I have an ExpressJS routing for my API and I want to call it from within NodeJS
var api = require('./routes/api')
app.use('/api', api);
and inside my ./routes/api.js file
var express = require('express');
var router = express.Router();
router.use('/update', require('./update'));
module.exports = router;
so if I want to call /api/update/something/:withParam
from my front end its all find, but I need to call this from within another aspect of my NodeJS script without having to redefine the whole function again in 2nd location
I have tried using the HTTP module from inside but I just get a "ECONNREFUSED" error
http.get('/api/update/something/:withParam', function(res) {
console.log("Got response: " + res.statusCode);
res.resume();
}).on('error', function(e) {
console.log("Got error: " + e.message);
});
I understand the idea behind Express is to create routes, but how do I internally call them
The 'usual' or 'correct' way to handle this would be to have the function you want to call broken out by itself, detached from any route definitions. Perhaps in its own module, but not necessarily. Then just call it wherever you need it. Like so:
function updateSomething(thing) {
return myDb.save(thing);
}
// elsewhere:
router.put('/api/update/something/:withParam', function(req, res) {
updateSomething(req.params.withParam)
.then(function() { res.send(200, 'ok'); });
});
// another place:
function someOtherFunction() {
// other code...
updateSomething(...);
// ..
}
This is an easy way to do an internal redirect in Express 4:
The function that magic can do is: app._router.handle()
Testing: We make a request to home "/" and redirect it to otherPath "/other/path"
var app = express()
function otherPath(req, res, next) {
return res.send('ok')
}
function home(req, res, next) {
req.url = '/other/path'
/* Uncomment the next line if you want to change the method */
// req.method = 'POST'
return app._router.handle(req, res, next)
}
app.get('/other/path', otherPath)
app.get('/', home)
I've made a dedicated middleware for this : uest
.
Available within req
it allows you to req.uest
another route (from a given route).
It forwards original cookies to subsequent requests, and keeps req.session
in sync across requests, for ex:
app.post('/login', async (req, res, next) => {
const {username, password} = req.body
const {body: session} = await req.uest({
method: 'POST',
url: '/api/sessions',
body: {username, password}
}).catch(next)
console.log(`Welcome back ${session.user.firstname}!`
res.redirect('/profile')
})
It supports Promise, await and error-first callback.
See the README for more details