<ol>
<li><a href="#timers">Timers</a>
<li><a href="#files">File I/O</a>
+ <ol>
+ <li><a href="#file_wrappers">Wrappers</a>
+ <li><a href="#file_file">File</a>
+ </ol>
<li><a href="#tcp">TCP</a>
<ol>
<li><a href="#tcp_server">Server</a>
<p id="introduction">Purely asynchronous server-side I/O for <a
href="http://code.google.com/p/v8/">V8 javascript</a>.
-<p>Analogy
-<pre>
-Python : Twisted
-Ruby : Event Machine
-Javascript : Node</pre>
-
<p>This is an example of a web server written with Node which responds with
"Hello World" after waiting two seconds:
-<pre class="sh_javascript">new node.http.Server(function (req, res) {
+<pre>new node.http.Server(function (req, res) {
setTimeout(function () {
res.sendHeader(200, [["Content-Type", "text/plain"]]);
res.sendBody("Hello World");
<h2 id="build">Build</h2>
+<p>Node currently targets the Linux and Macintosh operating systems using
+IA-32 or ARM processors. The build system requires Python.
+
<pre>./configure
make
make install</pre>
<h2 id="api">API</h2>
<p>Conventions: Callbacks are object members which are prefixed with
-<code class="sh_javascript">on</code>. All methods and members are camel cased. Constructors
+<code>on</code>. All methods and members are camel cased. Constructors
always have a capital first letter.
<p>Node uses strings to represent ASCII or UTF-8 encoded data. For the
href="http://code.google.com/p/v8/issues/detail?id=270">when V8 natively supports binary
Blob objects</a>, Node will use them.
-<p>The following are some global general purpose functions:</p>
+<p>The following are global functions:</p>
<dl>
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">puts(string, callback)</code></dt>
+ <dt><code>puts(string, callback)</code></dt>
<dd>
- Alias for <code class="sh_javascript">stdout.puts()</code>.
+ Alias for <code>stdout.puts()</code>.
Outputs the <code>string</code> and a trailing new-line to <code>stdout</code>.
<p>The <code>callback</code> argument is optional and mostly useless: it will
output will be displayed in the order it was called.
</dd>
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">print(string, callback)</code></dt>
+ <dt><code>print(string, callback)</code></dt>
<dd>Like <code>puts()</code> but without the trailing new-line.</dd>
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">node.debug(string)</code></dt>
+ <dt><code>node.debug(string)</code></dt>
<dd>A synchronous output function. Will <i>block</i> the process and output the
string immediately to stdout. Use with care.</dd>
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">node.exit(code)</code></dt>
+ <dt><code>node.exit(code)</code></dt>
<dd>Immediately ends the process with the specified code.</dd>
</dl>
<h3 id="timers">Timers</h3>
<dl>
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">setTimeout(callback, delay)</code></dt>
+ <dt><code>setTimeout(callback, delay)</code></dt>
<dd> To schedule execution of <code>callback</code> after <code>delay</code>
milliseconds. Returns a <code>timeoutId</code> for possible use with
<code>clearTimeout()</code>.
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">clearTimeout(timeoutId)</code></dt>
+ <dt><code>clearTimeout(timeoutId)</code></dt>
<dd> Prevents said timeout from triggering.
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">setInterval(callback, delay)</code></dt>
+ <dt><code>setInterval(callback, delay)</code></dt>
<dd> To schedule the repeated execution of <code>callback</code> every
<code>delay</code> milliseconds. Returns a <code>intervalId</code> for
possible use with <code>clearInterval()</code>.
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">clearInterval(intervalId)</code></dt>
+ <dt><code>clearInterval(intervalId)</code></dt>
<dd> Stops a interval from triggering. </dd>
</dl>
<h3 id="files">node.fs</h3>
-<p>Because there are not non-blocking ways to do it, asynchronous file I/O is
-tricky. Node handles file I/O by employing <a
-href="http://software.schmorp.de/pkg/libeio.html">an internal thread pool</a>
+<p>File I/O is tricky because there are not simple non-blocking ways to do it.
+Node handles file I/O by employing <a
+href="http://software.schmorp.de/pkg/libeio.html">an internal thread
+pool</a>
to execute file system calls.
+<p>This part of the API is split into two parts: simple wrappers around
+standard POSIX file I/O functions, and a user-friendly <code>File</code>
+object.
+
+<h4 id="file_wrappers">POSIX Wrappers</h4>
+
+<p>All POSIX wrappers have a similar form. They return
+<code>undefined</code> and have a callback called <code>on_completion</code>
+as their last argument. The <code>on_completion</code> callback may be
+passed many parameters, but the first parameter is always an integer
+indicating the error status. If the status integer is zero, then the call
+was successful. Example:
+<pre>
+node.fs.unlink("/tmp/hello", function (status) {
+ if (status == 0)
+ puts("successfully deleted /tmp/hello");
+});
+</pre>
+
+<p>There is no guaranteed ordering to the POSIX wrappers. The following is
+very much prone to error
+<pre>
+node.fs.rename("/tmp/hello", "/tmp/world");
+node.fs.stat("/tmp/world", function (status, stats) {
+ puts("stats: " + JSON.stringify(stats));
+});
+</pre>
+because it could be that <code>stat()</code> is executed before the
+<code>rename()</code>. The correct way to do this, is use the
+<code>on_completion</code> callback for <code>rename()</code>
+<pre>
+node.fs.rename("/tmp/hello", "/tmp/world", function (status) {
+ if (status != 0) return;
+ node.fs.stat("/tmp/world", function (status, stats) {
+ puts("stats: " + JSON.stringify(stats));
+ });
+});
+</pre>
+
+<dl>
+ <dt><code>node.fs.rename(path1, path2, on_completion)</code></dt>
+ <dd>
+ <code>on_completion(status)</code>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><code>node.fs.stat(path, on_completion)</code></dt>
+ <dd>
+ <code>on_completion(status, stat_object)</code>
+ </dd>
+</dl>
+
+<h4 id="file_file"><code>node.fs.File</code></h4>
+
<p>Internal request queues exist for each file object so that multiple commands
can be issued at once without worry that they will be executed out-of-order.
Thus the following is safe:
-<pre class="sh_javascript">
+<pre>
var file = new node.fs.File();
file.open("/tmp/blah", "w+");
file.write("hello");
<p>
It's important to understand that the request queues are local to a single file.
If one does
-<pre class="sh_javascript">fileA.write("hello");
+<pre>fileA.write("hello");
fileB.write("world");</pre>
it could be that <code>fileB</code> gets written to before <code>fileA</code>
is written to.
If a certain operation order is needed involving multiple files, use the
completion callbacks:
-<pre class="sh_javascript">fileA.write("hello", function () {
+<pre>fileA.write("hello", function () {
fileB.write("world");
});</pre>
<dl>
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">new node.fs.File</code></dt>
+ <dt><code>new node.fs.File</code></dt>
<dd>Creates a new file object. </dd>
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">file.onError</code></dt>
+ <dt><code>file.onError</code></dt>
<dd>Callback. This is called internally anytime an error occurs with this
file. There are three arguments: the method name, the POSIX errno, and a
string describing the error.
<p>Example</p>
-<pre class="sh_javascript">
+<pre>
var path = "/some/path/that/doesnt/exist";
var file = new node.fs.File();
file.onError = function (method, errno, msg) {
file.open(path, "w+")
</pre>
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">file.open(path, mode, on_completion)</code></dt>
+ <dt><code>file.open(path, mode, on_completion)</code></dt>
<dd>Opens the file at <code>path</code>.
<p><code>mode</code> is a string:
<code>"r"</code> open for reading and writing.
called, but the <code>file.onError</code> will be called.
</dd>
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">file.read(length, position, on_completion)</code></dt>
+ <dt><code>file.read(length, position, on_completion)</code></dt>
<dd>
</dd>
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">file.write(data, position, on_completion)</code></dt>
+ <dt><code>file.write(data, position, on_completion)</code></dt>
<dd>
</dd>
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">file.close(on_completion)</code></dt>
+ <dt><code>file.close(on_completion)</code></dt>
<dd>
</dd>
</dl>
-<h4>File System Operations</h4>
-
-<dl>
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">node.fs.rename(path1, path2, on_completion)</code></dt>
- <dd>
- </dd>
-
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">node.fs.stat(path1, on_completion)</code></dt>
- <dd>
- </dd>
-</dl>
-
<h3 id="tcp"><code>node.tcp</code></h3>
to stream data.
<p> HTTP message headers are represented by an array of 2-element arrays like this
-<pre class="sh_javascript">
+<pre>
[ ["Content-Length", "123"]
, ["Content-Type", "text/plain"]
, ["Connection", "keep-alive"]
with the same field. Setting multiple cookies in a single response, for
example, can only be done with multiple <code>Cookie</code> lines.</i>
-<h4 id="http_server"><code class="sh_javascript">node.http.Server</code></h4>
+<h4 id="http_server"><code>node.http.Server</code></h4>
<dl>
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">new node.http.Server(request_handler, options);</code></dt>
+ <dt><code>new node.http.Server(request_handler, options);</code></dt>
<dd>
<p>Creates a new web server.
<p>
The <code>options</code> argument is optional.
The <code
- class="sh_javascript">options</code> argument accepts the same values
+ >options</code> argument accepts the same values
as the options argument for <code
- class="sh_javascript">node.tcp.Server</code> does.
+ >node.tcp.Server</code> does.
- <p>The <code class="sh_javascript">request_handler</code> is a
+ <p>The <code>request_handler</code> is a
callback which is made on each request with a
<code>ServerRequest</code> and
<code>ServerResponse</code> arguments.
</dd>
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">server.listen(port, hostname)</code>
+ <dt><code>server.listen(port, hostname)</code>
<dd>
<p>Begin accepting connections on the specified port and hostname. If the
hostname is omitted, the server will accept connections directed to any
address.
</dd>
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">server.close()</code>
+ <dt><code>server.close()</code>
<dd>
<p>Stops the server from accepting new connections.
</dd>
</dl>
-<h4 id="http_server_request"><code class="sh_javascript">node.http.ServerRequest</code></h4>
+<h4 id="http_server_request"><code>node.http.ServerRequest</code></h4>
<p> This object is created internally by a HTTP server—not by the user.
It is passed to the user as the first argument to the <code
-class="sh_javascript">request_handler</code> callback.
+>request_handler</code> callback.
<dl>
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">req.method</code>
- <dd>The request method as a string. Read only. Example: <code class="sh_javascript">"GET"</code>,
- <code class="sh_javascript">"DELETE"</code>.</dd>
+ <dt><code>req.method</code>
+ <dd>The request method as a string. Read only. Example: <code>"GET"</code>,
+ <code>"DELETE"</code>.</dd>
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">req.uri</code>
+ <dt><code>req.uri</code>
<dd> Request URI. (Object.)
<dt><code>req.uri.anchor</code>
<dt><code>req.uri.query</code>
<dt><code>req.uri.toString()</code>, <code>req.uri.source</code>
<dd> The original URI found in the status line.
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">req.headers</code>
+ <dt><code>req.headers</code>
<dd>The request headers expressed as an array of 2-element arrays. Read only.
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">req.httpVersion</code></dt>
- <dd>The HTTP protocol version as a string. Read only. Examples: <code class="sh_javascript">"1.1"</code>,
- <code class="sh_javascript">"1.0"</code>
+ <dt><code>req.httpVersion</code></dt>
+ <dd>The HTTP protocol version as a string. Read only. Examples: <code>"1.1"</code>,
+ <code>"1.0"</code>
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">req.onBody</code></dt>
+ <dt><code>req.onBody</code></dt>
<dd>Callback. Should be set by the user to be informed of when a piece
of the message body is received. Example:
-<pre class="sh_javascript">
+<pre>
req.onBody = function (chunk) {
puts("part of the body: " + chunk);
};
<p>The body chunk is either a String in the case of UTF-8 encoding or an
array of numbers in the case of raw encoding. The body encoding is set with
- <code class="sh_javascript">req.setBodyEncoding()</code>.
+ <code>req.setBodyEncoding()</code>.
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">req.onBodyComplete</code></dt>
+ <dt><code>req.onBodyComplete</code></dt>
<dd>Callback. Made exactly once for each message. No arguments. After
- <code class="sh_javascript">onBodyComplete</code> is executed <code class="sh_javascript">onBody</code> will no longer be called.
+ <code>onBodyComplete</code> is executed <code>onBody</code> will no longer be called.
</dd>
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">req.setBodyEncoding(encoding)</code></dt>
+ <dt><code>req.setBodyEncoding(encoding)</code></dt>
<dd>
- Set the encoding for the request body. Either <code class="sh_javascript">"utf8"</code> or
- <code class="sh_javascript">"raw"</code>. Defaults to raw.
+ Set the encoding for the request body. Either <code>"utf8"</code> or
+ <code>"raw"</code>. Defaults to raw.
</dl>
-<h4 id="http_server_response"><code class="sh_javascript">node.http.ServerResponse</code></h4>
+<h4 id="http_server_response"><code>node.http.ServerResponse</code></h4>
<p> This object is created internally by a HTTP server—not by the user.
It is passed to the user as the second argument to the <code
-class="sh_javascript">request_handler</code> callback.
+>request_handler</code> callback.
<dl>
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">res.sendHeader(statusCode, headers)</code></dt>
+ <dt><code>res.sendHeader(statusCode, headers)</code></dt>
<dd>
Sends a response header to the request. The status code is a 3-digit
- HTTP status code, like <code class="sh_javascript">404</code>. The second argument,
- <code class="sh_javascript">headers</code>, should be an array of 2-element arrays,
+ HTTP status code, like <code>404</code>. The second argument,
+ <code>headers</code>, should be an array of 2-element arrays,
representing the response headers.
<p>Example:
-<pre class="sh_javascript">
+<pre>
var body = "hello world";
res.sendHeader(200, [ ["Content-Length", body.length]
, ["Content-Type", "text/plain"]
]);
</pre>
This method must only be called once on a message and it must be called
- before <code class="sh_javascript">res.finish()</code> is called.
+ before <code>res.finish()</code> is called.
</dd>
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">res.sendBody(chunk)</code></dt>
+ <dt><code>res.sendBody(chunk)</code></dt>
<dd>
- This method must be called after <code class="sh_javascript">sendHeader</code> was called. It
+ This method must be called after <code>sendHeader</code> was called. It
sends a chunk of the response body. This method may be called multiple
times to provide successive parts of the body.
</dd>
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">res.finish()</code></dt>
+ <dt><code>res.finish()</code></dt>
<dd>
This method signals that all of the response headers and body has been
sent; that server should consider this message complete.
- The method, <code class="sh_javascript">res.finish()</code>, MUST be called on each response.
+ The method, <code>res.finish()</code>, MUST be called on each response.
</dl>
-<h4 id="http_client"><code class="sh_javascript">node.http.Client</code></h4>
+<h4 id="http_client"><code>node.http.Client</code></h4>
<p> An HTTP client is constructed with a server address as its argument, the
returned handle is then used to issue one or more requests. Depending on the
<i>Currently the implementation does not pipeline requests.</i>
<p> Example of connecting to <code>google.com</code>
-<pre class="sh_javascript">
+<pre>
var google = new node.http.Client(80, "google.com");
var req = google.get("/");
req.finish(function (res) {
</pre>
<dl>
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">new node.http.Client(port, host);</code></dt>
+ <dt><code>new node.http.Client(port, host);</code></dt>
<dd> Constructs a new HTTP client. <code>port</code> and <code>host</code>
refer to the server to be connected to. A connection is not established until a
request is issued.
</dd>
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">client.get(path, request_headers);</code></dt>
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">client.head(path, request_headers);</code></dt>
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">client.post(path, request_headers);</code></dt>
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">client.del(path, request_headers);</code></dt>
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">client.put(path, request_headers);</code></dt>
+ <dt><code>client.get(path, request_headers);</code></dt>
+ <dt><code>client.head(path, request_headers);</code></dt>
+ <dt><code>client.post(path, request_headers);</code></dt>
+ <dt><code>client.del(path, request_headers);</code></dt>
+ <dt><code>client.put(path, request_headers);</code></dt>
<dd> Issues a request; if necessary establishes connection.
<p>
header of the request. One needs to call <code>req.finish()</code> to finalize
the request and retrieve the response. (This sounds convoluted but it provides
a chance for the user to stream a body to the server with <code
-class="sh_javascript">req.sendBody()</code>.)
+>req.sendBody()</code>.)
<p><i> <code>GET</code> and
<code>HEAD</code> requests normally are without bodies but HTTP does not forbid
</dl>
-<h4 id="http_client_request"><code class="sh_javascript">node.http.ClientRequest</code></h4>
+<h4 id="http_client_request"><code>node.http.ClientRequest</code></h4>
<p>This object is created internally and returned from the request methods of a
<code>node.http.Client</code>. It represents an <i>in-progress</i> request
whose header has already been sent.
<dl>
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">req.sendBody(chunk, encoding)</code></dt>
+ <dt><code>req.sendBody(chunk, encoding)</code></dt>
<dd> Sends a sucessive peice of the body. By calling this method many times,
the user can stream a request body to a server—in that case it is
-suggested to use the <code class="sh_javascript">["Transfer-Encoding",
+suggested to use the <code>["Transfer-Encoding",
"chunked"]</code> header line when creating the request.
<p>The <code>chunk</code> argument should be an array of integers or a string.
<p> TODO
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">req.finish(response_handler)</code></dt>
+ <dt><code>req.finish(response_handler)</code></dt>
<dd> Finishes sending the request. If any parts of the body are
unsent, it will flush them to the socket. If the request is chunked, this
- will send the terminating <code class="sh_javascript">"0\r\n\r\n"</code>.
+ will send the terminating <code>"0\r\n\r\n"</code>.
<p>The parameter <code>response_handler</code> is a user-supplied callback which will
be executed exactly once when the server response headers have been received.
<code>ClientResponse</code> object.
</dl>
-<h4 id="http_client_response"><code class="sh_javascript">node.http.ClientResponse</code></h4>
+<h4 id="http_client_response"><code>node.http.ClientResponse</code></h4>
<p>This object is created internally and passed to the
<code>response_handler</code> callback (is given to the client in
read.
<dl>
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">res.statusCode</code></dt>
- <dd>The 3-digit HTTP response status code. E.G. <code class="sh_javascript">404</code>.</dd>
+ <dt><code>res.statusCode</code></dt>
+ <dd>The 3-digit HTTP response status code. E.G. <code>404</code>.</dd>
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">res.httpVersion</code></dt>
+ <dt><code>res.httpVersion</code></dt>
<dd>The HTTP version of the connected-to server. Probably either
- <code class="sh_javascript">"1.1"</code> or
- <code class="sh_javascript">"1.0"</code>.
+ <code>"1.1"</code> or
+ <code>"1.0"</code>.
</dd>
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">res.headers</code></dt>
+ <dt><code>res.headers</code></dt>
<dd>The response headers. An Array of 2-element arrays.</dd>
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">res.onBody</code></dt>
+ <dt><code>res.onBody</code></dt>
<dd>Callback. Should be set by the user to be informed of when a piece
of the response body is received.
A chunk of the body is given as the single argument. The transfer-encoding
<p>The body chunk is either a <code>String</code> in the case of UTF-8
encoding or an array of numbers in the case of raw encoding. The body
- encoding is set with <code class="sh_javascript">res.setBodyEncoding()</code>.
+ encoding is set with <code>res.setBodyEncoding()</code>.
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">res.onBodyComplete</code></dt>
+ <dt><code>res.onBodyComplete</code></dt>
<dd>Callback. Made exactly once for each message. No arguments. After
- <code class="sh_javascript">onBodyComplete</code> is executed
- <code class="sh_javascript">onBody</code> will no longer be called.
+ <code>onBodyComplete</code> is executed
+ <code>onBody</code> will no longer be called.
</dd>
- <dt><code class="sh_javascript">res.setBodyEncoding(encoding)</code></dt>
+ <dt><code>res.setBodyEncoding(encoding)</code></dt>
<dd>
- Set the encoding for the response body. Either <code class="sh_javascript">"utf8"</code> or
- <code class="sh_javascript">"raw"</code>. Defaults to raw.
+ Set the encoding for the response body. Either <code>"utf8"</code> or
+ <code>"raw"</code>. Defaults to raw.
</dd>
</dl>
in one-to-one correspondence.
<p> As an example,
-<code class="sh_javascript">foo.js</code> loads the module <code class="sh_javascript">mjsunit.js</code>.
+<code>foo.js</code> loads the module <code>mjsunit.js</code>.
-<p>The contents of <code class="sh_javascript">foo.js</code>:
+<p>The contents of <code>foo.js</code>:
-<pre class="sh_javascript">
+<pre>
include("mjsunit");
function onLoad () {
assertEquals(1, 2);
}
</pre>
-<p>The contents of <code class="sh_javascript">mjsunit.js</code>:
+<p>The contents of <code>mjsunit.js</code>:
-<pre class="sh_javascript">
+<pre>
function fail (expected, found, name_opt) {
// ...
}
};
</pre>
-<p>Here the module <code class="sh_javascript">mjsunit.js</code> has exported the function
-<code class="sh_javascript">assertEquals()</code>. <code class="sh_javascript">mjsunit.js</code> must be in the
-same directory as <code class="sh_javascript">foo.js</code> for <code class="sh_javascript">include()</code> to find it.
-The module path is relative to the file calling <code class="sh_javascript">include()</code>.
-The module path does not include filename extensions like <code class="sh_javascript">.js</code>.
+<p>Here the module <code>mjsunit.js</code> has exported the function
+<code>assertEquals()</code>. <code>mjsunit.js</code> must be in the
+same directory as <code>foo.js</code> for <code>include()</code> to find it.
+The module path is relative to the file calling <code>include()</code>.
+The module path does not include filename extensions like <code>.js</code>.
-<p> <code class="sh_javascript">include()</code> inserts the exported objects
+<p> <code>include()</code> inserts the exported objects
from the specified module into the global namespace.
<p> Because file loading does not happen instantaneously, and because Node
has a policy of never blocking, the callback <code
-class="sh_javascript">onLoad</code> can be set and will notify the user
+>onLoad</code> can be set and will notify the user
when all the included modules are loaded. Each file/module can have an <code
-class="sh_javascript">onLoad</code> callback.
+>onLoad</code> callback.
<p>To export an object, add to the special <code>exports</code> object.
-<p> The functions <code class="sh_javascript">fail</code> and <code class="sh_javascript">deepEquals</code> are not
+<p> The functions <code>fail</code> and <code>deepEquals</code> are not
exported and remain private to the module.
<p> <code>require()</code> is like <code>include()</code> except does not
polute the global namespace. It returns a namespace object. The exported objects
-can only be guaranteed to exist after the <code class="sh_javascript">onLoad()</code> callback is
+can only be guaranteed to exist after the <code>onLoad()</code> callback is
made. For example:
-<pre class="sh_javascript">
+<pre>
var mjsunit = require("mjsunit");
function onLoad () {
mjsunit.assertEquals(1, 2);
}
</pre>
-<p> <code class="sh_javascript">include()</code> and <code class="sh_javascript">require()</code> cannot be used after
-<code class="sh_javascript">onLoad()</code> is called. So put them at the beginning of your file.
+<p> <code>include()</code> and <code>require()</code> cannot be used after
+<code>onLoad()</code> is called. So put them at the beginning of your file.
</body>
</html>
projects / platform / upstream / nodejs.git / commitdiff