Routing

routing in web apps is essentially a set of rules to decide...

• given this request
• what code do we run?

the "code we run" is also called an endpoint or a route or a script or a handler or...

The "code we run" doesn't have to be complicated. It could be as simple as sending a file.

Routing is simple...

Many web app server frameworks have complicated systems for routing, but that complexity is not essential.

Routing can be a simple series of if..else statements, or a switch statement

and most of the fancy framework code is simply to build up a list of matching rules which the server then walks through in first-to-last order.

...but don't reinvent the wheel

Frameworks like Express give you more than the implementation of features like routing and parameter passing

they also give you an interface that will make your calling code easier to read

as well as a shared context of documentation and tutorials so other coders don't have as much to learn before understanding your code

Express Routing

• supports handling all HTTP methods with the pattern app.method(path, handler)

• whenever an incoming request of the given method (POST, GET, DELETE...) matches the path parameter, Express will invoke the handler callback function

• That handler has access to the request and response, and the methods/properties they contain!

Express Routing Example

In the Hello, Express lesson we saw the following route:

app.get('/', (request, response) => response.send('Hello World!'))

This means,

Express Route Matching Rules

• paths can include special characters that are like regular expressions

  • ? "zero or one of these"
  • + "one of more of these"
  • * "zero or more" (but see below)
  • () "these go together"

• ...but are not regular expressions

  • . and - are interpreted literally
  • : means "this is a parameter" (see next slide)
  • * means "zero or more characters" (which is .* in real regexes)

• ...or you can use actual regular expressions

  // This route path will match butterfly 
  // and dragonfly, but not butterflyman
  app.get(/.*fly$/, function (request, response) {
      response.send('I am a fly')
  })
  

• for more info, see the full Express Routing Guide on their web site

Parameters in Express

Express provides several different "parameters" objects:

• req.params for path parameters (aka route parameters) signified with a : in the route matcher
• req.query for query parameters which appear after the ? in the URL
• req.body for post parameters which appear inside the request body

Path Parameters in Express

The special character : means "this is a path parameter"

Example:

Path: /hello/Gandalf
Route: /hello/:name
Params: {name: 'Gandalf'}

Express will grab the value from the path itself, and put it into the request.params object for you to use later.

LAB: Hello, You!

Let's go back to our "Hello, Express!" lab and add another route.

• When you visit the path 'localhost:5000/hello/you/from/me'
• Then the webpage should display "Hello to you, from me."
• Where "you" and "me" are path parameters
• Format the names so that they are always capitalized
• 'localhost:5000/hello/gandalf/from/frodo' displays "Hello to Gandalf, from Frodo

app.get('/hello/:you/from/:me', (request, response)=> {
    response.send(`${request.params.me} says, "Hello, ${request.params.you}!')
});

Does http://localhost:5000/hello/Gandalf/from/Sauron work? If not, why not?

(Answer on next slide.)

Route Matching is Top-Down

Remember, Express routes are a list of matching rules which the server then walks through in first-to-last order.

So if an early route matches, it wins... even if there's a more specific rule that also matches later in the list.

Solution:

Put more specific rules above more general rules.

app.get('/hello/:you/from/:me', (request, response)=> { ... 
});

app.get('/hello/:friend', (request, response)=> { ... 
});

Query Parameters in Express

For query parameters like ?season=winter&weather=cold

Express will grab the name and value from the query string, and put it into the request.query object for you to use later

Lab: Visualize It (Query Params)

In your server.js file, set up a route /about, that when visited, prints request.query to the command line.

Then visit http://localhost:5000/about?name=Bob&role=Instructor

You should see the queries printing to the terminal

LAB: Hello, Query Friend!

Now change your "Hello, Express" server so if you visit the route localhost:5000/hello?friend=Gandalf (or any other name you want) it says "Hello, Gandalf!" (or whatever name you assign friend to)

Middleware

Since request bodies can appear in several different formats, you need to use the correct middleware to extract them.

Simply put, middleware is code that:

• has access to the request and response objects
• runs before the route itself is executed.
• can be customized to suit your needs

Request (GET/POST) => Middleware => Server => Response

You've already used middleware without even knowing it! In express, middleware is mounted with app.use()

Body Parameters in Express

express comes with a handful of middleware options right out of the box, one of which is express.urlencoded(), which parses the request body for you.

That data will be available as request.body, much like request.params and request.query.

The difference is that request.body doesn't come from the URL like params and query do.

Let's visualize it.

LAB: Visualize It (Body Params)

In your index.html, add a form with the method of POST, like so:

  <form action="/postroute" method="POST">
        <input type="text" name="first">
        <input type="text" name="last">
        <input type="submit" value="submit">
    </form>

In your server.js file, set up a route /postroute, that when the form SUBMITS, prints request.body to the command line. Be sure to enter data to the form!

Note: add express.urlencoded() as middleware so the body (the form data, in this case) can be parsed and read by the server.

LAB: Hello, Body Friend!

Now change your "Hello, Express" server so if you submit a form, the server will send back a greeting based on the submitted first and last name.

Other Middleware

• body-parser parses incoming request bodies. Very useful for reading form submissions!
• express.urlencoded parses incoming requests with URL-encoded payloads. What we just used: based off of body-parser
• express.json parses incoming requests with JSON payloads.
• express.static serves static files. Should look familiar.
• Tons of 3rd-party and error-handling options

Middleware can also be directly inserted into individual routes, so they only run in those specific cases.

Example (from the express guide):

// POST /login gets urlencoded bodies
app.post('/login', express.urlencoded(), function (req, res) {
  res.send('welcome, ' + req.body.username)
})

// POST /api/users gets JSON bodies
app.post('/api/users', express.json(), function (req, res) {
  // create user in req.body
})

Write your own middleware!

Remember how we said you can customize your own middleware? Give it a shot!

When doing so, that function will have access to the request and response objects, AND the callback function next that simply tells it to carry on with the route's execution.

Note: the names of these arguments does not matter, although req and res are often the convention.

/* 
The request and response are sent to the middleware FIRST, and when next() is called, 
passed through to the route itself. They are expected in the order shown.*/

function logTime(req, res, next) {
    let date = new Date()
    console.log(date.toLocaleDateString()) 
    next()
}

app.get('/route/', logTime, (req,res)=>{
  res.send("All done!")
})