Quick Intro to node.couchapp.js

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Thanks to some pointers from Mikeal himself, I have some insight on how to work with node.couchapp.js (a node.js reimplementation of couchapp). First up, there seems to be a common starting point:

var couchapp = require('couchapp');

var ddoc = {_id:'_design/app', shows:{}, updates:{}, views:{}, lists:{}};
exports.app = ddoc;

I am not sure if that is enough to create something, but let's give it a try:

cstrom@whitefall:~/tmp/test_node_couchapp_js$ node ~/repos/node.couchapp.js/lib/bin.js \
    -s -d foo -c http://localhost:5984/seed
Syncing app finished.

Nice! That's a lot further than I got after an hour of messing about last night. It always helps to have an example or two. Taking a look at the document inside CouchDB's futon, I find:



Interesting, so the simple definition, then export of the ddoc variable is sufficient to create the attributes of the design document.

I wonder if I need to define those attributes at all. Probably not, so I delete them and add a simple show document to make sure that I can do so:

var couchapp = require('couchapp');

var ddoc = {_id:'_design/app', shows:{}};
exports.app = ddoc;

ddoc.shows.foo = function (doc, req) {
  return "<h1>Foo!</h1><p>Bar.</p>";
};

I load that design document again:

cstrom@whitefall:~/tmp/test_node_couchapp_js$ node ~/repos/node.couchapp.js/lib/bin.js \
    -s -d foo -c http://localhost:5984/seed
Syncing app finished.

(good to know that it can be re-run)

Checking the show document in futon, I find that the extra attributes have indeed been removed without harm:



And, checking that the show document can indeed show documents, I visit the show document proper. I am uploading to the seed database, accessing the _design/app design document, the foo _show document. This translates into a URL of: http://localhost:5984/seed/_design/app/_show/foo. Visiting the URL, I do indeed see the simple show document I hoped to see:



Cool! Well, that was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be after flailing last night. Thanks Mikeal!

Day #71