Rocky

Rocky is an framework for building powerful and scalable APIs for your imp-powered products.

Important From version 3.0.0, Rocky is implemented as a table rather than a class. This is a breaking change. This change has been made to ensure that Rocky is available solely as a singleton. For full details on updating your code, please see Rocky Usage, below.

You can view the library’s source code on GitHub.

The Rocky library consists of the following components:

Rocky — The core application, used to create routes, set default handlers, etc.
- Singleton Methods
- Rocky.init() — Initializes the singleton and prepares it for use.
- Rocky.get() — Creates a handler for GET requests that match the specified signature.
- Rocky.put() — Creates a handler for PUT requests that match the specified signature.
- Rocky.post() — Creates a handler for POST requests that match the specified signature.
- Rocky.on() — Creates a handler for requests that match the specified verb and signature.
- Rocky.use() — Binds one or more middlewares to all routes.
- Rocky.authorize() — Specify the default authorize handler for all routes.
- Rocky.onUnauthorized() — Specify the default onUnauthorized callback for all routes.
- Rocky.onTimeout() — Set the default onTimeout handler for all routes.
- Rocky.onNotFound() — Set the default onNotFound handler for all routes.
- Rocky.onException() — Set the default onException handler for all routes.
- Rocky.getContext() — Retrieve a Rocky.Context object by its ID.
- Rocky.sendToAll() — Send a response to all open requests.
Rocky.Route — A handler for a specific route.
- Instance Methods
- Rocky.Route.use() -— Binds one or more middlewares to the route.
- Rocky.Route.authorize() — Specify the default authorize handler for the route.
- Rocky.Route.onUnauthorized() — Specify the default onUnauthorized callback for the route.
- Rocky.Route.onTimeout() — Set the default onTimeout handler for the route.
- Rocky.Route.onException() — Set the default onException handler for the route.
- Rocky.Route.hasHandler() — Determine if the route has a named handler registered.
- Rocky.Route.getHandler() — Get a named handler.
- Rocky.Route.getTimeout() — Retrieve the current route-specific timeout setting.
- Rocky.Route.setTimeout() — Set a new route-level timeout.
Rocky.Context - The information passed into a route handler.
- Instance Methods
- Rocky.Context.send() — Sends an HTTP response.
- Rocky.Context.isComplete() — Returns whether a response has been sent for the current context.
- Rocky.Context.getHeader() — Attempts to get the specified header from the request object.
- Rocky.Context.setHeader() — Sets the specified header in the response object.
- Rocky.Context.setTimeout() — Set a context timeout.
- Rocky.Context.isBrowser() — Returns true if the request contains an Accept: text/html header.
- Class Methods
- Rocky.Context.get() — Class method that can retrieve a specific context.
- Rocky.Context.sendToAll() — Class method that sends a response to all open requests/contexts.
- Properties
- Rocky.Context.req — The HTTP Request Table.
- Rocky.Context.id — The context's unique ID.
- Rocky.Context.path — The full path the request was made to.
- Rocky.Context.matches — An array of matches to the path's regular expression.
- Rocky.Context.userdata — A field developers can use to store data during long running tasks, etc
Middleware - Used to transform and verify data before the main request handler.
- Order of Execution — Explanation of the execution flow for middleware and event handlers.
CORS Requests — How to handle cross-site HTTP requests (CORS).

Rocky Usage

From version 3.0.0, Rocky is implemented as a table to enforce singleton behavior. You code should no longer instantiate Rocky using a constructor call, but instead call the new init() method to initialize the library.

All of Rocky’s methods are accessible as before, and return the same values. init() returns a reference to the Rocky singleton. There is no longer a distinction between class and instance methods: all of Rocky’s methods can be called on Rocky itself, or an alias variables, as these reference the same table:

// These calls are equivalent
app.get("/users/([^/]*)", function(context) {
    local username = context.matches[1];
});

Rocky.get("/users/([^/]*)", function(context) {
    local username = context.matches[1];
});

Note Rocky.Context and Rocky.Route continue to be implemented as classes, but remember that you will not be creating instances of these classes yourself — new instances will be made available to you as needed, by Rocky.

Rocky Methods

init([settings])

The new init() method takes the same argument as the former constructor: an optional table of settings.

Even if your code doesn’t alter Rocky’s default behavior, you still need to call init() in order to ensure that the table is correctly initialized for use. If you call init() again, the default settings and event handlers will be re-applied.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required?	Description
settings	Table	No	See Initialization Options for details and setting defaults

Initialization Options

A table containing any of the following keys may be passed into init() to modify the library’s default behavior:

Key	Description
accessControl	Modifies whether Rocky will automatically add `Access-Control` headers to the response object. Default: `true`
allowUnsecure	Modifies whether Rocky will accept HTTP requests. Default: `false` (ie. HTTPS only)
strictRouting	Enables or disables strict routing. Default: `false` (ie. Rocky will consider `/foo` and `/foo/` to be identical)
sigCaseSensitive	Enforce signature case sensitivity. Default: `false` (ie. Rocky will consider `/FOO` and `/foo` to be identical)
timeout	Modifies how long Rocky will hold onto a request before automatically executing the onTimeout handler. Default: 10s

Example

#require "rocky.agent.lib.nut:3.0.2"

local settings = { "timeout": 30 };
app <- Rocky.init(settings);

VERB(signature, callback[, timeout])

Rocky’s VERB() methods allow you to assign routes based on the specified verb and signature. The following VERB() methods are provided:

app.get(signature, callback[, timeout])
app.put(signature, callback[, timeout])
app.post(signature, callback[, timeout])

When a match is found on the verb (as specified by the method) and the signature, the callback function will be executed. The callback receives a Rocky.Context object as its only argument.

An optional route-level timeout can be specified. If no timeout is specified, the timeout set in the initializer will be used.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required?	Description
signature	String	Yes	A signature defining the API endpoint
callback	Function	Yes	A function to handle the request. It receives a Rocky.Context object
timeout	String	No	An optional request timeout in seconds. Default: the global default or init()-applied timeout

Returns

Rocky.Route — an instance representing the registered handler.

Example

// Responds with '200, { "message": "hello world" }'
// when the user makes a GET request to the agent URL:
app.get("/", function(context) {
    context.send({ "message": "hello world" })
})

on(verb, signature, callback[, timeout])

This method allows you to create APIs that use verbs other than GET, PUT or POST. The on() method works identically to the VERB() methods, but you specify the verb as a string.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required?	Description
verb	String	Yes	The HTTP request verb
signature	String	Yes	A signature defining the API endpoint
callback	Function	Yes	A function to handle the request. It receives a Rocky.Context object
timeout	String	No	An optional request timeout in seconds. Default: the global default or init()-applied timeout

Returns

Rocky.Route — an instance representing the registered handler.

Example

// Delete a user
app.on("delete", "/users/([^/]*)", function(context) {
    // Grab the username from the regex
    // (context.matches[0] will always be the full path)
    local username = context.matches[1];

    if (username in usersTable) {
        // If we found the user, delete it and return 201
        delete usersTable[username]
        context.send(201, null);
    } else {
        // if the user doesn't exist, return a 404
        context.send(404, { "error": "Unknown User" });
    }
});

use(callback)

This method allows you to attach an application-specific handler, called a “middleware” function, or an array of middleware functions, to the global Rocky object. Please see Middleware for more information.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required?	Description
callback	Function or array of functions	Yes	One or more middleware functions

The callback function receives a Rocky.Context object and a reference to the next middleware in sequence as its arguments. See the example below for guidance.

Returns

this — the target Rocky instance.

Example

// Create a function to add the specific CORS headers we want:
function customCORSMiddleware(context, next) {
    context.setHeader("Access-Control-Allow-Origin", "*");
    context.setHeader("Access-Control-Allow-Headers", "Origin, X-Requested-With, Content-Type, Accept");
    context.setHeader("Access-Control-Allow-Methods", "POST, PUT, PATCH, GET, OPTIONS");

    // Invoke the next middleware
    next();
}

app <- Rocky.init({ "accessControl": false });

// Add the middleware to the global Rocky object so every
// incoming request has the headers added
app.use([customCORSMiddleware]);

app.get("/", function(context) {
    context.send(200, { "message": "Hello World" });
});

authorize(callback)

This method allows you to specify a global function to validate or authorize incoming requests.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required?	Description
callback	Function	Yes	A function to authorize or reject the request

The callback function takes a Rocky.Context object as its single argument and must return either true (if the request is authorized) or false (if the request is not authorized). The callback is executed before the main request handler, so:

If the callback returns true, the route handler will be invoked.
If the callback returns false, the onUnauthorized response handler is invoked.

Returns

this — the target Rocky instance.

Example

app.authorize(function(context) {
    // Ensure user has a valid api key
    return (context.getHeader("api-key") in apiKeys);
});

onUauthorized(callback)

This method allows you to configure the default response to requests that fail to be authorized via the callback registered with authorize().

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required?	Description
callback	Function	Yes	A function to manage unauthorized requests

The callback takes a Rocky.Context object as its single argument and will be executed for all unauthorized requests that do not have a route-level onUnauthorized response handler.

Returns

this — the target Rocky instance.

Example

app.onUnauthorized(function(context) {
    context.send(401, { "message": "Unauthorized" });
});

onTimeout(callback, [timeout])

This method allows you to configure the default response to requests that exceed the timeout.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required?	Description
callback	Function	Yes	A function to manage requests that timed out
timeout	Float or integer	No	Optional timeout in seconds. Default: 10s

The callback takes a Rocky.Context object as its single argument and will be executed for all timed out requests that do not have a route-level onTimeout response handler. The callback should (but is not required to) send a response code of 408.

Returns

this — the target Rocky instance.

Example

app.onTimeout(function(context) {
    context.send(408, { "message": "Agent Timeout" });
});

onNotFound(callback)

This method allows you to configure the response handler for requests that could not match a route.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required?	Description
callback	Function	Yes	A function to manage requests that could not be matched to an endpoint

The callback takes a Rocky.Context object as its single argument. It should (but is not required to) send a response code of 404.

Returns

this — the target Rocky instance.

Example

app.onNotFound(function(context) {
    context.send(404, { "message": "The resource you're looking for doesn't exist" });
});

onException(callback)

This method allows you to configure the global response handler for requests that encounter runtime errors.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required?	Description
callback	Function	Yes	A function to manage requests that triggered runtime errors

The callback takes a Rocky.Context object and the exception as its arguments. See the example below for usage guidance. It will be executed for all requests that encounter runtime errors and do not have a route-level onException handler. This method should (but is not required to) send a response code of 500.

Returns

this — the target Rocky instance.

Example

app.onException(function(context, except) {
    context.send(500, { "message": "Internal Agent Error",
                        "error":   except });
});

getContext(id)

Every Rocky.Context object created by Rocky is assigned a unique ID that can retrieved by reading its context.id field. Pass such an ID into getContext() to retrieve previously created contexts. This method is primarily used for long-running or asynchronous requests.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required?	Description
id	String	Yes	The ID of the required context

Returns

Nothing.

Example

In this example, we fetch the temperature from the device when the request is made.

// Agent Code
app.get("/temp", function(context) {
    // Send a getTemp request to the device, and pass context.id as the data
    device.send("getTemp", context.id);
});

device.on("getTempResponse", function(data) {
    // When we get a getTempResponse message, get the context
    local context = app.getContext(data.id);

    // then send the response using that context
    if (!context.isComplete()) {
        context.send(200, { "temp": data.temp });
    }
});

// Device Code
agent.on("getTemp", function(id) {
    local temp = getTemp();
    // When we get a "getTemp" message, send back a response that includes
    // the id passed to the device, and the temperature data
    agent.send("getTempResponse", { "id": id, "temp": temp });
});

sendToAll(statuscode, response[, headers])

This method sends a response to all open requests. This is most useful in APIs that allow for long-polling.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required?	Description
statuscode	Integer	Yes	The response’s HTTP status code
response	String	Yes	The response’s body
headers	Table	No	Additional response headers and their values. Default: no extra headers

Returns

Nothing.

Example

app.get("/poll", function(context) {
    // Do nothing
});

// When we get data - send it to all open requests
device.on("data", function(data) {
    app.sendToAll(200, data);
});

Rocky.Route Methods

The Rocky.Route object encapsulates the behavior associated with a request made to a specific route. You should never call the Rocky.Route constructor directly; instead, create and associate routes using Rocky’s get(), put(), post() and on() methods.

All methods that affect the behavior of a route are designed to be used in a fluent style, ie. the methods return the route object itself, so they can be chained together. For example:

app.get("/", function(context) {
    context.send({ "message": "hello world" });
}).authorize(function(context) {
    return (context.getHeader("api-key") in apiKeys);
}).onUnauthorized(function(context) {
    context.send(401, { "message": "Unauthorized" });
});

use(callback)

This method allows you to attach a middleware function, or an array of middleware functions, to a specific route. Please see Middleware for more information.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required?	Description
callback	Function or array of functions	Yes	One or more middleware functions

The callback function receives a Rocky.Context object and a reference to the next middleware in sequence as its arguments. See the example below for guidance.

Returns

Nothing.

Example

app <- Rocky.init();

// Custom Middleware to validate new users
function validateNewUserMiddleware(context, next) {
    // Make sure they supplied a username nas password
    if (!("username" in context.req.body)) context.send(400, "Required parameter 'username' missing");
    if (!("passwordHash" in context.req.body)) context.send(400, "Required parameter 'passwordHash' missing");

    // Ensure the username is unique
    if (context.req.body.username in usernames) context.send(400, "Requested username already exists");

    // Invoke the next middleware
    next();
}

app.post("/users", function(context) {
    // We know the required fields exist because we've attached a middleware
    // to check for them
    usernames[context.req.body.username] <- context.req.body.passwordHash;
    context.send(200, "OK");
}).use([ validateNewUserMiddleware ]);

authorize(callback)

This method allows you to specify a route-level function to validate or authorize incoming requests. Such a route-level authorization handler will override the global authorization handler set by Rocky’s authorize() method for requests made to the specified route.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required?	Description
callback	Function	Yes	A function to authorize or reject the request

The callback function receives a Rocky.Context object as its single argument and must return either true (if the request is authorized) or false (if the request is not authorized). The callback is executed before the main request handler, so:

If the callback returns true, the route handler will be invoked.
If the callback returns false, the route-specific onUnauthorized response handler is invoked. If there is no route-specific onUnauthorized response handler, the global onUnauthorized response handler is invoked.

Returns

Nothing.

Example

// Delete a user
app.on("delete", "/users/([^/]*)", function(context) {
    // Grab the username from the regex
    local username = context.matches[1];

    delete users[username];
    context.send(201);
}).authorize(function(context) {
    return (context.getHeader("api-key") in apiKeys.admin);
});

onUauthorized(callback)

This method allows you to configure a route-level response to requests that fail the route-specific authorization handler, if present. A route-level onUnauthorized handler will override the global onUnauthorized handler set by Rocky’s onUnauthorized() method for requests made to the specified route.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required?	Description
callback	Function	Yes	A function to authorize or reject the request

The callback function receives a Rocky.Context object as its single argument and will be executed for all unauthorized requests made to the specified route.

Return Value

Nothing.

Example

// Delete a user
app.on("delete", "/users/([^/]*)", function(context) {
    // Grab the username from the regex
    local username = context.matches[1];

    delete users[username];
    context.send(201);
}).authorize(function(context) {
    return (context.getHeader("api-key") in apiKeys.admin);
}).onUnauthorized(function(context) {
    context.send(401, { "message": "API-Key does not have delete permissions for the users resource." });
});

onTimeout(callback)

This method allows you to configure a route-level response to requests that exceed the timeout. A route-level onTimeout handler will override the global onTimeout handler set by Rocky’s onTimeout() method for requests made to the specified route.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required?	Description
callback	Function	Yes	A function to manage requests that timed out

The callback takes a Rocky.Context object as its single argument and will be executed for all timed out requests made to the specified route. The callback should (but is not required to) send a response code of 408.

Returns

Nothing.

Example

app.get("/", function(context) {
    device.send("getTemp", context.id);
}).onTimeout(function(context) {
    context.send(408, { "message": "Device timeout fetching temp data"});
});

device.on("getTempResponse", function(data) {
    local context = Rocky.getContext(data.id);
    if (!context.isComplete()) {
        context.send(200, { "temp": data.temp });
    }
});

onException(callback)

This method allows you to configure a route-level response handler for requests that encounter runtime errors. A route-level onException handler will override the global onException handler set by Rocky’s onTimeout() method for requests made to the specified route.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required?	Description
callback	Function	Yes	A function to manage requests that triggered runtime errors

The callback takes a Rocky.Context object and the exception as its arguments. See the example below for usage guidance. It will be executed for all requests made to the specified route that encounter runtime errors. This method should (but is not required to) send a response code of 500.

Returns

Nothing.

Example

app.get("/", function(context) {
    x = 5;  // Throws an error
    context.send(200, { "data": x });
}).onException(function(context, ex) {
    context.send(500, { "message": "Agent Error", "error": ex });
});

hasHandler(handlerName)

This method allows you to check whether a specific handler has been set for a given Rocky.Route instance.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required?	Description
handlerName	String	Yes	The requested handler’s name

Returns

Boolean — true if the named handler has been registered, otherwise false.

getHandler(handlerName)

This method allows you to retrieve a specific handler by its name.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required?	Description
handlerName	String	Yes	The requested handler’s name

Returns

Function — The named handler, otherwise null.

execute(handlerName)

getTimeout()

This method allows you to retrieve the current route-specific timeout setting.

Returns

Float — The current timeout value.

setTimeout(timeout)

This method allows you to specify a new route-level timeout setting.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required?	Description
timeout	Float or integer	Yes	The new timeout setting

Returns

Float — The new timeout value.

Rocky.Context Instance Methods

A Rocky.Context object encapsulates an HTTP Request Table, an HTTPResponse object, and other important information. When a request is made, Rocky will automatically generate a new context object for that request and pass it to the required callbacks. Never manually create a Rocky.Context object.

send(statuscode[, message])

This method returns a response to a request made to a Rocky application.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required?	Description
statuscode	Integer	Yes	The response’s HTTP status code
message	String, array or table	No	The response’s body. Arrays and tables are automatically JSON-encoded before being sent

Return Value

Boolean — false if the context has already been used to respond to the request, otherwise true.

Examples

app.get("/color", function(context) {
    context.send(200, { "color": led.color })
})

send(message)

The send() method may also be invoked without a status code. When invoked in this fashion, a status code of 200 is assumed.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required?	Description
message	String, array or table	Yes	The response’s body. Arrays and tables are automatically JSON-encoded before being sent

Return Value

Boolean — false if the context has already been used to respond to the request, otherwise true.

Example

app.get("/", function(context) {
    context.send("OK");  // Equivalent to context.send(200, "OK");
})

isComplete()

This method indicates whether or not a response has been sent for the current context. Rocky keeps track of whether or not a response has been sent, and middlewares and route handlers don’t execute if the context has already sent a response.

This method should primarily be used for developers extending Rocky.

Return Value

Boolean — true if the context’s response has already been sent, otherwise false.

getHeader(name)

This method attempts to retrieve a header from the context’s HTTP Request table.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required?	Description
name	String	Yes	The header’s name

Return Value

String — If the header is present, the value of the header; otherwise null.

Example

// user:password
auth <- "Basic 55de9ca4317bcee87146df33d308ca2d";

app.get("/", function(context) {
    context.send(200, "OK");
}).authorize(function(context) {
    return (context.getHeader("Authorization") == auth);
});

setHeader(name, value)

This method adds the specified header to the HTTPResponse object sent by calling send().

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required?	Description
name	String	Yes	The header’s name
value	String	Yes	The header’s value

Return Value

Nothing.

Example

app.get("/", function(context) {
    // Redirect requests made to / to /index.html
    // Add a `location` header
    context.setHeader("Location", http.agenturl() + "/index.html");
    context.send(301);
});

setTimeout(timeout[, callback][, exceptionHandler])

This method allows you to specify a timeout for the context. Calling this method immediately sets a timer which will fire when the timeout is exceeded. This sets a time limit before which the context must be resolved by calling send().

If the timer fires and no function has been passed into callback, then the context will be sent with a status code of 504 (gateway timeout).

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required?	Description
timeout	Float or integer	Yes	The new timeout setting
callback	Function	No	A handler to be called if the timeout is exceeded
exceptionHandler	Function	No	A handler to be called if the callback triggers a runtime error

Returns

Nothing.

isBrowser()

This method indicates whether the Accept: text/html header was present.

Return Value

Boolean — true if the Accept: text/html header was present; otherwise false.

Example

const INDEX_HTML = @"
<html>
    <head>
        <title>My Agent</title>
    </head>
    <body>
        <h1>Hello World!</h1>
    </body>
</html>
";

app.get("/", function(context) {
    context.send(200, { message = "Hello World!" });
});

app.get("/index.html", function(context) {
    if (!context.isBrowser()) {
        // If it was an API request
        context.setHeader("location", http.agenturl());
        context.send(301);
        return;
    }

    // If it was a browser request:
    context.send(200, INDEX_HTML);
});

Rocky.Context Class Methods

Rocky.Context.get(id)

This method allows you to retrieve a specific context as referenced by its unique ID.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required?	Description
id	String	Yes	The ID of the required context

Returns

Rocky.Context — the requested context object, or null if the ID is unrecognized.

Rocky.Context.sendToAll(statuscode, response[, headers])

This method sends a response to all open requests. The preferred way of invoking this method is by calling Rocky’s sendToAll() method.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required?	Description
statuscode	Integer	Yes	The response’s HTTP status code
response	String	Yes	The response’s body
headers	Table	No	Additional response headers and their values. Default: no extra headers

Returns

Nothing.

Rocky.Context Properties

context.req

The req property is a representation of the underlying HTTP Request table. All fields available in the HTTP Request table can be accessed through this property.

If a content-type header was included in the request, and the content type was set to application/json or application/x-www-form-urlencoded, the body property of the request will be a table representing the parsed data, rather than the raw body.

If the content type was set to multipart/form-data;, the body property will be an array of tables.

Note 1 If the application requires access to the raw and unparsed body of the request, this can be accessed at context.req.rawbody.

Note 2 If you make the http.post() call without any HTTP headers explicitly specified, you may end up receiving a request with the application/x-www-form-urlencoded content type.

Examples

In the following example, we assume requests made to POST /users include a content-type header:

app.post("/users", function(context) {
    local username = null;
    local user = {
        "name": null,
        "twitter": null
    }

    if (!("username" in context.req.body)) {
        context.send(400, { "message": "Missing Required Parameter 'username'" });
        return;
    }

    username = context.req.body.username;

    if (username in users) {
        context.send(400, { "message": format("Username '%s' already taken.", username) });
        return;
    }

    if ("name" in context.req.body) user.name = context.req.body.name;
    if ("twitter" in context.req.body) user.twitter = context.req.body.twitter;

    users[username] <- user;

    /******************** SET THE LOCATION HEADER ********************/
    context.setHeader("location", format("/users/%s", username));

    context.send(201);
});

The following examples show the difference between context.req.body and context.req.rawbody. First, code to send a post request:

// Note that application/x-www-form-urlencoded content-type is added to headers by default
local req = http.post( (http.agenturl() + "/data"), {}, "hello world" )
    req.sendasync(function(res) {
    server.log(res.statuscode);
})

Now, a way to get the parsed request body as a table:

app.post("/data", function(context) {
    // In this case table identifier will be printed in the server log
    server.log(context.req.body);
    context.send(200);
});

And a way to get the unparsed request body as a string:

app.post("/data", function(context) {
    // In this case string "hello world" will be printed in the server log
    server.log(context.req.rawbody);
    context.send(200);
});

context.id

The id property is a unique value that identifies the context. It is primarily used during long-running tasks and asynchronous requests. See Rocky’s getContext() method for an example of its usage.

context.path

The path property is an array that contains each element in the path. If a request is made to /a/b/c then path will be ["a", "b", "c"].

Example

app.get("/users/([^/]*)", function(context) {
    // Grab the username from the path
    local username = context.path[1];

    // if the user doesn't exist:
    if (!(username in users)) {
        context.send(404, { "message": format("No 'user' resource matching '%s'", username) });
        return;
    }

    // Return the user if it exists
    context.send(200, users[username]);
});

context.matches

The matches property is an array that represents the results of the regular expression used to find a matching route. If you included a regular expression in your signature, you can use the matches array to access any expressions you may have captured. The first element of the array will always be the full path.

Example

app.get("/users/([^/]*)", function(context) {
    // Grab the username from the regular expression matches, instead of the path array
    local username = context.matches[1];

    // if the user doesn't exist:
    if (!(username in users)) {
        context.send(404, { "message": format("No 'user' resource matching '%s'", username) });
        return;
    }

    // Return the user if it exists
    context.send(200, users[username]);
});

context.userdata

The userdata property can be used by the developer to store any information relevant to the current context. This is primarily used during long-running tasks and asynchronous requests.

Example

app.get("/temp", function(context) {
    context.userdata = { "startTime": time() };
    device.send("getTemp", context.id);
});

device.on("getTempResponse", function(data) {
    local context = app.getContext(data.id);
    local roundTripTime = time() - context.userdata.startTime;
    context.send(200, { "temp": data.temp, "requestTime": roundTripTime });
});

context.sent

The sent property is deprecated. Developers should instead call isComplete().

Signatures

Signatures can either be fully qualified paths (/led/state) or include regular expressions (/users/([^/]*)). If the path is specified using a regular expression, any matches will be added to the Rocky.Context object passed into the callback.

In the following example, we capture the desired user’s username:

app.get("/users/([^/]*)", function(context) {
    // Grab the username from the regex
    // (context.matches[0] will always be the full path)
    local username = context.matches[1];

    if (username in usersTable) {
        // If we found the user, return the user object
        context.send(usersTable[username]);
    } else {
        // If the user doesn't exist, return a 404
        context.send(404, { "error": "Unknown User" });
    }
});

Middleware

Middleware allows you to add new functionality to your request handlers easily and scalably. Middleware functions can be attached at either a global level through Rocky’s use() method, or at the route level with Rocky.Route.use(). Middleware functions are invoked before the main request handler and can aid in debugging, data validation and transformation, and more.

Middleware functions are invoked with two parameters: a Rocky.Context object and a reference, next, to the next middleware/handler in the chain (see Order of Execution, below). At the end of the middleware, always call this reference as a function to ensure the next middleware is executed. If there is no subsequent middleware, the call to next hands control back to Rocky.

Responding to a request in a middleware prevents further middleware functions and event handlers (such as authorize, onAuthorized, etc) from executing.

In the following example, we create a middleware, debuggingMiddleware() that logs debug information for all incoming requests:

// Middleware to add some debugging information:
function debuggingMiddleware(context, next) {
    server.log("Got a request!");
    server.log("   VERB: " + context.req.method.toupper());
    server.log("   PATH: " + context.req.path.tolower());
    server.log("   TIME: " + time());

    // Invoke the next middleware in the sequence
    next();
}

app <- Rocky.init();
app.use(debuggingMiddleware);

app.get("/", function(context) {
    context.send({ "message": "Hello World!" });
});

app.get("/data", function(context) {
    context.send(data);
});

Middleware functions can also be used to extend or override default event handlers. In the following example we create middleware functions for checking whether read and write requests are authorized, and another middleware for validating write data:

// Middleware to check if incoming request has access to read data
function readAuthMiddleware(context, next) {
    local apiKey = context.getHeader("API-KEY");

    // Send a response will prevent the route handler from executing
    if (apiKey == null || !(apiKey in readKeys)) { context.send(401, { "error": "UNAUTHORIZED" }); }

    // Invoke the next middleware
    next();
}

// Middleware to check if incoming request has access to write data
function writeAuthMiddleware(context, next) {
    local apiKey = context.getHeader("API-KEY");

    // Send a response will prevent the route handler from executing
    if (apiKey == null || !(apiKey in writeKeys)) { context.send(401, { "error": "UNAUTHORIZED" }); }

    // Invoke the next middleware
    next();
}

// Middleware to validate incoming data
function validateDataMiddleware(context, next) {
    // If required parameters are missing, send a response (which prevents the route handler from executing)
    if (!("lowTemp" in context.req.body)) { context.send(400, { "error": "Missing required parameter 'lowTemp'" }); }
    if (!("highTemp" in context.req.body)) { context.send(400, { "error": "Missing required parameter 'highTemp'" }); }

    // Invoke the next middleware
    next();
}

app <- Rocky.init();

// Requests to GET /data will execute readAuthMiddleware,
// then the route handler if the readAuthMiddle didn't respond
app.get("/data", function(context) {
      context.send(200, data);
}).use([ readAuthMiddleware ]);

// Requests to POST /data will execute writeAuthMiddleware,
// then validateDataMiddleware, then the route handler if both
// middlewares didn't respond
app.post("/data", function(context) {
    // By the time we get here, we know we're authorized and have the
    // data we're expecting!

    // Send the data down to the device
    device.send("data", context.req.body);

    context.send({ "message": "Success!" });
}).use([writeAuthMiddleware, validateDataMiddleware]);

Having access to the function referenced by next allows you to complete asynchronous operations before moving on to the next middleware or handler. In the following example, we look up a user ID from a remote service before moving on:

function userIdMiddleware(context, next) {
    if (!("username" in context.req.body)) {
        context.send(400, { "error": "Missing required parameter 'username'" });
        next();
    } else {
        local username = context.req.body.username;
        userService.getUserId(username, function(err, resp, result) {
            if (err != null) {
                context.send(400, { "error": err });
            } else {
                // stash the results in context.userdata for later use
                local userId = result.userId;
                context.userdata["username"] <- username;
                context.userdata["userId"] <- result.userId;
            }
            next();
        });
    }
}

app.get("/user", function(context) {
    local userId = context.userdata.userId;
    context.send(users[userId]);
}).use([ userIdMiddleware ]);

Order of Execution

When Rocky processes an incoming HTTPS request, the following sequence of events takes place:

Rocky adds the access control headers unless the accessControl setting (see rocky.init()) is set to false.
Rocky rejects non-HTTPS requests unless the allowUnsecure setting (see rocky.init()) is set to true.
Rocky parses the request body.
- Rocky sends a 400 response if there was an error parsing the data.
Global-level middleware functions are invoked.
Route-level middleware functions are invoked.
If present, the global authorization function is invoked.
- If the global authorization function returned true, the global request handler is invoked.
- If the global authorization function returned false, the global unauthorized handler is invoked.

If a middleware function sends a response, no further action will be taken on the request.

If a runtime errors occurs after the data has been parsed, the onError handler will be invoked.

CORS Requests

During a cross domain AJAX request, some browsers will send a preflight request to determine if it has the permissions needed to perform the action.

To accommodate preflight requests you can add a wildcard OPTIONS handler:

app.on("OPTIONS", ".*", function(context) {
    context.send("OK");
});

By default, Rocky automatically adds the following headers to all responses:

Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *
Access-Control-Allow-Headers: Origin, X-Requested-With, Content-Type, Accept
Access-Control-Allow-Methods: POST, PUT, GET, OPTIONS

If you wish to override these default headers, you can instantiate Rocky with the accessControl setting set to false, and use a middleware to add the headers you wish to include. For example:

function customCORSMiddleware(context, next) {
    context.setHeader("Access-Control-Allow-Origin", "*");
    context.setHeader("Access-Control-Allow-Headers", "Origin, X-Requested-With, Content-Type, Accept, X-Version");
    context.setHeader("Access-Control-Allow-Methods", "POST, PUT, PATCH, GET, OPTIONS");

    // invoke the next middleware
    next();
}

app <- Rocky.init({ "accessControl": false });
app.use([ customCORSMiddleware ]);

License

This library is licensed under the MIT License.

Latest Version: 3.0.2

Rocky Usage

Rocky Methods

init([settings])

Parameters

Initialization Options

Example

VERB(signature, callback[, timeout])

Parameters

Returns

Example

on(verb, signature, callback[, timeout])

Parameters

Returns

Example

use(callback)

Parameters

Returns

Example

authorize(callback)

Parameters

Returns

Example

onUauthorized(callback)

Parameters

Returns

Example

onTimeout(callback, [timeout])

Parameters

Returns

Example

onNotFound(callback)

Parameters

Returns

Example

onException(callback)

Parameters

Returns

Example

getContext(id)

Parameters

Returns

Example

sendToAll(statuscode, response[, headers])

Parameters

Returns

Example

Rocky.Route Methods

use(callback)

Parameters

Returns

Example

authorize(callback)

Parameters

Returns

Example

onUauthorized(callback)

Parameters

Return Value

Example

onTimeout(callback)

Parameters

Returns

Example

onException(callback)

Parameters

Returns

Example

hasHandler(handlerName)

Parameters

Returns

getHandler(handlerName)

Parameters

Returns

execute(handlerName)

getTimeout()

Returns

setTimeout(timeout)

Parameters