REST routing multiple files node js

Question

I am trying to set up a REST api for my database using node js and express.

Now ive always been a fan of divide and conquer and because of this i get a bit upset about both the redundant code and massive server file you will get when creating a REST api in node js.

Take for example CRUD operations on a user table:

    // IMPORT ROUTES
// =============================================================================
var router = express.Router();

// on routes that end in /users
// ----------------------------------------------------
router.route('/user')

// create a user (accessed at POST http://localhost:8080/api/users)
    .post(function (req, res) {

        var username = req.body.username; //bodyParser does the magic
        var password = req.body.password;

        var user = User.build({username: username, password: password});

        user.add(function (success) {
                res.json({message: 'User created!'});
            },
            function (err) {
                res.status(err).send(err);
            });
    })

// get all the users (accessed at GET http://localhost:8080/api/users)
    .get(function (req, res) {
        var user = User.build();

        user.retrieveAll(function (users) {
            if (users) {
                res.json(users);
            } else {
                res.status(401).send("User not found");
            }
        }, function (error) {
            res.status("User not found").send('user not found');
        });
    });


var User = sequelize.define('user', {
        id: DataTypes.INTEGER,
        username: DataTypes.STRING,
        password: DataTypes.STRING,
        name: DataTypes.STRING,
        organization_id: DataTypes.INTEGER,
        type_id: DataTypes.INTEGER,
        join_date: DataTypes.STRING,
        image_path: DataTypes.STRING,
        status_id: DataTypes.INTEGER

    }, {    freezeTableName: true,
            instanceMethods: {
            retrieveAll: function (onSuccess, onError) {
                User.findAll({}, {raw: true})
                    .ok(onSuccess).error(onError);
            },
            retrieveById: function (user_id, onSuccess, onError) {
                User.find({where: {id: user_id}}, {raw: true})
                    .success(onSuccess).error(onError);
            },
            add: function (onSuccess, onError) {
                var username = this.username;
                var password = this.password;

                var shasum = crypto.createHash('sha1');
                shasum.update(password);
                password = shasum.digest('hex');

                User.build({username: username, password: password})
                    .save().ok(onSuccess).error(onError);
            },
            updateById: function (user_id, onSuccess, onError) {
                var id = user_id;
                var username = this.username;
                var password = this.password;

                var shasum = crypto.createHash('sha1');
                shasum.update(password);
                password = shasum.digest('hex');

                User.update({username: username, password: password}, {where: {id: id}})
                    .success(onSuccess).error(onError);
            },
            removeById: function (user_id, onSuccess, onError) {
                User.destroy({where: {id: user_id}}).success(onSuccess).error(onError);
            }
        }
}
);

// on routes that end in /users/:user_id
// ----------------------------------------------------
router.route('/users/:user_id')

// update a user (accessed at PUT http://localhost:8080/api/users/:user_id)
    .put(function (req, res) {
        var user = User.build();

        user.username = req.body.username;
        user.password = req.body.password;

        user.updateById(req.params.user_id, function (success) {
            console.log(success);
            if (success) {
                res.json({message: 'User updated!'});
            } else {
                res.send(401, "User not found");
            }
        }, function (error) {
            res.send("User not found");
        });
    })

// get a user by id(accessed at GET http://localhost:8080/api/users/:user_id)
    .get(function (req, res) {
        var user = User.build();

        user.retrieveById(req.params.user_id, function (users) {
            if (users) {
                res.json(users);
            } else {
                res.status(401).send("User not found");
            }
        }, function (error) {
            res.send("User not found");
        });
    })

// delete a user by id (accessed at DELETE http://localhost:8080/api/users/:user_id)
    .delete(function (req, res) {
        var user = User.build();

        user.removeById(req.params.user_id, function (users) {
            if (users) {
                res.json({message: 'User removed!'});
            } else {
                res.status(401).send("User not found");
            }
        }, function (error) {
            res.send("User not found");
        });
    });

Now this is only for one table.

So i thought there must be a better way to organize all of this?

So my question is can you divide each route into a separate file and is there a way to simplify the routing / collecting of data so you remove the redundancy?

Answer 1

This is how I do it:

//controllers/someController.js
var express = require('express');
var router = express.Router();

router.post('/something', function(req, res, next) {
    ...
});
router.get('/something', function(req, res, next) {
    ...
});

module.exports = router;

//server.js
var app = require('express')();
var someController = require('./controllers/someContoller');
app.use('/some', someController);

So basically I create a middleware that will handle the request at specified path. You can even simplify this process by iterating through all controller files that you have and requiring them, but I like it to be like that :)

Update:

You can pass dependencies right to controller:

//someController.js
module.exports = function(express) {
   var router = express.Router();

   router.get('', function() {});

   return router;  
}

//server.js
var app = require('express')();
var someController = require('./controllers/someContoller')(express);
app.use('/some', someController);