node.js/express chaining multiple get commands - javascript

I have a route I that in order to get all the data needs to access the API server multiple times (according to the data that was given).
Now I need to add a third access to the server and it's getting rather unreadable.
The following code is working, but I have a feeling I'm not doing it right (promises?) - couldn't figure out what exactly is recommended in this case
The code: (stripped down to emphasise the point)
router.get('/', function(req, main_response) {
http.get(FIRST_API_COMMAND, function (res) {
var moment_respose_content = '';
res.on("data", function (chunk) {
moment_respose_content += chunk;
});
res.on('end',function(){
if (res.statusCode < 200 || res.statusCode > 299) {
main_response.send('error in getting moment');
return;
}
var response = JSON.parse(moment_respose_content );
if (response.success)
{
var data = response.data;
//doing something with the data
http.get(SECOND_API_COMMAND, function (res) {
res.on("data", function (chunk) {
comment_respose_content += chunk;
});
res.on('end',function(){
var response = JSON.parse(comment_respose_content);
if (response.success)
{
var comments = response.data;
main_response.render('the page', {data: data});
return;
}
});
}).on('error', function (e) {
console.log("Got error: " + e.message);
main_response.send('Error in getting comments');
});
return;
}
});
}).on('error', function (e) {
console.log("Got error: " + e.message);
main_response.send('Error in getting moment');
});
});

You can write a middleware for each remote action, and then use those middlewares before the get handler, so the get handler can simply access their results. (Promises can help if you need to start subsequent requests before waiting for earlier ones to finish, but that situation is rare.)
For example, using express middleware to fetch each remote data independently:
var request = require('request');
var express = require('express');
var app = express();
var router = express.Router();
/* middleware to fetch moment. will only run for requests that `router` handles. */
router.use(function(req, res, next){
var api_url = 'https://google.com/';
request.get(api_url, function(err, response, body) {
if (err) {
return next(err);
}
req.moment_response = response.headers["date"];
next();
});
});
/* middleware to fetch comment after moment has been fetched */
router.use(function(req, res, next){
var api_url = 'https://www.random.org/integers/?num=1&min=1&max=100&col=1&base=10&format=plain&rnd=new';
request.get(api_url, function(err, response, body){
if (err) {
return next(err);
}
req.comment_response = parseInt(body);
next();
});
});
/* main get handler: expects data to already be loaded */
router.get('/', function(req, res){
res.json({
moment: req.moment_response,
comment: req.comment_response
});
});
/* error handler: will run if any middleware called next() with an argument */
router.use(function(error, req, res, next){
res.status(500);
res.send("Error: " + error.toString());
});
app.use('/endpoint', router);
app.listen(8000);
Often the remote data you want to fetch is based on some parameter of the main request. In this case you would want to use req.param() instead of App.use() to define the data-loading middleware.

Related

Send a JSON array as response from Node.js

I am fetching data from a MongoDB database then putting it in a cursor to send that as a Node.js response.
var router = express.Router();
var MongoClient = require('mongodb').MongoClient;
var url = 'mongodb://localhost/EmployeeDB';
/* GET users listing. */
router.get('/', function(req, res, next) {
//res.send('respond with a resource');
MongoClient.connect(url, function(err, db) {
var cursor = db.collection('Employee').find();
cursor.each(function(err, doc) {
console.log(doc);
arrayres = doc ;
res.send(doc);
});
db.close();
});
});
module.exports = router;
It sends only the first record then I get this error:
Error [ERR_HTTP_HEADERS_SENT]: Cannot remove headers after they are sent to the client
at ServerResponse.removeHeader (_http_outgoing.js:528:11)
at ServerResponse.send
Notice: I get this error only when there are multiple records to send as response.
You are sending the response twice. Which is impossible ( look at Why can't we do multiple response.send in Express.js? )
res.send('respond with a resource');
Here and
res.send(arrayres);
Here.
Here is a working example based on jeremy's answer :
router.get('/', function (req, res, next) {
MongoClient.connect(url, function (err, db) {
var cursor = db.collection('Employee').find();
let employees = []
const pushData = async () => {
cursor.forEeach( function (doc) {
employees.push(doc);
});
}
const sendResponse = async () => {
await pushData();
res.json(employees);
}
});
});
You can only send back one response to the browser (be it res.send(), res.end(), res.sendFile(), res.json() or any other). So, you can't have that inside a .forEach().
First, build an array, then send your data back once.
router.get('/', function (req, res, next) {
MongoClient.connect(url, function (err, db) {
var cursor = db.collection('Employee').find();
let employees = []
cursor.forEeach( function (doc) {
employees.push(doc);
});
res.json(employees);
});
});
Or with Mongoose :
Employee.find().lean().exec( (err,docs) => res.json(docs))

How to pass xml2js response to variable within node.js route?

I'm using xml2js with node.js to retrieve data from an API, but I would only like the code to run when the "/testpage" route is activated, which would then assign the api response to a variable and pass it along to a script on testpage.ejs where the end goal is to print the object/variable contents to the console.
The problem I'm facing is that I'm getting the "undefined" browser console response with the above code.
If I place the code outside of the route, have the response assigned to a variable and then pass that variable to the testpage script, then it works fine.
At this point I'm assuming it could be an asynchronous issue, but I'm not sure, or even how to tackle it if so.
// Node.js
const requestPromise = require('request-promise'),
xml2js = require('xml2js').parseString,
express = require("express"),
app = express();
const port = 3200,
apiURL = 'https://api.exampleapi.com';
app.set("view engine", "ejs");
app.use('/public', express.static(__dirname + "/public"));
app.get("/testpage", function(req, res){
var myApiObject; // To store api response
requestPromise.post(apiURL, (error, response, body) => {
if(error){
console.log(error);
return error;
}
}).then( (body) => {
xml2js(body, (err, result) => {
if(err){
console.log(err);
} else {
myApiObject = result;
return result;
}
});
});
res.render("testpage", {myApiObject: myApiObject});
});
app.listen(process.env.PORT || port, function(){
console.log("Server is running...");
});
<!--testpage.ejs-->
<html>
<head>
<title>
</title>
</head>
<body>
<p>This is the testpage</p>
<script>
var myObj =<%-JSON.stringify(myApiObject)%>
console.log(myObj);
</script>
</body>
Any ideas on what I'm doing wrong?
You need to render your page after the response from API call is received. Change your code like this:
requestPromise.post(apiURL, (error, response, body) => {
if(error){
console.log(error);
return error;
}
}).then( (body) => {
xml2js(body, (err, result) => {
if(err){
console.log(err);
} else {
res.render("testpage", {myApiObject: result});
return result;
}
});
});

Multiple HTTP async request

I try to fetch data from different HTTP sources but I wasn't able to handle the asynchronous mode even with async...
var express = require('express');
var app = express();
var https = require("https");
var timer = require("./my_modules/timer/timer.js");
var http = require('http');
var bodyParser = require('body-parser');
var async = require('async');
var request = require('request');
//These are my source from API.
//Output is a Json file
var sources = {
cnn: 'https://newsapi.org/v1/articles?source=cnn&sortBy?&apiKey=c6b3fe2e86d54cae8dcb10dc77d5c5fc',
bbc: 'https://newsapi.org/v1/articles?source=cnn&sortBy?&apiKey=c6b3fe2e86d54cae8dcb10dc77d5c5fc',
guardian: 'https://newsapi.org/v1/articles?source=cnn&sortBy?&apiKey=c6b3fe2e86d54cae8dcb10dc77d5c5fc',
othersource: "otherurls..."
};
//I want to push the JSON object in this array
var resultArray = [];
//I setup a https GET request
var getJson = function(url) {
https.get(url, (res) => {
var body = '';
res.on('data', function(chunk) {
body += chunk;
});
res.on('end', function() {
result = JSON.parse(body);
//push isn't working...
resultArray.push(result);
});
}).on('error', function(e) {
console.log('Got an error', e);
});
}
app.set('port', (process.env.PORT || 5000));
app.listen(
app.get('port'), () => {
console.log('We are live on port: ', app.get('port'));
getJson(sources.cnn);
});
app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({
extended: true
}));
app.use(bodyParser.json());
app.use(function(req, res, next) {
res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'text/plain');
res.status(404).send('Page not found !');
res.status(503).send('Page not found, error 503');
});
console.log("resultArray:" + resultArray);
//resultArray = empty...
What should I do to push the result into my Array?
I couldn't find a way to set up a working callback function to push results into the Array.
Since you're already using the request package, have you tried something as simple as:
request({
url: sources.cnn,
json: true
}, function(error, response, body) {
var articles = body.articles;
// or by case, depending on what you want
// resultArray = resultArray.concat(articles);
resultArray.push({
cnn: articles
});
console.log(resultArray);
});
instead of writing your own getJson function?
Thanks Roby, your request is much clearer !
I have carefully read this really clear and helpful article : https://github.com/maxogden/art-of-node#callbacks
I think I got the logic :
//main function
function getJson(url, callback){
request({
url: url,
json: true,
callback:callback //added this
}, function(error, response, body) {
var articles = body.articles;
callback(articles);
});
}
//this callback function will be passed to the main function as the 2nd parameter
//it's possible to access "resultArray" ONLY from this function
var result = function(e){
resultArray.push(e);
console.log(resultArray);
};
//url and callback are passed as parameter
getJson(sources.cnn, result);
Thanks for the help

Reading data from NodeJs Serialport

I would like to be able to read data received by the ascii command sent.
Below is the code that sends command to my lock controller
var express = require('express');
var router = express.Router();
var SerialPort = require('serialport');
/* GET home page */
router.get('/', function(request, response){
SerialPort.list(function (err, ports) {
ports.forEach(function(port) {
console.log(port.comName);
console.log(port.pnpId);
console.log(port.manufacturer);
});
});
var port = new SerialPort("COM5", {
baudRate: 38400
});
port.on('open', function() {
// NodeJS v4 and earlier
port.write(new Buffer('status1', 'ascii'), function(err) {
if (err) {
return console.log('Error on write: ', err.message);
}
console.log('message written');
});
});
// open errors will be emitted as an error event
port.on('error', function(err) {
console.log('Error: ', err.message);
});
});
// Important
module.exports = router;
In the doc, it mentions the use of parsers to try and read data, https://github.com/EmergingTechnologyAdvisors/node-serialport#serialportparsers--object but I am not sure how to implement it, and I would want to execute after the command status1 has been written.
Essentially logs the response of the command succesfully written to the console
There are some peculiarities.
You can open port on application start and reconnect on port close or open port on each request. It defines how work with data flow. If you send request to port then answer can contain data of previous requests (more than one). You can ignore this problem (if answer is short and request interval is enough large) or send request with assign id and search answer with this id.
SerialPort.list(function (err, ports) {
ports.forEach(function(port) {
console.log(port.comName, port.pnpId, port.manufacturer); // or console.log(port)
});
});
router.get('/', function(req, res){
function sendData(code, msg) {
res.statusCode = 500;
res.write(msg);
console.log(msg);
}
var port = new SerialPort("COM5", {
baudRate: 38400
});
port.on('open', function() {
port.write(Buffer.from('status1', 'ascii'), function(err) {
if (err)
return sendData(500, err.message);
console.log('message written');
});
});
var buffer = '';
port.on('data', function(chunk) {
buffer += chunk;
var answers = buffer.split(/\r?\n/); \\ Split data by new line character or smth-else
buffer = answers.pop(); \\ Store unfinished data
if (answer.length > 0)
sendData(200, answer[0]);
});
port.on('error', function(err) {
sendData(500, err.message);
});
});
module.exports = router;

exit from chain of route specific middleware in express/ nodejs

I have a chain of "route specific middleware" for this route, like so:
var express = require('express');
var server = express();
var mw1 = function(req, resp, next) {
//do stuff
if (success) {
next();
} else {
req.connection.destroy(); //without calling next()
}
};
var mw2 = function(req, resp, next) {
//do stuff
if (success) {
next();
} else {
req.connection.destroy(); //without calling next()
}
};
server.post('/some/path', [mw1, mw2], function(req, resp) {
//write response
});
[mw1, mw2] are the middleware specific to the route /some/path.
This is different from server-wide middleware like this:
server.use(mw1);
server.use(mw2);
Where it applies to all routes defined.
Now my issue is that I want to exit from the chain. I.e. if success is false in mw1, I do not wish for mw2 to be called. If success is false in mw2, I do not without for the route function to be called. Presently, both mw1 and mw2 appear to be getting called whether or not next() is called - and I do not know why.
How can I go about doing this?
You can call next( 'route' ), as said on the express api reference, application routing section:
Multiple callbacks may be given, all are treated equally, and behave
just like middleware, with the one exception that these callbacks may
invoke next('route') to bypass the remaining route callback(s).
Example
var express = require('express')
, app = express()
;
// keep an eye on the function names
app.post( '/some/path', middleware1, middleware2, function route1( req, res, next ) {
// write response
});
app.all( '*', function route2( req, res, next ) {
// do something like handle a 404 request
});
app.use(function errorHandler( err, req, res, next ) {
// handle error
});
function middleware1( req, res, next ) {
// ...
if ( !success ) {
// bypasses middleware2 and route1, route2 will be called
return next( 'route' );
}
// calls middleware2
next();
}
// intentionally similar to middleware1 to keep things clear
function middleware2( req, res, next ) {
if ( !success ) {
// bypasses route1 and route2
// errorHandler will be called with the error
return next( Error( 'middleware 2 failed' ) );
}
// calls route1
next();
}
A little more tinkering yielded the answer:
var express = require('express');
var server = express();
var mw1 = function(req, resp, next) {
//do stuff
if (success) {
next();
} else {
resp.send(406, 'Invalid because of this');
req.connection.destroy(); //without calling next()
}
};
var mw2 = function(req, resp, next) {
//do stuff
if (success) {
next();
} else {
resp.send(406, 'Invalid because of that');
req.connection.destroy(); //without calling next()
}
};
server.post('/some/path', [mw1, mw2], function(req, resp) {
//write response
});
The trick was send a response: resp.send(406, 'Invalid because of this');
Just prior to destroying the connection: req.connection.destroy();
In fact not destroying the connection, I found to also work, in the general case.
(But was required in my specific case, and is out of the scope of this question.)
If the response has already been sent, then express does not automatically call next() for you, as it appeared to do otherwise.
I was under the impression that if you neither call next() nor send a response in a route handling function, express just hangs. Also FWIW I haven't used an array, mine looks like server.post('/some/path', mw1, mw2, function(req, resp) {...
Anyway. One alternative might be to restructure your code so you only have a single handling function. Do you have a good reason for mw1 and mw2 being middleware instead of regular async functions your handler calls?
var express = require('express');
var server = express();
var mw1 = function(req, res, callback) {
// do stuff with req/res if necessary but don't send a response
if (success) {
callback(null);
} else {
callback('Error');
}
};
var mw2 = function(req, res, callback) {
//do other stuff but don't send a response
if (success) {
callback(null);
} else {
callback('Error');
}
};
function mwBoth(req, res){
mw1(req, res, function(err){
if(err){ return res.send(500) };
mw2(req, res, function(err){
if(err){ return res.send(500) };
// neither had an error
res.redirect('/some/other/path');
});
});
};
server.post('/some/path', mwBoth);

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