The AVA platform supports Node.js programming language for building integration components.
To help you create a component in Node.js we have created a simple Petstore component in Node.js which connects to the Petstore API and demonstrates multiple features of the platform.
Let us have a look at the structure of the Petstore Component in Node.js:
petstore-component-nodejs
├── component.json (1)
├── lib
│ ├── actions (2)
│ │ ├── createPetWithGenerators.js
│ │ └── createPetWithPromise.js
│ ├── schemas (3)
│ │ ├── createPet.in.json
│ │ ├── createPet.out.json
│ │ └── getPetsByStatus.out.json
│ └── triggers (4)
│ ├── getPetsByStatusWithDynamicSelectModel.js
│ ├── getPetsByStatusWithGenerators.js
│ └── getPetsByStatusWithPromises.js
├── logo.png (5)
├── package.json (6)
└── verifyCredentials.js (7)
The Node.js components for AVA platform get built by NPM run-script which checks first the package.json (6) configuration file and starts initialising the node and npm versions and builds them. Next, the dependencies get downloaded and build. All node.js components must use the following dependencies:
"dependencies": {
"elasticio-sailor-nodejs": "^2.2.0",
"elasticio-node": "^0.0.8"
}
Sailor is the Node.js SDK of the AVA platform. It makes your component a citizen of the AVA platform by providing a simple programming model for components and ensuring a smooth communication with the platform.
The component.json file (1) is the component descriptor interpreted by the platform to gather all the required information for presenting to the user in the platform user interface (UI). For example, you can define the component’s title in the component descriptor but also the component’s authentication mechanism. The descriptor is the only place to list the functionality provided by the component, the so called triggers and actions.
The directory lib together with its sub-directories actions (2), schemas (3) and triggers (4) get defined in the component.json file. The Node.js sources are in the sub-directories lib/actions (2) and lib/triggers (4). The JSON schemas defining the component’s metadata are in the sub-directory lib/schemas (3). We discuss them in more details later in this article.
If you have a logo for the component, you can place the file called logo.png (5) in the root directory of the component. Typically the logo of the API vendor gets used as component logo. If you did not provide any logo, the component will show a generic logo for your component.
Last but not least, the verifyCredentails.js (7) file should contain the main verification mechanism for all the Node.js components built for the AVA platform. We cover this topic later in the article.
As mentioned above, the component.json file is the component descriptor interpreted by the platform to gather all the required information about the component. Let’s explore the descriptor of the Petstore component:
{
"title": "Petstore API (Node.js)", (1)
"description": "Component for the Petstore API", (2)
"credentials": { (3)
"fields": {
"apiKey": {
"label": "API key",
"required": true,
"viewClass": "TextFieldWithNoteView",
"note": "Please use <b>secret</b> as API key."
}
}
},
"triggers": { (4)
...
},
"actions": { (5)
...
}
}
}
The component descriptor above defines the component title (1) and description (2). It also defines the fields used to ask the user to provide input for authentication (3). In this case a single field is define in which the user will input the API key for the Petstore API so that the component can communicate with the API on user’s behalf. The verification process is in the verifyCredentails.js file as mentioned above.
The triggers (4) and actions (5) properties define the component’s triggers and actions.
Now let’s have a closer look on how to define the triggers. The example below demonstrates the triggers section from the component.json component descriptor file:
"triggers": {
"getPetsByStatusWithGenerators": { (1)
"main": "./lib/triggers/getPetsByStatusWithGenerators.js", (2)
"type": "polling", (3)
"title": "Get Pets By Status With Generators",
"fields": { (4)
"status": {
"label": "Pet Status",
"required": true,
"viewClass": "SelectView",
"model": {
"available": "Available",
"pending": "Pending",
"sold": "Sold"
},
"prompt": "Select Pet Status"
}
},
"metadata": {
"out": "./lib/schemas/getPetsByStatus.out.json" (5)
}
}
}
The example above demonstrates that the trigger with id getPetsByStatusWithGenerators (1) gets implemented by the function described in the getPetsByStatusWithGenerators.js file (2). The trigger is of polling type (3) meaning it will wake up periodically to poll for changes in the Petstore API. The triggers configuration is in the fields (4) and the out-metadata is in the file getPetsByStatus.out.json (5).
Let us check also the actions. The example below demonstrates the actions section from the component.json component descriptor file:
"actions": {
"createPetWithPromise": { (1)
"main": "./lib/actions/createPetWithPromise.js", (2)
"title": "Create a Pet With Promise",
"metadata": {
"in": "./lib/schemas/createPet.in.json", (3)
"out": "./lib/schemas/createPet.out.json" (4)
}
}
}
In the example above the action with id createPetWithPromise (1) gets implemented by the function described in the createPetWithPromise.js file (2). It is possible to give actions in the fields configurations like in the triggers part, however, this component has none of it. Compared to the triggers, the action has 2 metadata files. One is for in-metadata createPet.in.json (3) and the other is for out-metadata createPet.out.json (4).
When creating an AVA component you may allow users to check entered credentials for validity, during the integration flow creation. This feature is useful when users need to type-in passwords, host-names, IP addresses, etc. Credentials verification is an optional step but it makes the user flow much more reliable and usable.
For node.js component you can use any libraries and/or functionality at your disposal to authorise the user credentials. But for the platform to find and call your verification code you have to make sure that:
verifyCredentails.js file in the root of the folder structureverifyCredentials.js file is a common.js modulecredentials and cb (callback).component.json.Here is the skeleton structure for the verify Credentials for a reference. You are welcome to use it as a starting point to write your own verifyCredentails.js:
// here you can place your variables
// This function gets called by the platform to verify credentials
module.exports = function verifyCredentials(credentials, cb) {
// In credentials you will find what users entered in account form
console.log('Credentials passed for verification %j', credentials)
if (true) {
// Verified
return cb(null, {verified: true});
} else {
// Verification failed
return cb(null , {verified: false});
}
}
The use of any specific verification method is dependent on the project and the third party API that gets communicated the credentials with. We will not dive into details of every possible solution for your chosen third party API here.