Blockbase

Lightweight MVC Framework for Node.

Version

v1.0.20

Summary

• Install
• Namespace Architecture
• Drivers
• Controllers
• Models
• Sample App

Install

You need first to have Node.JS on your machine. If not please folllow the install instructions here

Then let's move on :

1. Install Blockbase

$ npm install -g blockbase

1. Create a project using the CLI

$ blockbase create MySuperProject

1. Discover the architecture

Blockbase is based on an hybrid MVC+Drivers architecture to build complete projects and scalable architectures.

/config (required, where you'll push your configuration)
/drivers
/controllers
/models
app.js

1. Edit your app.js Blockbase is using a simple instance method : blockbase(options, callback) In options, the only mandatory property is root handling the path of the current project (see example below).

const blockbase = require('blockbase')
 
blockbase({ root : __dirname }, async (app) => {
    app.drivers.logger.success('App', `${app.config.name} is alive !`)
    // let's code !
})

Namespace

If you log the app variable from the callback, you'll get the following architecture :

• app.config: contains the config JSON from /config/{env}.yml (see config package)
• app.root: path where the app is launched
• app.drivers: drivers namespace, by default is containing only app.drivers.logger handling the console logs. You can install more drivers (see more Drivers Install)
• app.controllers: will be automatically populated by the files from /controllers/* (see more Managing Controllers)
• app.models: will be automatically populated by the files from /models/* (see more Managing Models)

Drivers

Blockbase is build with a driver linked logic to build connectors to other tools or customer traversal methods across your app. We offer a list of official drivers here to install connectors such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, ...

Automatic install for official drivers.

You can easily install official drivers by using npm i in your project. This will automatically add the driver to the blockbase namespace app.drivers.*

$ npm i --save blockbase-express

In the example above, the driver will be install under the app.drivers.express namespace

Manual Install for your custom drivers.

You can create your own drivers by adding them to the /drivers/ folder using the CLI.

$ blockbase add driver custom

Blockbase structure allows you to pass the entire app.* namespace to your drivers, controllers, etc... Here is an example of a custom driver :

example below : /drivers/custom.js

const something = require('something')
 
module.exports = (app) => {
    // setup of your driver
    return {
        foo(arg1, arg2) {
            // do something
        },
 
        bar() {
            // do something
        }
    }
}

Following that you'll be able to use anywere the driver by calling app.drivers.custom.foo(arg1, arg2) for example. !!! Please don't call any controller or model in the driver above the return statement as it is instanciated at the application initialization.

Controllers

Controllers will follow the same rules, you want to create a controller ? Just add it under /controllers, but there are some differences.

• Controllers could have an optional init method, triggered on the creation of the app.
• Controllers can have sub namespaces (2 dimensions max) like app.controllers.sub.foo.bar

Example of Architecture :

/config
/drivers
/controllers
---/custom.js
---/foo/bar.js
/models
app.js

Following the construction above, Blockbase will render app.controllers.custom.* and app.controllers.foo.bar.*

To create a controller

$ blockbase add controller foo

To create a sub.controller

$ blockbase add controller foo.bar

Models

Models follow a slight different approach, using class and extends properties of ES6.

Building a custom model from scratch

You can build a custom model with no inherited properties and submethods. Adding it directly to /models/ will add it to the app.models.* namespace

To create a model with the CLI

$ blockbase add model user

Example : /models/user.js

module.exports = (app) => {
    return class User {
        constructor(data){
            // init my model
        }
 
        example(){
            // model sub method
        }
    }
}

However this model is limited, having only its declared subproperties. Blockbase has by default a serie of classic methods powered in the models (create, read, update, delete, etc.) useful in your API build-up. To activate these methods, use the inheritance below :

Building a custom model with Blockbase inheritance

Example : /models/user.js

module.exports = (app) => {
    // we call the "super model" from the namespace
    const Model = app.models._model
    
    // we extend the super model in our user model so it will receive all the default methods.
    return class User extends Model {
        constructor(data){
            super({ type : 'awesome', authenticated : false })
 
            if(data)
                this.data = data
        }
 
        example(){
            // example of an additional method
        }
    }
}

The main change is on the Model inheritance.

    const Model = app.models._model
    [...]
    return class Awesome extends Model {

Thanks to this extend, you'll get access to a lot of default methods in the model.

   const User = app.models.user
   let user = new User({ firstname : 'John', lastname : 'Doe' })
   
   console.log(user.body()) // will show you the data 
   console.log(user.clean()) // will remove null/empty data from the object
   etc...

Default methods in the model

• {model}.body() allowing you to access the data (if your model has a.dataobject)
• {model}.clean() remove all the null and empty values from your data
• {model}.validate() returns the Joi validation of your model
• {model}.valid() returns a boolean if your object data is Joi validated or not

Default methods in the model (be careful : a DBMS driver is required, for example blockbase-postgresql)

• await {model}.create() returns a new saved object in your database
• await {model}.read() returns an object from your database (search by id)
• await {model}.update() returns an updated object from your database
• await {model}.delete() returns a boolean on deletion of your object (by id)

Run tests

Blockbase has some unit tests (with Mocha) written run them often !

$ npm test

License

(Licence MIT) Coded by Blacksmith

Free Software, Hell Yeah!