Access express application from middleware - node.js

I have a middleware, I call it like this:
app.use(example({optiona:'abc'}));
I want to access the app from the middleware function, and do another app.use, something like this:
module.exports = function (options){
app.use(...);
return function(req, res, next)
next();
}
I know the option to pass the app to the exports, but I want to do it without the option to pass it, or set it as global..

You could try looking into Express Routers as an option (read all about it).
Essentially, you could keep your first piece the same:
app.use(example({optiona:'abc'}));
And then you can do the following in the function instead:
var express = require("express");
var router = express.Router();
module.exports = function(options) {
// You can declare middleware specific to this router
router.use(...);
// You can declare routes specific to this router
router.get("/foo", ...);
router.all("/bar", ...);
// Then just return the router at the end
return router;
}
Routers allow you to set up "sub applications" with their own routes/middleware accordingly.

Related

How to split a routes.js that grows too large to be easily maintained?

I'm using node and express to create a rest api. I followed a tutorial where all the routes and its logic are saved in a routes.js file like this:
SERVER JS:
var express = require('express');
var app = express();
(...)
require('./app/routes.js')(app, port, express);
ROUTES.JS
module.exports = function(app, port, express) {
var apiRoutes = express.Router();
(...)
//Sample route
apiRoutes.get('/userfiles', function(req, res) {
UserFile.find({ owner: req.decoded.user.email }, function(err, filesList) {
if (err)
return done(err);
res.json({ success: true, files: filesList });
});
});
My problem is twofold:
1 - Routes can easily contain code thats 150 lines long, some of them far longer. It doesn't feel clean to have route declarations and the logic grouped together. Is it a good practice to do something like this instead?
apiRoutes.post('/randomRoute', function(req, res) {
return res.json(functionThatContainsTheActualCode(req));
});
(and then have an functionThatContainsTheActualCode function with all the logic in a different file).
2 - I have middleware that applies to some functions (for example, some routes are only accessible for logged in users and those routes go through an authentication middleware). Currently way I do it is declaring public routes before the middleware declaration and private routes after, which feels incredibly hacky. How can I separate public and private routes (and the middleware itself) in different files?
Problem 1:
We need to go deeper.
Change the route file to just require the actual router logic.
routes.js
// where app = express();
module.exports = (app) => {
// index.js happens to be a file exporting the router.
app.use('/', require('./index'));
// this is basically the idea. Create a separate file for the actual logic.
app.use('/route', require('.path/to/file'));
};
and in file.js
const express = require('express'),
router = express.Router();
router.verb('/path/', (req, res, next) => {
// do whatever
});
// this is required
module.exports = router;
Problem 2:
Middleware is basically a function taking in request, response, next as 3 params, doing something with the request and either sending out a response or moving on to the next middleware. That's why you need to call next if you want to move to next middleware in the chain.
Now all you need is a file that exports a function which takes request, response, next as params.
// lets call this auth.js
module.exports = function(req, res, next) {
// do logic
if () {
return res.send(); // or res.somethingThatSendsOutAHttpResponse()
}
// next middelware
next();
};
Since express routes are also middlewares, (mind blown), you can mount them top down.
To authenticate a route, just put the auth.js middleware on top of that route.
router.get('/', require('./auth'));
router.get('/', require('./log'));
router.get('/', (req, res, next) => {
// yolo
});
Now since this is web dev, you still got problems.
Now all your boring database queries are scattered everywhere.
Fear not, you can solve it, by, guess, creating another file.
apiRoutes.get('/userfiles', function(req, res) {
const userFile = require('/path/to/model/with/userfile/methods/exported/out');
// do something with userFile's methods
});

Express JS Router Middleware Abstraction

I have developed an API using Node.js + Express JS and i use token-based authentication.
I used two differents routers in this api, userRoute (/USER) and postRoute (/POST). The postRoute can be used within authentication but userRoute needs the token.
To solve that i use a router middleware for userRoute but it interferes with portRoute
This is the code:
...
var postRoute = express.Router();
var userRoute = express.Router();
// Route middleware to verify a token
userRoute.use(function(req, res, next) {
security.checkToken(req,res, next);
});
userRoute.route('/users')
.get(userCtrl.findAllUsers)
.post(userCtrl.addUser);
postRoute.route('/posts')
.get(userCtrl.findAllPosts)
.post(userCtrl.addPost);
app.use(userRoute);
app.use(postRoute);
...
If i try to access '/posts' the servers checks the token and does not let me in. I know if i change the order of app.use it works, but i dont understand why works in this way if i am using "Router Middleware".
Someone knows?
This happens because if the express router implementation, you will be able to understand it quite easily if you have a look at it. Here is the path: node_modules/express/lib/router/index.js. Every time that you call the Router(), like in your case
var postRoute = express.Router();
var userRoute = express.Router();
this function will be invoked:
var proto = module.exports = function(options) { ... }
and it is true that there is a different router instance that is being returned every time. The difference is in the way that the use is registering the middlewares. As you see the use it is registered against the proto.use
proto.use = function use(fn) { ... }
this means that the middleware that you register there they will be registered for every instance of the router that you define.

how to create a nodeJS module with expressJS

I'm making a nodeJS module, and I want to use expressJS as a framework for it.
I'm trying to see, how I could go by, including a function inside and app.get(); and call it via another file, such as the actual app.
var express = require("express");
var app = express();
app.get("/", function (req, res) {
exports.type = function (text) {
console.log(req.ip);
console.log(text);
}
});
now when I use this, and i call it on the actual app like:
var web = require("directory_to_file");
var express = require("express");
var app = express();
var http = require("http").Server(app);
app.get("/", function (req, res) {
web.type("Hello, world");
});
http.listen(10022, function () {
console.log("server is up");
});
I get an error:
TypeError: Property 'type' of object #<Object> is not a function
anyone know a way to make it so I can call the function?
There are generally two things you want to export as a module - an API and a Middleware. The classic example of middleware is an authentication module. To do the middleware, just export the middleware. I tend to do a little more than that so I can configure the middleware later. Something along the lines of this:
module.exports = exports = function(config) {
// Do something with config here
return function(req, res, next) {
// your middleware here
};
};
You can then use your middleware in your main program like this:
var app = require('express')(),
mymodule = require('./mymodule');
var config = {}; // replace with whatever config you need
app.use(mymodule(config));
app.listen(process.env.PORT || 3000);
To implement an API, you will create a Router object, then attach your routes to the Router object. You can then "mount" your router in your main program. For example, you could have a file called 'myroutes.js' with the following contents:
var express = require('express'),
myroutes = express.Router();
myroutes.get('/foo', (req, res) => {
res.status(200).type('application/json').send({ myparam: 'foo' });
});
module.exports = exports = myroutes;
Have the following in your main program:
var app = require('express')(),
myroutes = require('./myroutes');
app.use('/api', require('./myroutes'));
app.listen(process.env.PORT || 3000);
Here, in 'myroutes.js', I'm defining a sub-route of /foo and then in the main program, I'm mounting that on /api - so I would access /api/foo to access that API.
In your directory_to_file you are only exporting on app.get('/') which will never be called.
You could add in your directory_to_file the following code
var express = require('express');
var router = express.Router();
router.get('/', function(req, server) {
console.log(req.ip);
});
module.exports = router;
And in your main file you could use app.use('/', web)
A short explanation:
You are creating a new express app / config in your directory_to_file file which won't be launched or used. So your app.get event won't be fired once.
That's why web.type is not a function. You are not exporting anything.
Use the way I provided. This is a commonly used method.
You could call the code I provided a "route". Create multiple routes / route files and include them in your main method.
Your code just looks confused. If I understand you correctly, what you are really trying to do (at least in Node/express terminology) is write your own middleware.
Express is designed with this in mind and it's pretty straightforward e.g.
ipLogger.js
module.exports = function(req, res, next) {
console.log(req.ip);
next();
}
app.js
var http = require("http")
, express = require("express");
, app = express()
, server = http.Server(app)
, ipLogger = require("./ipLogger.js");
app.use(ipLogger()); // log IP of all requests
// handle routes
server.listen(10022, function() {
console.log("server is up");
});

Express: how can I get the app from the router?

I know I can get the Express app from inside an individual route with:
req.app
However I need to start a single instance of a module inside routes/index.js, i.e.:
var myModule = require('my-module')(propertyOfApp)
How can I get the express app from the router?
It really depends on your own implementation, but what I suggested in the comments should be working:
// index.js
module.exports = function(app) {
// can use app here
// somehow create your router and do the magic, configure it as you wish
router.get('/path', function (req, res, next) {});
return router;
}
// app.js
// actually call the function that is returned by require,
// and when executed, the function will return your configured router
app.use(require('./index')(app));
p.s.
Of course this is just a sample - you can configure your router with path, and all kind of properties you wish. Cheers! :)

Move routes into files in Express.js

Say I have some routes (I have a lot more, but this should explain):
router.post('/post');
router.get('/post/:id');
router.get('/posts/:page?');
router.get('/search');
For the /post ones I know I could do something like
app.use('/post', postRoutes)
Where postRoutes is the actual post routes in another file. However, I'd like to group all post related routes into a postRoutes component (so /post and /posts), search into a search component and so on. Is there a way to do something like
router.use(postRoutes); // includes routes 1-3 above
router.use(searchRoutes); // only the 4th route above
And so on? That would let me keep the top level file much cleaner.
Yes it is simple. You can even make more nesting levels. I think it is good to separate routes, especially when you have dozens of routes.
in your first file (server.js)
app.use(require("./allpost"));
app.use(require("./allqueries"));
in allpost.js
var express = require('express');
var router = new express.Router();
router.post('/post', function (req, res) {
//your code
});
router.get('/post/:id', function (req, res) {
//your code
});
router.get('/posts/:page?', function (req, res) {
//your code
});
when you want more nesting
router.use(require("./deeper"));
or when you want use path part
router.use("/post2/", require("./messages/private"));
module.exports = router;
You could do that by creating a special route file. Here's an example of such file
module.exports = (function() {
var express = require('express');
var router = express.Router();
router.get("/:id", function (request, response, next) {
request.body.id = request.params["id"];
// Do something ...
});
router.post("/someRoute", function (request, response, next) {
// Do something ...
});
// And so on ...
return router;
})();
Next, in you server.js file, include it like this
app.use('/post', require('./routes/postRoutes'));
The problem was I was thinking about this wrong. First off, don't use singular and plural. It makes it a headache and also makes it hard for people to remember the API.
Once I used all plural I had a setup like this in my index.js file:
// The API routes all start with /api and we pass app here so we can have some
// sub routes inside of api
app.use('/api', require('./app/api')(app));
And then in my api/index.js
var express = require('express');
var router = express.Router({ mergeParams: true });
var routeInit = function (app) {
app.use('sessions', require('./sessions')(router));
app.use('users', require('./users')(router));
return router;
};
module.exports = routeInit;
You can see that I'm passing the router manually each time. Then finally:
var routeInit = function (router) {
router.post('/blah', function (req, res, next) {
// Do stuff
});
return router;
};
module.exports = routeInit;
This allowed me to nest routes infinitely deep.

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