Database and REST (dare)

Dare is a lovely API for generating SQL out of structured JS Object. It can be used to query and modify your flavour of SQL database inside your node app. Or if you dare, give it it's own restful interface and have it construct and execute all the scrumptuous queries the client throws at it. Now the security conscious amongst you may fret but dont fear, your own rules can be applied via "handlers" by table and method, just the thing for maintaining data integrity and developing REST interfaces.

Example usage...

This is a simple setup to get started with, it'll make a basic SELECT query.

// Require the module
const Dare = require('dare');
const sqlConn = require('./mySqlConn');

// Initiate it
const dare = new Dare();

// Define the handler dare.execute for handing database requests
dare.execute = async ({sql, values}) => {
    // Execute query using prepared statements
    return sqlConn.execute(sql, values);
};

// Make a request
const resp = await dare.get('users', ['name'], {id: 1});
// SELECT id, name FROM users WHERE id = 1 LIMIT 1;

console.log(`Hi ${resp.name}');

Setup

Install

npm i dare --save

dare = new Dare(options)

Create an instance of Dare with some options

const Dare = require('dare');

const options = {
    schema
};

const dare = new Dare(options);

Options

The options Object is a set of properties to apply at the point of calling any methods. Initially it's used to define default properties. However every method creates its own instance inheritting its parent options as well as defining it's own. See dare.use(options) for more.

The options themselves are a set of properties used to interpret and manipulate the request.

Schema schema

The schema is used to define the structure of your SQL database. You can refer to it as options.schema. It's each property in the schema pertains to a database table. And defines the fields within the table.

e.g.

const dare = new Dare({
    schema: {
        users: {
            // user field defitions
        },
        country: {
            // country field defitions
        }
    }
});

Relationships

In the example below the fields users.country_id defines a relationship with country.id which is used to construct SQL JOIN Conditions.

const dare = new Dare({
    schema : {
        users: {
            // users fields...
            country_id: 'country.id'
        },
        country: {
            // country fields...
        }
    }
});

Field Definition

Fields dont need to be explicitly defined in the options.schema.*tbl*. Fields which are defined can give hints as to how to handle them.

field reference

Fields can reference other table fields, this is used to construct relationships as we've seen earlier.

field type

Defining the type introduces additional features.

datatime

Setting value to 'datetime', a conditional filter short hand for created_time: 2017 would be expanded to created_time BETWEEN '2017-01-01T00:00:00' AND '2017-12-31T23:59:59

const dare = new Dare({
    schema: {
        users: {
            created_time: {
                type: 'datetime'
            }
        }
    }
});

json

Serializes Objects and Deserializes JSON strings in get, post and patch operations.

e.g.

Schema: field definition...

const dare = new Dare({
    schema: {
        users: {
            meta: {
                // Define a field meta with data type of json
                type: 'json'
            }
        }
    }
});

Example set and get

    // Arbitary object...
    const meta = {
        prop1: 1,
        prop2: 2
    };

    // For a field named `meta`
    const {insertId: id} = await dare.post('users', {meta});
    // The value is run through JSON.stringify before insertion
    // INSERT INOT users (meta) VALUES('{"prop1": 1, "prop2": 2}')


    ...

    // The value is desiralized, when accessed via get...
    const {meta} = await dare.get('users', ['meta'], {id});

    // e.g...
    console.log(meta);
    // Object({
    // 	prop1: 1,
    // 	prop2: 2
    // });

field handler

When the value is a function, the function will be invoked when interpretting the request as part of a field value. The response of this function can either be a static value or it can be an additional function which is optionally run on all items in the response, to return a generated field.

E.g.

This will manipulate the request and response to create the property avatar_url on the fly.

const dare = new Dare({
    schema: {
        users: {
            avatar_url(fields) {

                fields.push('id'); // require additional field from users table.

                return (item) => `/images/avatars/${item.id}`;
            }
        }
    }
});

field alias

To alias a field, so that you can use a name different to the db column name, assign it a string name of the field in the current table. e.g. emailAddress: 'email'

const dare = new Dare({
    schema: {
        users: {
            emailAddress: 'email'
        }
    }
});

For example this will allow us to use the alias emailAddress in our api (see below), but the SQL generated will refer to it with it's true field name "email".

dare.get('users', ['emailAddress'], {emailAddress: 'andrew@%'});
// SELECT email AS emailAddress FROM users WHERE email LIKE 'andrew@%'

field readable/writeable

A flag to control access to a field

const dare = new Dare({
    schema: {
        users: {
            id: {
                writeable: false // non-writeable
            },
            password: false // non-readable + non-writeable
        }
    }
})

With the above writeable/readable field definitions an error is thrown whenever attempting to access the field e.g.

dare.get('users', ['password'], {id: 123});
// throws {code: INVALID_REFERENCE}

Or when trying to modify a field through post or patch methods, e.g.

dare.patch('users', {id: 321}, {id: 1337});
// throws {code: INVALID_REFERENCE}

Methods

dare.get(table[, fields][, filter][, options])

The dare.get method is used to build and execute a SELECT ... SQL statement.

e.g.

dare.get('table', ['name'], {id: 1});
// SELECT name FROM table WHERE id = 1 LIMIT 1;

dare.get(options Object)

Alternatively a options Object can be used instead.

e.g.

dare.get({
    table: 'users',
    fields: ['name'],
    filter: {
        id: 1
    }
});

Fields Array fields

The fields array is defined in dare.get(...[,fields]...) only and says what fields from the matching resultset to return.

Items (strings)

In its simplest form it is an Array of Strings, e.g. ['id', 'name', 'created_date']. This creates a very simple query.

SELECT id, name, created_date FROM ....

The array items can also be Objects.

Aliased Items and Formatting (objects)

It's sometimes appropriate to alias a field definition, if it's to be renamed, or when using SQL Functions and operators to manipulate the response. E.g. Below we're using the DATE function to format the created_date, and we're aliasing it so it will be returned with prop key _date.

dare.get('users',
    [
      'name',
      {
      	'_date': 'DATE(created_date)'
      }
    ]
);
// sql: SELECT name, DATE(created_date) AS _date ...

Pattern:

FUNCTION_NAME([FIELD_PREFIX]? field_name [, ADDITIONAL_PARAMETERS]*)

• FUNCTION_NAME: uppercase, no spaces
• FIELD_PREFIX: optional, uppercase
• field_name: db field reference
• ADDITIONAL_PARAMETERS: optional, prefixed with ,, (uppercase, digit or quoted string)

e.g.

In the case of ROUND() there is an allowance for field * [digit] pattern.

Nesting Fields

Objects entries which have Objects as value. In this case they shall attempt to get data from accross multiple tables.

    [
        'name',
        'country': {
            'name'
        }
    ]

    // sql: SELECT [users.]name, county.name

The SQL this creates renames the fields and then recreates the structured format that was requested. So with the above request: a typical response would have the following structure...

    {
        name: 'Andrew',
        country: {
            name: 'UK'
        }
    }

• At the moment this only supports n:1 mapping.
• The relationship between the tables must be defined in the scheme.

Filter filter

The Filter Object is a Fields=>Value object literal, defining the SQL condition to attach to a statement.

e.g.

    {
        id: 1,
        is_hidden: 0
    }


    // ... WHERE id = 1 AND is_hidden = 0 ...

The filter object can contain nested objects (Similar too the Fields Object). Nested objects define conditions on Relational tables.

    {
        country: {
            name: 'UK'
        }
    }

Creates the following SQL JOIN Condition

    ... WHERE country.name = 'UK' ...

Filter Syntax

The type of value affects the choice of SQL Condition syntax to use. For example an array will create an IN (...) condition, the presence of % will create a LIKE condition. If the property name is prefixed with a hyhen it will negate the filter. See examples below...

Group by groupby

groupby accepts the same format as a single field expression. It can be a single value or an array of multiple expressions. I.e.

groupby: [
    'type',
    'YEAR_MONTH(created_date)'
]

Generates

    GROUP BY type, YEAR_MONTH(created_date)

Order By orderby

orderby accepts the same format as a single field expression. It can be a single value or an array of multiple expressions. I.e.

orderby: [
    'type',
    'YEAR_MONTH(created_date)'
]

Generates

    ORDER BY type, YEAR_MONTH(created_date)

Join

The Join Object is a Fields=>Value object literal. It accepts similar syntax to the Filter Object, and defines those conditions on the SQL JOIN Condition.

e.g.

    join: {
        county: {
            is_hidden: 0
        }
    }

    // ... LEFT JOIN county b ON (b.id = a.country_id AND b.is_hidden = 0)

The JOIN object is useful when restricting results in the join table without affecting the results returned in the primary table.

To facilitate scenarios where the optional JOIN tables records are dependent on another relationship we can define this also in the JOIN Object, by passing though an special prop _required: true (key=>value)

The following statement includes all results from the main table, but does not append the country data unless it is within the continent of 'Europe'

    join: {
        county: {
            continent: {
                _required: true,
                name: 'Europe'
            }
        }
    }

    // ...
    // LEFT JOIN county b ON (b.id = a.country_id)
    // LEFT JOIN continent c ON (c.id = b.continent_id)
    // WHERE (c.id = b.continent_id OR b.continent_id IS NULL)
    // ...

Pagination limit and start

The limit and start property are simply applied to the SQL query and can be used to paginate the resultset.

dare.get({
    table: 'table',
    fields: ['name'],
    limit: 10, // Return only 10 rows
    start: 20, // Start in the 20th
});
// SELECT name FROM table LIMIT 10 OFFSET 20;

No limit set and notfound

Dare returns a single item when no limit is set. When the item is not found Dare rejects the request with DareError.NOT_FOUND. To override this default behaviour simply set the notfound. e.g.

const resp = await dare.get({
    table: 'table',
    fields: ['name'],
    filter: {name: 'Nameless'}
    notfound: null
});

// SELECT name FROM table WHERE name = 'Nameless' LIMIT 1;
// -- found 0 rows
console.log(resp); // null

dare.getCount(table[, filter][, options])

The dare.getCount method builds and executes a SELECT ... SQL statement. It returns the number of results which match the request options. And is useful when constructing pagination.

e.g.

const count = await dare.getCount('profile', {first_name: 'Andrew'});
// SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT id) FROM profile WHERE name = 'Andrew' LIMIT 1;

dare.getCount(options Object)

Using an options Object allows for date.getCount(options) to be paired with a request to dare.get(options).

e.g.

const requestOptions = {
    table: 'profile',
    filter: {
        first_name: 'Andrew'
    },
    limit: 10
};

// Get the first 10 items, and the number of possible rows
const [items, foundRows] = await Promise.all([

    // Make a request for members matching the condition 
    dare.get(requestOptions)

    // Get the number of possible results
    dare.getCount(requestOptions)
]);

dare.post(table, body[, options])

The dare.post method is used to build and execute an INSERT ... SQL statement.

e.g.

dare.post('user', {name: 'Andrew', profession: 'Mad scientist'});
// INSERT INTO table (name, profession) VALUES('Andrew', 'Mad scientist')

dare.post(options Object)

Alternatively a options Object can be used instead.

e.g.

dare.post({
    table: 'user',
    body: {
        name: 'Andrew',
        profession: 'Mad scientist'
    }
});

dare.post(options Object) with multiple values

The body can be an Array of objects.

e.g.

dare.post({
    table: 'user',
    body: [{
        name: 'Andrew',
        profession: 'Mad scientist'
    }, {
        name: 'Peppa'
    }]
});

This generates INSERT INTO user (name, profession) VALUES ('Andrew', 'Mad Scientist'), ('Peppa', DEFAULT). Note where the key's differ between items in the Array the DEFAULT value is inserted instead.

Post options (additional)

dare.patch(table, filter, body[, options])

Updates records within the table with the body object when they match filter.

Patch options (additional)

dare.del(table, filter[, options])

Deletes records within the table when they match filter.

Patch options (additional)

Additional Options

Table Alias

Table can have alias's this is useful when the context changes.

E.g. Define 'author' as an alternative for 'users'

    table_alias: {
        author: 'users'
    }

Example implementation...

dare.get({
    table: comments,
    fields: {
        id,
        text,
        author: {
            id,
            name
        }
    }
});

Multiple joins/filters on the same table

In order to both: show all relationship on the join table AND filter the main results by the joined table. One can either create separate table aliases (as described above) using one for the field name, and one for the filter. Or alternatively append an arbitary label, a $ sign followed by an string. E.g.

E.g. Include all the tags associated with users AND only show users whom include the tag "Andrew"

dare.get({
    table: 'users',
    fields: ['name', {'tags': ['name']}],
    filter: {
        tags$a: {
            name: 'Andrew'
        }
    }
});

This will get all users who contain atleast the tags 'Andrew', as well as returning all the other tags.

Method Table Handlers

options[method][table] = handler Function

Essentially enables methods to intercept requests to particular tables for given methods and apply business rules.

E.g. prevent a user from being deleted if they dont match the same as the passed through req object.

    del: {
        users(options) {
            if (options.filter.id !== options.req.session.user_id) {
                throw "You can't delete this user"
            }
        }
    }

After Handlers

options.after*Method*[table] = handler(resp)

This handler is executed after the request and is useful for logging or manipulating the response. If this returns undefined statically or via a Promise then the original response is not altered. Anything else will alter the response.

E.g. log an update to the users table

afterPatch: {
    users(resp) {
        // Get the original request filter...
        const ref_id = this.options.filter.id;

        // Post to changelog...
        date.post('changelog', {
            message: 'User updated',
            type: 'users',
            ref_id
        });
        // do not return anything...
    }
}

Catch in the before handler and overwrite after method

Of course there are scenarios where you want to capture a previous existing value. For that you might like to define the after handler before the patch operation is complete.

E.g. here is an example using the before handlers to capture the original value of a field and redefine define the after handler on this instance....

...
patch: {
    async users(options) {

        /**
         * Check that the data to be modified
         * By using the options to construct a SELECT request first
         */

        // Clonse the options
        const opts = {
            ...options,
            fields: ['id', 'name']
        };

        // Execute a dare.get with the cloned options
        const {id: ref_id, name: previous_name} = await dare.get(opts);

        // Set the after handler
        this.after = () => {
            dare.post('changelog', {
                message: 'User updated',
                type: 'users',
                ref_id,
                previous_name
            })
        };
    }
}
...

Handling dates and date ranges

The library supports a number of user friendly ways of passing in dates and date ranges by constructing the formal timestamp implied in the data passed to Dare.

E.g. here is a list of supported syntaxes and the resulting timestamp.

2018-01-01..2018-01-02,
2018-01-01..02,
2018-1-1..2

=== 2018-01-01T00:00:00..2018-01-02T23:59:59

etc...

Changing the default MAX_LIMIT

By default the maximum value for a limit option is set by dare.MAX_LIMIT, you can override this in an instance of Dare.

const Dare = require('dare');

// Initiate it
const dare = new Dare();

dare.MAX_LIMIT = 1000000;

Post format the response

The dare.response_row_handler is a little helper to format or redirect the response data as it's being processed. Using this approach to post-processing should give better performance on large datasets.

E.g.

// create a new dare instance to avoid polluting the others.
dare = dare.use(); 

// Define a response_row_handler on the new instance...
dare.response_row_handler = (item) => {
    // rudimentary write out as CSV.
    res.write(Object.keys(item).join(',') + '\n');

    // Do not return anything unless you want to include it in `data` (see below)
};

// Execute the query
const data = await dare.get('users', ['name'], {limit: 10000000});

console.log(data.length === 0); // empty array