Fix XML Globals

Fix XML Views/Fragments Global Access

This skill fixes XML view and fragment issues that the UI5 linter detects but cannot auto-fix because they require understanding of module paths and handler locations.

Linter Rules Handled

When to Use

Apply this skill when you see linter output like:

Main.view.xml:15:5 error Access of global variable 'formatter' (my.app.model.formatter)  no-globals
Main.view.xml:20:5 warning Event handler 'onPress' must be prefixed by a dot '.' or refer to a local name  no-ambiguous-event-handler
Main.view.xml:25:5 error Usage of space-separated list 'formatter helper' in template:require  no-deprecated-api

Fix Strategy

1. no-globals - Fix Global Variable Access with core:require

When a formatter, type, or utility function is accessed via global namespace (e.g., my.app.formatter.formatDate), add a core:require declaration and use the local name.

Step 1: Add xmlns:core namespace if not present

<mvc:View
    xmlns:mvc="sap.ui.core.mvc"
    xmlns:core="sap.ui.core"
    xmlns="sap.m">

Step 2: Add core:require on the nearest control that uses the module

Place core:require on the control that uses the global reference. If multiple controls use the same module, place it on their nearest common ancestor. See the "core:require Placement Rules" section below for details.

<!-- Single usage — core:require on the control itself -->
<Text core:require="{formatter: 'my/app/model/formatter'}"
      text="{path: 'date', formatter: 'formatter.formatDate'}" />

<!-- Multiple usages — core:require on nearest common ancestor -->
<VBox core:require="{formatter: 'my/app/model/formatter'}">
    <Text text="{path: 'date', formatter: 'formatter.formatDate'}" />
    <Text text="{path: 'name', formatter: 'formatter.formatName'}" />
</VBox>

Step 3: Update references to use local name

<!-- Before -->
<Text text="{path: 'date', formatter: 'my.app.model.formatter.formatDate'}" />

<!-- After -->
<Text text="{path: 'date', formatter: 'formatter.formatDate'}" />

Step 4: Add .bind($control) for formatters that use this

If a formatter function accesses this internally, add .bind($control) to preserve the control context. This applies only to formatters — never add .bind($control) to event handlers or factory functions.

<!-- If formatter.formatWithContext uses 'this' to access the control -->
<Text core:require="{formatter: 'my/app/model/formatter'}"
      text="{path: 'name', formatter: 'formatter.formatWithContext.bind($control)'}" />

2. no-ambiguous-event-handler - Fix Event Handlers

Event handlers must either:

• Start with a dot (.) to indicate controller method
• Use a locally required module name

Controller method (add dot prefix):

<!-- Before -->
<Button press="onPress" />

<!-- After -->
<Button press=".onPress" />

Module method (use core:require):

<!-- Before -->
<Button press="my.app.util.Handler.onPress" />

<!-- After - with core:require -->
<mvc:View
    core:require="{
        Handler: 'my/app/util/Handler'
    }">
    <Button press="Handler.onPress" />
</mvc:View>

3. no-deprecated-api - Fix Legacy template:require Syntax

Convert space-separated module list to object notation.

<!-- Before -->
<template:require name="formatter helper" />

<!-- After -->
<template:require name="{
    formatter: 'my/app/model/formatter',
    helper: 'my/app/util/helper'
}" />

4. Handle Multiple Global References

When multiple globals are used, combine them in a single core:require on their nearest common ancestor.

<mvc:View
    xmlns:mvc="sap.ui.core.mvc"
    xmlns:core="sap.ui.core"
    xmlns="sap.m"
    core:require="{
        formatter: 'my/app/model/formatter',
        types: 'my/app/model/types',
        utils: 'my/app/util/utils'
    }">

5. no-globals - Fix Type Property in Bindings

When a global is used in the type property of a binding object, it also needs core:require.

<!-- Before -->
<Input value="{
    path: '/amount',
    type: 'sap.ui.model.type.Currency'
}" />

<!-- After -->
<Input core:require="{Currency: 'sap/ui/model/type/Currency'}"
       value="{
           path: '/amount',
           type: 'Currency'
       }" />

This applies to all UI5 types (Currency, Date, Float, Integer, String, etc.) and custom type classes.

6. no-globals - Fix Factory Functions

Factory functions (e.g., factory attribute on List) follow the same core:require pattern but never use .bind($control).

<!-- Before -->
<List items="{/items}" factory="my.app.util.ListFactory.createItem" />

<!-- After — no .bind($control) for factories -->
<List core:require="{ListFactory: 'my/app/util/ListFactory'}"
      items="{/items}" factory="ListFactory.createItem" />

core:require Placement Rules

A module declared via core:require is only accessible to that element and its descendants — not siblings.

• Single control uses the module: place core:require directly on that control
• Multiple controls use the same module: place core:require on their nearest common ancestor
• All controls are direct children of View: placing on the View root is acceptable

Prefer granular placement over always using the root — it reduces unnecessary scope and makes the dependency clear at the point of use.

For detailed examples (granular placement across nested elements, scope errors with sibling elements), see references/placement-and-binding.md.

When to Use .bind($control)

When a function is called via core:require, it does not automatically receive a this context. Whether to add .bind($control) depends on the usage type — formatter, factory, or event handler:

How to detect usage type in XML:

• Formatter: appears inside a binding expression — {path:..., formatter:'Module.fn'} or {parts:[...], formatter:'Module.fn'}
• Factory: appears as factory='Module.fn' attribute on an aggregation binding
• Event handler: appears as an event attribute like press=, change=, confirm=, cancel=, select=, selectionChange=, valueHelpRequest=, tokenUpdate=, close=, delete=, titlePress=

The formatter-specific rule:

• Check the function's implementation — if it uses this, add .bind($control)
• Always use $control (NOT $controller) — this binds to the control instance
• If the function does not use this, omit .bind($control)

<!-- Formatter that uses 'this' → must bind -->
<Text core:require="{formatter: 'my/app/model/formatter'}"
      text="{path: 'name', formatter: 'formatter.formatWithContext.bind($control)'}" />

<!-- Formatter that does NOT use 'this' → no bind needed -->
<Text core:require="{formatter: 'my/app/model/formatter'}"
      text="{path: 'date', formatter: 'formatter.formatDate'}" />

<!-- Factory → NEVER bind -->
<List core:require="{ListFactory: 'my/app/util/ListFactory'}"
      items="{/items}" factory="ListFactory.createItem" />

<!-- Event handler → NEVER bind -->
<Button core:require="{Handler: 'my/app/util/Handler'}"
        press="Handler.onExport" />

Detection: run scripts/verify-this-bind.js audit-fn. The script handles every this form in one pass — member access, dynamic property, bare arg (jQuery.proxy(fn, this), .call(this), .apply(this), .bind(this)), aliased (var self = this; self.foo), and arrow-inherited. Comments and string literals are stripped; nested non-arrow function bodies are excluded (they own their own this); arrow bodies are kept (they inherit). Standard UI5 types (sap.ui.model.type.*) never need binding and the script confirms this. Manual grep is not allowed for batch decisions — the script is canonical.

node scripts/verify-this-bind.js audit-fn --file <module.js> --fn <name> [--fn <name> ...]

Functions reported USES_THIS MUST have .bind($control) appended in XML. Functions reported NO_THIS MUST NOT have it. Do NOT classify by name shape — formatX / decideX / isX are not proof of pure-value formatters; only the source body is.

Why a script and not grep: searching for this\. (the dot form) silently misses bare-this idioms. jQuery.proxy(fn, this) passes this as a positional argument with no dot anywhere — an eyeball or a naive grep walks past it, the formatter looks pure, and .bind($control) is omitted. At runtime the proxied callback ends up with the wrong context and this.getModel(...) throws. The script's \bthis\b scan combined with alias tracking catches every variant in one go. Fall back to grep -nE '\bthis\b' <module.js> only if the script is unavailable.

For full before/after examples (formatter, handler, factory) see references/placement-and-binding.md.

FragmentDefinition Handling

Fragments use <core:FragmentDefinition> instead of <mvc:View>. The same placement principle applies, with one key difference:

Place core:require on the child control, NOT on FragmentDefinition. FragmentDefinition is a structural wrapper, not a real control. Place core:require on the actual root control inside it (e.g., Dialog, VBox) or on the nearest common ancestor of the controls using the module.

<!-- PREFERRED: core:require on Dialog (the actual root control) -->
<core:FragmentDefinition xmlns="sap.m" xmlns:core="sap.ui.core">
    <Dialog title="Settings"
            core:require="{formatter: 'my/app/model/formatter', Actions: 'my/app/util/Actions'}">
        <content>
            <Input value="{path: 'name', formatter: 'formatter.toUpperCase'}" />
            <Button text="Save" press="Actions.onSave" />
        </content>
    </Dialog>
</core:FragmentDefinition>

Exception: When a fragment has multiple direct children that all need the same module, FragmentDefinition becomes the nearest common ancestor — placing core:require there is acceptable.

For examples of multi-child fragments and scoped modules within fragments, see references/placement-and-binding.md.

Additional Edge Cases

Name Conflicts

When multiple modules share the same class name, use descriptive aliases:

<mvc:View xmlns:mvc="sap.ui.core.mvc" xmlns="sap.m" xmlns:core="sap.ui.core"
          core:require="{
              ReportFormatter: 'my/app/report/Formatter',
              KPIFormatter: 'my/app/kpi/Formatter'
          }">
    <Input value="{path: 'report', formatter: 'ReportFormatter.format'}" />
    <Text text="{path: 'kpi', formatter: 'KPIFormatter.format'}" />
</mvc:View>

Formatters with Multiple Parts / Expression Bindings

Multi-part bindings and expression bindings follow the same core:require pattern — just replace the dotted global with the local alias. Expression binding example:

<!-- Before: text="{= my.app.model.formatter.formatCount(${/count})}" -->
<!-- After (with core:require for formatter): -->
<Text text="{= formatter.formatCount(${/count})}" />

App-Namespace Globals in XML

The UI5 linter reports app-namespace globals in XML under the no-globals rule — the same rule used for sap.* and jQuery.* globals. This skill handles ALL no-globals in XML files, including:

1. sap namespace — sap.m.ButtonType.Accept, sap.ui.model.type.Currency → core:require the module
2. jQuery namespace — jQuery.sap.getModulePath → core:require
3. App namespace event handlers — com.example.app.utils.Handler.onPress → core:require the utility module
4. App namespace formatters — com.example.app.model.formatter.formatDate → core:require the formatter module

The fix pattern is identical for all: add core:require attribute with the module path (dots → slashes), replace the dotted global with the local alias.

Before:

<core:FragmentDefinition xmlns="sap.m" xmlns:core="sap.ui.core">
    <Button press="com.example.app.utils.Handler.onPress" />
</core:FragmentDefinition>

After:

<core:FragmentDefinition xmlns="sap.m" xmlns:core="sap.ui.core">
    <Button core:require="{Handler: 'com/example/app/utils/Handler'}"
            press="Handler.onPress" />
</core:FragmentDefinition>

Apply .bind($control) rules from the "When to Use .bind($control)" section — formatters: yes (if function uses this); factories: never; event handlers: never.

Important: Do NOT defer app-namespace XML globals to fix-linter-blind-spots (Phase 3, Step 3.2). That skill handles only JS app-namespace globals which the linter cannot detect. XML app-namespace globals ARE reported by the linter and MUST be fixed here in Phase 3.

Implementation Steps

1. Read the XML view/fragment file

2. Parse to identify linter errors by rule ID:

   • no-globals: Global namespace references in bindings (formatters, types, event handlers, factories)
   • no-ambiguous-event-handler: Event handlers without proper prefix
   • no-deprecated-api: Legacy template:require syntax

3. For no-globals errors:

   • Add xmlns:core="sap.ui.core" to the root element if not present
   • Determine module path: convert dot notation to slash notation (e.g., my.app.formatter → my/app/formatter)
   • Determine placement: find the nearest control using the module, or the nearest common ancestor if multiple controls use it
   • For fragments: prefer placing core:require on the actual root control (e.g., Dialog), not on FragmentDefinition
   • Mandatory per-formatter source audit. For every formatter renamed in this batch, run node scripts/verify-this-bind.js audit-fn --file <module.js> --fn <name> [--fn <name> ...] (batch as many --fn flags as the file has formatters). Functions reported USES_THIS MUST have .bind($control) appended in the XML formatter ref. Functions reported NO_THIS MUST NOT. Factories and event handlers never bind regardless of their this usage.
   • Build core:require object with all needed modules (use aliases for name conflicts)
   • Update all references to use the local names

4. For no-ambiguous-event-handler errors:

   • Use the linter-reported line:col to locate the exact attribute. Read only that line.
   • Edit ONLY the value at that coordinate. Prepend . for a bare handler name; or apply core:require + alias replacement for a namespace path.
   • DO NOT search the file for other occurrences of the same handler-name string. The linter has already enumerated every offending site — if a string appears elsewhere and was NOT reported, it is a different attribute (id, selectedKey, key, name, plain text, …) and MUST NOT be modified. One linter finding → one edit.

5. For no-deprecated-api (template:require):

   • Convert space-separated list to object notation

6. Write the updated file

7. Post-edit verification (mandatory). After all XML edits in this phase and before declaring done:

   node scripts/verify-this-bind.js verify-xml \
       --xml-root webapp \
       --js-roots webapp/utils,webapp/model
   

   Exit 0 → done. Exit 1 → fix the listed MISSING_BIND violations and re-run. The script is the gate; agent-side eyeballing is not.

Example Fix

Example 1: Basic — formatter + event handler

Given linter output:

Main.view.xml:15:5 error Access of global variable 'formatter' (my.app.model.formatter)  no-globals
Main.view.xml:20:5 warning Event handler 'onPress' must be prefixed by a dot '.' or refer to a local name  no-ambiguous-event-handler

Main.view.xml transformation:

<!-- Before -->
<mvc:View
    controllerName="my.app.controller.Main"
    xmlns:mvc="sap.ui.core.mvc"
    xmlns="sap.m">
    <Page title="Main">
        <content>
            <Text text="{path: 'date', formatter: 'my.app.model.formatter.formatDate'}" />
            <Button text="Submit" press="onPress" />
        </content>
    </Page>
</mvc:View>

<!-- After -->
<mvc:View
    controllerName="my.app.controller.Main"
    xmlns:mvc="sap.ui.core.mvc"
    xmlns:core="sap.ui.core"
    xmlns="sap.m"
    core:require="{
        formatter: 'my/app/model/formatter'
    }">
    <Page title="Main">
        <content>
            <Text text="{path: 'date', formatter: 'formatter.formatDate'}" />
            <Button text="Submit" press=".onPress" />
        </content>
    </Page>
</mvc:View>

Example 2: Advanced — granular placement, type binding, .bind($control)

Given linter output:

OrderDetail.view.xml:8:9 error Access of global variable 'formatter' (my.app.model.formatter)  no-globals
OrderDetail.view.xml:10:13 error Access of global variable 'Currency' (sap.ui.model.type.Currency)  no-globals
OrderDetail.view.xml:14:13 error Access of global variable 'Handler' (my.app.util.Handler)  no-globals
OrderDetail.view.xml:18:9 warning Event handler 'onBack' must be prefixed by a dot '.'  no-ambiguous-event-handler

<!-- Before -->
<mvc:View controllerName="my.app.controller.OrderDetail"
    xmlns:mvc="sap.ui.core.mvc" xmlns="sap.m">
    <Page title="Order">
        <content>
            <Text text="{path: 'status', formatter: 'my.app.model.formatter.formatStatus'}" />
            <VBox>
                <Input value="{path: '/amount', type: 'sap.ui.model.type.Currency'}" />
                <Text text="{path: 'note', formatter: 'my.app.model.formatter.formatNote'}" />
            </VBox>
        </content>
        <footer>
            <Bar>
                <contentRight>
                    <Button text="Export" press="my.app.util.Handler.onExport" />
                </contentRight>
            </Bar>
        </footer>
        <headerContent>
            <Button press="onBack" icon="sap-icon://nav-back" />
        </headerContent>
    </Page>
</mvc:View>

<!-- After -->
<mvc:View controllerName="my.app.controller.OrderDetail"
    xmlns:mvc="sap.ui.core.mvc" xmlns="sap.m" xmlns:core="sap.ui.core">
    <Page title="Order"
          core:require="{formatter: 'my/app/model/formatter'}">
        <content>
            <Text text="{path: 'status', formatter: 'formatter.formatStatus'}" />
            <VBox>
                <Input core:require="{Currency: 'sap/ui/model/type/Currency'}"
                       value="{path: '/amount', type: 'Currency'}" />
                <Text text="{path: 'note', formatter: 'formatter.formatNote'}" />
            </VBox>
        </content>
        <footer>
            <Bar>
                <contentRight>
                    <Button core:require="{Handler: 'my/app/util/Handler'}"
                            text="Export" press="Handler.onExport" />
                </contentRight>
            </Bar>
        </footer>
        <headerContent>
            <Button press=".onBack" icon="sap-icon://nav-back" />
        </headerContent>
    </Page>
</mvc:View>

Placement decisions:

• formatter used in two <Text> controls across content — core:require on Page (nearest common ancestor)
• Currency only used by one <Input> — core:require directly on Input
• Handler only used by one <Button> in footer — core:require directly on Button
• Handler.onExport is an event handler — no .bind($control) (event handlers never need it)
• onBack is a simple controller method — dot prefix added

Notes

• Place core:require on the nearest control that uses the module, or the nearest common ancestor when multiple controls share it — prefer granular placement over always using the root

• Module paths in core:require use forward slashes (/), not dots

• Multiple modules are separated by commas in the JSON object notation

• Use descriptive aliases to avoid name conflicts between modules with the same class name

• Always check the usage type first: formatters may need .bind($control) if the function uses this; factories and event handlers never need it

• For fragments, place core:require on the actual child control (e.g., Dialog), not on FragmentDefinition unless it's the only common ancestor

• Ensure the formatter/utility module exists at the specified path

• For complex cases with dynamic module loading, consider using sap.ui.require in the controller instead

• Name-pattern shortcuts are forbidden for this detection. Formatter names like formatX, decideX, isX, getX are not proof of pure-value behaviour. Common patterns that look pure but read this:

  • Reads context-bound state via this.getModel(...), this.getBindingContext(), this.getId() — often inside helper branches
  • Passes bare this to a callback wrapper such as jQuery.proxy(fn, this), fn.call(this), fn.apply(this), or fn.bind(this) — the call has no . after this, so a casual read sees no member access
  • Aliases this first (var self = this; ... self.getX()) — the body of the formatter never mentions this after the alias line

  Each of these breaks at runtime when the formatter is called without .bind($control), because this is not bound to the control by default. The verify-this-bind.js script catches all of these forms in one pass; eyeballing or grep 'this\\.' misses them. Always run the script — never skip based on name.

• Linter coordinates are authoritative for no-ambiguous-event-handler and no-globals identifier-rename. Never use grep / file-wide regex to "find all uses" of a flagged identifier. The linter has already done that lookup — every offending site is in its output. Editing lines NOT in the linter output is out of scope and almost certainly incorrect: a name that appears as an event handler can also appear as a control id, a selectedKey, a binding path, or a string literal — those uses are not handlers and rewriting them silently changes runtime semantics (e.g., breaking Fragment.byId lookups). Exception: core:require insertion is file-level reasoning (place once on nearest common ancestor); applies once per file, not per finding.

Related Skills

• fix-xml-native-html: For native HTML/SVG replacement in XML views (no-deprecated-api with "native HTML" or "SVG" messages), use fix-xml-native-html
• fix-js-globals: For no-globals in JavaScript files (controller/utility global access), use fix-js-globals — it handles the JS-side equivalent of this skill's XML fixes