express-app-boot

A simple Express App utility to bootstrap the server.

Install

sudo npm install --save express-app-boot

Usage

 
var app = require('express')();
var ROOT_DIR = __dirname;
//boot configuration will be loaded at ROOT_DIR
var boot = require('express-app-boot')(ROOT_DIR);
 
var PORT = process.env.PORT || 3000;
//second parameter stands for dir path of boot scripts
boot(app, 'boot');
/*...*/
//maybe some custom logic before start
app.beforeStart(function(app){
  /*...*/
});
//At the end, start the server
if(require.main === module){
    app.start(function(app){
      //start logic
      app.listen(PORT);
    });
} else {
//In case you want to use app in your tests.
  module.exports = app;
}
 

Configuration

root_dir

• dir path of configuration files, passed in when init boot function

configuration files

• All files are yaml files(you can learn the syntax here)

config.yml

• Put global application options in this file, will be loaded and attacthed to app with the key 'appConfig'.

boot.yml

• Boot configuration file, contains boot task items. These items are grouped into before and after phases respectively.

Task in before phase executes before custom execution logic(app.beforeStart), and after phase task executes when app.start is invoked.

for example,

---
before:
  - path: init
    name: initializing app
    params: 
      msg: start default booting
  - path: session
    name: configuring session 
    params:
      key: default-session
      collection: session
  - path: auth
    name: configuring authentication
  - path: parse
    name: configuring body parse
  - path: view
    name: setting view engine
    params:
      path: views
      ext: html
 
after:
  - path: @express-routes-loader
    name: initializing application routes
    params: ../routes
  - path: error
    name: setting error handlers

boot item should include path property, which identifies the boot script location. Path starts with @ stands for a npm module name, otherwise is relative to the boot_dir.

Task within a phase will executes in the order in which it is registered.

Changelog

Latest:

0.0.1

• Initial Commit