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<script type="text/javascript" src="sh_main.js"></script>
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<link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="sh_vim-dark.css">
<title>node.js</title>
<body onload="sh_highlightDocument();">
<div id="toc">
<ol>
<li><a href="#benchmarks">Benchmarks</a></li>
<li><a href="#download">Download</a></li>
<li><a href="#build">Build</a></li>
<li><a href="#api">API</a>
<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>
<li><a href="#tcp_connection">Connection</a>
</ol>
<li><a href="#http">HTTP</a>
<ol>
<li><a href="#http_server">Server</a>
<ol>
<li><a href="#http_server_request">Request</a>
<li><a href="#http_server_response">Response</a>
</ol>
<li><a href="#http_client">Client</a>
<ol>
<li><a href="#http_client_request">Request</a>
<li><a href="#http_client_response">Response</a>
</ol>
</ol>
<li><a href="#modules">Modules</a>
</ol>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
<div id="content">
<h1><a href="http://tinyclouds.org/node">Node</a></h1>
<p id="introduction">Purely evented server-side I/O for <a
href="http://code.google.com/p/v8/">V8 javascript</a>.
<p>This is an example of a web server written with Node which responds with
"Hello World" after waiting two seconds:
<pre>new node.http.Server(function (req, res) {
setTimeout(function () {
res.sendHeader(200, [["Content-Type", "text/plain"]]);
res.sendBody("Hello World");
res.finish();
}, 2000);
}).listen(8000);
puts("Server running at http://127.0.0.1:8000/");</pre>
<p> To run the server, put the code into a file <code>server.js</code>
and call it with the <code>node</code> executable
<pre class="sh_none">% /usr/local/bin/node server.js
Server running at http://127.0.0.1:8000/
</pre>
<p> See <a href="#api">the API documentation</a> for more examples.
<p> Node is free to <a href="#download">download</a>, <a
href="#api">use</a>, and <a href="#modules">build upon</a>.</p>
<h2 id="benchmarks">Benchmarks</h2>
<p> TODO
<h2 id="download">Download</h2>
<p> TODO
<h2 id="build">Build</h2>
<p>Node aims to support all POSIX operating systems (including
Windows with mingw). However at the moment it is only being tested on
Macintosh and Linux.
<p>V8, on which Node is built, supports only IA-32 and ARM processors.
<p> The build system requires Python.
<pre class="sh_none">./configure
make
make install</pre>
<h2 id="api">API</h2>
<p>Conventions: Callbacks are object members which are prefixed with
<code>on</code>. All methods and members are camel cased. Constructors
always have a capital first letter.
<p>
Node supports 3 byte-string encodings:
ASCII (<code>"ascii"</code>),
UTF-8 (<code>"utf8"</code>), and
raw binary (<code>"raw"</code>).
It uses strings to represent ASCII and UTF-8 encoded data. For the moment,
arrays of integers are used to represent raw binary data&mdash;this
representation is rather inefficient. This will change in the future, when <a
href="http://code.google.com/p/v8/issues/detail?id=270">V8 supports Blob objects</a>.
<p>The following are global functions:</p>
<dl>
<dt><code>puts(string, callback)</code></dt>
<dd>
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
notify the user when the operation has completed. Everything in node is
asynchronous; <code>puts()</code> is no exception. This might seem ridiculous
but, if for example, one is piping <code>stdout</code> into an NFS file,
<code>printf()</code> will block from network latency.
There is an internal queue for <code>puts()</code> output, so you can be assured that
output will be displayed in the order it was called.
</dd>
<dt><code>print(string, callback)</code></dt>
<dd>Like <code>puts()</code> but without the trailing new-line.</dd>
<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>node.exit(code)</code></dt>
<dd>Immediately ends the process with the specified code.</dd>
</dl>
<h3 id="timers">Timers</h3>
<dl>
<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>clearTimeout(timeoutId)</code></dt>
<dd> Prevents said timeout from triggering.
<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>clearInterval(intervalId)</code></dt>
<dd> Stops a interval from triggering. </dd>
</dl>
<h3 id="files">node.fs</h3>
<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(status))</code></dt>
<dd> <a href="http://opengroup.org/onlinepubs/007908799/xsh/rename.html">rename(2)</a> </dd>
<dt><code>node.fs.stat(path, on_completion(status, stats))</code></dt>
<dd> <a href="http://opengroup.org/onlinepubs/007908799/xsh/stat.html">stat(2)</a> </dd>
<dt><code>node.fs.unlink(path, on_completion(status))</code></dt>
<dd> <a href="http://opengroup.org/onlinepubs/007908799/xsh/unlink.html">unlink(2)</a> </dd>
<dt><code>node.fs.rmdir(path, on_completion(status))</code></dt>
<dd> <a href="http://opengroup.org/onlinepubs/007908799/xsh/rmdir.html">rmdir(2)</a> </dd>
<dt><code>node.fs.close(fd, on_completion(status))</code></dt>
<dd> <a href="http://opengroup.org/onlinepubs/007908799/xsh/close.html">close(2)</a> </dd>
<dt><code>node.fs.open(path, flags, mode, on_completion(status, fd))</code></dt>
<dd> <a href="http://opengroup.org/onlinepubs/007908799/xsh/open.html">open(2)</a>
<p>The constants like <code>O_CREAT</code> are defined at <code>node.fs.O_CREAT</code>.
</dd>
<dt><code>node.fs.write(fd, data, position, on_completion(status, written))</code></dt>
<dd> Write data to the file specified by <code>fd</code>.
<p><code>data</code> is either an array of integer (for raw data) or a string
for UTF-8 encoded characters.
<p><code>position</code> refers to the offset from the beginning of the
file where this data should be written. If <code>null</code>, the data
will be written at the current position.
<p>See also <a href="http://opengroup.org/onlinepubs/007908799/xsh/pwrite.html">pwrite(2)</a>
</dd>
<dt><code>node.fs.read(fd, length, position, encoding, on_completion(status, data))</code></dt>
<dd> Read data from the file specified by <code>fd</code>.
<p><code>length</code> is an integer specifying the number of bytes to read.
<p><code>position</code> is an integer specifying where to begin reading
from in the file.
<p><code>encoding</code> is either <code>node.fs.UTF8</code> or
<code>node.fs.RAW</code>.
</dt>
</dl>
<h4 id="file_file"><code>node.fs.File</code></h4>
<p>Easy buffered file object.
<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>
var file = new node.fs.File();
file.open("/tmp/blah", "w+");
file.write("hello");
file.write("world");
file.close();</pre>
<p>
Request queues are local to a single file.
If one does
<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>fileA.write("hello", function () {
fileB.write("world");
});</pre>
<dl>
<dt><code>new node.fs.File(options={})</code></dt>
<dd>Creates a new file object.
<p>The <code>options</code> argument is optional. It can contain the
following fields
<ul>
<li><code>fd</code> &mdash; a file descriptor for the file.
<li><code>encoding</code> &mdash; how <code>file.read()</code> should return
data. Either <code>"raw"</code> or <code>"utf8"</code>. Defaults to raw.
</ul>
</dd>
<dt><code>file.onError = function (method, errno, msg) { }</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>
var path = "/some/path/that/doesnt/exist";
var file = new node.fs.File();
file.onError = function (method, errno, msg) {
stderr.puts("An error occurred calling " + method);
stderr.puts(msg);
node.exit(1);
}
file.open(path, "w+")
</pre>
<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.
<code>"r+"</code> open for only reading.
<code>"w"</code> create a new file for reading and writing; if it
already exists truncate it.
<code>"w+"</code> create a new file for writing only; if it already
exists truncate it.
<code>"a"</code> create a new file for writing and reading. Writes
append to the end of the file.
<code>"a+"</code>
<p>The <code>on_completion</code> is a callback that is made without
arguments when the operation completes. It is optional.
If an error occurred the <code>on_completion</code> callback will not be
called, but the <code>file.onError</code> will be called.
</dd>
<dt><code>file.read(length, position, on_completion(data))</code></dt>
<dd>
</dd>
<dt><code>file.write(data, position, on_completion(written))</code></dt>
<dd>
</dd>
<dt><code>file.close(on_completion())</code></dt>
<dd>
</dd>
</dl>
<h3 id="tcp"><code>node.tcp</code></h3>
<h4 id="tcp_server"><code>node.tcp.Server</code></h4>
<p>Here is an example of a echo server which listens for connections on port
7000
<pre>
function Echo (socket) {
socket.setEncoding("utf8");
socket.onConnect = function () {
socket.send("hello\r\n");
};
socket.onReceive = function (data) {
socket.send(data);
};
socket.onEOF = function () {
socket.send("goodbye\r\n");
socket.close();
};
}
var server = new node.tcp.Server(Echo, {backlog: 1024});
server.listen(7000, "localhost");
</pre>
<dl>
<dt><code>new node.tcp.Server(connection_handler(socket), options={});</code></dt>
<dd>Creates a new TCP server.
<p><code>connection_handler</code> is a callback which is called
on each connection. It is given one argument: an instance of
<code>node.tcp.Connection</code>.
<p><code>options</code> for now only supports one option:
<code>backlog</code> which should be an integer and describes how large of
a connection backlog the operating system should maintain for this server.
The <code>backlog</code> defaults to 1024.
</dd>
<dt><code>server.listen(port, host=null)</code></dt>
<dd>Tells the server to listen for TCP connections to <code>port</code>
and <code>host</code>. Note, <code>host</code> is optional. If
<code>host</code> is not specified the server will accept connections to
any IP address on the specified port.
</dd>
<dt><code>server.close()</code></dt>
<dd> Stops the server from accepting new connections. </dd>
</dl>
<h4 id="tcp_connection"><code>node.tcp.Connection</code></h4>
<p>This object is used as a TCP client and also as a server-side socket for
<code>node.tcp.Server</code>s.
<dl>
<dt><code>new node.tcp.Connection()</code></dt>
<dd>Creates a new connection object.
</dd>
<dt><code>connection.readyState</code></dt>
<dd>Either <code>"closed"</code>, <code>"open"</code>,
<code>"readOnly"</code>, or <code>"writeOnly"</code>.
</dd>
<dt><code>connection.setEncoding(encoding)</code></dt>
<dd>Sets the encoding (either <code>"utf8"</code> or <code>"raw"</code>)
for data that is received.
</dd>
<dt><code>connection.send(data, encoding="ascii")</code></dt>
<dd>Sends data on the connection. The data should be eithre an array of
integers (for raw binary) or a string (for utf8 or ascii). The second
parameter specifies the encoding in the case of a string&mdash;it defaults
to ASCII because encoding to UTF8 is rather slow.
</dd>
<dt><code>connection.close()</code></dt>
<dd>Half-closes the connection. I.E. sends a FIN packet. It is possible
the server will still send some data.
After calling this <code>readyState</code> will be <code>"readOnly"</code>.
</dd>
<dt><code>connection.fullClose()</code></dt>
<dd>Close both ends of the connection. Data that is received after this
call is responded to with RST packets. If you don't know about this, just use
<code>close()</code>.
</dd>
<dt><code>connection.forceClose()</code></dt>
<dd>Ensures that no more I/O activity happens on this socket.
Only necessary in case of errors (parse error or so).
</dd>
<dt><code>conneciton.onConnect = function () { };</code></dt>
<dd>Call once the connection is established.</dd>
<dt><code>conneciton.onReceive = function (data) { };</code></dt>
<dd>Called when data is received on the connection. Encoding of data is
set by <code>connection.setEncoding()</code>. <code>data</code> will
either be a string, in the case of utf8, or an array of integer in the
case of raw encoding.</dd>
<dt><code>conneciton.onEOF = function () { };</code></dt>
<dd>Called when the other end of the connection sends a FIN packet.
<code>onReceive</code> will not be called after this.
After receiving this <code>readyState</code> will be <code>"writeOnly"</code>.
You should probably just call <code>connection.close()</code> in this
callback.
<dt><code>conneciton.onDisconnect = function () { };</code></dt>
<dd>Called once the connection is fully disconnected.</dd>
<dt><code>conneciton.onError = function () { };</code></dt>
<dd>Called on an error.</dd>
</dl>
<h3 id="http"><code>node.http</code></h3>
<p>The HTTP interfaces here are designed to support many features
of the protocol which have been traditionally difficult to handle. In
particular, large, possibly chunked, messages. The interface is
careful to never buffer entire requests or responses&mdash;the user is able
to stream data.
<p> HTTP message headers are represented by an array of 2-element arrays like this
<pre>
[ ["Content-Length", "123"]
, ["Content-Type", "text/plain"]
, ["Connection", "keep-alive"]
, ["Accept", "*/*"]
]
</pre>
<p><i>Dictionary-like objects are popularly used to represent HTTP headers but they are
an incorrect abstraction. It is rare, but possible, to have multiple header lines
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>node.http.Server</code></h4>
<dl>
<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
>options</code> argument accepts the same values
as the options argument for <code
>node.tcp.Server</code> does.
<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>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>server.close()</code>
<dd>
<p>Stops the server from accepting new connections.
</dd>
</dl>
<h4 id="http_server_request"><code>node.http.ServerRequest</code></h4>
<p> This object is created internally by a HTTP server&mdash;not by the user.
It is passed to the user as the first argument to the <code
>request_handler</code> callback.
<dl>
<dt><code>req.method</code>
<dd>The request method as a string. Read only. Example: <code>"GET"</code>,
<code>"DELETE"</code>.</dd>
<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.file</code>
<dt><code>req.uri.directory</code>
<dt><code>req.uri.path</code>
<dt><code>req.uri.relative</code>
<dt><code>req.uri.port</code>
<dt><code>req.uri.host</code>
<dt><code>req.uri.password</code>
<dt><code>req.uri.user</code>
<dt><code>req.uri.authority</code>
<dt><code>req.uri.protocol</code>
<dt><code>req.uri.queryKey</code>
<dt><code>req.uri.toString()</code>, <code>req.uri.source</code>
<dd> The original URI found in the status line.
<dt><code>req.headers</code>
<dd>The request headers expressed as an array of 2-element arrays. Read only.
<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>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>
req.onBody = function (chunk) {
puts("part of the body: " + chunk);
};
</pre>
A chunk of the body is given as the single argument. The transfer-encoding
has been decoded.
<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>req.setBodyEncoding()</code>.
<dt><code>req.onBodyComplete</code></dt>
<dd>Callback. Made exactly once for each message. No arguments. After
<code>onBodyComplete</code> is executed <code>onBody</code> will no longer be called.
</dd>
<dt><code>req.setBodyEncoding(encoding)</code></dt>
<dd>
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>node.http.ServerResponse</code></h4>
<p> This object is created internally by a HTTP server&mdash;not by the user.
It is passed to the user as the second argument to the <code
>request_handler</code> callback.
<dl>
<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>404</code>. The second argument,
<code>headers</code>, should be an array of 2-element arrays,
representing the response headers.
<p>Example:
<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>res.finish()</code> is called.
</dd>
<dt><code>res.sendBody(chunk, encoding="ascii")</code></dt>
<dd>
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.
<p>If <code>chunk</code> is a string, the second parameter specifies how
to encode it into a byte stream. By default the <code>encoding</code> is
<code>"ascii"</code>.
</dd>
<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>res.finish()</code>, MUST be called on each response.
</dl>
<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
server connected to, the client might pipeline the requests or reestablish the
connection after each connection.
<i>Currently the implementation does not pipeline requests.</i>
<p> Example of connecting to <code>google.com</code>
<pre>
var google = new node.http.Client(80, "google.com");
var req = google.get("/");
req.finish(function (res) {
puts("STATUS: " + res.statusCode);
puts("HEADERS: " + JSON.stringify(res.headers));
res.setBodyEncoding("utf8");
res.onBody = function (chunk) {
puts("BODY: " + chunk);
};
});
</pre>
<dl>
<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>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>
<code>request_headers</code> is optional.
<code>request_headers</code> should be an array of 2-element arrays.
Additional request headers might be added internally by Node.
Returns a <code>ClientRequest</code> object.
<p>Important: the request is not complete. This method only sends the
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
>req.sendBody()</code>.)
<p><i> <code>GET</code> and
<code>HEAD</code> requests normally are without bodies but HTTP does not forbid
it, so neither do we.</i>
</dl>
<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>req.sendBody(chunk, encoding="ascii")</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&mdash;in that case it is
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>The <code>encoding</code> argument is optional and only applies when
<code>chunk</code> is a string. The encoding argument should be either
<code>"utf8"</code> or <code>"ascii"</code>. By default the body uses ASCII
encoding, as it is faster.
<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>"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.
The <code>response_handler</code> callback is executed with one argument: a
<code>ClientResponse</code> object.
</dl>
<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
<code>req.finish</code> function). The response object appears exactly as the
header is completely received but before any part of the response body has been
read.
<dl>
<dt><code>res.statusCode</code></dt>
<dd>The 3-digit HTTP response status code. E.G. <code>404</code>.</dd>
<dt><code>res.httpVersion</code></dt>
<dd>The HTTP version of the connected-to server. Probably either
<code>"1.1"</code> or
<code>"1.0"</code>.
</dd>
<dt><code>res.headers</code></dt>
<dd>The response headers. An Array of 2-element arrays.</dd>
<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
has been removed.
<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>res.setBodyEncoding()</code>.
<dt><code>res.onBodyComplete</code></dt>
<dd>Callback. Made exactly once for each message. No arguments. After
<code>onBodyComplete</code> is executed
<code>onBody</code> will no longer be called.
</dd>
<dt><code>res.setBodyEncoding(encoding)</code></dt>
<dd>
Set the encoding for the response body. Either <code>"utf8"</code> or
<code>"raw"</code>. Defaults to raw.
</dd>
</dl>
<h3 id="modules">Modules</h3>
<p>Node has a simple module loading system. In Node, files and modules are
in one-to-one correspondence.
<p> As an example,
<code>foo.js</code> loads the module <code>mjsunit.js</code>.
<p>The contents of <code>foo.js</code>:
<pre>
include("mjsunit");
function onLoad () {
assertEquals(1, 2);
}
</pre>
<p>The contents of <code>mjsunit.js</code>:
<pre>
function fail (expected, found, name_opt) {
// ...
}
function deepEquals (a, b) {
// ...
}
exports.assertEquals = function (expected, found, name_opt) {
if (!deepEquals(found, expected)) {
fail(expected, found, name_opt);
}
};
</pre>
<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>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
>onLoad</code> can be set and will notify the user
when all the included modules are loaded. Each file/module can have an <code
>onLoad</code> callback.
<p>To export an object, add to the special <code>exports</code> object.
<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>onLoad()</code> callback is
made. For example:
<pre>
var mjsunit = require("mjsunit");
function onLoad () {
mjsunit.assertEquals(1, 2);
}
</pre>
<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.
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