{"id":1974,"date":"2013-12-02T07:40:07","date_gmt":"2013-12-02T13:40:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wiredprairie.us\/blog\/?p=1974"},"modified":"2013-12-03T07:44:35","modified_gmt":"2013-12-03T13:44:35","slug":"loading-models-in-nodejs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wiredprairie.us\/blog\/index.php\/archives\/1974","title":{"rendered":"Loading Models in NodeJS"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019d <a href=\"http:\/\/stackoverflow.com\/a\/20327684\/95190\" target=\"_blank\">answered a question<\/a> on StackOverflow about where to put \u201cmodels\u201d in a NodeJS project. I wanted to elaborate on the simple auto loader I use to load a folder full of models (and I use this pattern other places as well). Normally, I create a folder called <strong>models<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.wiredprairie.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/image.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" title=\"image\" style=\"border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px\" border=\"0\" alt=\"image\" src=\"http:\/\/www.wiredprairie.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/image_thumb.png\" width=\"182\" height=\"293\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Inside the Models folder, I have a file called, <strong>models.js<\/strong>. <\/p>\n<p>Inside another module (like <strong>app.js<\/strong>), I\u2019ve got a line of code that looks like this:<\/p>\n<pre class=\"csharpcode\">\n<span class=\"kwrd\">var<\/span> models = require(<span class=\"str\">'.\/models'<\/span>).initialize(app, services);<\/pre>\n<style type=\"text\/css\">\n.csharpcode, .csharpcode pre\n{\n\tfont-size: small;\n\tcolor: black;\n\tfont-family: consolas, \"Courier New\", courier, monospace;\n\tbackground-color: #ffffff;\n\t\/*white-space: pre;*\/\n}\n.csharpcode pre { margin: 0em; }\n.csharpcode .rem { color: #008000; }\n.csharpcode .kwrd { color: #0000ff; }\n.csharpcode .str { color: #006080; }\n.csharpcode .op { color: #0000c0; }\n.csharpcode .preproc { color: #cc6633; }\n.csharpcode .asp { background-color: #ffff00; }\n.csharpcode .html { color: #800000; }\n.csharpcode .attr { color: #ff0000; }\n.csharpcode .alt \n{\n\tbackground-color: #f4f4f4;\n\twidth: 100%;\n\tmargin: 0em;\n}\n.csharpcode .lnum { color: #606060; }<\/style>\n<style type=\"text\/css\">\n.csharpcode, .csharpcode pre\n{\n\tfont-size: small;\n\tcolor: black;\n\tfont-family: consolas, \"Courier New\", courier, monospace;\n\tbackground-color: #ffffff;\n\t\/*white-space: pre;*\/\n}\n.csharpcode pre { margin: 0em; }\n.csharpcode .rem { color: #008000; }\n.csharpcode .kwrd { color: #0000ff; }\n.csharpcode .str { color: #006080; }\n.csharpcode .op { color: #0000c0; }\n.csharpcode .preproc { color: #cc6633; }\n.csharpcode .asp { background-color: #ffff00; }\n.csharpcode .html { color: #800000; }\n.csharpcode .attr { color: #ff0000; }\n.csharpcode .alt \n{\n\tbackground-color: #f4f4f4;\n\twidth: 100%;\n\tmargin: 0em;\n}\n.csharpcode .lnum { color: #606060; }<\/style>\n<p>While the <strong>require<\/strong> (<a href=\"http:\/\/nodejs.org\/api\/all.html#all_require\" target=\"_blank\">reference<\/a>) by default looks for a file called <strong>index.js<\/strong> in the folder <strong>models<\/strong>, I\u2019ve in this case added a simple <strong>package.json <\/strong>file with an override:<\/p>\n<pre class=\"csharpcode\">{\n    <span class=\"str\">&quot;main&quot;<\/span>: <span class=\"str\">&quot;.\/models.js&quot;<\/span>\n}<\/pre>\n<style type=\"text\/css\">\n.csharpcode, .csharpcode pre\n{\n\tfont-size: small;\n\tcolor: black;\n\tfont-family: consolas, \"Courier New\", courier, monospace;\n\tbackground-color: #ffffff;\n\t\/*white-space: pre;*\/\n}\n.csharpcode pre { margin: 0em; }\n.csharpcode .rem { color: #008000; }\n.csharpcode .kwrd { color: #0000ff; }\n.csharpcode .str { color: #006080; }\n.csharpcode .op { color: #0000c0; }\n.csharpcode .preproc { color: #cc6633; }\n.csharpcode .asp { background-color: #ffff00; }\n.csharpcode .html { color: #800000; }\n.csharpcode .attr { color: #ff0000; }\n.csharpcode .alt \n{\n\tbackground-color: #f4f4f4;\n\twidth: 100%;\n\tmargin: 0em;\n}\n.csharpcode .lnum { color: #606060; }<\/style>\n<p>The reason I do this is that in a tabbed source code editor, having several <strong>index.js<\/strong> files can be confusing to see. So, this allows me to name the file something that is more memorable and understandable at a glance. <\/p>\n<p>Inside of the <strong>models.js<\/strong> class, I\u2019ve written code to automatically load all of the models (and call an <strong>initialize <\/strong>function once for each module):<\/p>\n<pre class=\"csharpcode\"><span class=\"kwrd\">var<\/span> initialize = <span class=\"kwrd\">function<\/span>(app, services) {\n    <span class=\"kwrd\">var<\/span> models = {};\n    <span class=\"kwrd\">var<\/span> currentFile = path.basename(__filename); <span class=\"rem\">\/\/ just file name<\/span>\n    <span class=\"kwrd\">var<\/span> modelFiles = fs.readdirSync(__dirname);\n    <span class=\"rem\">\/\/ loop through all of the files in the current directory<\/span>\n    <span class=\"kwrd\">for<\/span>(<span class=\"kwrd\">var<\/span> i= 0, len = modelFiles.length; i &lt; len; i++) {\n        <span class=\"rem\">\/\/ ignore this file (via global NodeJS variable)<\/span>\n        <span class=\"kwrd\">if<\/span>(modelFiles[i] === currentFile ||\n            path.extname(modelFiles[i]).toLowerCase() !== <span class=\"str\">'.js'<\/span>) {\n            <span class=\"kwrd\">continue<\/span>;  <span class=\"rem\">\/\/ skip the current file and anything without a &quot;JS&quot; extension<\/span>\n        }\n        <span class=\"rem\">\/\/ require it<\/span>\n        <span class=\"kwrd\">var<\/span> model = require(path.join(__dirname, modelFiles[i]));\n        <span class=\"rem\">\/\/ call its intialize<\/span>\n        model.initialize(services, models);\n    }\n    exports.models = models;\n    <span class=\"kwrd\">return<\/span> models;\n};\n\nexports.initialize = initialize;<\/pre>\n<style type=\"text\/css\">\n.csharpcode, .csharpcode pre\n{\n\tfont-size: small;\n\tcolor: black;\n\tfont-family: consolas, \"Courier New\", courier, monospace;\n\tbackground-color: #ffffff;\n\t\/*white-space: pre;*\/\n}\n.csharpcode pre { margin: 0em; }\n.csharpcode .rem { color: #008000; }\n.csharpcode .kwrd { color: #0000ff; }\n.csharpcode .str { color: #006080; }\n.csharpcode .op { color: #0000c0; }\n.csharpcode .preproc { color: #cc6633; }\n.csharpcode .asp { background-color: #ffff00; }\n.csharpcode .html { color: #800000; }\n.csharpcode .attr { color: #ff0000; }\n.csharpcode .alt \n{\n\tbackground-color: #f4f4f4;\n\twidth: 100%;\n\tmargin: 0em;\n}\n.csharpcode .lnum { color: #606060; }<\/style>\n<style type=\"text\/css\">\n.csharpcode, .csharpcode pre\n{\n\tfont-size: small;\n\tcolor: black;\n\tfont-family: consolas, \"Courier New\", courier, monospace;\n\tbackground-color: #ffffff;\n\t\/*white-space: pre;*\/\n}\n.csharpcode pre { margin: 0em; }\n.csharpcode .rem { color: #008000; }\n.csharpcode .kwrd { color: #0000ff; }\n.csharpcode .str { color: #006080; }\n.csharpcode .op { color: #0000c0; }\n.csharpcode .preproc { color: #cc6633; }\n.csharpcode .asp { background-color: #ffff00; }\n.csharpcode .html { color: #800000; }\n.csharpcode .attr { color: #ff0000; }\n.csharpcode .alt \n{\n\tbackground-color: #f4f4f4;\n\twidth: 100%;\n\tmargin: 0em;\n}\n.csharpcode .lnum { color: #606060; }<\/style>\n<p>The logic is simple enough \u2013 grab all of the files in the current path, then loop through each, filtering the current file and any that don\u2019t end with \u201cjs\u201d. This logic could be adjusted of course to reflect other coding styles and requirements.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, each module is loaded and then an initialize method is called (admittedly, I could make it more robust by checking for the existence of the <strong>initialize<\/strong> function before calling it (but in this case, I know each module should be initialized in a particular way).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019d answered a question on StackOverflow about where to put \u201cmodels\u201d in a NodeJS project. I wanted to elaborate on the simple auto loader I use to load a folder full of models (and I use this pattern other places as well). Normally, I create a folder called models: Inside the Models folder, I have [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[4],"tags":[120,102,124],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd5QIe-vQ","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1820,"url":"https:\/\/www.wiredprairie.us\/blog\/index.php\/archives\/1820","url_meta":{"origin":1974,"position":0},"title":"Knockout binding for JavaScript route fixup","date":"January 25, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Part one. After the first round, I felt compelled to KnockOut the code a bit more. I\u2019d mentioned I wasn\u2019t pleased with the code exactly. It needed some refactoring. So, I\u2019ve created a new Knockout binding handler. This binding handler replaces\u00a0 named parameters with a model\u2019s properties in a path.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Coding&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1345,"url":"https:\/\/www.wiredprairie.us\/blog\/index.php\/archives\/1345","url_meta":{"origin":1974,"position":1},"title":"Creating a simple Entity Reference system for Ember.js","date":"December 28, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I had some data stored in a structure similar to this: Nothing too fancy. A table of Gift(s) and a table of Person(s). Each gift had a foreign key relationship to a Person (the person who \u201cgave\u201d the gift). Since some people may give several gifts, I didn\u2019t want to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Coding&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1996,"url":"https:\/\/www.wiredprairie.us\/blog\/index.php\/archives\/1996","url_meta":{"origin":1974,"position":2},"title":"Animating an element&rsquo;s visibility using AngularJS","date":"January 31, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"There was a question on StackOverflow about animating an element and I wanted to give it a shot, so here goes: http:\/\/jsfiddle.net\/wiredprairie\/5tFCZ\/1\/ \u00a0 Imagine nearly the simplest Angular JS application possible: <div ng-app=\"App\"> <div ng-init=\"checked=true\"> <div> <label> <input type=\"checkbox\" ng-model=\"checked\" \/>Is Visible...<\/label> <\/div> <div class=\"sample\" ng-class=\"{ hidden: !checked }\">Visible...<\/div> <\/div>\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Coding&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1430,"url":"https:\/\/www.wiredprairie.us\/blog\/index.php\/archives\/1430","url_meta":{"origin":1974,"position":3},"title":"Ember.JS and EZdata, and Rails","date":"January 7, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019ve been trying to do some additional work on my ember.js extension for data management. At the same time though, I\u2019ve been trying (to learn and) build a simple Ruby on Rails web demo application using the new JavaScript library. There have been more than a few things that have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Coding&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1835,"url":"https:\/\/www.wiredprairie.us\/blog\/index.php\/archives\/1835","url_meta":{"origin":1974,"position":4},"title":"How to rewrite a MongoDB C# LINQ with a Projection Requirement using a MongoCursor","date":"January 26, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The LINQ Provider for MongoDB does not currently take into account data projections efficiently when returning data. This could mean that you\u2019re unnecessarily returning more data from the database than is needed. So, I\u2019m going to show you the pattern I applied as a replacement for the LINQ queries when\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Coding&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1857,"url":"https:\/\/www.wiredprairie.us\/blog\/index.php\/archives\/1857","url_meta":{"origin":1974,"position":5},"title":"Finding duplicates in MongoDB via the shell","date":"March 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I thought this was an interesting question to answer on StackOverflow (summarized here): I\u2019m trying to create an index, but an error is returned that duplicates exist for the field I want to index. What should I do? I answered with one possibility. The summary is that you can use\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Coding&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wiredprairie.us\/blog\/index.php\/wpjson\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1974"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wiredprairie.us\/blog\/index.php\/wpjson\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wiredprairie.us\/blog\/index.php\/wpjson\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wiredprairie.us\/blog\/index.php\/wpjson\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wiredprairie.us\/blog\/index.php\/wpjson\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1974"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.wiredprairie.us\/blog\/index.php\/wpjson\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1974\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1977,"href":"https:\/\/www.wiredprairie.us\/blog\/index.php\/wpjson\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1974\/revisions\/1977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wiredprairie.us\/blog\/index.php\/wpjson\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wiredprairie.us\/blog\/index.php\/wpjson\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wiredprairie.us\/blog\/index.php\/wpjson\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}