Where is Express.js' API? - node.js

have known node.js and express several days ago. I feel they are really cool, however, lacking of something.
I looked the official site, but it just point to Connect's API.
But I can't find a document which teach me how to use a simple function such as expressHTTPServer.get().
Of course I read the nodejs's API, but the Express and Connect seems to extend them very much.
For example, in Express official site:
app = express.createServer();
app.get('/user/:id', function(req, res, next){
loadUser(req.params.id, function(err, user){
if (err)
return next(err);
res.send('Viewing user of csser.com ' + user.name); }
);
});
But sadly, no API document talk me there is expressHTTPServer.get and what it's callback arguments are.
I like to read examples, but I really need an API to learn a new language/library/framework, anyone helps?

Here are the official docs: http://expressjs.com/guide.html
Also, the source can answer a lot of your questions: https://github.com/visionmedia/express

If I understand your question correctly, you want to get to know the API of the req and res parameters passed to your callback, right?
Have a look at http.ServerRequest and http.ServerResponse
Express itself uses Connect which uses the standard Node.js HTTP API. The arguments passed to your callback are monkey patched instances of the described objects.
The Argument "next" is a function you can call if you wish that the request gets handled by another middleware module. If you want to handle the request within your handler, this doesn't need to bother you.

Related

What determines whether a middleware is "connect-compatible" or not?

Recently while traversing through the Next.js docs, specifically middleware for API routes, it states the following:
You can also use Connect compatible middleware.
I'm not too familiar with express/connect, so I'm wondering what makes a piece of middleware connect compatible? It doesn't seem to be something that is called out in the docs of middleware specifically. Is there a certain signature that applies? Or is this related to Node.js and the (req, res) pattern?
Any insight would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

At what point are request and response objects populated in express app

I’m always coding backend api’s and I don’t really get how express does its bidding with my code. I know what the request and response objects offer, I just don’t understand how they come to be.
This simplified code for instance:
exports.getBlurts = function() {
return function(req, res) {
// build query…
qry.exec(function(err, results) {
res.json(results);
}
});
}
}
Then I’d call in one of my routes:
app.get('/getblurts/, middleware.requireUser, routes.api.blurtapi.getBlurts());
I get that the function is called upon the route request. It’s very abstract to me though and I don’t understand the when, where, or how as it pertains to the req\res params being injected.
For instance. I use a CMS that modifies the request object by adding a user property, which is then available globally on all requests made whether ajax or otherwise, making it easy at all times to determine if a user is logged in.
Are the req and res objects just pre-cooked by express but allow freedom for them to be modified to your needs? When are they actually 'built'
At its heart express is actually using node's default http-module and passing the express-application as a callback to the http.createServer-function. The request and response objects are populated at that point, i.e. from node itself for every incoming connection. See the nodeJS documentation for more details regarding node's http-module and what req/res are.
You might want to check out express' source code which shows how the express application is passed as a callback to http.createServer.
https://github.com/expressjs/express/blob/master/lib/request.js and https://github.com/expressjs/express/blob/master/lib/response.js show how node's request/response are extended by express specific functions.

Socket.io and request and response objects

I'm quite new on node.js and now I'm learning socket.io.
I'm developing an app step by step so, at this time, I have an app that can login an user, do crud operation in mysql and mongodb and upload files, all these operations are manage with some web pages with HTML and javascript technologies launched directly from restify.
After that I'm tring to add socket functionality to, at this time, simple print who is online.
So, before I have something like:
server.get('/login', function(req, res, next){ ... });
and now I have something like:
socket.on("login", function (req, res, next){ ... });
but, naturally, req and res are undefined!
Are there the same objects into socket.io?
To my understanding, you want to pass values back and forth in your request and response using socket.io.
Yes it is possible to do that and you syntax should be something like this...
Using express.js:
io.on('login', function(req){
client.emit('response event', { some: 'data' });
Note: when using emit you send the data to everyone, you have other methods like .broadcast(), .to(), etc.. for other use cases refer to socket.io github for better understanding
And lastly, inside emit you define the function you want to call on the client side and the data you want to send to the client.

How to push a sequence of html pages after one request using NodeJS and ExpressJS

I am turning around in stackoverflow without finding an answer to my question. I have used expressJS fur several days in order to make an access webpage that returns first an interstitial and then a webpage depending on several informations I can get from the requester IP and so on.
My first idea for the interstitial was to use this piece of code:
var interstitial = function(req, res, next) {
res.render('interstitial');
next();
}
router.get('/', interstitial, nextPage);
setting a timeout on the next nextPage callback function of router.get().
However it looks that I could not do that. I had an error "Error: Can't set headers after they are sent.". I suppose this is due to the fact that res.render already give a response to the request and in the philosophy of express, the next function is passing the req, res args for another reply to another function that possibly could do it. Am I right?
In that case, is there a way to give several answer, with timeout to one request? (a res.render, and after that in the next callback a rest.send...).
Or is this mandatory to force client to ask a request to give back another response? (using js on the client side for instance, or timers on client side, or maybe discussing with client script using socket.io).
Thanks
Not sure I fully understand, but you should be placing all your deterministic logic within the function of the handler you're using for your endpoint.
Kinda like so:
router.get('/', function(req, res){
var origin = request.origin;
if (origin == '11.22.33.44'){
res.send('Interstitial Page.');
}else{
res.send('Home Page');
}
});
You would replace the simple text responses with your actual pages, but the general idea is that once that endpoint is handled you can't next() it to secondary handler.

Redirecting client with NodeJS and Restify

I'm building a REST backend for an SPA with NodeJS, Restify and PassportJS for authentication. Everything's working except the last step, which is redirecting the client from the backends /login/facebook/callback to the home page of the application.
I've searched online and found lots of answers for ExpressJS but nothing useful for Node-Restify yet. I've managed to pick up a few snippets of code and this is what I'm attempting at the moment:
app.get('/api/v1/login/facebook/cb', passport.authenticate('facebook', { scope: 'email' }), function(req, res) {
req.session.user = req.user._id;
res.header('Location', '/#/home');
res.send();
});
The response is sent but the location header is not included and the client is presented with a white screen. How do I do a proper redirect using the Node-Restify API?
Restify's Response interface now has a redirect method.
As of this writing, there's a test showing how to use it here.
The contents of that test are:
server.get('/1', function (req, res, next) {
res.redirect('https://www.foo.com', next);
});
Many folks who use Restify are more familiar with ExpressJS. It's important to understand that (again, as of this writing) one of the three main public API differences affecting porting of Express plugins is that the res.redirect method in Restify requires you to pass next (or an InternalError is thrown). I've personally ported several modules from Express to Restify and the main API differences at first are (in Restify):
server.use is only for path & HTTP-method-agnostic middleware
res.redirect requires that you pass next
Some members or the Request interface are methods rather than values, such as req.path. req.path is an alias of req.getPath in Restify
I am NOT saying that under-the-hood they are similar, but that the above three things are the main obstacles to porting over Express plugins. Under-the-hood, Restify has many advantages over Express in my experience using it in both large enterprise applications and personal projects.
You need to use redirection status code 302.
res.send(302); or res.send(302, 'your response');

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