Fetchr

Fetchr augments Flux applications by allowing Flux stores to be used on server and client to fetch data.

On the server, stores can call the database directly to fetch some data.

On the client, however, stores can NOT call the database in the same way. Instead, xhr requests need to be made to the server( then to the database) and then the response can be parsed client side.

Fetchr provides an appropriate abstraction so that you can fetch (CRUD) your data in your stores using the same exact syntax on server and client side.

Install

npm install fetchr

Setup

Fetchr needs delicate set up to work properly.

1. Middleware

On the server side, add the fetchr middleware into your express app at a custom API endpoint.

Fetcher middleware expects that you're using the body-parser middleware (or an alternative middleware that populates req.body) before you use fetcher middleware.

//...
var express = require('express'),
    Fetcher = require('fetchr'),
    bodyParser = require('body-parser'),
    app = express();

// you need to use body-parser middleware before fetcher middleware
app.use(bodyParser.json());

app.use('/myCustomAPIEndpoint', Fetcher.middleware());
//...

2. API xhrPath

xhrPath config option when instantiating the Fetchr class is optional. Defaults to /api.

On the clientside, the xhrPath will be used for XHR requests.

On the serverside, the xhrPath isn't needed and is ignored.

Note: Even though this config is optional, it is necessary for xhrPath on the clientside fetcher to match the path where the middleware was mounted on in the previous step.

//...
var Fetcher = require('fetchr'),
    fetcher = new Fetcher({
        xhrPath: '/myCustomAPIEndpoint'
    })
//...

3. Register data fetchers for API and/or DB access

//app.js
//...
var Fetcher = require('fetchr'),
    myDataFetcher = require('./dataFetcher');

Fetcher.registerFetcher(myDataFetcher);
//...

//dataFetcher.js
module.exports = {
    //Name is required
    name: 'data_api_fetcher',
    //At least one of the CRUD methods is Required
    read: function(req, resource, params, config, callback) {
      //...
    },
    //other methods
    //create: function(req, resource, params, body, config, callback) {},
    //update: function(req, resource, params, body, config, callback) {},
    //delete: function(req, resource, params, config, callback) {}
}

4. Instantiating the Fetchr Class

Data fetchers might need access to each individual request, for example, to get the current logged in user's session. For this reason, Fetcher will have to be instantiated once per request.

On the serverside, this requires fetcher to be instantiated per request, in express middleware.

On the clientside, this only needs to happen on page load.

//app.js - server
//...
var express = require('express'),
    Fetcher = require('fetchr'),
    app = express(),
    myDataFetcher = require('./dataFetcher');

Fetcher.registerFetcher(myDataFetcher);

app.use('/myCustomAPIEndpoint', Fetcher.middleware());

app.use(function(req, res, next) {
    //instantiated fetcher with access to req object
    var fetcher = new Fetcher({
        xhrPath: '/myCustomAPIEndpoint', //xhrPath will be ignored on the serverside fetcher instantiation
        req: req
    });

    fetcher.read('data_api_fetcher', {id: ###}, {}, function (err, data, meta) {
        //handle err and/or data returned from data fetcher in this callback
    })
});

//...

//app.js - client
//...
var Fetcher = require('fetchr'),
    fetcher = new Fetcher({
        xhrPath: '/myCustomAPIEndpoint', //xhrPath is REQUIRED on the clientside fetcher instantiation
        context: { // These context values are persisted with XHR calls as query params
            _csrf: 'Ax89D94j'
        }
    });
    fetcher.read('data_api_fetcher', {id: ###}, {}, function (err, data, meta) {
        //handle err and/or data returned from data fetcher in this callback
    })
//...

Usage Examples

See the simple example

CSRF Protection

You can protect your XHR paths from CSRF attacks by adding a middleware in front of the fetchr middleware:

app.use('/myCustomAPIEndpoint', csrf(), Fetcher.middleware());

You could use https://github.com/expressjs/csurf for this as an example.

Next you need to make sure that the CSRF token is being sent with our XHR requests so that they can be validated. To do this, pass the token in as a key in the options.context object on the client:

new Fetcher({
        xhrPath: '/myCustomAPIEndpoint', //xhrPath is REQUIRED on the clientside fetcher instantiation
        context: { // These context values are persisted with XHR calls as query params
            _csrf: 'Ax89D94j'
        }
    })

This _csrf will be sent in all XHR requests as a query parameter so that it can be validated on the server.

API

Fetchr

License

This software is free to use under the Yahoo! Inc. BSD license. See the LICENSE file for license text and copyright information.

sonnymai/fetchr