How to add a special keyword to a model's prototype remote method

[JoeShi]

I have a API POST /calendars/:calendarId/events to create an event belongs to that calendar.

However, I'd have a get the calendarId before send the request. So I want to specify a special word to present the default calendar.

For example, I wish I can send POST /calendars/primary/events. Once the keyword primary being specified, it will add to the default calendar without knowing the primary calendar id.

I have tried to use beforeRemote. However, it never get invoked, instead, it gives me 404 error.

Calendar.beforeRemote('prototype.__create__events')

I have event tries Calendar.afterRemoteError('prototype.*), also this function never get invoked.

[gunjpan]

@JoeShi: assuming the relation being Calendar hasMany Event, I tried to reproduce the issue, and it was working for me for api: POST /calendars/{:id}/events.
my remote-hook code:

Calendar.beforeRemote('*.__create__events', function(ctx, modelInstance, next) {
    console.log('Before creating events');
    next();
  });

Can you please share your code in a sandbox so that I can see why it is not working for you?

[JoeShi]

Hello, @gunjpan, The sandbox is here. https://github.com/saltyegg/loopback-sandbox. the before remote does not get executed. Thank you for the help

[gunjpan]

@JoeShi : Hey, thank you for providing the sandbox. I cloned it on my local and ran it without making any changes.
First, I did POST /api/calendars
then I ran: POST api/calendars/1/events and got the expected console output.

Are you doing the same? if not, could you please list the steps for reproducing the issue. Thanks.

[JoeShi]

Sorry, I did not describe the problem correctly. What I am expecting is use a special keyword to replace the :calendarId. For example, each user can have many calendars, but can have only one primary calendar. And the calendar object has a property primary(boolean) to identify whether it is the primary calendar.

When I try post /api/calendars/primary/events?access_token=12312313. On the server side, I check which calendar is the primary calendar for the user and add the event to that calendar.

It is quite similar to Google Calendar API. And in the description, it says If you want to access the primary calendar of the currently logged in user, use the "primary" keyword.

[gunjpan]

@JoeShi : So, to achieve that, you need to design your calendar model in a way that it has id property of type string. That's what google calendar is doing. check out their calender model.

Thus, doing POST /api/calendars/primary/events?access_token=12312313 is same as doing
POST /api/calendars/{:id}/events

where primary is one of the calendar IDs.

In LoopBack, you can also have IDs of different types. Read more about how ID properties work in LoopBack and that should solve your case.

Closing this for now. Should you need further assistance, feel free to mention me; will be glad to assist. Thank you :)

[JoeShi]

Hello, @gunjpan Thank you for the explanation. I have tried the following, add the id property. Did I miss something? The before remote still does not get executed. Sorry I am pretty new to loopback.

{
  "name": "calendar",
  "base": "PersistedModel",
  "idInjection": true,
  "options": {
    "validateUpsert": true
  },
  "properties": {
    "name": {
      "type": "string"
    },
    "id": {
      "type": "string",
      "id": true
    }
  },
  "validations": [],
  "relations": {
    "events": {
      "type": "hasMany",
      "model": "event",
      "foreignKey": "calendarId"
    }
  },
  "acls": [],
  "methods": {}
}

[gunjpan]

@JoeShi : No problem.
As mentioned in the doc I suggested:

By default, if no ID properties are defined and the idInjection property is true (or is not set, since true is the default), LoopBack automatically adds an id property to the model

So, in your JSON file above, set IdInjection to false.

Let me know if that works.

If that doesn't work, add one more key to your id as:

"id": {
      "type": "string",
      "id": true,
      "generated": false
    }

here, the generated property indicates the ID will be automatically generated by the database. If true, the connector decides what type to use for the auto-generated key. For relational databases, such as Oracle or MySQL, it defaults to number.
If your application generates unique IDs, set it to false.

Regarding:

Sorry I am pretty new to loopback.

No worries, read our docs thoroughly and it will be helpful to get you upto speed as the docs are pretty clear :)

[JoeShi]

Hello, @gunjpan This is my new calendar.json file. Still now working. The sandbox is updated. Thank you.

{
  "name": "calendar",
  "base": "PersistedModel",
  "idInjection": false,
  "options": {
    "validateUpsert": true
  },
  "properties": {
    "name": {
      "type": "string"
    },
    "id": {
      "type": "string",
      "id": true,
      "generated": false
    }
  },
  "validations": [],
  "relations": {
    "events": {
      "type": "hasMany",
      "model": "event",
      "foreignKey": "calendarId"
    }
  },
  "acls": [],
  "methods": {}
}

[JoeShi]

hello, @gunjpan , If you have time, please take a look. Still not working.