express - URL Rewriting with ExpressJS

Question

I would like to rewrite my URLs on my ExpressJS website. I've used this plugin, https://github.com/joehewitt/express-rewrite, but it doesn't work...

However, I might have made a mistake...

My app.js file :

var express = require('express')
    , index = require('./routes/index.js')
    , admin = require('./routes/admin.js')
    , contact = require('./routes/contact.js')
    , posts = require('./routes/posts.js')
    , http = require('http')
    , path = require('path')
    , hash = require('./auth').hash
    , db = require('./models')
    , favicons = require('connect-favicons')
    , rewriter = require('express-rewrite');


var app = express();

app.configure(function () {
    app.set('port', process.env.PORT || 3000);
    app.set('views', __dirname + '/views');
    app.set('view engine', 'jade');
    app.use(express.favicon(__dirname + '/public/images/FAVICON.ico'));
    app.use(favicons(__dirname + '/public/images/apple-touch-icon.png'));
    app.use(express.logger('dev'));
    app.use(express.bodyParser());
    app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname, 'public')));
    app.use(express.cookieParser());
    app.use(express.cookieSession({
            secret: 'SECRET',
            cookie: { access: false }
        })
    );
    app.use(rewriter);
    app.use(app.router);
    app.use(function(req, res, next){
        res.render('404.jade', {
            title: "404 - Page Not Found",
            showFullNav: false,
            status: 404,
            url: req.url
        });
    });
});

app.configure('development', function () {
    app.use(express.errorHandler());
});

app.get('/', index.index);

app.get('/toto', rewriter.rewrite('/heytoto'));

db.sequelize.sync().complete(function(err) {
    if (err) {
        throw err
    } else {
        http.createServer(app).listen(app.get('port'), function(){
            console.log('Express server listening on port ' + app.get('port'))
        })
    }
});

My error message :

Express
500 TypeError: Object function app(req, res){ app.handle(req, res); } has no method 'match'
at Object.rewriter [as handle] (/Users/anthonycluse/Sites/Anthony-Cluse-Express/node_modules/express-rewrite/rewrite.js:3:26)
at next (/Users/anthonycluse/Sites/Anthony-Cluse-Express/node_modules/express/node_modules/connect/lib/proto.js:199:15)
at Object.cookieSession [as handle] (/Users/anthonycluse/Sites/Anthony-Cluse-Express/node_modules/express/node_modules/connect/lib/middleware/cookieSession.js:113:5)
at next (/Users/anthonycluse/Sites/Anthony-Cluse-Express/node_modules/express/node_modules/connect/lib/proto.js:199:15)
at Object.cookieParser [as handle] (/Users/anthonycluse/Sites/Anthony-Cluse-Express/node_modules/express/node_modules/connect/lib/middleware/cookieParser.js:60:5)
at next (/Users/anthonycluse/Sites/Anthony-Cluse-Express/node_modules/express/node_modules/connect/lib/proto.js:199:15)
at resume (/Users/anthonycluse/Sites/Anthony-Cluse-Express/node_modules/express/node_modules/connect/lib/middleware/static.js:60:7)
at SendStream.error (/Users/anthonycluse/Sites/Anthony-Cluse-Express/node_modules/express/node_modules/connect/lib/middleware/static.js:73:37)
at SendStream.EventEmitter.emit (events.js:126:20)
at SendStream.error (/Users/anthonycluse/Sites/Anthony-Cluse-Express/node_modules/express/node_modules/send/lib/send.js:147:51)

Answer 1

You could rewrite the URL before you get to the handler you want to use.

app.use(function(req, res, next) {
   if (req.url === '/toto') {
     req.url = '/heytoto';
   }
   next();
});

app.get('/heytoto', ...);

I've used a similar method to do URL rewrites with regular expressions.