from './hello.module.css';

Effect: Class names are automatically scoped (e.g., fnt600__hello__abc123).
Usage: Access them as properties: styles.className.

Example (hello.module.css):

.fnt600 {
  font-weight: 600;
}

In component:

p({ class: styles.fnt600 }, 'Bold text')

🧪 3. Combining Global and Module Styles

p({ class: "hi " + styles.fnt600 }, 'Mixed styles')

"hi" → from global CSS
styles.fnt600 → scoped class from CSS Module

💡 Final Example

import './hello.css';                    // Global styles
import styles from './hello.module.css'; // Scoped module styles

function Hello() {
  return div(
    p({ class: "hi " + styles.fnt600 },
      'Hello from Sigment,',
      br(),
      'Inspect this element,',
      br(),
      'and see how styles apply'
    )
  );
}

📦 Summary for Developers

Feature	Global CSS	CSS Modules
File name	`hello.css`	`hello.module.css`
Import syntax	`import './file.css'`	`import styles from`
Class use	`"hi"`	`styles.hi`
Scope	Global (shared)	Local (scoped)
Collision safe	❌ No	✅ Yes

🔧 Tips

Use global CSS for layout, resets, or base styles.
Use CSS modules for component-specific styling.
Always combine multiple classes with a string or helper function (e.g., "a " + styles.b or clsx()).

`Lifecycle Helpers`

Lifecycle utilities like createEffect, onPaint, and paintFinish allow you to run logic at different stages of a component's rendering flow. These helpers are entirely optional, and you can choose to use them only when needed.

Lifecycle Flow

createEffect(fn) — runs whenever signals inside fn change.
onPaint(fn) — schedules fn to run after the next paint cycle.
paintFinish(fn) — runs fn only once, after the first paint is complete.

Example – lifecycle demo

import { signal, onPaint, paintFinish, createEffect } from "sigment";

function MyComponent() {
  const [count, setCount] = signal(0);

  createEffect(() => {
    console.log(`Count changed: ${count()}`);
  });

  onPaint(() => {
    console.log("Runs after every browser paint.");
  });

  paintFinish(() => {
    console.log("Runs only once, after the first paint.");
  });

  return div(
    button({ onClick: () => setCount(count() + 1) }, () => `Clicked ${count()} times`)
  );
}

This demonstrates how createEffect, onPaint, and paintFinish can be used together to manage logic around reactive updates and browser paint timing.

Routing

Sigment supports defining routes as a map of route names to route configurations. Each route can have:

loader: a function that dynamically imports the component for that route.
urlParam: a string pattern like '{id}/{pageid}' to extract URL parameters.
guard: an optional function returning boolean or Promise<boolean> to control access.
logic: optional function to run extra logic when loading the route.
cacheExpiration: optional time in ms to cache the loaded component.

You can also specify a fallback route which loads if no matching route is found.

Example (TypeScript)


import type { RoutesMap } from 'sigment';

export const Routes: RoutesMap = {
  about: {
    loader: () => import('./About'),
    guard: () => true,
  },
  user: {
    loader: () => import('./User'),
    urlParam: '{id}/{pageid}',
    guard: async (params) => {
      return await checkPermission(params?.id);
    }
  },
  dash: {
    loader: () => import('./Dash'),
    cacheExpiration: 60000,
    guard: () => checkPermission('dashboard'),
  },
  fallback: 'login'
};

Usage

Use parsePath() to get the current route and params, then loadRunFunc() to load the component:


const container = div({class:"body"},'Loading...'); 
const { componentName, params } = parsePath(Routes);
const content = await loadRunFunc(Routes, componentName, params);
container.replaceChildren(content);

URL Parameters

When using urlParam with a pattern like '{id}/{pageid}', the URL segments after the route name are parsed into an object.
For example, the URL /user/123/45 will set params = { id: '123', pageid: '45' } which is passed to your component and guard.

Route Guards

Guards allow you to check permissions or conditions before loading a route. They can be async and should return true or false.

`memoizeFunc`

Caches the result of a function based on its arguments. Useful for preventing unnecessary recomputation or repeated fetch calls.

Signature:

(alias) function memoizeFunc<F extends (...args: any[]) => any>(
  fn: F,
  ttl?: number,
  options?: MemoizeOptions
): F & {
  clear(): void;
}

Import:

import { memoizeFunc } from "sigment";

Example – Memoize a computation:

const heavyCalc = memoizeFunc((n) => {
  console.log("Calculating...");
  return n * 10;
});

console.log(heavyCalc(5)); // logs: Calculating... → 50
console.log(heavyCalc(5)); // cached → 50

Example – With TTL (time to live):

const fetchData = memoizeFunc(fetchDataFromAPI, 5000); // cache lasts 5 seconds

To manually clear cache:

fetchData.clear();

`fetchCache`

A convenient wrapper around fetch with automatic caching. Results are stored in memory and reused until the TTL (time to live) expires.

Signature:

(alias) function fetchCache<T = any>(
  url: string,
  ttl?: number,
  options?: RequestInit
): Promise<T>

Import:

import { fetchCache } from "sigment";

Example – Basic Usage:

const data = await fetchCache("https://api.example.com/posts");

Example – With TTL (cache expiration in ms):

const data = await fetchCache("https://api.example.com/posts", 10000); 
// Result is cached for 10 seconds

Example – With fetch options:

const result = await fetchCache("https://api.example.com/user", 5000, {
  headers: {
    Authorization: "Bearer token"
  }
});

`getVirtualElementById` (`gve`)

getVirtualElementById(id) (alias gve(id)) retrieves a reference to a previously created virtual element by its id attribute. Useful for interacting with specific elements in your reactive UI without querying the real DOM directly.

Signature

function getVirtualElementById(id: string): HTMLElement;
function gve(id: string): HTMLElement;

Example – style element

import { signal, getVirtualElementById , paintFinish , createEffect } from "sigment";

function Counter() {
  const [count, setCount] = signal(0);

  createEffect(() => {
    console.log(`Current count: ${count()}`);
  });


  paintFinish(() => {
    console.log("function that runs only once, after the first paint");
    const counterEl = getVirtualElementById("counter")  // or shorthand gve("counter"); 
    if (counterEl) {
      counterEl.style.backgroundColor = "yellow";
      // Add click event to show alert
      counterEl.addEventListener("click", () => alert(`You clicked: ${count()}`));
    }
  });

  return div(
    button({ onClick: () => setCount(count() + 1) }, () => `increment me , ${count()}`),
    div({ id: "counter" }, () => `counter is , ${count()}`)
  );
}


      
        Here, we call paintFinish first to ensure the element with ID "counter" is available div.


	

  NavigateTo Usage
  
    NavigateTo lets you navigate to a route and load/render a component dynamically.
    It works seamlessly with your Routes object and supports multiple calling styles
    depending on your needs.
  

  TypeScript Signature
  type ComponentLoader = () => Promise<{ default: (...args: any[]) => HTMLElement }>;

type ComponentMap = {
  [key: string]: {
    loader: ComponentLoader;
    guard?: (params?: any) => Promise<boolean>;
    cacheExpiration?: number;
  };
};

export function NavigateTo(
  path: string,
  componentMapOrStateful?: ComponentMap | boolean,
  componentKeyOrStateful?: string | boolean,
  maybeStateful?: boolean
): Promise<void>;


  Example Routes Object
  const Routes = {
  "/": {
    loader: () => import('./Home.js')
  },
  home: {
    loader: () => import('./Home.js')
  },
  dash: {
    loader: () => import('./Dash.js'),
    guard: async () => await checkPermission("dash"),
    cacheExpiration: 60000
  },
  login: {
    loader: () => import('./Login.js')
  },
  fallback: 'home'
};


  
    Important: To use NavigateTo without passing your routes object every time, set your routes globally by adding this line once in your main.js or app entry point:
  
  
MyApp.setRoute(Routes);
  
  
    This makes NavigateTo("path") automatically use your global Routes object for component loading and guards.
  

  Usage Examples
  // Using just path, defaults to global Routes and non-stateful rendering
NavigateTo("dash")
  .then(() => console.log("Navigated to dash"))
  .catch(console.error);

// Using path and stateful flag (second param boolean)
NavigateTo("dash", true)
  .then(() => console.log("Navigated to dash with stateful rendering"))
  .catch(console.error);

// With explicit Routes and stateful true
NavigateTo("dash", Routes, true)
  .then(() => console.log("Navigated to dash with explicit routes and stateful"))
  .catch(console.error);

// With custom component map and explicit component key
NavigateTo(
  "dash2",
  {
    dash: {
      loader: () => import('./Dash.js')
    }
  },
  "dash",
  true
)
.then(() => console.log("Navigated to dash2 mapped to dash component"))
.catch(console.error);

// Using path and explicit component key with global Routes, stateful optional
NavigateTo("dash2", "dash")
  .then(() => console.log("Navigated to dash2 using dash component key"))
  .catch(console.error);

NavigateTo("dash2", "dash", true)
  .then(() => console.log("Navigated to dash2 using dash component key stateful"))
  .catch(console.error);










  📦 Component Overriding with Stateful or Stateless

  
    Sigment supports replacing components dynamically using gvec() with control over state and optional lifecycle triggers. This allows:
  
  
    ✅ Defining components with static functions (e.g., Dashboard.writeToLog())
    ✅ Dynamically loading and overriding other components at runtime
    ✅ Preserving or resetting component state (via the true or false second argument)
    ✅ Sending parameters or triggering target methods after override
  

  🤠 Concept
  gvec({
  "login": Login,
  "dash": await loadFunc(runtime, "dash"),
  "param": [7, "pp"]
}, true, {
  writeToLog: ["Login component"]
});

Navigate("dash");

  🔐 Login Component Example
  import { Navigate, getGlobalSignal, loadFunc, gvec, addSigment } from "sigment";
import { GlobalKeys } from "./global/globalState.js";
import loadAtRunTimeComponents from "./utils/loadAtRunTimeComponents.js";
import Dashboard from "./Dashboard.js";

function Login(): HTMLElement {
  const [userName, setUserName] = getGlobalSignal(GlobalKeys.userName);
  addSigment("signin");

  async function loadDashboard() {
    gvec({
      "login": Login,
      "dash": await loadFunc(loadAtRunTimeComponents, "dash"),
      "param": [7, "pp"]
    }, true, {
      writeToLog: ["Login component"]
    });

    Navigate("dash");
  }

  return signin({ id: "login" },
    div(
      div("user name:",
        input({
          type: "text",
          onInput: (e: InputEvent) =>
            setUserName((e.target as HTMLInputElement).value)
        })
      ),
      div("password:",
        input({ type: "password" })
      ),
      div({ class: "username" }, 'User name is: ', () => userName()),
      button({ onclick: () => loadDashboard() }, "to dash")
    )
  );
}

export default Login;

  📊 Dashboard Component Example
  import { useGlobalSignal, createSignal, div, input, h2, button } from "sigment";
import { GlobalKeys } from "./global/globalState.js";
import loadAtRunTimeComponents from "./utils/loadAtRunTimeComponents.js";
import { Navigate, gvec, loadFunc } from "sigment";
import Login from "./Login.js";

interface DashType {
  (props: any): HTMLElement;
  writeToLog: (from: any) => void;
}

function Dashboard(props: any): HTMLElement {
  const [userName] = useGlobalSignal(GlobalKeys.userName);
  const [name, setName] = createSignal("");

  (Dashboard as DashType).writeToLog = function (from: any): void {
    console.log("writeToLog is fired from", from);
  };

  const handleClick = async () => {
    gvec({
      "dash": Dashboard,
      "login": await loadFunc(loadAtRunTimeComponents, "Login")
    }, false);
    Navigate("/");
  };

  return div({ id: "dash" },
    h2(() => `Welcome, ${userName()}!`),
    div("Change your name:"),
    input({
      type: "text",
      value: name(),
      onInput: (e: InputEvent) =>
        setName((e.target as HTMLInputElement).value)
    }),
    div(() => `Local name is: ${name()}`),
    button({ onclick: handleClick }, "to login")
  );
}

export default Dashboard;

  📂 Runtime Loader
  const loadAtRunTimeComponents = {
  "login": () => import("../Login.js"),
  "dash": () => import("../Dash.js")
};

export default loadAtRunTimeComponents;



  rpc – Call Static Component Methods Remotely
  
    The rpc function allows you to dynamically call static methods attached to a component,
    such as Dashboard.writeToLog, from outside the component context.
    This is useful for triggering logic or returning values from components programmatically.
  

  Signature
  function rpc(
  component,
  methods: Record<string, any[]>
): Record<string, any>;


  Example 1 – call a void method
  function Dashboard(props) {
  // component internals
}

Dashboard.writeToLog = function(from) {
  console.log("writeToLog is fired type is void", from);
};

rpc(Dashboard, {
  writeToLog: ["some text"]
});


  This will run Dashboard.writeToLog("some text").

  📦 You can call this from another component like this dont forget to import Dashboard
  rpc(Dashboard, {
  writeToLog: ["called from HomePage"]
});


  Example 2 – call multiple methods with return values
  Dashboard.writeToLogWithValue = function(val) {
  console.log("return value", val);
  return val;
};

const res = rpc(Dashboard, {
  writeToLog: ["some text"],
  writeToLogWithValue: ["i am with value"]
});

console.log(res);


  
    Methods that return values will be included in the result. Methods returning
    undefined (like writeToLog) will appear with undefined
    in the response.
  

  Note: Static methods like Dashboard.writeToLog must be defined outside the component’s render body. This ensures they’re available at any time and do not depend on component mounting.

Sigment Guide

Introduction

Installation

📁 Project Structure

🔹 src/ Directory

🔹 Root-Level Files

Example index.html

🚀 Main Entry Point

🔎 What’s Happening?

🚀 Hello component

Hello World

Or

Main Entry

mount

Main Entry

Nested Elements

Example – Nested Structure

Reactive Signals

createEffect

Why is this useful?

Global Signals

Custom Tags

Using with TypeScript

3 Ways to Bind

Fragment

Example – Without Fragment

Example – With Fragment

Why is this useful?

🎨 Styling in Sigment: Global CSS vs. CSS Modules

✅ 1. Importing Global CSS

🎯 2. Using CSS Modules

🧪 3. Combining Global and Module Styles

💡 Final Example

📦 Summary for Developers

🔧 Tips

Lifecycle Helpers

Lifecycle Flow

Example – lifecycle demo

Routing

Example (TypeScript)

Usage

URL Parameters

Route Guards

memoizeFunc

fetchCache

getVirtualElementById (gve)

Signature

Example – style element

NavigateTo Usage

TypeScript Signature

Example Routes Object

Usage Examples

📦 Component Overriding with Stateful or Stateless

🤠 Concept

🔐 Login Component Example

📊 Dashboard Component Example

📂 Runtime Loader

rpc – Call Static Component Methods Remotely

Signature

Example 1 – call a void method

📦 You can call this from another component like this dont forget to import Dashboard

Example 2 – call multiple methods with return values

🔹 `src/` Directory

Example `index.html`

`createEffect`

`Lifecycle Helpers`

`memoizeFunc`

`fetchCache`

`getVirtualElementById` (`gve`)

`NavigateTo` Usage

`rpc` – Call Static Component Methods Remotely