resource-router

This is a Connect compatible nodejs module for handling HTTP requests. This means that all Connect features and Connect-based modules will work with the resource-router.

Why Another Router?

Unlike the default router that is bundled in Connect, resource-router is 'resource-based'. Here is an example.

// resource-router example
function main(app) {
  app.resource('/', {
    'get' : function(req, res) {
      res.writeHead(200, {
        'Content-Type': 'text/html',
        'Content-Length': body.length
      });
      res.end('Hello world', 'utf8');
    }
  });
}

var connect = require('connect');
var resource = require('resource-router');

var server = connect.createServer();
server.use(resource(main));
server.listen(3000);
console.log('Connect server listening on port 3000');

To implement a resource, invoke app.resource with the path of the resource, and then declare method support via an object. You can define as many methods as necessary for each resource.

// More methods
function main(app) {
  app.resource('/', {
    'get' : function(req, res) {
      res.writeHead(200, {
        'Content-Type': 'text/html',
        'Content-Length': body.length
      });
      res.end('Hello world', 'utf8');
    },
    'put' : function(req, res) {
      res.writeHead(201, {
        'Content-Type': 'text/html',
        'Location': 'http://localhost:3000/1'
      });
      res.end('Created', 'utf8');
    },
    'delete' : function(req, res) {
      res.writeHead(200, {
        'Content-Type': 'text/html'
      });
      res.end('Deleted', 'utf8');
    }
  });
}

resource-router automatically adds support HEAD and OPTIONS methods.

GET /somepath HTTP/1.1
Host: localhost:3000

204 No Content
Allow: GET,HEAD

Contrast this to the default router in Connect.

// This is the same example with Connect. Don't use with resource-router.
function main(app){
  app.get('/', function(req, res) {
      res.writeHead(200, {
        'Content-Type': 'text/html',
        'Content-Length': body.length
      });
      res.end('Hello world', 'utf8');
  });
  app.put('/', function(req, res) {
     // implement PUT here
     ...
  });
  app.delete('/', function(req, res) {
     // implement PUT here
     ...
  });
}

Though the differences seem syntactical, there is a fundamental difference here. The right programming model to write HTTP applications is to implement various HTTP methods for each resource. That is, you must start with a resource and then specify what methods you want to support for that resource. Connect's router module takes the opposite (and wrong) approach. Use resource-router to get the right HTTP orientation.

Installation

npm install resource-router