Feathers: Feature request: Generic service method

Created on 1 Nov 2017 · 4Comments · Source: feathersjs/feathers

To add custom methods today one would probably do

create an express middleware and communicate directly over http on client, or
(mis?)use the create method.

For example, see authentication-management, where they use this pattern:

app.service('authManagement').create({
  type: 'specialMethod',
  data...
})

Earlier, custom methods has been rejected #86, according to @daffl "for several good reasons". In the stack exchange answer, the link for the detailed explanation is broken, so I might have missed some good points.

Anyway, if not custom methods, I believe there is room for a generic method. Like service.post, that works over both REST and socket.

Source

arve0

👎1

Most helpful comment

I've created a plugin, which lets you add custom methods to services: https://www.npmjs.com/package/feathers-custom-methods

arve0 on 7 Nov 2017

🎉2 👍2

All 4 comments

The FAQ entry can be found here: https://docs.feathersjs.com/faq/readme.html#how-do-i-create-custom-methods and the linked issue comment (https://github.com/feathersjs/feathers/issues/488#issuecomment-269687714) has more details on this.

I never needed it but if there really is a need for custom actions, implementing a custom service with a create method seems fine to me. app.service('action').create makes more sense to me than app.service('action').post (what does post even mean outside of HTTP?).

daffl on 2 Nov 2017

Thank you for links to earlier discussions, they have some very good points!

One point I think is not mentioned before is ease of understanding, for beginners. For example the authentication create and remove hooks. What does it really mean to "create an authentication"? That confuses me as a beginner. I've read the guide from beginning, and honestly forgot or misunderstood the impact of feathers being a REST only framework.

I never needed it but if there really is a need for custom actions

I assume you have needed authentication, e.g. app.authenticate, which I see as a custom action. It's implemented with service.create, so I'm splitting hairs 😅

makes more sense to me than app.service('action').post (what does post even mean outside of HTTP?).

Post was just a suggestion, and I mean post in the sense "publish something". Though the connection to HTTP POST might be confusing. action, do and method will work just as fine.

As I understand you and the earlier discussions, this is definitely outside bounds, as a feathers is strictly a REST architecture. So I'm closing. Thanks for answering!

arve0 on 2 Nov 2017

I've created a plugin, which lets you add custom methods to services: https://www.npmjs.com/package/feathers-custom-methods

arve0 on 7 Nov 2017

🎉2 👍2

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