loopback/docs/api.md

Node.js API

App

Create a Loopback application.

var loopback = require('loopback');
var app = loopback();

app.get('/', function(req, res){
  res.send('hello world');
});

app.listen(3000);

Notes

• extends express
• see express docs for details
• supports express / connect middleware

app.boot([options])

Initialize an application from an options object or a set of JSON and JavaScript files.

What happens during an app boot?

1. DataSources are created from an options.dataSources object or datasources.json in the current directory
2. Models are created from an options.models object or models.json in the current directory
3. Any JavaScript files in the ./models directory are loaded with require().

Options

• cwd - optional - the directory to use when loading JSON and JavaScript files
• models - optional - an object containing Model definitions
• dataSources - optional - an object containing DataSource definitions

NOTE: mixing app.boot() and app.model(name, config) in multiple files may result in models being undefined due to race conditions. To avoid this when using app.boot() make sure all models are passed as part of the models definition.

Model Definitions

The following is an example of an object containing two Model definitions: "location" and "inventory".

{
  "dealership": {
    // a reference, by name, to a dataSource definition
    "dataSource": "my-db",
    // the options passed to Model.extend(name, properties, options)
    "options": {
      "relationships": {
        "cars": {
          "type": "hasMany",
          "model": "Car",
          "foreignKey": "dealerId"  
        }
      },
      "remoteMethods": {
        "nearby": {
          "description": "Find nearby locations around the geo point",
          "accepts": [
            {"arg": "here", "type": "GeoPoint", "required": true, "description": "geo location (lat & lng)"}
          ],
          "returns": {"arg": "locations", "root": true}
        }
      }
    },
    // the properties passed to Model.extend(name, properties, options)
    "properties": {
      "id": {"id": true},
      "name": "String",
      "zip": "Number",
      "address": "String"
    }
  },
  "car": {
    "dataSource": "my-db"
    "properties": {
      "id": {
        "type": "String",
        "required": true,
        "id": true
      },
      "make": {
        "type": "String",
        "required": true
      },
      "model": {
        "type": "String",
        "required": true
      }
    }
  }
}

Model Definition Properties

• dataSource - required - a string containing the name of the data source definition to attach the Model to
• options - optional - an object containing Model options
• properties optional - an object defining the Model properties in LoopBack Definition Language

DataSource Definition Properties

• connector - required - the name of the connector

app.model(name, definition)

Define a Model and export it for use by remote clients.

// declare a DataSource
app.boot({
  dataSources: {
    db: {
      connector: 'mongodb',
      url: 'mongodb://localhost:27015/my-database-name'
    }
  }
});

// describe a model
var modelDefinition = {dataSource: 'db'};

// create the model
var Product = app.model('product', modelDefinition);

// use the model api
Product.create({name: 'pencil', price: 0.99}, console.log);

Note - this will expose all shared methods on the model.

You may also export an existing Model by calling app.model(Model) like the example below.

app.models.MyModel

All models are avaialbe from the loopback.models object. In the following example the Product and CustomerReceipt models are accessed using the models object.

NOTE: you must call app.boot() in order to build the app.models object.

var loopback = require('loopback');
var app = loopback();
app.boot({
  dataSources: {
    db: {connector: 'memory'}
  }
});
app.model('product', {dataSource: 'db'});
app.model('customer-receipt', {dataSource: 'db'});

// available based on the given name
var Product = app.models.Product;

// also available as camelCase
var product = app.models.product;

// multi-word models are avaiable as pascal cased
var CustomerReceipt = app.models.CustomerReceipt;

// also available as camelCase
var customerReceipt = app.models.customerReceipt;

app.models()

Get the app's exported models. Only models defined using app.model() will show up in this list.

var models = app.models();

models.forEach(function (Model) {
  console.log(Model.modelName); // color
});

app.docs(options)

Enable swagger REST API documentation.

Options

• basePath The basepath for your API - eg. 'http://localhost:3000'.

Example

// enable docs
app.docs({basePath: 'http://localhost:3000'});

Run your app then navigate to the api explorer. Enter your API basepath to view your generated docs.

app.use( router )

Expose models over specified router. For example, to expose models over REST using the loopback.rest router:

app.use(loopback.rest());

View generated REST documentation by visiting: http://localhost:3000/_docs.

Model

A Loopback Model is a vanilla JavaScript class constructor with an attached set of properties and options. A Model instance is created by passing a data object containing properties to the Model constructor. A Model constructor will clean the object passed to it and only set the values matching the properties you define.

// valid color
var Color = loopback.createModel('color', {name: String});
var red = new Color({name: 'red'});
console.log(red.name); // red

// invalid color
var foo = new Color({bar: 'bat baz'});
console.log(foo.bar); // undefined

Properties

A model defines a list of property names, types and other validation metadata. A DataSource uses this definition to validate a Model during operations such as save().

Options

Some DataSources may support additional Model options.

Define A Loopbackmodel.

var User = loopback.createModel('user', {
  first: String,
  last: String,
  age: Number
});

Validation (expiremental)

Model.validatesFormatOf(property, options)

Require a model to include a property that matches the given format.

User.validatesFormat('name', {with: /\w+/});

Model.validatesPresenceOf(properties...)

Require a model to include a property to be considered valid.

User.validatesPresenceOf('first', 'last', 'age');

Model.validatesLengthOf(property, options)

Require a property length to be within a specified range.

User.validatesLengthOf('password', {min: 5, message: {min: 'Password is too short'}});

Model.validatesInclusionOf(property, options)

Require a value for property to be in the specified array.

User.validatesInclusionOf('gender', {in: ['male', 'female']});

Model.validatesExclusionOf(property, options)

Require a value for property to not exist in the specified array.

User.validatesExclusionOf('domain', {in: ['www', 'billing', 'admin']});

Model.validatesNumericalityOf(property, options)

Require a value for property to be a specific type of Number.

User.validatesNumericalityOf('age', {int: true});

Model.validatesUniquenessOf(property, options)

Ensure the value for property is unique in the collection of models.

User.validatesUniquenessOf('email', {message: 'email is not unique'});

Note: not available for all connectors.

Currently supported in these connectors:

• In Memory
• Oracle
• MongoDB

myModel.isValid()

Validate the model instance.

user.isValid(function (valid) {
    if (!valid) {
        console.log(user.errors);
        // => hash of errors
        // => {
        // =>   username: [errmessage, errmessage, ...],
        // =>   email: ...
        // => }    
    }
});

Model.properties

An object containing a normalized set of properties supplied to loopback.createModel(name, properties).

Example:

var props = {
  a: String,
  b: {type: 'Number'},
  c: {type: 'String', min: 10, max: 100},
  d: Date,
  e: loopback.GeoPoint
};

var MyModel = loopback.createModel('foo', props);

console.log(MyModel.properties);

Outputs:

{
  "a": {type: String},
  "b": {type: Number},
  "c": {
    "type": String,
    "min": 10,
    "max": 100
  },
  "d": {type: Date},
  "e": {type: GeoPoint},
  "id": {
    "id": 1
  }
}

Model.attachTo(dataSource)

Attach a model to a DataSource. Attaching a DataSource updates the model with additional methods and behaviors.

var oracle = loopback.createDataSource({
  connector: require('loopback-connector-oracle'),
  host: '111.22.333.44',
  database: 'MYDB',
  username: 'username',
  password: 'password'
});

User.attachTo(oracle);

Note: until a model is attached to a data source it will not have any attached methods.

CRUD and Query Mixins

Mixins are added by attaching a vanilla model to a data source with a connector. Each connector enables its own set of operations that are mixed into a Model as methods. To see available methods for a data source call dataSource.operations().

Log the available methods for a memory data source.

var ops = loopback
    .createDataSource({connector: loopback.Memory})
    .operations();

console.log(Object.keys(ops));

Outputs:

[ 'create',
  'updateOrCreate',
  'upsert',
  'findOrCreate',
  'exists',
  'findById',
  'find',
  'all',
  'findOne',
  'destroyAll',
  'deleteAll',
  'count',
  'include',
  'relationNameFor',
  'hasMany',
  'belongsTo',
  'hasAndBelongsToMany',
  'save',
  'isNewRecord',
  'destroy',
  'delete',
  'updateAttribute',
  'updateAttributes',
  'reload' ]

Here is the definition of the count() operation.

{
  accepts: [ { arg: 'where', type: 'object' } ],
  http: { verb: 'get', path: '/count' },
  remoteEnabled: true,
  name: 'count'
}

Static Methods

Note: These are the default mixin methods for a Model attached to a data source. See the specific connector for additional API documentation.

Model.create(data, [callback])

Create an instance of Model with given data and save to the attached data source. Callback is optional.

User.create({first: 'Joe', last: 'Bob'}, function(err, user) {
  console.log(user instanceof User); // true
});

Note: You must include a callback and use the created model provided in the callback if your code depends on your model being saved or having an id.

Model.count([query], callback)

Query count of Model instances in data source. Optional query param allows to count filtered set of Model instances.

User.count({approved: true}, function(err, count) {
  console.log(count); // 2081
});

Model.find(filter, callback)

Find all instances of Model, matched by query. Fields used for filter and sort should be declared with {index: true} in model definition.

filter

• where Object { key: val, key2: {gt: 'val2'}} The search criteria

  • Format: {key: val} or {key: {op: val}}
  • Operations:
    • gt: >
    • gte: >=
    • lt: <
    • lte: <=
    • between
    • inq: IN
    • nin: NOT IN
    • neq: !=
    • like: LIKE
    • nlike: NOT LIKE

• include String, Object or Array Allows you to load relations of several objects and optimize numbers of requests.

  • Format:
    • 'posts': Load posts
    • ['posts', 'passports']: Load posts and passports
    • {'owner': 'posts'}: Load owner and owner's posts
    • {'owner': ['posts', 'passports']}: Load owner, owner's posts, and owner's passports
    • {'owner': [{posts: 'images'}, 'passports']}: Load owner, owner's posts, owner's posts' images, and owner's passports

• order String The sorting order

  • Format: 'key1 ASC, key2 DESC'

• limit Number The maximum number of instances to be returned

• skip Number Skip the number of instances

• offset Number Alias for skip

• fields Object|Array|String The included/excluded fields

• ['foo'] or 'foo' - include only the foo property

• ['foo', 'bar'] - include the foo and bar properties

• {foo: true} - include only foo

• {bat: false} - include all properties, exclude bat

Find the second page of 10 users over age 21 in descending order exluding the password property.

User.find({
  where: {
    age: {gt: 21}},
    order: 'age DESC',
    limit: 10,
    skip: 10,
    fields: {password: false}
  },
  console.log
);

Note: See the specific connector's docs for more info.

Model.destroyAll(callback)

Delete all Model instances from data source. Note: destroyAll method does not perform destroy hooks.

Model.findById(id, callback)

Find instance by id.

User.findById(23, function(err, user) {
  console.info(user.id); // 23
});

Model.findOne(where, callback)

Find a single instance that matches the given where expression.

User.findOne({id: 23}, function(err, user) {
  console.info(user.id); // 23
});

Model.upsert(data, callback)

Update when record with id=data.id found, insert otherwise. Note: no setters, validations or hooks applied when using upsert.

Custom Static Methods

Define a static model method.

User.login = function (username, password, fn) {
  var passwordHash = hashPassword(password);
  this.findOne({username: username}, function (err, user) {
    var failErr = new Error('login failed');

    if(err) {
      fn(err);
    } else if(!user) {
      fn(failErr);
    } else if(user.password === passwordHash) {
      MySessionModel.create({userId: user.id}, function (err, session) {
        fn(null, session.id);
      });
    } else {
      fn(failErr);
    }
  });
}

Setup the static model method to be exposed to clients as a remote method.

loopback.remoteMethod(
  User.login,
  {
    accepts: [
      {arg: 'username', type: 'string', required: true},
      {arg: 'password', type: 'string', required: true}
    ],
    returns: {arg: 'sessionId', type: 'any'},
    http: {path: '/sign-in'}
  }
);

Instance Methods

Note: These are the default mixin methods for a Model attached to a data source. See the specific connector for additional API documentation.

model.save([options], [callback])

Save an instance of a Model to the attached data source.

var joe = new User({first: 'Joe', last: 'Bob'});
joe.save(function(err, user) {
  if(user.errors) {
    console.log(user.errors);
  } else {
    console.log(user.id);
  }
});

model.updateAttributes(data, [callback])

Save specified attributes to the attached data source.

user.updateAttributes({
  first: 'updatedFirst',
  name: 'updatedLast'
}, fn);

model.destroy([callback])

Remove a model from the attached data source.

model.destroy(function(err) {
  // model instance destroyed
});

Custom Instance Methods

Define an instance method.

User.prototype.logout = function (fn) {
  MySessionModel.destroyAll({userId: this.id}, fn);
}

Define a remote model instance method.

loopback.remoteMethod(User.prototype.logout)

Remote Methods

Both instance and static methods can be exposed to clients. A remote method must accept a callback with the conventional fn(err, result, ...) signature.

loopback.remoteMethod(fn, [options])

Expose a remote method.

Product.stats = function(fn) {
  var statsResult = {
    totalPurchased: 123456
  };
  var err = null;
  
  // callback with an error and the result
  fn(err, statsResult);
}

loopback.remoteMethod(
  Product.stats,
  {
    returns: {arg: 'stats', type: 'object'},
    http: {path: '/info', verb: 'get'}
  }
);

Options

• accepts - (optional) an arguments description specifying the remote method's arguments.
• returns - (optional) an arguments description specifying the remote methods callback arguments.
• http - (advanced / optional, object) http routing info
• http.path - the path relative to the model the method will be exposed at. May be a path fragment (eg. '/:myArg') which will be populated by an arg of the same name in the accepts description. For example the stats method above will be at the whole path /products/stats.
• http.verb - (get, post, put, del, all) - the route verb the method will be available from.

Argument Description

An arguments description defines either a single argument as an object or an ordered set of arguments as an array.

// examples
{arg: 'myArg', type: 'number'}

[
  {arg: 'arg1', type: 'number', required: true},
  {arg: 'arg2', type: 'array'}
]

Types

Each argument may define any of the loopback types.

Notes:

• The callback is an assumed argument and does not need to be specified in the accepts array.
• The err argument is also assumed and does not need to be specified in the returns array.

Remote Hooks

Run a function before or after a remote method is called by a client.

// *.save === prototype.save
User.beforeRemote('*.save', function(ctx, user, next) {
  if(ctx.user) {
    next();
  } else {
    next(new Error('must be logged in to update'))
  }
});

User.afterRemote('*.save', function(ctx, user, next) {
  console.log('user has been saved', user);
  next();
});

Remote hooks also support wildcards. Run a function before any remote method is called.

// ** will match both prototype.* and *.*
User.beforeRemote('**', function(ctx, user, next) {
  console.log(ctx.methodString, 'was invoked remotely'); // users.prototype.save was invoked remotely
  next();
});

Other wildcard examples

// run before any static method eg. User.find
User.beforeRemote('*', ...);

// run before any instance method eg. User.prototype.save
User.beforeRemote('prototype.*', ...);

// prevent password hashes from being sent to clients
User.afterRemote('**', function (ctx, user, next) {
  if(ctx.result) {
    if(Array.isArray(ctx.result)) {
      ctx.result.forEach(function (result) {
        result.password = undefined;
      });
    } else {
      ctx.result.password = undefined;
    }
  }

  next();
});

Context

Remote hooks are provided with a Context ctx object which contains transport specific data (eg. for http: req and res). The ctx object also has a set of consistent apis across transports.

ctx.user

A Model representing the user calling the method remotely. Note: this is undefined if the remote method is not invoked by a logged in user.

ctx.result

During afterRemote hooks, ctx.result will contain the data about to be sent to a client. Modify this object to transform data before it is sent.

Rest

When loopback.rest is used the following ctx properties are available.

ctx.req

The express ServerRequest object. See full documentation.

ctx.res

The express ServerResponse object. See full documentation.

Relationships

Model.hasMany(Model, options)

Define a "one to many" relationship.

// by referencing model
Book.hasMany(Chapter);
// specify the name
Book.hasMany('chapters', {model: Chapter});

Query and create the related models.

Book.create(function(err, book) {
  // create a chapter instance
  // ready to be saved in the data source
  var chapter = book.chapters.build({name: 'Chapter 1'});
  
  // save the new chapter
  chapter.save();
  
  // you can also call the Chapter.create method with
  // the `chapters` property which will build a chapter
  // instance and save the it in the data source
  book.chapters.create({name: 'Chapter 2'}, function(err, savedChapter) {
    // this callback is optional
  });

  // query chapters for the book using the 
  book.chapters(function(err, chapters) {
    // all chapters with bookId = book.id
    console.log(chapters);
  });
  
  book.chapters({where: {name: 'test'}, function(err, chapters) {
    // all chapters with bookId = book.id and name = 'test'
    console.log(chapters);
  });
});

Model.belongsTo(Model, options)

A belongsTo relation sets up a one-to-one connection with another model, such that each instance of the declaring model "belongs to" one instance of the other model. For example, if your application includes users and posts, and each post can be written by exactly one user.

    Post.belongsTo(User, {as: 'author', foreignKey: 'userId'});

The code above basically says Post has a reference called author to User using the userId property of Post as the foreign key. Now we can access the author in one of the following styles:

    post.author(callback); // Get the User object for the post author asynchronously
    post.author(); // Get the User object for the post author synchronously
    post.author(user) // Set the author to be the given user

Model.hasAndBelongsToMany(Model, options)

A hasAndBelongsToMany relation creates a direct many-to-many connection with another model, with no intervening model. For example, if your application includes users and groups, with each group having many users and each user appearing in many groups, you could declare the models this way,

    User.hasAndBelongsToMany('groups', {model: Group, foreignKey: 'groupId'});
    user.groups(callback); // get groups of the user
    user.groups.create(data, callback); // create a new group and connect it with the user
    user.groups.add(group, callback); // connect an existing group with the user
    user.groups.remove(group, callback); // remove the user from the group

Shared Methods

Any static or instance method can be decorated as shared. These methods are exposed over the provided transport (eg. loopback.rest).

Data Source

A Loopback DataSource provides Models with the ability to manipulate data. Attaching a DataSource to a Model adds instance methods and static methods to the Model. The added methods may be remote methods.

Define a data source for persisting models.

var oracle = loopback.createDataSource({
  connector: 'oracle',
  host: '111.22.333.44',
  database: 'MYDB',
  username: 'username',
  password: 'password'
});

dataSource.createModel(name, properties, options)

Define a model and attach it to a DataSource.

var Color = oracle.createModel('color', {name: String});

dataSource.discoverModelDefinitions([username], fn)

Discover a set of model definitions (table or collection names) based on tables or collections in a data source.

oracle.discoverModelDefinitions(function (err, models) {
  models.forEach(function (def) {
    // def.name ~ the model name
    oracle.discoverSchema(null, def.name, function (err, schema) {
      console.log(schema);
    });
  });
});

dataSource.discoverSchema([owner], name, fn)

Discover the schema of a specific table or collection.

Example schema from oracle connector:

    {
      "name": "Product",
      "options": {
        "idInjection": false,
        "oracle": {
          "schema": "BLACKPOOL",
          "table": "PRODUCT"
        }
      },
      "properties": {
        "id": {
          "type": "String",
          "required": true,
          "length": 20,
          "id": 1,
          "oracle": {
            "columnName": "ID",
            "dataType": "VARCHAR2",
            "dataLength": 20,
            "nullable": "N"
          }
        },
        "name": {
          "type": "String",
          "required": false,
          "length": 64,
          "oracle": {
            "columnName": "NAME",
            "dataType": "VARCHAR2",
            "dataLength": 64,
            "nullable": "Y"
          }
        },
        "audibleRange": {
          "type": "Number",
          "required": false,
          "length": 22,
          "oracle": {
            "columnName": "AUDIBLE_RANGE",
            "dataType": "NUMBER",
            "dataLength": 22,
            "nullable": "Y"
          }
        },
        "effectiveRange": {
          "type": "Number",
          "required": false,
          "length": 22,
          "oracle": {
            "columnName": "EFFECTIVE_RANGE",
            "dataType": "NUMBER",
            "dataLength": 22,
            "nullable": "Y"
          }
        },
        "rounds": {
          "type": "Number",
          "required": false,
          "length": 22,
          "oracle": {
            "columnName": "ROUNDS",
            "dataType": "NUMBER",
            "dataLength": 22,
            "nullable": "Y"
          }
        },
        "extras": {
          "type": "String",
          "required": false,
          "length": 64,
          "oracle": {
            "columnName": "EXTRAS",
            "dataType": "VARCHAR2",
            "dataLength": 64,
            "nullable": "Y"
          }
        },
        "fireModes": {
          "type": "String",
          "required": false,
          "length": 64,
          "oracle": {
            "columnName": "FIRE_MODES",
            "dataType": "VARCHAR2",
            "dataLength": 64,
            "nullable": "Y"
          }
        }
      }
    }

dataSource.enableRemote(operation)

Enable remote access to a data source operation. Each connector has its own set of set remotely enabled and disabled operations. You can always list these by calling dataSource.operations().

dataSource.disableRemote(operation)

Disable remote access to a data source operation. Each connector has its own set of set enabled and disabled operations. You can always list these by calling dataSource.operations().

// all rest data source operations are
// disabled by default
var oracle = loopback.createDataSource({
  connector: require('loopback-connector-oracle'),
  host: '...',
  ...
});

// or only disable it as a remote method
oracle.disableRemote('destroyAll');

Notes:

• disabled operations will not be added to attached models
• disabling the remoting for a method only affects client access (it will still be available from server models)
• data sources must enable / disable operations before attaching or creating models

dataSource.operations()

List the enabled and disabled operations.

console.log(oracle.operations());

Output:

{
  find: {
    remoteEnabled: true,
    accepts: [...],
    returns: [...]
    enabled: true
  },
  save: {
    remoteEnabled: true,
    prototype: true,
    accepts: [...],
    returns: [...],
    enabled: true
  },
  ...
}

Connectors

Create a data source with a specific connector. See available connectors for specific connector documentation.

var memory = loopback.createDataSource({
  connector: loopback.Memory
});

Database Connectors

• In Memory
• Oracle
• MongoDB
• MySQL - In Development
• SQLite3 - In Development
• Postgres - In Development
• Redis - In Development
• CouchDB - In Development
• Firebird - In Development

Other Connectors

• REST
• Email
• JSON RPC - In Development
• SOAP - In Development
• Push Notifications - In Development
• File Storage - In Development

Installing Connectors

Include the connector in your package.json dependencies and run npm install.

{
  "dependencies": {
    "loopback-connector-oracle": "latest"
  }
}

Memory Connector

The built-in memory connector allows you to test your application without connecting to an actual persistent data source, such as a database. Although the memory connector is very well tested it is not recommended to be used in production. Creating a data source using the memory connector is very simple.

// use the built in memory function
// to create a memory data source
var memory = loopback.memory();

// or create it using the standard
// data source creation api
var memory = loopback.createDataSource({
  connector: loopback.Memory
});

// create a model using the
// memory data source
var properties = {
  name: String,
  price: Number
};

var Product = memory.createModel('product', properties);

Product.create([
  {name: 'apple', price: 0.79},
  {name: 'pear', price: 1.29},
  {name: 'orange', price: 0.59},
], count);

function count() {
  Product.count(console.log); // 3
}

CRUD / Query

The memory connector supports all the standard query and crud operations to allow you to test your models against an in memory data source.

GeoPoint Filtering

The memory connector also supports geo-filtering when using the find() operation with an attached model. See GeoPoint for more information on geo-filtering.

GeoPoint

Use the GeoPoint class.

var GeoPoint = require('loopback').GeoPoint;

Embed a latitude / longitude point in a Model.

var CoffeeShop = loopback.createModel('coffee-shop', {
  location: 'GeoPoint'
});

Loopback Model's with a GeoPoint property and an attached DataSource may be queried using geo spatial filters and sorting.

Find the 3 nearest coffee shops.

CoffeeShop.attachTo(oracle);
var here = new GeoPoint({lat: 10.32424, lng: 5.84978});
CoffeeShop.find({where: {location: {near: here}}, limit:3}, function(err, nearbyShops) {
  console.info(nearbyShops); // [CoffeeShop, ...]
});

geoPoint.distanceTo(geoPoint, options)

Get the distance to another GeoPoint.

var here = new GeoPoint({lat: 10, lng: 10});
var there = new GeoPoint({lat: 5, lng: 5});
console.log(here.distanceTo(there, {type: 'miles'})); // 438

GeoPoint.distanceBetween(a, b, options)

Get the distance between two points.

GeoPoint.distanceBetween(here, there, {type: 'miles'}) // 438

Distance Types

Note: all distance methods use miles by default.

• miles
• radians
• kilometers
• meters
• miles
• feet
• degrees

geoPoint.lat

The latitude point in degrees. Range: -90 to 90.

geoPoint.lng

The longitude point in degrees. Range: -180 to 180.