express-hateoas-links
Version:
Extends express res.json to simplify building HATEOAS enabled REST API's
158 lines (127 loc) • 4.83 kB
Markdown
# express-hateoas-links
[](https://travis-ci.org/orca-scan/express-hateoas-links) [](https://www.npmjs.com/package/express-hateoas-links)
Extends express `res.json` to simplify building HATEOAS enabled REST API's by appending links to JSON responses.
## Installation
```bash
npm install --save express-hateoas-links
```
## Usage
```js
// send person object with HATEOAS links added
res.json(personObject, [
{ rel: "self", method: "GET", href: 'http://127.0.0.1' },
{ rel: "create", method: "POST", title: 'Create Person', href: 'http://127.0.0.1/person' }
]);
```
Optionally exclude/remove links based on rel value:
```js
res.json(personObject, [
{ rel: "self", method: "GET", href: 'http://127.0.0.1' },
{ rel: "create", method: "POST", title: 'Create Person', href: 'http://127.0.0.1/person' }
], [ 'create' ]); // <- removes `create` link
```
## Typical use case
The example below adds a self & create link to a JSON schema used to create a person. This allows the consuming application to understand what properties are required to create a Person and the destination URL to post to, removing the need for the application to hard code API links.
```js
var express = require('express');
var app = express();
var hateoasLinker = require('express-hateoas-links');
// replace standard express res.json with the new version
app.use(hateoasLinker);
// standard express route
app.get('/', function(req, res){
// create an example JSON Schema
var personSchema = {
"name": "Person",
"description": "This JSON Schema defines the parameters required to create a Person object",
"properties": {
"name": {
"title": "Name",
"description": "Please enter your full name",
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 30,
"minLength": 1,
"required": true
},
"jobTitle": {
"title": "Job Title",
"type": "string"
},
"telephone": {
"title": "Telephone Number",
"description": "Please enter telephone number including country code",
"type": "string",
"required": true
}
}
};
// call res.json as normal but pass second param as array of links
res.json(personSchema, [
{ rel: "self", method: "GET", href: 'http://127.0.0.1' },
{ rel: "create", method: "POST", title: 'Create Person', href: 'http://127.0.0.1/person' }
]);
});
// express route to process the person creation
app.post('/person', function(req, res){
// do some stuff with the person data
});
```
You can set `req.disableHATEOAS = false` within a controller or pass `?hateoas=false` to disable HATEOAS links.
### Output
```json
{
"name": "Person",
"description": "This JSON Schema defines the parameters required to create a Person object",
"properties": {
"name": {
"title": "Name",
"description": "Please enter your full name",
"type": "string",
"maxLength": 30,
"minLength": 1,
"required": true
},
"jobTitle": {
"title": "Job Title",
"type": "string"
},
"telephone": {
"title": "Telephone Number",
"description": "Please enter telephone number including country code",
"type": "string",
"required": true
}
},
"links":[
{
"rel": "self",
"method": "GET",
"href": "http://127.0.0.1"
},
{
"rel": "create",
"method": "POST",
"title": "Create Person",
"href": "http://127.0.0.1/person"
}
]
}
```
## Contributing
1. Fork it!
2. Create your feature branch: `git checkout -b my-new-feature`
3. Commit your changes: `git commit -m 'Add some feature'`
4. Push to the branch: `git push origin my-new-feature`
5. Submit a pull request
## Tests
You can run the unit tests by changing directory into the express-hateoas-links director within your node_modules folder, and run the following commands:
```bash
npm install // install modules dev dependencies
npm test // run unit tests
```
## Star the repo
Please star the repo if you find this useful as it helps us priorities which open source issues to tackle first.
## History
For change-log, check [releases](https://github.com/orca-scan/express-hateoas-links/releases).
## License
Licensed under [MIT License](LICENSE) © Orca Scan, the [Barcode Scanner app](https://orcascan.com).