flawless

A callback factory which splits away handling errors into a separate flow and thus requiring less boilerplate code.

naming

The name might sound a little arrogant but it's actually quite fitting in a literal sense. Less flaws or errors (in the code) being the primary target of this module.

reason

Because of its asynchronous interface node uses a callback concept where every function-call, triggers the given callback when finished or when it fails.

An example:

db.insert({'name':'foo'},function(err,result){
  if ( err ) {
    //handle the error
  } else {
    //proceed
  }
});

I don't like boilerplate-style code and promises are a little magicky. So I made up this error-handling module.

usage

//To use the module simply import it into your code:
var then = require('flawless').then;

db.insert({'name':'foo'},
  then(function(result){
    //proceed
  })
  .or(function(err){
    //handle the error
  })
);

So. then().or() is actually a callback factory which (obviously, being a callback factory) returns a callback. It does not look like much but this way the error is always treated in some way, thus eliminating the possibility of omitting proper-error handling.

It's concise

function stop(err){
  throw err;
}

function log(err){
  console.error(err);
}

db.insert({'name':'foo'},
  then(function(result){
    db.query({},then(function(result){
      //proceed
    }).or(log));
  }).or(stop);
);

You could extend the concept with your own factories:

function exceptional(continuation){
	return then(continuation).or(function(err){ throw err });
}

db.insert({'name':'foo'},exceptional(function(result){
  
}));

To debug asynchronous code I always found logging (instead of stepping through the code interactively) the only way to go. Using flawless you can simply enable the debugging mode after which the module will log every call to the console.

var then = require('flawless').debug(true).then;

example

var then = require('flawless').debug(true).then;

function exceptional(continuation){
    return then(continuation).or(function(err){ throw err });
}

var Datastore = require('nedb');
var db = new Datastore({filename:'contacts.nedb', nodeWebkitAppName:'contacts'});

var domain = require('domain').create();
domain.on('error',function(err){
	console.log('domain error',err);
});

domain.run(function(){
  db.loadDatabase(exceptional(function loadedDatabase(){
  	var index = {
  		fieldName: 'name',
  		unique: true
  	};
  	
  	db.ensureIndex(index,exceptional(function ensuredIndex(){
  		var name = prompt('your name?');
  		
  		db.insert({'name':name},exceptional(function inserted(newDoc){
  			db.find({},
  				then(function found(docs){
  					console.log(docs);
  				})
  				.or(function notFound(err){
  					console.log(err);
  				})
  			);
  		}));
  	}));
  }));
});