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Readme.md |
Connect
Connect is an extensible HTTP server framework for node using "plugins" known as middleware.
var connect = require('connect');
var http = require('http');
var app = connect();
// gzip/deflate outgoing responses
var compression = require('compression');
app.use(compression());
// store session state in browser cookie
var cookieSession = require('cookie-session');
app.use(cookieSession({
keys: ['secret1', 'secret2']
}));
// parse urlencoded request bodies into req.body
var bodyParser = require('body-parser');
app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded());
// respond to all requests
app.use(function(req, res){
res.end('Hello from Connect!\n');
});
//create node.js http server and listen on port
http.createServer(app).listen(3000);
Getting Started
Connect is a simple framework to glue together various "middleware" to handle requests.
Install Connect
$ npm install connect
Create an app
The main component is a Connect "app". This will store all the middleware added and is, itself, a function.
var app = connect();
Use middleware
The core of Connect is "using" middleware. Middleware are added as a "stack"
where incoming requests will execute each middleware one-by-one until a middleware
does not call next()
within it.
app.use(function middleware1(req, res, next) {
// middleware 1
next();
});
app.use(function middleware2(req, res, next) {
// middleware 2
next();
});
Mount middleware
The .use()
method also takes an optional path string that is matched against
the beginning of the incoming request URL. This allows for basic routing.
app.use('/foo', function fooMiddleware(req, res, next) {
// req.url starts with "/foo"
next();
});
app.use('/bar', function barMiddleware(req, res, next) {
// req.url starts with "/bar"
next();
});
Error middleware
There are special cases of "error-handling" middleware. There are middleware
where the function takes exactly 4 arguments. When a middleware passes an error
to next
, the app will proceed to look for the error middleware that was declared
after that middleware and invoke it, skipping any error middleware above that
middleware and any non-error middleware below.
// regular middleware
app.use(function (req, res, next) {
// i had an error
next(new Error('boom!'));
});
// error middleware for errors that occurred in middleware
// declared before this
app.use(function onerror(err, req, res, next) {
// an error occurred!
});
Create a server from the app
The last step is to actually use the Connect app in a server. The .listen()
method
is a convenience to start a HTTP server.
var server = app.listen(port);
The app itself is really just a function with three arguments, so it can also be handed
to .createServer()
in Node.js.
var server = http.createServer(app);
Middleware
These middleware and libraries are officially supported by the Connect/Express team:
- body-parser - previous
bodyParser
,json
, andurlencoded
. You may also be interested in: - compression - previously
compress
- connect-timeout - previously
timeout
- cookie-parser - previously
cookieParser
- cookie-session - previously
cookieSession
- csurf - previously
csrf
- errorhandler - previously
error-handler
- express-session - previously
session
- method-override - previously
method-override
- morgan - previously
logger
- response-time - previously
response-time
- serve-favicon - previously
favicon
- serve-index - previously
directory
- serve-static - previously
static
- vhost - previously
vhost
Most of these are exact ports of their Connect 2.x equivalents. The primary exception is cookie-session
.
Some middleware previously included with Connect are no longer supported by the Connect/Express team, are replaced by an alternative module, or should be superseded by a better module. Use one of these alternatives instead:
cookieParser
limit
multipart
query
staticCache
Checkout http-framework for many other compatible middleware!
Running Tests
npm install
npm test
Contributors
https://github.com/senchalabs/connect/graphs/contributors
Node Compatibility
- Connect
< 1.x
- node0.2
- Connect
1.x
- node0.4
- Connect
< 2.8
- node0.6
- Connect
>= 2.8 < 3
- node0.8
- Connect
>= 3
- node0.10
,0.12
; io.js1.x
,2.x