Node API

Use this API in the app.js file of your server-side Node.js application.

var loopback= require('loopback');
var boot = require('loopback-boot');

var app = module.exports = loopback();
boot(app, __dirname);

boot(app, [options], [callback])

Initialize an application from an options object or a set of JSON and JavaScript files.

NOTE: This module is primarily intended for use with LoopBack 2.0. It does work with LoopBack 1.x applications, but none of the LoopBack 1.x examples or generated code (scaffolding) use it.

This function takes an optional argument that is either a string or an object.

If the argument is a string, then it sets the application root directory based on the string value. Then it:

  1. Creates DataSources from the datasources.json file in the application root directory.

  2. Configures Models from the model-config.json file in the application root directory.

  3. Configures the LoopBack Application object from the config.json file in the application root directory. These properties can be accessed using app.get('propname').

If the argument is an object, then it looks for models, dataSources, 'config', modelsRootDir, dsRootDir, appConfigRootDir and appRootDir properties of the object.

If the object has no appRootDir property then it sets the current working directory as the application root directory.

The execution environment, {env}, is established from, in order,

  • options.env
  • process.env.NODE_ENV,
  • the literal development.

Then it:

  1. Creates DataSources from the options.dataSources object, if provided; otherwise, it searches for the files

    • datasources.json,
    • datasources.local.js or datasources.local.json (only one),
    • datasources.{env}.js or datasources.{env}.json (only one)

    in the directory designated by 'options.dsRootDir', if present, or the application root directory. It merges the data source definitions from the files found.

  2. Creates Models from the options.models object, if provided; otherwise, it searches for the files

    • model-config.json,
    • model-config.local.js or model-config.local.json (only one),
    • model-config.{env}.js or model-config.{env}.json (only one)

    in the directory designated by 'options.modelsRootDir', if present, or the application root directory. It merges the model definitions from the files found.

  3. Configures the Application object from the options.config object, if provided; otherwise, it searches for the files

    • config.json,
    • config.local.js or config.local.json (only one),
    • config.{env}.js or config.{env}.json (only one)

    in the directory designated by 'options.appConfigRootDir', if present, or the application root directory. It merges the properties from the files found.

In both cases, the function loads JavaScript files in the /boot subdirectory of the application root directory with require().

NOTE: The version 2.0 of loopback-boot changed the way how models are created. The model-config.json file contains only configuration options like dataSource and extra relations. To define a model, create a per-model JSON file in models/ directory.

NOTE: Mixing bootLoopBackApp(app, bootConfig) and app.model(name, modelConfig) in multiple files may result in models being undefined due to race conditions. To avoid this when using bootLoopBackApp() make sure all models are passed as part of the models definition.

Throws an error if the config object is not valid or if boot fails.

Arguments
Name Type Description
app

LoopBack application created by loopback().
options String or Object

Boot options; If String, this is the application root directory; if object, has below properties.
[callback] Function

Callback function.
options
Name Type Description
[appRootDir] String

Directory to use when loading JSON and JavaScript files. Defaults to the current directory (process.cwd()).
[appConfigRootDir] String

Directory to use when loading config.json. Defaults to appRootDir.
[models] Object

Object containing Model configurations.
[modelDefinitions] Array

List of model definitions to use. When options.modelDefinitions is provided, loopback-boot does not search filesystem and use only the models provided in this argument.
[dataSources] Object

Object containing DataSource definitions.
[modelsRootDir] String

Directory to use when loading model-config.json. Defaults to appRootDir.
[dsRootDir] String

Directory to use when loading datasources.json. Defaults to appRootDir.
[env] String

Environment type, defaults to process.env.NODE_ENV or development. Common values are development, staging and production; however the applications are free to use any names.
[modelSources] Array.<String>

List of directories where to look for files containing model definitions.
[middleware] Object

Middleware configuration to use instead of {appRootDir}/middleware.json
[components] Object

Component configuration to use instead of {appRootDir}/component-config.json
[mixinDirs] Array.<String>

List of directories where to look for files containing model mixin definitions.
[bootDirs] Array.<String>

List of directories where to look for boot scripts.
[bootScripts] Array.<String>

List of script files to execute on boot.
[normalization] String or Function or Boolean

Mixin normalization format: false, 'none', 'classify', 'dasherize' - defaults to 'classify'.

boot.compileToBrowserify(options, bundler)

Compile boot instructions and add them to a browserify bundler.

Arguments
Name Type Description
options Object or String

as described in bootLoopBackApp above.
bundler Object

A browserify bundler created by browserify().
Class Properties
Name Type Description
[appId] String

Application identifier used to load the correct boot configuration when building multiple applications using browserify.

exports.ConfigLoader

-- undocumented low-level API --

Browser API

Use this API in the app.js file that you process by browserify and run in the browser.

var loopback = require('loopback');
var boot = require('loopback-boot');

var app = module.exports = loopback();
boot(app);

boot(app)

The browser version of bootLoopBackApp.

When loopback-boot is loaded in browser, the module exports this function instead of bootLoopBackApp.

The function expects the boot instructions to be included in the browser bundle, see boot.compileToBrowserify.

Arguments
Name Type Description
app Object

The loopback app to boot, as returned by loopback().
[options] Object or string

options as described in boot.compileToBrowserify.