REST Client for Node.js
Allows connecting to any API REST and get results as js Object. The client has the following features:
- Transparent HTTP/HTTPS connection to remote API sites.
- Allows simple HTTP basic authentication.
- Allows most common HTTP operations: GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, PATCH.
- Direct or through proxy connection to remote API sites.
- Register remote API operations as client own methods, simplifying reuse.
- Automatic parsing of XML and JSON response documents as js objects.
- Dynamic path and query parameters and request headers.
- Improved Error handling mechanism (client or specific request)
Installation
$ npm install node-rest-client
Usages
Simple HTTP GET
Client has 2 ways to call a REST service: direct or using registered methods
var Client = require('node-rest-client').Client;
client = new Client();
client.get("http://remote.site/rest/xml/method", function(data, response){
console.log(data);
console.log(response);
});
client.registerMethod("jsonMethod", "http://remote.site/rest/json/method", "GET");
client.methods.jsonMethod(function(data,response){
console.log(data);
console.log(response);
});
HTTP POST
POST, PUT or PATCH method invocation are configured like GET calls with the difference that you have to set "Content-Type" header in args passed to client method invocation:
var Client = require('node-rest-client').Client;
var client = new Client();
var args = {
data: { test: "hello" },
headers:{"Content-Type": "application/json"}
};
client.post("http://remote.site/rest/xml/method", args, function(data,response) {
console.log(data);
console.log(response);
});
client.registerMethod("postMethod", "http://remote.site/rest/json/method", "POST");
client.methods.postMethod(args, function(data,response){
console.log(data);
console.log(response);
});
If no "Content-Type" header is set as client arg POST,PUT and PATCH methods will not work properly.
Passing args to registered methods
You can pass diferents args to registered methods, simplifying reuse: path replace parameters, query parameters, custom headers
var Client = require('node-rest-client').Client;
client = new Client();
args ={
data:{test:"hello"},
path:{"id":120},
parameters:{arg1:"hello",arg2:"world"},
headers:{"test-header":"client-api"}
};
client.get("http://remote.site/rest/json/${id}/method?arg1=hello&arg2=world", args,
function(data, response){
console.log(data);
console.log(response);
});
client.registerMethod("jsonMethod", "http://remote.site/rest/json/${id}/method", "GET");
client.methods.jsonMethod(args,function(data,response){
console.log(data);
console.log(response);
});
You can even use path placeholders in query string in direct connection:
var Client = require('node-rest-client').Client;
client = new Client();
args ={
path:{"id":120,"arg1":"hello","arg2":"world"},
parameters:{arg1:"hello",arg2:"world"},
headers:{"test-header":"client-api"}
};
client.get("http://remote.site/rest/json/${id}/method?arg1=${arg1}&arg2=${arg2}", args,
function(data, response){
console.log(data);
console.log(response);
});
HTTP POST and PUT methods
To send data to remote site using POST or PUT methods, just add a data attribute to args object:
var Client = require('node-rest-client').Client;
client = new Client();
args ={
path:{"id":120},
parameters:{arg1:"hello",arg2:"world"},
headers:{"test-header":"client-api"},
data:"<xml><arg1>hello</arg1><arg2>world</arg2></xml>"
};
client.post("http://remote.site/rest/xml/${id}/method?arg1=hello&arg2=world", args, function(data, response){
console.log(data);
console.log(response);
});
client.registerMethod("xmlMethod", "http://remote.site/rest/xml/${id}/method", "POST");
client.methods.xmlMethod(args,function(data,response){
console.log(data);
console.log(response);
});
args_js ={
path:{"id":120},
parameters:{arg1:"hello",arg2:"world"},
headers:{"test-header":"client-api"},
data:{"arg1":"hello","arg2":123}
};
client.methods.xmlMethod(args_js,function(data,response){
console.log(data);
console.log(response);
});
Connect through proxy
Just pass proxy configuration as option to client.
var Client = require('node-rest-client').Client;
var options_proxy={
proxy:{
host:"proxy.foo.com",
port:8080,
user:"proxyuser",
password:"123",
tunnel:true
}
},
client = new Client(options_proxy);
client has 2 ways to connect to target site through a proxy server: tunnel or direct request, the first one is the default option
so if you want to use direct request you must set tunnel off.
var Client = require('node-rest-client').Client;
var options_proxy={
proxy:{
host:"proxy.foo.com",
port:8080,
user:"proxyuser",
password:"123",
tunnel:false
}
},
client = new Client(options_proxy);
Basic HTTP auth
Just pass username and password as option to client. Every request done with the client will pass username and password as basic authorization header.
var Client = require('node-rest-client').Client;
var options_auth={user:"admin",password:"123"};
client = new Client(options_auth);
Options parameters
You can pass the following args when creating a new client:
var options ={
proxy:{
host:"proxy.foo.com",
port:8080,
user:"ellen",
password:"ripley"
},
connection:{
secureOptions: constants.SSL_OP_NO_TLSv1_2,
ciphers:'ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA:AES256-SHA:RC4-SHA:RC4:HIGH:!MD5:!aNULL:!EDH:!AESGCM',
honorCipherOrder: true
},
mimetypes:{
json:["application/json","application/json;charset=utf-8"],
xml:["application/xml","application/xml;charset=utf-8"]
},
user:"admin",
password:"123"
};
Managing Requests
Each REST method invocation returns a request object with specific request options and error handler.
var Client = require('node-rest-client').Client;
client = new Client();
var req1 = client.get("http://remote.site/rest/xml/method", function(data, response){
console.log(data);
console.log(response);
});
console.log(req1.options);
client.registerMethod("jsonMethod", "http://remote.site/rest/json/method", "GET");
var req2=client.methods.jsonMethod(function(data,response){
console.log(data);
console.log(response);
});
req2.on('error',function(err){
console.log('something went wrong on req2!!', err.request.options);
});
Error Handling
Now you can handle error events in two places: on client or on each request.
client = new Client(options_auth);
client.get("http://remote.site/rest/xml/method", function(data, response){
console.log(data);
console.log(response);
}).on('error',function(err){
console.log('something went wrong on the request', err.request.options);
});
client.on('error',function(err){
console.error('Something went wrong on the client', err);
});