restify-model

Restify Model

A surprisingly useful model/collection adapter that builds routes and handles CRUD operations (Create, Read, Update and Delete). Works with any custom database adapter (Postgres, MySQL, MongoDB, etc.).

Installation

npm install restify-model

Example Usage

var restify = require('restify');
var server = restify.createServer();
var Model = require('restify-model')(server);
 
var Person = Model.extend({
  // GET, POST to /people
  // GET, PUT, DELETE to /people/:id
  path: '/people',
  defaults: {
    name: 'Arthur',
    occupation: 'King'
  }
});
 
var tim = new Person({
  name: 'Tim',
  occupation: 'Enchanter',
  id: 1
});
 
var roger = new Person({
  name: 'Roger',
  occupation: 'Shrubber',
  id: 2
});
 
Person.add([tim, roger]);
 
// GET /people
// =>  [{
//       "name": "Tim",
//       "occupation": "Enchanter",
//       "id": 1
//     }, {
//       "name": "Roger",
//       "occupation": "Shrubber",
//       "id": 2
//     }]
 
server.listen(3000);

Nested Routes & Collection Relationships

var Equipment = Model.extend({
  key: Person.relationship('carrying'),
  path: Person.namespace('/equipment'),
  defaults: {
    name: 'Sword'
  }
});
 
Equipment.add({
  name: 'Coconuts',
  id: 1
});
 
Person.add({
  id: 4,
  name: 'Patsy',
  carrying: Equipment.with(function(model) {
    return model.get('name') === 'Coconuts';
  }).pluck('id')
});
 
// GET, POST to /people/:person_id/equipment
// GET, PUT, DELETE to /people/:person_id/equipment/:id

CRUD Operations

GET /people

[{
  "name": "Tim",
  "occupation": "Enchanter",
  "id": 1
}, {
  "name": "Roger",
  "occupation": "Shrubber",
  "id": 2
}]

GET /people/1

{
  "name": "Tim",
  "occupation": "Enchanter",
  "id": 1
}

POST { name: 'Brave Sir Robin', occupation: 'Knight', id: 3 } /people

{
  "name": "Brave Sir Robin",
  "occupation": "Knight",
  "id": 3
}

GET /people

[{
  "name": "Tim",
  "occupation": "Enchanter",
  "id": 1
}, {
  "name": "Roger",
  "occupation": "Shrubber",
  "id": 2
}, {
  "name": "Brave Sir Robin",
  "occupation": "Knight",
  "id": 3
}]

PUT { name: 'Brave Sir Robin', occupation: 'Knight of the Round Table' } /people/3

{
  "name": "Brave Sir Robin",
  "occupation": "Knight of the Round Table",
  "id": 3
}

Specifying CRUD Operations

// CREATE, READ, UPDATE
var CRUModel = Model.extend({
  operations: 'CRU'
});

Using a Database/Persistence Adapter

var MyModel = Model.extend({
  unique_key: 'id',
  adapter: function() {
    var self = this;
 
    return {
      read: function(list) {
        // Get All records
        list([]);
      },
      create: function(model) {
        // A new model was created
        console.log('Created', model.id());
      },
      update: function(model) {
        // Model was updated
        console.log('Updated', model.id());
      },
      remove: function(model) {
        // Model was deleted
        console.log('Removed', model.id());
      }
    }
  }
});
 
var Enchanter = MyModel.extend({
  defaults: {
    occupation: 'Enchanter'
  }
});
 
var tim = new Enchanter({
  id: 1
});
 
tim.save();
// => Created 1

Middleware

Restify Model comes with the following middleware

• findById Finds related model, assigns it to req.model, calls next()
• detail Gets req.model and sends model.toJSON(), ends request
• list Gets req.collection and sends collection.toJSON(), ends request
• create Creates a new instance, assigns it to req.model and calls model.save(), calls next() (middleware.detail)
• update Updates req.model with body and calls model.save(), calls next() (middleware.detail)
• remove Removes req.model, calls next() (middleware.detail)

Customizing middleware

var CustomModel = Model.extend({
  middleware: Model.middleware.extend({
    list: function(req, res) {
      res.send(CustomModel.all());
    }
  })
});

Sample Database Adapter

This is an example of a simple database adapter. Any database ORM can be used here (Postgres, MySQL, MongoDB, etc.). Pseudo coding MongoDB as an example.

var mongoose = require('mongoose').connect();
 
var DBModel = Model.extend({
  unique_key: '_id',
  adapter: function() {
    var self = this;
    var schema = this.schema;
 
    if (!schema) {
      return false;
    }
 
    return {
      read: function(cb) {
        schema.getAll(function(err, docs) {
          cb(docs.toObject());
        });
      },
      create: function(model) {
        schema.create(model.attributes, function(err, row) {
          model.set('id', row._inserted_id);
        });
      },
      update: function(model) {
        schema.update(model.id(), model.changes);
      },
      remove: function(model) {
        schema.remove(model.id());
      }
    }
  },
});
 
var Person = DBModel.extend({
  schema: mongoose.Person,
  path: '/people',
  defaults: {
    name: 'Old Man from Scene 24',
    occupation: 'Peasant'
  }
});
 
var tim = new Person({ name: 'Tim', occupation: 'Enchanter' });
 
tim.save();
// => Created 54b9e08ed983b41d432473e4
// POST /people { name: 'Roger', occupation: 'Shrubber' }
// => Created 54bcacb4c812ec812382b6b2
// GET /people
// => [{
//      "name": "Tim",
//      "occupation": "Enchanter",
//      "_id": "54b9e08ed983b41d432473e4"
//    }, {
//      "name": "Roger",
//      "occupation": "Shrubber",
//      "_id": "54bcacb4c812ec812382b6b2"
//    }]
 

Running collection.load() on every request

var Persist = Person.extend({
  middleware: Person.middleware.extend({
    // Setting persist to true will load() on every request
    persist: true
  })
});

Customizing Routes

var Custom = Model.extend({
  path: '/',
  routes: {
    "/foo": function(req, res, next) {
      // Do stuff
    },
    "/bar": function(req, res, next) {
      // Do stuff
    }
  }
});

Model as an Action (and disabling CRUD)

var Action = Model.extend({
  // Setting service to false disables CRUD operations on /people/add
  service: false,
  // GET /people/add
  path: Person.namespace('/add')
});

Even more middleware functionality

// You can specify which middleware to run on a specific namespace
function doAuth(req, res, next) {
  if (req.model.isAuthorized()) {
    next();
  } else {
    res.send(401);
  }
}
 
function doSomethingElse(req, res, next) {
  somethingElse();
  next();
}
 
var customNamespace = Person.namespace('/auth', doAuth, doSomethingElse);
 
var CustomModel = Model.extend({
  // GET /person/auth will run the middleware above
  path: customNamespace
});
 
// Or you can explicitly call namespace method (get, put, post, delete, etc)
// GET /person/:id/foo
customNamespace.get('/foo', function(req, res, next) {
  res.send('bar');
});