NodeJS Modulization - javascript

So, I was told that passing around the request and or response variable in nodeJS is "bad practice". But this means that most of your code has to be in the server.js file, making it cluttered and kind of ugly.
How can you modularize your nodejs server, passing around req/res appropriately and be able to organize your code into separate files?
For example, I would like to split my socket routing, .get and .post into different files, but still be able to use the callback parameters like so:
app.io.route("disconnect", function(req,res) { <--- these params
db.query("UPDATE player_data SET online=0 WHERE id="+mysql.escape(req.session.user));
req.io.broadcast("event", {msg:req.session.username+" has logged out!"});
app.io.broadcast("reloadXY");
});
As of right now they're all in one file and I don't like that.

I think what the person meant by 'passing around' was something like this (in plain express):
app.get('/kittens', function(req, res) {
db.doAthing(req);
updateSomethingElse(res);
upvoteThisAnswer(res);
});
That is, passing around the two variables beyond the first function. This is bad because it becomes increasingly difficult to figure out where the call actually ends. One little res.end(500) in updateSomethingElse can cause the whole house of cards to come tumbling down.
It's perfectly ok (in fact, standard to the point of being the default in express) to declare that callback elsewhere (usually the /routes directory of your project.)
// app.js
var user = require('./routes/user')
, kittens = require('./routes/kittens');
// express stuff...
app.get('/settings', user.getSettings);
app.get('/fur', kittens.shed);
Then, in routes/user.js:
exports.getSettings = function(req, res) {
// Note how we're passing around properties of req/res, not the objects themselves.
db.getUserSettings(req.user.id).then(function(settings) {
res.render('settings', settings);
});
};

This video from TJ Holowaychuk (the guy who wrote Express and a ton of other Node infrastructure that we all use) helped me take Express modularization to the next level. Basically you can make individual apps in their own folders and consume them as middleware very easily. I have managed to extend this technique to socket.io with some tricks.
http://vimeo.com/56166857

You should not pass req and res to another modules but pass callbacks from another modules to route.
It should look like.
var someModule = require("./someModule")
app.get("/someAction", someModule.handleSomeAction) ;
If You want to have post and get in another modules You should pass reference to app (from express()) once to that module and operate on that.
For example :
var express = require("express") ;
var app = express();
var get_handler = require("./get_handler ")
var post_handler = require("./post_handler ")
get_handler.init(app);
post_handler.init(app);
and in post/get_handler :
var app;
exports.init = function( eApp){
app = eApp;
// operate on app
}

Related

Socket.io: io is not defined

So, I am trying to get data on my node.js file instead of directly getting it on my JS file.
I a using Socket.io 2 here, Below is a snapshot of my code and this is also the first time I am using Websocket with Node.
I am doing something like
var socket = require('socket.io')
//Home Page
app.get("/", function(req, res) {
var cryto = io.connect("https://xyfz.com/);
cryto.on('trades', function (tradeMsg) {
console.log(tradeMsg);
});
res.render("index");
});
I also tried something like
var io = socket("https://abc.io/");
and
var socket = require('socket.io')
var io = socket();
which was throwing errors like server.listeners is not a function and io.connect is not a function.
I am certain that I messing up stuff here so can someone guide me about the correct way of doing it?
Two things which are wrong .
First Consider using Socket.io-client instead of Socket.io.
Second and very much important.
Never ever make API calls inside your routes. This will trigger a API call everytime user opens your website or webpage
You can also expect an error "Unexpected headers" or something like that.
Always, Try do declare it outside any routes in your NodeAPP.
Same goes for socket.io as well

Is it safe to use a single Mongoose database from two files/processes?

I've been working on a server and a push notification daemon that will both run simultaneously and interact with the same database. The idea behind this is that if one goes down, the other will still function.
I normally use Swift but for this project I'm writing it in Node, using Mongoose as my database. I've created a helper class that I import in both my server.js file and my notifier.js file.
const Mongoose = require('mongoose');
const Device = require('./device'); // This is a Schema
var uri = 'mongodb://localhost/devices';
function Database() {
Mongoose.connect(uri, { useMongoClient: true }, function(err) {
console.log('connected: ' + err);
});
}
Database.prototype.findDevice = function(params, callback) {
Device.findOne(params, function(err, device) {
// etc...
});
};
module.exports = Database;
Then separately from both server.js and notifier.js I create objects and query the database:
const Database = require('./db');
const db = new Database();
db.findDevice(params, function(err, device) {
// Simplified, but I edit and save things back to the database via db
device.token = 'blah';
device.save();
});
Is this safe to do? When working with Swift (and Objective-C) I'm always concerned about making things thread safe. Is this a concern? Should I be worried about race conditions and modifying the same files at the same time?
Also, bonus question: How does Mongoose share a connection between files (or processes?). For example Mongoose.connection.readyState returns the same thing from different files.
The short answer is "safe enough."
The long answer has to do with understanding what sort of consistency guarantees your system needs, how you've configured MongoDB, and whether there's any sharding or replication going on.
For the latter, you'll want to read about atomicity and consistency and perhaps also peek at write concern.
A good way to answer these questions, even when you think you've figured it out, is to test scenarios: Hammer a duplicate of your system with fake data and events and see if what happen is OK or not.

Dynamic configuration file in Nodejs and Express

I am working with NodeJs with expressjs and I would like to use a middleware that will read a variable from dynamic configuration file before each request (some js file that holds an object that I can change manually while the server is running).
I would like to store a flag that will close down all requests (i.e send response without proceeding to next routes) until I change the variable value to true and then the middleware will call next() so all routes will work.
I prefer to avoid shutting down the server for that, and I also don't want to store this variable in a database...
Is there something similar to what I need?
Thanks
You will read config.json file each time, if you just put it inside function. If you will use require('config.json), then you will read this file only once on start.
var fs = require("fs");
function (req,res,next) {
var config = fs.readFileSync('./config.json');
config = JSON.parse(config.toString());
if (config.registrationStatus === "open") {
next();
} else {
res.send("registration closed");
}
}
Check supervisor: https://github.com/petruisfan/node-supervisor
It will watch for file changes and crashes and will restart your application each time.
You will get much better performance.

Node JS sending data via URL

Recently i started programming with Node JS and found it an amazing replacement for php . In php i used to send get requests with Data in the url .
Something like : http://sample.com/public.php?x=helloworld
How to perform something like this in Node JS or is there a better way to send data to node unlike using the url in the above case .
Also , I have noticed that in some cases like stackoverflow , queries are different and dont include the file name
like /public?= instead of /public.php?=
How is this achieved , i always thought this was something related to REST . Also , if you have the answer you might as well guide me if it could be done with Node and a few sources to learn could be of help too .
the most regular way to use REST api
req.query
// GET /search?q=foo+bar
req.query.q
// => "foo bar"
// GET /phone?order=desc&phone[color]=black&shoe[type]=apple
req.query.order
// => "desc"
req.query.phone.color
// => "black"
req.params
// GET /user/william
req.params.name
// => "william"
req.body(for form data)
// POST /login
req.body.username
// => "william"
req.body.password
// => "xxxxxx"
You'll probably be much better off using a pre-existing module as your web server. You can set one up manually, but you have to know about a lot of potential edge cases and really understand web servers. Most people in node use express. In node, as in any server-side language, you can pass data around in a few ways. The query string is one. You can also put some parameters directly in the url (like "/users/12" where 12 is a user id). Depending on the type of request, you can put data in the body of the request. You can also pass cookies. These are not node-specific. Explaining how express works in a post like this would be crazy, so I'll just give you a short example of a what a route handler matching your example route might look like:
var express = require('express');
var app = express();
app.get('/public', function(req, res, next) {
// Get the value from the query string. Express makes the query
// available as an object on the request parameter.
var x = req.query.x;
// Execute your main logic
doSomethingWithX(x);
// Send a response
res.status(200).json({ foo: 'bar' });
});

Is it possible to automate routing in Express?

Is it possible to automate routing in Express, so I don't have to list out all the routes?
For example: going to URL '/users/first_example' should automatically use the "users.first_example" module.
app.get('/users/:name', function(req,res){
return eval('users.'+req.params.name); //failed attempt
});
There's got to be something I'm missing, and it would make my code look a lot more elegant.
Much appreciated.
var users = require('./users');//a module of route handler functions
app.get('/users/:name', function(req,res){
var handler = users[req.params.name];
if (typeof handler === 'function') {
return handler(req, res);
}
res.status(404).render('not_found');
});
You might want to check this earlier answer on stackoverflow - https://stackoverflow.com/a/6064205/821720
A little more code but abstracts routing to the next level and also gives you a cleaner main file.
I have been working on something like this, focused on REST routes. Take a look at https://github.com/deitch/booster
If your routes are RESTful:
var booster = require('booster'), express = require('express'), app = express(), db = require('./myDbSetup');
booster.init({app:app,db:db});
booster.resource('user');
app.listen(3000);
You just need to wire up the database/persistence connection layer. You can choose to customize the controller routes, or the models, or any part of it, but all optional.

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