JSON Me solution and explanation

“JSON Me”

Directions:

Write a server that reads a file when it receives a GET request from a webpage, then parse the file’s contents into JSON format, and then output the JSON to the client(the browser).

·         The port is passed in process.argv[2].  The file name is passed in process.argv[3].

·         Respond with:    res.json(object)

·         Everything should match the '/books' resource path.

Code:

var express = require('express')

var fs = require('fs')

var app = express();

app.set('json spaces', 0);  // this was a workaround to prevent a common error

app.get('/books', function (req, res) {  // “When a GET request is made to the home page, do this” (per the directions, everything matches the '/books' resource path)

                         var filename = process.argv[3]  // “Point ‘filename’ to this array” The file name is passed in process.argv[3] per the instructions

                   fs.readFile(filename, function(e, data) { // “Read the file and save it to memory, or return an error”

                  if (e) return res.send(500)

                 try {

                 books = JSON.parse(data)  // “take what is read, parse it into JSON, and point ‘books’ at the JSON data”

                 } catch (e) {      res.send(500)

                }
                          //res.send(books) 

                       res.json(books) // “this is the response to the page”

                  }) //end of readFile

}) //end of GET

app.listen(process.argv[2])  // “OK, to get the ball rolling, listen for requests at this port”

OUTPUT:

"[{\"title\":\"Express.js Guide\",\"tags\":[\"node.js\",\"express.js\"],\"url\":\"http://expressjsguide.com\"},{\"title\":\"Rapid Prototyping with JS\",\"tags\":[\"backbone.js\",\"node.js\",\"mongodb\"],\"url\":\"http://rpjs.co\"},{\"title\":\"JavaScript: The Good Parts\",\"tags\":[\"javascript\"]}]"