mpm.express.rest

Rest Framework for Express

mpm.express.rest helps developpers write restfull controllers for expressjs. With mpm.express.rest, developpers no longer needs to write glue code to link the database to express routes.

author: mparaiso [email protected] licence: LGPL version:0.0.5

###REQUIREMENTS

nodejs , npm , expressjs

###Database support through builtin adapters

• Mongoose ( mongoose package required)
• MongoDB ( mongodb package required)
• Javascript Arrays

###INSTALLATION

npm install -g mpm.express.rest

###USAGE

####BASIC USAGE

######Exemple with MongoDB

Create a express app with a json parser

	var app,express;
	express=require('express');
	app=express();
	app.use(express.json());

Create a mongodb connection , requires a mongodb database ( on localhost here )

	var MongoClient,db,collection;
	MongoClient=require('mongodb').MongoClient;
	MongoClient.connect("mongodb://localhost:27017/database",function(err,db){
		//collection will be needed for the MongoDB adapter
		collection = db.collection("documents");
		done();
	});

Create the restfull controller and the adapter for MongoDB

	var done,controller,adapter,rest,http;
	
	http = require('http');
	rest = require('mpm.express.rest');
	
	done = function(){
		/**
		 * pass the express app into the constructor
		 * you can allow or forbid some verbs by passing an option object 
		 * with a allows object : 
		 * @example :
		 * new rest.Controller(app,{allow:['list','get','post','put','delete']});
		 * if no allows option , all verbs and methods are allowed. if you want
		 * a readonly restfull controller : 
		 * new rest.Controller(app,{allow:['list','get']});
		 */
		controller = new rest.Controller(app);
		// set the adapter , the MongoDBAdapter needs a MongoDB Collection object
		controller.setAdapter(new rest.adapter.MongoDBAdapter(collection))
		// call controller.handle to create all the routes needs for our rest api
		http.createServer(controller.handle()).listen(3000);
	}

The following routes have been created

GET    / 	  list resources,query parameters can be passed to the db adapter for filtering,ect...
GET    /:id   read
POST   /      create
PUT    /:id   update a resource
DELETE /:id   delete

or pass the express app into another express app

	//main express app
	var mainapp = require('./mainapp');

	done = function(){
		//pass the express app into the constructor
		controller = new rest.Controller(app);
		// set the adapter , the MongoDBAdapter needs a MongoDB Collection object
		controller.setAdapter(new rest.adapter.MongoDBAdapter(collection))
		// call controller.handle to create all the routes needed for our rest api
		mainapp.use("/api/documents/",controller.handler)
		http.createServer(mainapp).listen(3000);
	}

The following routes have been created

GET    /api/documents
GET    /api/documents/:id
POST   /api/documents/
PUT    /api/documents/:id
DELETE /api/documents/:id

And Voila! You can of course create multiple rest controllers with the same or different DB adapters.

Using Mongoose

	var app,express,http,mongoose,Schema,
	Model,controller,adapter,rest;

	http = require('http');
	rest = require('mpm.express.rest');
	mongoose=require('mongoose');
	express=require('express');

	app=express();
	app.use(express.json());
	mongoose.connect("mongodb://localhost/db");
	Schema = mongoose.Schema({message:String});
	Model = mongoose.model('Model',Schema);

	controller = new rest.Controller(express());
	controller.setAdapter(new rest.adapter.MongooseAdapter(Model,'model'));

	app.use('/api/model',controller.handle());

	http.createServer(app).listen(3000);

Changelog

• 0.0.5 allows option is now allow

TODO

• [ ] implement ETAG support
• [ ] implement resource nesting (ex :/foo/:id/bar )