Can Node.js stream be made as coroutine? - node.js

Question

Is there a way to make Node.js stream as coroutine.
Example
a Fibonacci numbers stream.
fibonacci.on('data', cb);
//The callback (cb) is like
function cb(data)
{
//something done with data here ...
}
Expectation
function* fibonacciGenerator()
{
fibonacci.on('data', cb);
//Don't know what has to be done further...
};
var fibGen = fibonacciGenerator();
fibGen.next().value(cb);
fibGen.next().value(cb);
fibGen.next().value(cb);
.
.
.
Take desired numbers from the generator. Here Fibonacci number series is just an example, in reality the stream could be of anything a file, mongodb query result, etc.
Maybe something like this
Make the 'stream.on' function as a generator.
Place yield inside the callback function.
Obtain generator object.
Call next and take the next value in stream.
Is it at-least possible if yes how and if not why? Maybe a dumb question :)

Answer 1

If you don't want to use a transpiler (e.g. Babel) or wait until async/await make it to Node.js, you can implement it yourself using generators and promises.
The downside is that your code must live inside a generator.
First, you can make a helper that receives a stream and returns a function that, when called, returns a promise for the next "event" of the stream (e.g. data).
function streamToPromises(stream) {
return function() {
if (stream.isPaused()) {
stream.resume();
}
return new Promise(function(resolve) {
stream.once('data', function() {
resolve.apply(stream, arguments);
stream.pause();
});
});
}
}
It pauses the stream when you're not using it, and resumes it when you ask it the next value.
Next, you have a helper that receives a generator as an argument, and every time it yields a promise, it resolves it and passes its result back to the generator.
function run(fn) {
var gen = fn();
var promise = gen.next().value;
var tick = function() {
promise.then(function() {
promise = gen.next.apply(gen, arguments).value;
}).catch(function(err) {
// TODO: Handle error.
}).then(function() {
tick();
});
}
tick();
}
Finally, you would do your own logic inside a generator, and run it with the run helper, like this:
run(function*() {
var nextFib = streamToPromises(fibonacci);
var n;
n = yield nextFib();
console.log(n);
n = yield nextFib();
console.log(n);
});
Your own generator will yield promises, pausing its execution and passing the control to the run function.
The run function will resolve the promise and pass its value back to your own generator.
That's the gist of it. You'd need to modify streamToPromises to check for other events as well (e.g. end or error).

Answer 2

class FibonacciGeneratorReader extends Readable {
_isDone = false;
_fibCount = null;
_gen = function *() {
let prev = 0, curr = 1, count = 1;
while (this._fibCount === -1 || count++ < this._fibCount) {
yield curr;
[prev, curr] = [curr, prev + curr];
}
return curr;
}.bind(this)();
constructor(fibCount) {
super({
objectMode: true,
read: size => {
if (this._isDone) {
this.push(null);
} else {
let fib = this._gen.next();
this._isDone = fib.done;
this.push(fib.value.toString() + '\n');
}
}
});
this._fibCount = fibCount || -1;
}
}
new FibonacciGeneratorReader(10).pipe(process.stdout);
Output should be:
1
1
2
3
5
8
13
21
34
55