Develop Reference

Express Try and Catch in Form of middleware

i'm working on node.js using Express to built a backend.
i'm intended to handle status 500 error that may happened.
router.put('/test', async (req, res) => {
try {
return res.send(await request.updateTest(req.body, 1))
} catch(err) {
console.log(err)
return res.status(500).send(err.stack)
}
})
this is my example of the code. it's do work perfectly. but when i'm try to make unknown error from the database query, i want to log the error and return status 500 as response with the error detail.
but i'll need to add try and catch every time i'm build a new controller/routes
is there anyway i could express them in form of middleware instead of write try and catch everytime?
this is an example of code i've try to make it as middleware but it's has no work and no effect when called.
error.js
module.exports = function (err, req, res, next) {
console.log(err)
res.status(500).send({
error: 'Internal Server Error',
message: err.stack
})
next(err)
}
main.js
const errorHandler = require('./error')
const { corsOption } = require('./cors')
const cors = require('cors')
const test = require('./test')
module.exports = function (app) {
app.use(cors(corsOption))
app.use(errorHandler)
app.use('/api/test', test)
}
is there anyway that i can do for this to work?

Your global error handler should be placed after all other middlewares/routes:
app.use(middleware)
// all other middlewares
app.use('/api/test', test)
// all other routes
// error handler
app.use(function (err, req, res, next) {
res.status(500).json({
error: err.message,
});
});
To avoid adding try/catch to everything, better to wrap your route handler to catch the errors (asyncWrapper):
app.use(middleware)
// all other middlewares
const asyncWrapper = (cb) => {
return (req, res, next) => cb(req, res, next).catch(next);
};
const test = async (req, res) => {
return res.send(await request.updateTest(req.body, 1))
}
// wrap your handler to catch errors (Async functions return a promise)
app.use('/api/test', asyncWrapper(test))
// all other routes
// error handler
app.use(function (err, req, res, next) {
res.status(500).json({
error: err.message,
});
});

There are two approaches to resolve unhandled exceptions in Node.js
Using try-catch blockwhich is already you are using
Using Process i.e use Process to handle exception. A process is a global object that provides information about the current Node.js process. The process is a listener function that is always listening to the events. The most effective and efficient approach is to use Process. If any uncaught or unhandled exception occurs in your code flow, that exception will be caught in code
process.on('uncaughtException', function(err) {
// Handle the error safely
console.log(err)
})
The above code will be able to handle any sort of unhandled exception which occurs in Node.js. see this Process Events

Koa#2 error handling

I'm building an API with Koa. I have all my routes in place with koa-router. Each route uses a controller that has all the logic for a given mongoose model. I've read the Koa docs on error-handling and understand the use of awaiting in a try/catch block. There they mention a Default Error Handler should be set at the beginning of the middleware chain. So if I was to have something like the following, I should have resonable error handling for the route at router.get():
const Koa = require('koa');
const Router = require('koa-router');
const app = new Koa();
const router = new Router();
app.use(async (ctx, next) => {
try {
await next();
} catch (err) {
err.status = err.statusCode || err.status || 500;
throw err;
}
});
router
.get('/', async (ctx, next) => {
console.log('Got Route');
//ctx.body = users;
});
app.use(router.routes());
app.use(router.allowedMethods());
app.listen(3000, () => console.log('Koa app listening on 3000'));
If I was to have something slightly more complex at this route, is there any benefit of adding another try/catch inside the route?
router
.put('/', async function updateOnServer(ctx, next) {
try {
await Model.updateOne({
_id: ctx.params.id,
}, {
field1: ctx.request.body.field1,
$push: { field2: ctx.request.body.field2 },
}).exec();
} catch (e) {
console.log(e);
}
await next();
});
Am I just adding redundant error handling here?

I re-read the docs on Error Handling and also found this little tip on the Koa Wiki. From that, I've concluded the following:
Koa Error Handling states:
However, the default error handler is good enough for most use cases.
The default error handler in this case is the Koa-built-in error handler. You do not need to include any kind of custom error handling in the code you write. Koa will write out a stack trace along with the error message, etc.
If you want to modify how the error is handled, add something like the suggested middleware at the very beginning of the middleware chain:
app.use(async (ctx, next) => {
try {
await next();
} catch (err) {
err.status = err.statusCode || err.status || 500;
ctx.body = err.message;
ctx.app.emit('error', err, ctx);
}
});
If you want to change that again for a specific route, or a special bit of logic, then add another try/catch block at that point (as per my above):
router
.put('/', async function updateOnServer(ctx, next) {
try {
await Model.updateOne({
_id: ctx.params.id,
}, {
field1: ctx.request.body.field1,
$push: { field2: ctx.request.body.field2 },
}).exec();
} catch (e) {
ctx.status = 418;
ctx.body = "a custom error message, with nothing really helpful";
}
await next();
});

I was wrong in a comment above - Koa's default error handler doesn't always throw an Internal Server Error. It depends on the type of error you throw. However, I prefer to simply throw strings, and to use JavaScript's very own throw statement. So, I implemented a simple Koa error handler that allows me to do this:
throw `404: User ${id} not found`;
and that results in sending back a status 404 with a message like 'User 5 not found'. Here is my Koa middleware to do that (if you throw something other than a string, or the string isn't of the right format, it falls back to Koa's built-in error handler):
app.use(async (ctx, next) => {
try {
await next();
}
catch (err) {
if (typeof err === 'string') {
let lMatches = err.match(/^(\d{3}):\s*(.*)$/);
if (lMatches) {
ctx.status = Number(lMatches[1]);
ctx.body = lMatches[2];
}
else throw err; // use default error handler
}
else throw err; // use default error handler
}
});

ExpressJS doesn't wait for my promise

I'm making a search-page on my server. When the endpoint is reached and the user waits for the search function to return the results and render the page Express falls through to the 404 handler instead, and I get the following error when I suppose the render function is called:
Error: Can't set headers after they are sent.
What am I doing wrong?
router.get("/", async (req, res) => {
try {
const queryString = req.query.q;
const user = helper.checkAndGetUser(req, res);
let s = String(queryString), searchedTags = [""];
if(s.indexOf(",") > -1){
searchedTags = s.replace(" ", "").split(",");
}
const options = {
"query": {tags: {$all: searchedTags}, _forSale: true}
};
const results = await Search.search(options).then(result => result).catch(err => {
throw err;
});
//This res.render -call is called after the 404 splat-route.
return res.render("partial/search.pug", {user: user, search: {
query: queryString,
results: results
}});
//If I'd use res.send for debugging, it is instead called before the splat-route, like the following:
return res.send(results);
} catch(err) {
next(err);
}
});
module.exports = router;
I register the router:
const search = require("./search.js");
app.use("/search", search);
Followed by the 404 splat-route:
app.get("*", async (req, res, next) => {
const user = helper.checkAndGetUser(req, res);
res.status(404);
res.render("partial/404.pug", {user: user});
});
To clarify:
My question is how can I make the res.render function get called just as the res.send function?
UPDATE [2017-10-05]:
I continued with another part of the site, a similar endpoint, and discovered that sending the result provided by the promise worked as expected if using res.send but not res.render. Using res.render the 404-handler kicked in again. Can this be a bug in Express?

This happens if you attempt to write to res after it is sent, so you must be calling additional code after res.render() or you already responded before calling that.
change it to return res.render(...) so it exits the functions, otherwise it will continue through the function and hit other res.render()s etc.
Something is up with that error handler also. I will update my post in a few mins with tips (on phone). It should probably have (req, res, next) and call return next(err) and pass it to your error handling middleware.
Here is the pattern I like to use in async/await Express:
// these routes occur in the order I show them
app.get('/route', async (req, res, next) => {
try {
const data = 'asdf'
const payload = await something(data)
.then((result) => createPayload(result))
// remember, if you throw anywhere in try block, it will send to catch block
// const something = willFail().catch((error) => {
// throw 'Custom error message:' + error.message
// })
// return from the route so nothing else is fired
return res.render('route', { payload })
} catch (e) {
// fire down to error middleware
return next(e)
}
})
// SPLAT
app.get('*', async (req, res, next) => {
// if no matching routes, return 404
return res.status(404).render('error/404')
})
// ERRORS
app.use(async (err, req, res, next) => {
// if err !== null, this middleware fires
// it has a 4th input param "err"
res.status(500).render('error/500')
// and do whatever else after...
throw err
})
Note: next() callback called without param is treated as no error, and proceeds to the next middleware. If anything is passed in, it will fire the error middleware with the param as the value of err in the error handling middleware. You can use this technique in routes and other middlewares, as long as the error middleware comes last. Mind your use of return with res.send/render() to prevent double setting headers.
NEW:
Something looks a little bit off with that .then() having a callback in it. I don't see logically where err would come from since the value of the resolved promise goes into the .then() function as result. At this point, it is suspect and should be removed or refactored if possible. This part here:
try {
let results = [];
await Search.search(options).then(result => {
results = result;
}, err => {
throw err;
});
console.log("res.render");
return res.render("partial/search.pug", {user: user, search: {
query: string,
results: results
}});
} catch(err) {
next(err);
}
First, here is about what I would expect to see with async/await syntax:
router.get("/", async (req, res, next) => {
try {
const queryString = req.query.q;
const user = helper.checkAndGetUser(req, res);
let s = String(queryString), searchedTags = [""];
if (s.indexOf(",") > -1) {
searchedTags = s.replace(" ", "").split(",");
}
const options = {
"query": { tags: { $all: searchedTags }, _forSale: true }
};
// If a promise is ever rejected inside a try block,
// it passes the error to the catch block.
// If you handle it properly there, you avoid unhandled promise rejections.
// Since, we have async in the route function, we can use await
// we assign the value of Search.search(options) to results.
// It will not proceed to the render statement
// until the entire promise chain is resolved.
// hence, then(data => { return data }) energizes `results`
const results = await Search.search(options)
.then(data => data)
// If any promise in this chain is rejected, this will fire
// and it will throw the error to the catch block
// and your catch block should pass it through to your
// error handling middleware
.catch(err => { throw 'Problem occurred in index route:' + err });
return res.render("partial/search.pug", {
user: user, search: {
query: string,
results: results
}
});
} catch (err) {
// look at the top how we added next as the 3rd, callback parameter
return next(err);
}
});
module.exports = router;
Error handler:
// notice how we add `err` as first parameter
app.use((err, req, res, next) => {
const user = helper.checkAndGetUser(req, res);
res.status(404);
res.render("partial/404.pug", {user: user});
});
From the Express docs:
Define error-handling middleware functions in the same way as other middleware functions, except error-handling functions have four arguments instead of three: (err, req, res, next). For example:
app.use(function (err, req, res, next) {
console.error(err.stack)
res.status(500).send('Something broke!')
})
http://expressjs.com/en/guide/error-handling.html
That might be your true issue because the error handler should only fire if next() is called with any input, but yours appears to be firing every time like a normal middleware, so I suspect it's because there is no err parameter on that middleware function, so it is treated as a normal one.
The Default Error Handler
Express comes with a built-in error handler, which takes care of any errors that might be encountered in the app. This default error-handling middleware function is added at the end of the middleware function stack.
If you pass an error to next() and you do not handle it in an error handler, it will be handled by the built-in error handler; the error will be written to the client with the stack trace. The stack trace is not included in the production environment.
If you call next() with an error after you have started writing the response (for example, if you encounter an error while streaming the response to the client) the Express default error handler closes the connection and fails the request.
So when you add a custom error handler, you will want to delegate to the default error handling mechanisms in Express, when the headers have already been sent to the client:
// code example in docs
Note that the default error handler can get triggered if you call next() with an error in your code more than once, even if custom error handling middleware is in place.
I also recommend using that splat route app.get('*', async (req, res, next) => {}) right above the error handler middlware (aka as the last loaded route in your list). This will catch all unmatched routes, such as /sih8df7h6so8d7f and forward the client to your 404. I think the error handler middlware is more suited for error 500 and clean formatted type errors because it gives you a function that can parse the value of next(err) anytime it is called from a route.
I usually do this for authentication failures with JSON web token (as the first line of code inside every auth required route):
if (!req.person) return res.status(403).render('error/403')
I realize some of this may fry your wig wholesale, so try all this stuff out and see each piece working before you determine if you would like to utilize it or not.

After a few days of going through the code again and again I stumbled upon a problem in the checkAndGetUser-function, that when run without the user being signed in, and since it's faster than the async call to the DB, triggered the splat endpoint and thus showed the 404 page.
I believe the reason for not triggering the splat endpoint when the res.render call was replaced by res.send was that the res.send function is that much faster than the render-call, since it doesn't have to parse any HTML.
Thank you #agm1984 for providing very useful information about the Express framework, if anyone else are having the same or a similar problem, make sure to read through his post.

Error Handling in Strongloop Loopback

I know the difference between a callback and a middleware next() function.
If a write a custom remote-method in Loopback, I can easily send errors in callback e.g callback(error,null) but in remote hooks or observers whenever I send error in next() function e.g
var err = new Error('This is error');
next(err)
it always says that Internal server error but it does not tell me what error is.
In order to view error I have to login to server and view logs.
Please tell me how can I send error as a response in next() function so that the on frontend I know what error has occurred.

Maybe use a middleware to hook in:
app.use( function(err,req,res){
res.json(err);
});
(This needs to he the last middleware defined...)

basically you can define callbacks with err and result.
For example in loopback,
if I have a model call "Action" you can simply send err or result to front end using json.
app.get('/your/api/call', function (req, res, next) {
var getTeam = function (cb) {
app.models.Team.find({}, function (err, teams) {
if (err) {
cb(err);
} else {
cb(null, teams);
}
});
};
async.waterfall([
getTeam
], function (err, team, role) {
if (err){
res.send(err); //send error to front end
} else {
res.send(team); //send result to front end
}
});
});
This approach can use with "app.use" function in root level also.

Why is my stream error handler not being called?

I have the following restify handler:
var assert = require('assert-plus');
var request = require('request');
function postParseVideo(req, res, next) {
assert.string(req.body.videoSourceUrl, 'videoSourceUrl');
var stream = request.get({uri: req.body.videoSorceUrl});
stream.on('response', function(parseResponse) {
fnThatTakesAReadableStream(parseResponse, function(err, data) {
if (err) {
console.log(err);
next(err);
} else {
res.send(201, null, {Location: data.location});
next();
}
});
});
stream.on('error', function(err) {
console.log(err);
next(err);
});
};
When I run this, neither of the stream event handlers is ever called. Instead, an error bubbles up to the restify server: {"code":"InternalError","message":"options.uri is a required argument"}. I looked at the source for request v2.54.0, and it looks like that error message must be coming from line 406 of restify.js, which reads:
return self.emit('error', new Error('options.uri is a required argument'))
I have used streams successfully in a number of other languages, but I’m new to using them in JavaScript. It seems to me like request.get is throwing a synchronous error, when it should be emitting an 'error' event. Is there something I’m fundamentally misunderstanding about how streams are implemented in Node?

Your req.body.videoSourceUrl may be defined and of type string, but it's probably empty.
I can reproduce your error by doing:
request.get("")
.on('response', function(){
})
.on('error', function(){
})
I'd also think about dumping assert-plus, as:
var ass = require('assert-plus');
ass.string(new String("yes"), "no");
throws