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How to automate next() call in every route function? (express.js)

Hi I am facing the problem that I need to log each incomming request and the associated responses in my database. My current solution looks like the following:
./routes/customer.js
router.get('/', async (req, res, next) => {
req.allCustomers = await fetchAllCustomers();
res.status(200).send(req.allCustomers);
next(); // <- this is my personal problem
});
./middleware/logging.js
module.exports = function (req, res, next) {
db.query(
`INSERT INTO logging SET ?`,
{
request: JSON.stringify([req.body, req.params]),
response: JSON.stringify(req.response)
}
);
}
routes declaration
module.exports = function(app) {
app.use(express.json());
app.use('/api/customers', customers); // <- ROUTE ./routes/customer.js
app.use(logging); // <- MIDDLEWARE ./middleware/logging.js
}
I already mentioned my problem in my first piece of code. It is really repetitive to call next() in every route manually and I would like to avoid this. I already tried to load the middleware before all routes, call next() in the middleware function and execute my db query afterwards but I do not have the response at this point because of the async functionality.
Is there any way to handle this situation or will I need keep calling next() at the end of each route function?

If you don't want to call next() from your routes, you cannot have middleware run after them. It needs to be placed before. But can you get the response inside a middleware that runs before the route? The answer is yes!
It may be a little hacky, but since your route uses res.send(), you can use that to your advantage. By running before your route, your middleware can hijack that res.send function, to make it do other stuff.
./routes/customer.js
router.get('/', async (req, res, next) => {
req.allCustomers = await fetchAllCustomers();
res.send(req.allCustomers); // We'll hijack this
});
./middleware/logging.js
module.exports = function (shouldBeLoggedFunc) {
return function (req, res, next) {
if (shouldBeLoggedFunc(req)) {
// Store the original send method
const _send = res.send;
// Override it
res.send = function (body) {
// Reset it
res.send = _send;
// Actually send the response
res.send(body);
// Log it (console.log for the demo)
console.log(`INSERT INTO logging SET ?`, {
request: JSON.stringify([req.body, req.params]),
response: JSON.stringify(body)
});
};
}
next();
};
};
routes declaration
function shouldBeLogged(req) {
// Here, check the route and method and decide whether you want to log it
console.log(req.method, req.path); // e.g. GET /api/customers
return true;
}
module.exports = function(app) {
app.use(express.json());
app.use(logging(shouldBeLogged)); // <- Place this before your routes
app.use('/api/customers', customers);
};

when you use express.Router class like you already did and then use this code
app.use('/api/customers', customers);
you don't have to write 'next()' inside callback function in router.get .
there is an example
create a router file named birds.js in the app directory, with the following content:
var express = require('express')
var router = express.Router()
// middleware that is specific to this router
router.use(function timeLog (req, res, next) {
console.log('Time: ', Date.now())
next()
})
// define the home page route
router.get('/', function (req, res) {
res.send('Birds home page')
})
// define the about route
router.get('/about', function (req, res) {
res.send('About birds')
})
module.exports = router
Then, load the router module in the app:
var birds = require('./birds')
// ...
app.use('/birds', birds)

Express router matching params

Assuming I have two routes one with params, one without:
/foo?bar
/foo
I want to use two different handlers for these two routes. I know I can do something like this.
app.use('/foo', (req, res) => {
if (req.params.foo !== undefined) {
// do something
} else {
// do something else
}
})
But, it would make the code harder to read. Is there a way to match a route that has a parameter? I would like to manage this situation:
app.use('/foo', x);
app.use('/foo?bar', y);

As far as I know, queries can not be filtered on use handler.
Instead, I made out with the very similar situation by using next.
app.use('/foo', (req, res, next) => {
if (req.query.foo !== undefined) return next();
//if foo is undefined, it will look for other matching route which will probably the next '/foo' route
/* things to do with foo */
});
app.use('/foo', (req, res) => {
//things to without foo
});
https://expressjs.com/en/guide/using-middleware.html
this document may also help you

How about this?
const express = require('express');
const app = express();
// curl -X GET http://localhost:3000/foo
app.get('/foo', function (req, res, next) {
res.send('This is foo');
});
// curl -X GET http://localhost:3000/foo/bar
app.get('/foo/:?bar', function (req, res, next) {
res.send('This is foo with bar');
});
app.listen(3000);

Chaining of middleware in Express

I am writing APIs and wanted to understand what is a good way to add middleware shared by multiple routes. The middlewares does the same things in each route, like validating hosts/ip, validate user, etc.
The req object gets loaded with other objects in each of the middlewares like req.host, req.ip, req.username etc.
app.post("/route1", middleware1, middleware2, middleware3, middleware4);
app.post("/route2", middleware1, middleware2, middleware3, middleware4);
const middleware1 = (req, res, next) => {
// does something to validate user
req.username = "username"
next();
}
const middleware2 = (req, res, next) => {
// host validation
req.host = "something modified in validation"
next();
}
const middleware3 = (req, res, next) => {
// checks for mac and ip
req.mac = "mac addr"
next();
}
const middleware4 = (req, res, next) => {
res.send();
}
Or something like this:
app.post("/route1", middleware1);
app.post("/route2", middleware1);
const middleware1 = (req, res) => {
// does something to validate user
req.username = "username"
middleware2(req, res);
}
const middleware2 = (req, res) => {
// host validation
req.host = "something modified in validation"
middleware3(req, res);
}
const middleware3 = (req, res) => {
// checks for mac and ip
req.mac = "mac addr"
middleware4(req, res);
}
const middleware1 = (req, res) => {
res.send();
}
Thanks.

Generally I wouldn't call middlewares directly from another middleware. It mixes responsibilities of middleware logic and where the middleware is used.
Express is much more configurable than you think though. You can also install common middlewares in common paths:
If all routes use the middlewares:
// How common middlewares are normally installed:
app.post(middleware1);
app.post(middleware2);
app.post(middleware3);
app.post(middleware4);
// Alternative, less common way to do it:
app.post(middleware1,middleware2,middleware3,middleware4);
If only a specific pattern of urls use the middlewares:
// Use a regexp:
app.post(/route(1|2)/, middleware1, middleware2, middleware3, middleware4);
// Or if you don't like regexp, use globs:
app.post('route*', middleware1, middleware2, middleware3, middleware4);
// Or a more specific glob pattern:
app.post('route1?2?', middleware1, middleware2, middleware3, middleware4);
If all url in a subpath use the middlewares. For example, lets say if all urls in /route/... use the middlewares:
const route = express.Router();
app.use('/route',route);
route.post(middleware1);
route.post(middleware2);
route.post(middleware3);
route.post(middleware4);
If none of the above appeal to you you can still use your second option but instead of calling middlewares inside each other you write a middleware to initialize middlewares:
function commonMiddlewares (req, res, next) {
middleware1(req,res,function() {
middleware2(req,res,function() {
middleware3(req,res,function() {
middleware4(req,res,next);
});
});
});
}
Which can be written in a less nested way:
function commonMiddlewares (req, res, next) {
function runMiddleware4 () {
middleware4(req,res,next);
}
function runMiddleware3 () {
middleware3(req,res,runMiddleware4);
}
function runMiddleware2 () {
middleware2(req,res,runMiddleware3);
}
middleware1(req,res,runMiddleware2);
}

const express = require('express')
const { routesMiddleware } =require('./middlewares')
const { pureVaidationsFunctions1 } =require('./services')
const rout1 =express.Router()
const rout2 =express.Router()
const app = express()
app.use('/route1',route1)
app.use('/route2',route2)
// routesMiddleware a middleware to handle the execution of list of functions
// pureVaidationsFunctions1 list of funtions that `routesMiddleware` will consume
route1.post(routesMiddleware(pureVaidationsFunctions1))
route2.post(routesMiddleware(pureVaidationsFunctions2))
make sense?

You can specify multiple middlewares, see the app.use docs:
An array of combinations of any of the above.
You can create a file of all middlewares like -
middlewares.js
module.exports = [
function(req, res, next){...},
function(req, res, next){...},
function(req, res, next){...},
.
.
.
function(req, res, next){...},
]
and as then simply add it like:
/*
you can pass any of the below inside app.use()
A middleware function.
A series of middleware functions (separated by commas).
An array of middleware functions.
A combination of all of the above.
*/
app.use(require('./middlewares.js'));
Note - Do this only for those middlewares which will be common for all such requests.

How to clear middleware loading to make dynamic route loading?

I don't know if it's possible, but I need to loading dinamically route files in middleware, according to a conditional.
Here we have the code that do well job in the first request, but seems that in next request, he enters inside right place of conditional but not use right file, seems that he uses cache file or something of previous request...
let routesApp = require('./routes-app');
let routesWeb = require('./routes-web');
app.use((req, res, next) => {
const regex = new RegExp(pattern, 'i')
if (regex.test(req.headers['agent-type'])) {
app.use('/', routesWeb)
} else {
app.use('/', routesApp)
}
return next()
})
How do I make this works?

When you call app.use the middleware passed to it gets registered for that path and subsequent requests will be handled by that .
One way to handle what you are doing is define a middleware which conditionally delegates to your web or mobile middleware as needed.
Sample Code:
let routesApp = require('./routes-app');
let routesWeb = require('./routes-web');
app.use('/', (req, res, next) => {
const regex = new RegExp(pattern, 'i')
if (regex.test(req.headers['agent-type'])) {
routesWeb(req, res, next);
} else {
routesApp(req, res, next);
}
})

Express.js - wrap every middleware/route in "decorator"

I have Express.js instance and couple of routes which I want to wrap in some function. Example:
const wrapper = (route) => {
return (req, res, next) => {
let result = route(req, res, next);
// do some independent processing
}
};
app.get('/', wrapper((req, res, next) => {
// respond to request somehow
}));
While this works fine, I don't like the idea to explicitly call wrapper on every route or middleware which requires such processing.
Is there any way to be able to wrap every required route/middleware in certain wrapper (given that wrapper function can check that this route/middleware needs to be wrapped) implicitly (via Express.js extension, monkey-patching or some special middleware)?
UPDATE:
More solid example. Let's assume I want to make an async router functions. But I don't want to catch errors in each and every route function. So I wrap them up:
const wrapper = func => (req, res, next) => {
const promise = func(req, res, next);
if (promise.catch) {
promise.catch(err => next(err));
}
next();
};
app.get('/one', wrapper(async (req, res, next) => {
// respond to request somehow
}));
app.get('/two', wrapper(async (req, res, next) => {
// respond to request somehow
}));
app.get('/three', wrapper(async (req, res, next) => {
// respond to request somehow
}));
// and so on...
app.use((err, req, res, next) => {
// do something with intercepted error
});
This explicit wrapper around all routes is actually the thing I want to get rid of.

It turned out to be a bit of a PITA because, ultimately, Express doesn't propagate the return value of a route handler function.
This is what I came up with (a monkey-patch):
const Layer = require('express/lib/router/layer');
const handle_request = Layer.prototype.handle_request;
Layer.prototype.handle_request = function(req, res, next) {
if (! this.isWrapped && this.method) {
let handle = this.handle;
this.handle = function(req, res, next) { // this is basically your wrapper
let result = handle.apply(this, arguments);
// do some independent processing
return result;
};
this.isWrapped = true;
}
return handle_request.apply(this, arguments);
};
I would probably suggest using a similar approach as express-promise-router though, which implements a drop-in replacement for Express' Router. However, it's not implicit.

Why not just use next()?
You can add stuff on req like
app.get('/', (req, res, next) => {
req.somestupidfieldthatidontevenknowwhyinamedthisway = 42;
next();
});
app.get('/', (req, res, next) => {
//req.somestupidfieldthatidontevenknowwhyinamedthisway is now accessible as 42
var valueFromPreviousMiddleware = req.somestupidfieldthatidontevenknowwhyinamedthisway;
.....
});

You could wrap middleware and router as below
function wrapper(func) {
return function inner(req, res, next) {
const start = Date.now();
func(req, res, function () {
let elapsedMS = Date.now() - start
console.log('time elapsed for function ' + func.prototype.constructor.name + ' is ' + elapsedMS)
next.apply(this, arguments);
});
};
}
var originalAppUse = app.use;
app.use = function () {
lastArg = arguments.length - 1;
if (typeof arguments[lastArg] === 'function') {
arguments[lastArg] = wrapper(arguments[lastArg])
}
originalAppUse.apply(this, arguments)
}