How to work with implied function parameters in NodeJS - node.js

In my website's routes file, I have a function like this:
router.post('/', ctrl1.validate, ctrl2.doSomething)
With the validate function looking like this:
function(req,res,next){
var errors = validator.checkForm('myForm')
if(errors){
res.redirect("/")
}else{
next()
}
}
If I want to pass parameters into the validator function (like the name of forms I want to validate) besides the implied req,res,next, how is that done? I have tried ctrl1.validate(formName) and ctrl1.validate(formName, req,res,next) with function(formName, req,res,next) in the controller, and neither work.

The ideal solution would be to identify what form you're working on from the data passed with the request in the first place. You don't show what that is, so we don't know exactly what to recommend or if that is feasible in this case.
If you can't do that and want to have a generic function that you can use as a request handler in multiple places and you want to pass a parameter to it that is different in each of the different places you use it, then you need to create a function that returns a function.
router.post('/', ctrl1.validate("someFormName"), ctrl2.doSomething)
// definition of ctrl1.validate
validate: function(formName) {
// return a request handler that will knkow which formName to use
return function(req,res,next){
var errors = validator.checkForm(formName)
if(errors){
res.redirect("/")
} else {
next()
}
}
}
When you first call this method, it returns another function that is your actual request handler. That inside function then has access to both req, res, next from the request and has access to the formName that was originally passed in.

Related

nodeJS code pattern => Express middleware/Oauth2/Passport

I inherited a codebase where it looks like they run middleware in node with the following pattern for Oauth2 passport strategy
module.exports = function (router) {
router.get('/', function (req, res, next) {
passport.authenticate('type', object, function(err, info) {
//pass info object to next middleware
})(req,res,next) <---where does this go?!?
})
}
From my current understanding of the code base, this is actually the last function call in the middleware chain, so could I just add a piece of middleware to the bottom?
Does this sound like the right idea?
And just to clarify what I'm trying to do:
pass data from Oauth callback through middleware function by attaching it to the req
perform DB business logic (create or lookup account)
login with JWT
redirect
This appears to be the "custom callback" method of using passport's authenticate function. If you look at the documentation you can see how they expect it to be used. That said, I don't know what that second argument is supposed to be doing (the object) - it looks like a variable, but I don't see it defined anywhere, and I'm not sure the authenticate method takes arguments in that manner. Also, the custom callback takes three arguments: err, user, and then info... which might trip you up.
Okay, so now to your actual question of "could I just add a piece of middleware to the bottom?" Sort of? The fact is, you're in a routing middleware at that point. If it matches and auth is successful, then you should do whatever code for that route is required inside the custom callback. That's the point of this way of doing things. Alternatively you could use passport.authenticate as a piece of middleware itself (it returns a middleware function usable in the CommonJS pattern.
If you don't want to change up the code, then you could just do this:
module.exports = function (router) {
router.get('/', function (req, res, next) {
passport.authenticate('PICK A VALID TYPE', function(err, user, info) {
// this custom callback will be executed once auth completes
// (either successfully or not
// put code in here to perform DB business logic, login, and redirect
})(req,res,next); <--- this executes the passport.authenticate middleware
})
};

Node/express, optional parameters switch route between get and post

I have 2 routes set up for my express server that look very close to each other. They are basically the same url, except one is post and one is get, and the get has an extra route param (which is optional). Right now these seem to work ok, however if I do not add the optional param to the get call, it thinks I'm trying to hit the post. I would like to be able to hit the get call without the passing the second optional param as well. Let me show you what I have so far:
router.param('itemID', (req, res, next, itemID) => {
verbose("itemID=", itemID);
next();
});
router.param('navigationType', (req, res, next, navigationType) => {
if (!navigationType) {
next();
}
verbose("navigationType=", navigationType);
next();
});
router.route('/:itemID/navigations')
.post(controllers.addActivity)
.all(routes.send405.bind(null, ['POST']));
router.route('/:itemID/navigations/:navigationType')
.get(controllers.listActivities)
.all(routes.send405.bind(null, ['GET']));
The routed.send405 method looks like this :
function send405(methods, req, res) {
res.set('Allow', methods.join(','));
res.status(405).json({
message: `Method '${req.method}' Not Allowed.`
});
}
So right now the issue is if I do a get on /blah123/navigations and don't add the /:navigationType variable, it thinks I am trying to hit the post method. I am very new to working with this and would appreciate any help or insight. Thanks!
When you declare a route, say GET /admins/:id, it will match any requests to GET /admins/1 or GET /admins/john. But when you do just GET /admins, it wouldn't be able to find because you haven't declared GET route matching that pattern.
To work with this, you have to specify navigationType is an optional parameter and also place the GET request first followed by the POST, like this.
router.route('/:itemID/navigations/:navigationType?')
.get(controllers.listActivities)
.all(routes.send405.bind(null, ['GET']));
router.route('/:itemID/navigations')
.post(controllers.addActivity)
.all(routes.send405.bind(null, ['POST']));

nodejs express profile property in request

I got very confused for one usage:
In the route file:
app.param('userId', users.load);
And the users.load function:
exports.load = function (req, res, next, id) {
var options = {
criteria: { _id : id }
};
User.load(options, function (err, user) {
if (err) return next(err);
if (!user) return next(new Error('Failed to load User ' + id));
req.profile = user;
next();
});
};
Here, route should have the userId to response but why does the author use req.profile here. profile is not a property.
Anyone can help?
Thanks.
What the code does is this: for routes that have a userId parameter (that is, routes that look similar to this: /user/:userId), Express will call the load() function before the route handler is called.
The load function loads the user profile belonging to the userId from the database, and adds it to req as a newly created property req.profile.
The .profile property name is arbitrarily named by the author and demonstrates the fact that it's perfectly valid to add properties to req (or res, for that matter, but convention is to add these properties to req).
In the route handler, you can then use req.profile. It's basically a way of propagating data from middleware and app.param() implementations to other parts of the route handling.
the line req.profile = users; think of it this way, 'i want to take all the powers of the users and paste them to req.profile' why? remember this part is sort of a middleware if you want to target any of the read, update and delete code it has to pass through here, it only makes sense if it involves the req, because you are practically requesting to access the said pages (read, edit and delete or any other:userId page) now the profile name doesn't matter you could use any name but its sort of a convention in the community to use the profile name.

multiple routes with differents params, calling the same ressource

Is it possible with expressjs to have multiple routes calling the same resource, something like that:
app.get('/users/:user_id', users.getOne)
app.get('/users/:username', users.getOne)
I would like to be able to call users.getOne whichever params (:user_id or :username) is used in the get request.
In the users.getOne function, how can I determine wich one was used and build my query according to it?
exports.getOne = function(req, res){
var queryParams = ? // I need help here
Users
.find(queryParams)
...
Thanks!
Possibly related: express.js - single routing handler for multiple routes in a single line
From express's view, both of those routes will match the same set of request URLs. You only need one of them and you can name it to make more sense:
app.get('/users/:key', users.getOne);
//...
// http://stackoverflow.com/a/20988824/266795
var OBJECT_ID_RE = /^[a-f\d]{24}$/i;
exports.getOne = function(req, res) {
var conditions = {_id: req.params.key};
if (!OBJECT_ID_RE.test(req.params.key)) {
conditions = {username: req.params.key};
}
Users.find(conditions)...
If you end up wanting this pattern in many routes throughout your code base, you can extract it into a /users/:user param and use app.param as per #alex's answer, but encapsulate the code to locate the user and stick it on to req.user so the actual route handler can just assume the user has been properly found and loaded by the time it executes, and 404 handling can be centralized as well.
Those are in fact, from express's view, the same route.
No, they are not. One route has :user_id parameter, another one has :username.
This would be a proper solution:
var OBJECT_ID_RE = /^[a-f\d]{24}$/i;
app.param('user_id', function(req, res, next, value, name) {
if (OBJECT_ID_RE.test(value)) {
next()
} else {
next('route')
}
})
app.get('/users/:user_id', users.getOne)
app.get('/users/:username', users.getOne)
app.param set the prerequisite for the route to be called. This way when user_id matches a pattern, first route gets called, otherwise second one.

Express.js routing with optional param?

I have two situations to get data from DB
To show normal data
http://exampleapp.com/task/{{taskId}}
To edit data via posting
http://exampleapp.com/task/{{taskId}}/?state={{app.state}}
Both url have the same http://exampleapp.com/task/{{taskId}} just a little bit different with last phrase ?state={{app.state}}
I use Express routing as followed:
app.get('/task/:taskId/(?state=:status(pending|cancel|confirmed|deleted))?', routes.task.show);
But I dont know why it does not work ?
For example error: Cannot GET /task/51d2c53f329b8e0000000001 when going to h**p://exampleapp.com/task/51d2c53f329b8e0000000001
Query strings cannot be defined in routes. You access query string parameters from req.query.
app.get('/task/:taskId', function(req, res) {
if (req.query.state == 'pending') { ... }
});
However, if you're modifying a task, this is not the appropriate way to do it. GET requests SHOULD be idempotent: the request SHOULD NOT modify state. That's what POST requests are for.
app.get('/task/:taskId', function(req, res) {
// show task info based on `req.params.taskId`
});
app.post('/task/:taskId', function(req, res) {
// set task `req.params.taskId` to state `req.body.state`
});
You could either have a <form> that posts to the task, or make an ajax request:
$.post('/task/1', { state: 'pending' }, function() { ... });
According to the Express API, you cannot mix RegExp routes with string routes.
You should do something like this (I'm assuming taskId is an integer):
app.get(/^\/task/([0-9]+)/(?state=:status(pending|cancel|confirmed|deleted))?, routes.task.show);
However, I don't see why you cannot only check if req.query.state is defined in your route. It's probably less error prone and easier:
app.get("/task/:taskId", function( req, res, next ) {
if (req.query.state) {
// Do things
}
next();
});
Your problem is that query strings are not considered in routing. You will either have to redesign your urls (ie, include the state into the url itself, instead of the query string) or check the query string in your route handler function.

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