CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javascriptnode.jsexpressorganizationcode-organization
Julien
Julien

Reputation: 528

Node.js : organising my application : using routes and models in separate files, how can I get models from routes?

I'm new to node.js (and javascript), and I'm following a tutorial on how to get a good structure for an application.

First, I wanted to have my routes in a separate folder.

Let's say this is my main.js :

var express = require('express');

const PORT = 3000;
const app = express();

app.set("json spaces", 2);

require('./routes')(app);

app.listen(PORT, function() {
   console.log(`users-jwt-api - Port ${PORT}`)
});

In my "routes" folder, I have two files : index.js, used to load others files, and user.js

index.js :

var fs = require('fs');

module.exports = function(app){
   fs.readdirSync(__dirname).forEach(function(file) {
      if (file == "index.js") return;
      var name = file.substr(0, file.indexOf('.'));
      require('./' + name)(app);
   });
}

user.js :

module.exports = function(app) {
   app.get('/users', function(req, res) {
      //no bd yet, returning static data, and dont want it here, but in a model
      res.json({users:[{username: "titi", password:"toto"},{username: "tata", password:"tutu"}]});
   });
};

This works like a charm ! Fine.

But, to be clear, I don't want any database code in my routes files, so I try to add a "models" folder. I put inside an index.js, just as for the routes, and a users.js like this :

module.exports = function(app) {
   return {
      findAll: function(params, callback) {
         //no db yet
         return callback([{username: "titi", password:"toto"},{username: "tata", password:"tutu"}]);
      }
   };
};

I've modified my main.js by adding this, just before the routes :

require('./models')(app);

The question is, I don't know how to modify my routes/user.js to call this model !

I would like to have something like this in routes/users.js :

module.exports = function(app) {
   const Users = app.models.users; // not working here : TypeError: Cannot read property 'users' of undefined
   app.get('/users', function(req, res) {
      Users.findAll({}, function(users) {
         res.json({users: users});
      });
   });
};

How can I use my model via the app var ?

note : I found a solution with a module called "config" for dependencies injections, but I'd rather use simple coding before using such powerfull shortcuts.

Any help appreciated ! Thanks !

Upvotes: 0

Views: 319

Answers (1)

chriskelly
chriskelly

Reputation: 7736

If you want to access models you need to define it as a property on app That's the job of models.js, I would say. You are passing app to models.js but not changing it at all.

I would recommend changing models.js to be more like this:

module.exports = function(app) {
   app.models = {
     users : // import db and return users so routes can avail of them
   };
};

Upvotes: 1

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