Node.js Variable scope - javascript

I have a http server setup which basically needs to look up stuff in the database.
Here is the code snippet :
var sys = require('sys');
var Client = require('mysql').Client;
var client = new Client();
client.host = '_';
client.user = '_';
client.password = '_';
client.database = '_';
var http = require('http');
http.createServer(function(req, res) {
req.on('end', function() {
client.connect(function(error, results) {
if (error) {
console.log('Connection Error:');
return;
}
ClientConnectionReady(client);
});
ClientConnectionReady = function(client) {
var final = '';
client.query('select * from table', function selectCb(error, result, fields) {
if (error) {
console.log('ERROR');
client.end();
return;
}
final += "{" + JSON.stringify(result);
});
client.query("SELECT COUNT(*) from table", function selectCb(error, result, fields) {
if (error) {
console.log('ERROR');
client.end();
return;
}
final += "," + JSON.stringify(result) + "}";
});
res.writeHead(200, {
'Content-Type': 'text/plain'
});
res.write(final);
res.end();
client.end();
};
});
}).listen(8007, "127.0.0.1");
  
If I print the values of the variable 'final' at the places where I assign them, I see valid values, but at the lines when I do 'res.write(final)', final is still blank.
How do I make this work and why is this failing?? Thanks for the help, I am new to node.js

The Node.js environment is asynchronous. Those statements that modify "final" are inside callbacks that are executed only when the database operations finish. The code immediately after the initiation of the database operations, where you write the result, are executed long before those callbacks run.
You've almost stumbled upon the answer to the problem already: you must not write the result until the operations are finished, which you know will be the case inside the callbacks. If you must wait for both to finish (seems like you do), then you can do something like keep a counter in the outer scope. Each callback can increment the counter, and call the same result-writer function only when the counter indicates that both callbacks are complete. (I have the idea that the Node runtime has a fancier way of doing that sort of thing, but I'm not that familiar with it. In a simple case like this, keeping something like a counter is easy enough to do.)
Also, an unrelated note: that "ClientConnectionReady" variable should probably either be written as a function definition:
function ClientConnectionReady(client) {
// ...
}
or else it should be declared with var. (I'm a little surprised in fact that it's not throwing an error, but again I'm not that familiar with Node.js.)

By the looks of it, you are trying to write final before it is ever assigned a value.
I'm assuming that client.query is asynchronous. Given that, the callback function is most likely being called after the res.writeHead and res.write lines. What you need to do is put other calls and the client.write* lines within the first callback.
This should give you an idea (didn't check if it compiles)
ClientConnectionReady = function(client)
{
var final = '';
//Get the rows
client.query('select * from table',
function selectCb(error, result, fields)
{
if (error)
{
console.log('ERROR');
client.end();
return;
}
final+="{"+JSON.stringify(result);
//Get the count query
client.query("SELECT COUNT(*) from table",
function selectCb(error, result, fields)
{
if (error)
{
console.log('ERROR');
client.end();
return;
}
final+=","+JSON.stringify(result)+"}";
//Return the final results to the client now
res.writeHead(200, {'Content-Type': 'text/plain'});
res.write(final);
res.end();
client.end();
});
});
};
What this does is first gets the rows. In that callback, it then gets the count. Finally, when that works, it sends the data to the client within the count callback.

Related

Solved Why do MySQL statements work normally in Node REPL when typed line by line, but not in a function? [duplicate]

In the code
var stuff_i_want = '';
stuff_i_want = get_info(parm);
And the function get_info:
get_info(data){
var sql = "SELECT a from b where info = data"
connection.query(sql, function(err, results){
if (err){
throw err;
}
console.log(results[0].objid); // good
stuff_i_want = results[0].objid; // Scope is larger than function
console.log(stuff_i_want); // Yep. Value assigned..
}
in the larger scope
stuff_i_want = null
What am i missing regarding returning mysql data and assigning it to a variable?
============ New code per Alex suggestion
var parent_id = '';
get_info(data, cb){
var sql = "SELECT a from b where info = data"
connection.query(sql, function(err, results){
if (err){
throw err;
}
return cb(results[0].objid); // Scope is larger than function
}
==== New Code in Use
get_data(parent_recording, function(result){
parent_id = result;
console.log("Parent ID: " + parent_id); // Data is delivered
});
However
console.log("Parent ID: " + parent_id);
In the scope outside the function parent_id is null
You're going to need to get your head around asynchronous calls and callbacks with javascript, this isn't C#, PHP, etc...
Here's an example using your code:
function get_info(data, callback){
var sql = "SELECT a from b where info = data";
connection.query(sql, function(err, results){
if (err){
throw err;
}
console.log(results[0].objid); // good
stuff_i_want = results[0].objid; // Scope is larger than function
return callback(results[0].objid);
})
}
//usage
var stuff_i_want = '';
get_info(parm, function(result){
stuff_i_want = result;
//rest of your code goes in here
});
When you call get_info this, in turn, calls connection.query, which takes a callback (that's what function(err, results) is
The scope is then passed to this callback, and so on.
Welcome to javascript callback hell...
It's easy when you get the hang of it, just takes a bit of getting used to, coming from something like C#
I guess what you really want to do here is returning a Promise object with the results. This way you can deal with the async operation of retrieving data from the DBMS: when you have the results, you make use of the Promise resolve function to somehow "return the value" / "resolve the promise".
Here's an example:
getEmployeeNames = function(){
return new Promise(function(resolve, reject){
connection.query(
"SELECT Name, Surname FROM Employee",
function(err, rows){
if(rows === undefined){
reject(new Error("Error rows is undefined"));
}else{
resolve(rows);
}
}
)}
)}
On the caller side, you use the then function to manage fulfillment, and the catch function to manage rejection.
Here's an example that makes use of the code above:
getEmployeeNames()
.then(function(results){
render(results)
})
.catch(function(err){
console.log("Promise rejection error: "+err);
})
At this point you can set up the view for your results (which are indeed returned as an array of objects):
render = function(results){ for (var i in results) console.log(results[i].Name) }
Edit
I'm adding a basic example on how to return HTML content with the results, which is a more typical scenario for Node. Just use the then function of the promise to set the HTTP response, and open your browser at http://localhost:3001
require('http').createServer( function(req, res){
if(req.method == 'GET'){
if(req.url == '/'){
res.setHeader('Content-type', 'text/html');
getEmployeeNames()
.then(function(results){
html = "<h2>"+results.length+" employees found</h2>"
html += "<ul>"
for (var i in results) html += "<li>" + results[i].Name + " " +results[i].Surname + "</li>";
html += "</ul>"
res.end(html);
})
.catch(function(err){
console.log("Promise rejection error: "+err);
res.end("<h1>ERROR</h1>")
})
}
}
}).listen(3001)
Five years later, I understand asynchronous operations much better.
Also with the new syntax of async/await in ES6 I refactored this particular piece of code:
const mysql = require('mysql2') // built-in promise functionality
const DB = process.env.DATABASE
const conn = mysql.createConnection(DB)
async function getInfo(data){
var sql = "SELECT a from b where info = data"
const results = await conn.promise().query(sql)
return results[0]
}
module.exports = {
getInfo
}
Then, where ever I need this data, I would wrap it in an async function, invoke getInfo(data) and use the results as needed.
This was a situation where I was inserting new records to a child table and needed the prent record key, based only on a name.
This was a good example of understanding the asynchronous nature of node.
I needed to wrap the all the code affecting the child records inside the call to find the parent record id.
I was approaching this from a sequential (PHP, JAVA) perspective, which was all wrong.
Easier if you send in a promise to be resolved
e.g
function get_info(data, promise){
var sql = "SELECT a from b where info = data";
connection.query(sql, function(err, results){
if (err){
throw err;
}
console.log(results[0].objid); // good
stuff_i_want = results[0].objid; // Scope is larger than function
promise.resolve(results[0].objid);
}
}
This way Node.js will stay fast because it's busy doing other things while your promise is waiting to be resolved
I've been working on this goal since few weeks, without any result, and I finally found a way to assign in a variable the result of any mysql query using await/async and promises.
You don't need to understand promises in order to use it, eh, I don't know how to use promises neither anyway
I'm doing it using a Model class for my database like this :
class DB {
constructor(db) {
this.db = db;
}
async getUsers() {
let query = "SELECT * FROM asimov_users";
return this.doQuery(query)
}
async getUserById(array) {
let query = "SELECT * FROM asimov_users WHERE id = ?";
return this.doQueryParams(query, array);
}
// CORE FUNCTIONS DON'T TOUCH
async doQuery(queryToDo) {
let pro = new Promise((resolve,reject) => {
let query = queryToDo;
this.db.query(query, function (err, result) {
if (err) throw err; // GESTION D'ERREURS
resolve(result);
});
})
return pro.then((val) => {
return val;
})
}
async doQueryParams(queryToDo, array) {
let pro = new Promise((resolve,reject) => {
let query = queryToDo;
this.db.query(query, array, function (err, result) {
if (err) throw err; // GESTION D'ERREURS
resolve(result);
});
})
return pro.then((val) => {
return val;
})
}
}
Then, you need to instantiate your class by passing in parameter to constructor the connection variable given by mysql. After this, all you need to do is calling one of your class methods with an await before. With this, you can chain queries without worrying of scopes.
Example :
connection.connect(function(err) {
if (err) throw err;
let DBModel = new DB(connection);
(async function() {
let oneUser = await DBModel.getUserById([1]);
let allUsers = await DBModel.getUsers();
res.render("index.ejs", {oneUser : oneUser, allUsers : allUsers});
})();
});
Notes :
if you need to do another query, you just have to write a new method in your class and calling it in your code with an await inside an async function, just copy/paste a method and modify it
there are two "core functions" in the class, doQuery and doQueryParams, the first one only takes a string as a parameter which basically is your mysql query. The second one is used for parameters in your query, it takes an array of values.
it's relevant to notice that the return value of your methods will always be an array of objects, it means that you'll have to do var[0] if you do a query which returns only one row. In case of multiple rows, just loop on it.

Javascript function doesn't return query result

I am trying to figure out why one of my queries won't return the value from a query...my code looks like this:
var client = new pg.Client(conString);
client.connect();
var query = client.query("SELECT count(*) as count FROM sat_scores")
// Don't use demo key in production. Get a key from https://api.nasa.gov/index.html#apply-for-an-api-key
function getNEO(callback) {
var data = '';
query.on('rows', function(rows) {
console.log("Row count is: %s", rows[0].count)
data += rows[0].count;
});
query.on('end', function() {
callback(data);
});
}
with that, getNEO returns a blank...but if I set var data = '4', then getNEO returns 4....the query should return 128 but it just returns a blank...
First of all, getNEO() doesn't return anything - I'm operating on the assumption that you call getNEO() exactly once for your query, and pass in a callback to handle the data, and that callback is what's not getting the appropriate data?
My typical recommendation for troubleshooting things like this is to simplify your code, and try and get really close to any example code given (for instance):
var client = new pg.Client(conString);
// define your callback here, in theory
client.connect(function (err) {
if (err) throw err;
var query = client.query("SELECT count(*) as count FROM sat_scores"),
function(err, result) {
if (err) throw err;
console.log(result.rows.length);
}
);
});
... I'm doing a couple things here you'll want to note:
It looks like the client.connect() method is asynchronous - you can't just connect and then go run your query, you have to wait until the connection is completed, hence the callback. Looking through the code, it looks like it may emit a connect event when it's ready to send queries, so you don't have to use a callback on the connect() method directly.
I don't see a data event in the documentation for the query object nor do I see one in the code. You could use the row event, or you could use a callback directly on the query as in the example on the main page - that's what I've done here in the interest of simplicity.
I don't see the count property you're using, and row[0] is only going to be the first result - I think you want the length property on the whole rows array if you're looking for the number of rows returned.
I don't know if you have a good reason to use the getNEO() function as opposed to putting the code directly in procedurally, but I think you can get a closer approximation of what you're after like this:
var client = new pg.Client(conString);
// define your callback here, in theory
client.connect();
function getNEO(callback) {
client.on('connect', function () {
var query = client.query("SELECT count(*) as count FROM sat_scores"));
query.on('end', function(result) {
callback(result.rowCount);
});
});
}
... so, you can call your getNEO() function whenever you like, it'll appropriately wait for the connection to be completed, and then you can skip tracking each row as it comes; the end event receives the result object which will give you all the rows and the row count to do with what you wish.
so here is how I was able to resolve the issue....I moved the var query inside of the function
function getNEO(state, callback) {
var conString = "postgres://alexa:al#alexadb2.cgh3p2.us-east-1.redshift.amazonaws.com:5439/alexa";
var client = new pg.Client(conString);
client.connect();
var data = '';
var query = client.query("SELECT avg(Math) as math, avg(Reading) as reading FROM sat_scores WHERE State = '" + state + "'");
console.log("query is: %s", query);
query.on('row', function(row) {
console.log("Row cnt is: %s", row.math);
console.log("row is: " + row)
data += row;
});
console.log("made it");
query.on('end', function() {
callback(data);
});
}

Node.js: Undefined return value after database query

I got a file newuser.js (node.js environment featuring a mongodb database managed via mongoose) containing the following code:
//newuser.js
//basically creates new user documents in the database and takes a GET parameter and an externally generated random code (see randomcode.js)
[...]
var randomCode = require ('randomcode');
var newTempUser = new tempUser({name: req.body.name, vericode: randomCode.randomveriCode(parameter)
});
newTempUser.save(function (err){
//some output
});
//randomcode.js
//creates a random sequence of characters (=vericode), checks if code already exists in DB and restarts function if so or returns generated code
exports.randomveriCode = function randomveriCode(parameter){
[...]
var TempUser = conn.model('TempUser', TempUserSchema);
TempUser.count({vericode: generatedcode}, function(err, counter){
if (counter=='0'){
return generatedcode;
}else{
randomveriCode(parameter);
}
});
};
Problem is, that newuser.js throws an error as variable vericode is 'undefined' (thus mongoose model validations fails). The error does not occur if I skip the database query and instantly return the generated code (which in fact has got a value as verified by several console.log instructions). It occurs to me that the db query takes to long and empty or null value returned before query is complete? I thought about introducing promises unless you got any other suggestions or hints what may cause this behaviour?
Kind regards
Igor
Since querying the database is a non-blocking operation, you cannot expect the function call to return the value from the database immediately. Try passing in a callback instead:
// newuser.js
var randomCode = require('randomcode');
randomCode.randomveriCode(parameter, function(err, code) {
if (err) throw err; // TODO: handle better
var newTempUser = new tempUser({name: req.body.name, vericode: code});
newTempUser.save(function (err){
//some output
});
});
// randomcode.js
exports.randomveriCode = function randomveriCode(parameter, cb) {
var TempUser = conn.model('TempUser', TempUserSchema);
TempUser.count({vericode: generatedcode}, function(err, counter) {
if (err) return cb(err);
if (counter == '0') {
cb(null, generatedcode);
} else {
randomveriCode(parameter, cb);
}
});
};
your randomveriCode function contains calls to an asynchronous function and therefore, your function really needs to provide a callback argument like this:
exports.randomveriCode = function randomveriCode(parameter, callback){
[...]
var TempUser = conn.model('TempUser', TempUserSchema);
TempUser.count({vericode: generatedcode}, function(err, counter){
if(err) return callback(err);
if (counter=='0'){
return callback(null, generatedcode);
}else{
randomveriCode(parameter, callback);
}
});
};
You'd then call it like so:
var randomCode = require ('randomcode');
randomCode(function(err, vericode){
if(err) throw err;
var newTempUser = new tempUser({name: req.body.name, vericode: vericode});
newTempUser.save(function(err,newUser){
//do something here
});
});
Btw - you could also use a synchronous function to create a GUID. See https://www.npmjs.org/package/node-uuid.

Using JS Promises to Execute Multiple Async Queries to Build an Object

After recently discovering JS promises, I have been studying them so that I might build a certain functionality that allows me to execute 4 async queries, use the result of each to build an object that I can finally send as a response to a request directed at my node app.
The final object is made up of 3 array properties containing the resulting rows of each query.
It seems that I've done something wrong handling the promises, though, because ultimately, game is not being built. It is sent as an empty object. Here's a JSFiddle.
What is my mistake?
Here's what I have so far:
function sendGame(req, res, sales, settings, categories) {
var game = new Object();
game.sales = sales;
game.settings = settings;
game.categories = categories;
JSONgame = JSON.stringify(game);
res.writeHead(200, {
'Access-Control-Allow-Origin': 'http://localhost',
'Content-Length': JSONgame.length,
'Content-Type': 'application/json'
});
res.write(JSONgame);
res.end();
console.log('Game: ' + JSON.stringify(game, null, 4));
console.log('--------------------------------------');
console.log('User ' + req.body.username + ' successfully retrieved game!');
}
function retrieveSales(req, connection, timeFrame) {
console.log('User ' + req.body.username + ' retrieving sales...');
connection.query('select * from sales_entries where date BETWEEN ? AND ?', timeFrame,
function (err, rows, fields) {
if (err) {
callback(new Error('Failed to connect'), null);
} else {
sales = [];
for (x = 0; x < rows.length; x++) {
sales.push(rows[x]);
}
//console.log('Sales: ' + JSON.stringify(sales, null, 4));
return sales;
}
});
}
retrieveCategories() and retrieveSettings() omitted for readability; they are the same as retrieveSales() mostly.
function gameSucceed(req, res) {
console.log('User ' + req.body.username + ' retrieving game...');
var timeFrame = [moment().days(0).format("YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss"), moment().days(6).format("YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss")];
var connection = createConnection();
connection.connect(function (err) {
if (err) return callback(new Error('Failed to connect'), null);
console.log('Connection with the Officeball MySQL database openned for game retrieval...');
var sales = retrieveSales(req, connection, timeFrame);
var settings = retrieveSettings(req, connection);
var categories = retrieveCategories(req, connection);
var all = q.all([sales, settings, categories]);
all.done(function () {
sendGame(req, res, sales, settings, categories);
});
});
}
Your problem is that you're not using promises. All your APIs use callbacks.
A promise is like a closed box:
A promise also has a method that opens the box, works on the value and returns another box on the value (also opening any additional boxes along the way). That method is .then:
In boxes, it does:
=>( . => ) =>
That is, it adds a handler that gets an open box and returns a box. Everything else just combines stuff. All .all does is wait for a list of promises to resolve, it is exactly like .then in the fact it waits for a result. Because promises are boxes, you can pass them around and return them which is very cool.
Generally:
Whenever you return from a promise handler (not a rejection), you are fullfilling it indicating normal flow continuation.
Whenever you throw at a promise handler, you are rejecting indication exceptional flow.
So basically in node speak:
Whenever you returned a null error and a response, you resolve the promise.
Whenever you returned an error and no response, you reject the promise.
So:
function myFunc(callback){
nodeBack(function(err,data){
if(err!== null){
callback(new Error(err),null);
}
callback(data+"some processing");
})
});
Becomes:
function myFunc(){
return nodeBack().then(function(data){ return data+"some processing"; });
}
Which I think is a lot clearer. Errors are propagated across the promise chain just like in synchronous code - it's very common to find synchronous analogs to promise code.
Q.all takes a list of promises and waits for them to complete, instead you want Q.nfcall to transform a callback based API to a promise one and then use Q.all on that.
That is:
var sales = Q.nfcall(retrieveSales,req, connection, timeFrame);
var settings = Q.nfcall(retrieveSettings,req, connection);
var categories = Q.nfcall(retrieveCategories, req, connection);
Q.nfcall takes a nodeback in the err,data convention and converts it to a promise API.
Also, when you do
return sales;
You are not really returning anything, since it returns synchronously. You need to use callback like in your error case or promisify it altogether. If you don't mind, I'll do it with Bluebird since it comes with much better facilities for dealing with these interop cases and does so much much faster, if you'd like you can switch promisifyAll for a bunch of Q.nfcall calls.
// somewhere, on top of file
connection = Promise.promisifyAll(connection);
// note I'm passing just the username - passing the request breaks separation of concerns.
var retrieveSales = Promise.method(username, connection, timeFrame) {
console.log('User ' + username + ' retrieving sales...');
var q = 'select * from sales_entries where date BETWEEN ? AND ?';
return connection.queryAsync(q, timeFrame).then(function(rows, fields){
return rows;
});
}
Note that suddenly you don't need a lot of boilerplate for making a query, you can use queryAsync directly instead if you'd like.
Now the code that wraps it becomes:
var gameSucceed = Promise.method(function gameSucceed(req, res) {
console.log('User ' + req.body.username + ' retrieving game...');
var timeFrame = [moment()....];
var connection = Promise.promisifyAll(createConnection());
return conn.connectAsync().then(function () {
console.log('Connection with the ...');
//sending req, but should really be what they use.
return Promise.all([retrieveSales(req,conn,timeFrame),
retrieveSettings(req,conn),
retrieveCategories(req,conn)]);
});
});
Now you can call sendGame(req, res, sales, settings, categories); outside of gameSucceed which doesn't hide what it does as much -
gameSucceed(req,res).spread(function(sales,settings,cats){
return sendGame(req,res,sales,settings,cats);
});

How can I access mongodb count results in nodejs with a callback?

How do you access mongodb count results in nodejs so the result can be accessible to the asynchronous request? I can get the result and update the database but the asynchronous request fails to access the vars or the vars are empty and the vars appear to be updated when the next asynchronous request is made. The request must not be waiting for the query to finish and the next request is filled with the previous request's variables.
testOne.increment = function(request) {
var MongoClient = require('mongodb').MongoClient,
format = require('util').format;
MongoClient.connect('mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017/bbb_tracking', function(err, db) {
if (err) throw err;
collection = db.collection('bbb_tio');
collection.count({vio_domain:dom}, function(err, docs) {
if (err) throw err;
if (docs > 0) {
var vio_val = 3;
} else {
var vio_val = 0;
}
if (vio_val === 3) {
event = "New_Event";
var inf = 3;
}
db.close();
console.log("docs " + docs);
});
});
};
In the above, even when the vars are set in scope they are not defined asynchronously. Can I get some guidance on structuring this properly so the vars are populated in the callback. Thank you!
Since the count function is asynchronous, you'll need to pass a callback to the increment function so that when the count is returned from the database, the code can call the callback.
testOne.increment = function(request, callback) {
var MongoClient = require('mongodb').MongoClient,
format = require('util').format;
MongoClient.connect('mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017/bbb_tracking', function(err, db) {
if (err) throw err;
var collection = db.collection('bbb_tio');
// not sure where the dom value comes from ?
collection.count({vio_domain:dom}, function(err, count) {
var vio_val = 0;
if (err) throw err;
if (count > 0) {
vio_val = 3;
event = "New_Event";
var inf = 3;
}
db.close();
console.log("docs count: " + count);
// call the callback here (err as the first parameter, and the value as the second)
callback(null, count);
});
});
};
testOne.increment({}, function(err, count) {
// the count would be here...
});
(I don't understand what the variables you've used mean or why they're not used later, so I just did a bit of a clean-up. Variables are scoped to function blocks and hoisted to the function, so you don't need to redeclare them in each if block like you had done with vio_val).
You could use the 'async' module. It makes the code a lot cleaner and easier to debug. Take a look at the code in GitHub for adduser.js & deleteuser.js in the following post
http://gigadom.wordpress.com/2014/11/05/bend-it-like-bluemix-mongodb-using-auto-scaling-part-2/
Regards
Ganesh
length give you count of result array
const userdata = await User.find({ role: role, 'name': new RegExp(searchkey, 'i') },{date: 0,__v:0,password:0}).
sort(orderObj)
.limit(limit)
.skip(skip);
console.log(userdata.length);

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