express-rest-help

This module renders pretty (Twitter Bootstrap styled) help topics for each RESTful path in your Express app. This is an easy way to provide documentation for your Nodejs Express REST API/APP.

Usage

Include express-rest-help

var help = require("express-rest-help");

Set your routes as normal

var express = require('express');
var app = express();
app.get("/some-route",function(req,res){res.send("something")});

app.get("/another-route/:param1/(:param2)?",function(req,res){res.send("another-route")}

Tell help to render help for your routes

help.use(app);

Navigate to your http://{your-running-app}:{your-port}/help in the browser to see your handywork

Advanced Help - Help Files (Adding more HELPful help to your RESTful calls)

express-rest-help creates a /public/helplfiles directory in your app on first startup. If you place a .html file in the directory, the help module will process the file in following manner:

1. Let's say we create a file called /public/helpfiles/example-override.html

    prompt> echo "@@/another-route/:param1/(:param2)?|GET" >  
                  example-override.html
   

2. Note, the first line of the file now contains two @@ signs followed by the following pattern[express-path] | [method]

    "@@/another-route/:param1/(:param2)?|GET
   

3. express-rest-help will use your-file-name.html (minus the dashes) to create a help topic

    prompt> ls
                example-override.html       
   

4. Include any HTML you wish in the file

    <li>Note: The system will NOT start up if the Mongo connection is invalid
    <code>
    <pre>
    //from MongoSetup.js
    var mongoose = require('mongoose');
    mongoose.connect('mongodb://localhost/sampledb');
    var db = mongoose.connection;
    db.on('error', function(e){
        console.log("Mongo Failed to Start correctly.  Application will Exit due to Error : "+e);
        process.exit(1);
    })  db.once('open', function callback () {
            console.log("Application startup success. Mongo Database is ready to serve requests");
    });
    </pre>
    </code>
    <li>When everything is good, you should see the following json Response
    <code>
    <pre>
    {
      "status": "Sample API is Alive"
    }
    </pre>
    </code>`
   

5. View your new topic at http://{your-running-app}:{your-port}/help