models

Introduction

In frameworks such as Ruby on Rails, there are predefined ORMs which are the norm. Swapping them out takes a lot of effort and will cause a lot of pain. In the node world, there are tens of different widely used ORMs so it wouldn't be fair to force developers to use one specific one. As a result, light's models are merely wrappers you can place over any framework you choose.

Example

Create a models folder at the same level as the routes folder and inside populate it with file, which for this example we will call user.js.

models/user.js

const { createModel } = require('light');

// model definition
class User extends Model {
  /// ...
};

const { model } = createModel('User');
module.exports = model(() => User);

The first line simply imports model from light. The next few lines are ORM dependent and you should follow the guides of the ORM you are using. The last two lines are what contain the meat of the wrapper. You will need to pass the name of the model to the model function and you will need to pass a function that returns your model to the handler function. The result of the handle function should be exported.

Importing

Importing is relatively simple.

routes/index.js

const { User, model } = require('../models/user.js'); // User and model are the same here

Notice how we have two options, User and model? Both are equal to the same value. By default, the model will export itself as model and as whatever value you pass as the name. Using the name instead of model will allow you to import multiple models without the names interfering!