matrix-parser

matrix-parser is a Node.js Middleware for parsing Matrix URIs

Install

npm install matrix-parser

Run Tests

traverse to the root directory 'matrix-parser' and:

npm install
npm test

API

var matrixParser = require ('matrix-parser');

The matrixParser object exposes a single function - the Middleware to parse matrix-style URIs. When used, it creates the matrix Array inside the request object, which can be accessed like req.matrix

Options

You can pass an options object when calling matrixParser (). The object currently supports the maxKeys field, used to specify the maximum number of keys allowed per segment. Keys are added into the matrix object from left to right.

For example, using matrixParser ({ maxKeys: 2 }) and a URI http://example.com/home;k1=v2;k2=v2;k3=v3 will simply neglect all key-value pairs after k2.

NOTE: The middleware currently doesn't support Matrix URIs to be used in combination with query strings. You could use matrix parameters before the '?', followed by query parameters, but mixing is not currently supported.

Rules

Here are the rules matrix-parser follows to parse Matrix URIs. Check out this thread to understand in more detail.

	1. The semicolon ';' is used to delimit key-value pairs (unlike the ampersand '&' in query strings)
		eg- /index;a=b;c=d

	2. '=' is used to delimit the keys and values

	3. The string between / and the first ; is the segment name.
		eg- /index;hello=world
		here, segment = "index"

	4. All keys are unique. For compatibility, the key's last declaration is used to assign its value
		eg- /index;key1=value1;key2=v2;key1=helloworld
		here, the value of key1 = 'helloworld' (NOT value1)

	5. Comma ',' is used to assign multiple values to a key
		eg- /index;list=1,2,3,4
		here, list = [1,2,3,4] (array containing the comma-separated values)

	6. Spaces are encoded as %20 instead of +
		eg- /index;msg=hello%20world

	7. If a key is not followed by the delimiter '=' and value, it is discarded
		eg- /index;a=b;noValueKey;c=d
		here, noValueKey will be discarded and will not be present in the matrix

	8. If a key is followed by the delimiter '=' but not a value, its value is set to ''
		eg- /index;key=;a=b
		here, key = ''

	9. If no segment name is given, it defaults to ''
		eg- http://example.com/;key=value
		here, segment = '' and key = 'value'

	10. If the path name is empty, req.matrix defaults an array of single object with segment = '' and matrix = {}
		eg- http://example.com/
		here, req.matrix = [ {segment: "", matrix: {}} ]

Format

A typical Matrix URI looks like:

http://<DOMAIN>:<PORT>/<SEGMENT-0>;<KEY1>=<VALUE1>;<KEY2>=<VALUE2>/<SEGMENT-1>;<KEY1>=<VALUE1>

The constructed req.matrix looks like:

[
    {
        segment: <SEGMENT-0>,
        matrix: {
            <KEY1> : <VALUE1>,
            <KEY2> : <VALUE2>
        }
    },
    {
        segment: <SEGMENT-1>,
        matrix: {
            <KEY2> : <VALUE2>
        }
    }
]

Examples

Express: Top-level generic

var app = require ('express') (),
    matrixParser = require ('matrix-parser');
 
app
    .use (matrixParser ())
    .get ('*', function (req, res, next) {
        res.header ('Content-Type', 'text/plain');
        res.write ('You posted: ');
        res.end (JSON.stringify (req.matrix, null, 2));
    })
    .listen (8080, function () {
        console.log ('listening on port 8080');
    });

NOTE: If you want to allow Matrix on a specific route (like '/index'), then you have to append '*' to it like

app.get ('/index*', function (req, res) {
    //this means that the first segment of the matrix is always "index"
    console.log (req.matrix [0].segment === "index");	//true
});

Test:

curl 'http://localhost:8080/index;name=RAGHAV%20DUA;house=targarian/profile;age=20;email=duaraghav8%40gmail.com'

NOTICE THE %20 USED TO INDICATE SPACE INSTEAD OF +

Output Construct of req.matrix:

[
    {
        segment: 'index',
        matrix: {
            name: 'RAGHAV DUA',
            house: 'targarian'
        }
    },
    {
        segment: 'profile',
        matrix: {
            age: 20,
            email: '[e-mail]'
        }
    }
]

Express: Route-specific

var app = require ('express') (),
    matrixParser = require ('matrix-parser');
 
var colorCodes = {
    "white": "#FFFFFF",
    "black": "#000000"
};
 
var mpMiddleware = matrixParser ();
 
app
    .get ('/index*', mpMiddleware, function (req, res, next) {
        var color = req.matrix [0].matrix.color; //req.matrix [0] refers to parameters provided in the /index segment 
        res.send ('Color code for ' + color + ' is ' + colorCodes [color]);
    })
    .listen (8080, function () {
        console.log ('listening on port 8080');
    });

Test 1:

curl 'http://localhost:8080/index;color=white'

Output: Color code for white is #FFFFFF

Test 2:

curl 'http://localhost:8080/index;color=indigo'

Output: Color code for white is undefined (because color code for indigo is not defined in colorCodes object in our script)

License

MIT