README

dovetail

Make your application pluggable!

Getting Started

To install the module, run the following in the command line:

npm i dovetail --save

Use within your application with the following lines of JavaScript:

var events = require('events');

// require the main Dovetail class
var Dovetail = require('dovetail');

// create an "application" to be pluggable
var MyApp = function (options) {
  // make it an EventEmitter
  events.EventEmitter.call(this);

  // create a new instance of Dovetail
  // passing in your application
  this.dovetail = new Dovetail(this);

  // automatically load middleware
  this.dovetail.resolve('/path/to/middleware/*.js');
};

require('util').inherits(MyApp, events.EventEmitter);

Nothing else is required, but the middleware won't run until you trigger them

MyApp.prototype.trigger = function (event, params, done) {
  this.dovetail.runEvent(event, params, done);
};

Now you can drop a javascript file into your middleware folder and it'll be registered:

module.exports = function (app) {

  // create a middleware function that takes a params object and done callback function
  var middleware = function (params, next) {

    console.log('This is my custom middleware!');
    console.log('event', params.event);

    // add something to the params to be passed back to your app
    params.startTime = new Date();

    // let the app know that the middleware is finished
    // and the next middleware can run
    next();
  };

  middleware.options = {

    // name your middleware
    name: 'my-custom-middleware',

    // describe your middleware
    description: 'This is an awesome middleware that runs before the application starts.',

    // list of events your middleware will listen for
    events: [ 'app:before:start' ]

  };

  // Return an object containing your middleware functions
  // These will get registered with the app
  var rtn = {};
  rtn[middleware.options.name] = middleware;
  return rtn;

};

Create a function for your app that will trigger some events:

MyApp.prototype.start = function () {
  var self = this;

  // set up some paramets to keep track of state
  self.params = {};

  // trigger that the app will be starting
  self.trigger('app:before:start', self.params, function(err) {
    if (err) {
      throw new Error(err);
    }
    console.log('The app has started');

    // do some work


    // trigger that the app is going to end
    self.trigger('app:before:end', self.params, function (err) {
      if (err) {
        throw new Error(err);
      }
      console.log('The app has ended');
    });

  });
}

Contributing

Find a bug? Have a feature request? Please create an Issue.

In lieu of a formal styleguide, take care to maintain the existing coding style. Add unit tests for any new or changed functionality, and run docs in the command line to build the docs with Verb.

Pull requests are also encouraged, and if you find this project useful please consider "starring" it to show your support! Thanks!

Author

Brian Woodward

License

This file was generated by verb-cli on May 01, 2014.