@apostrophecms/module

This module is the foundation of all other Apostrophe modules. It is not directly used for any functionality, but every other module inherits its behavior and functionality. Every other module has access to use the features documented here. Critically, this module includes initialization behavior that all modules need to start up correctly and register features.

WARNING

This module should almost never be configured directly in project code. In other words, there should almost never be a modules/@apostrophecms/module/index.js file in a project codebase. The only reason to do so would be to add a feature that every other module will need. There should never be a @apostrophecms/module: {} line in an app.js file.

Instead, configure the options below on other modules as needed (e.g., configure the alias option on a module to create an easy reference to that module). Similarly, run the methods below as needed from the most appropriate module (e.g., use self.email from a contact page-type module).

Options

Property	Type	Description
alias	String	A name to use for quick access to the module on the apos object (e.g., 'book' to access a module on self.apos.book). Otherwise the longer syntax is necessary (e.g., self.apos.modules.book).
templateData	Object	An object of properties to include on the data object in templates belonging to that module.

Featured methods

The following methods belong to this module and may be useful in project-level code. As noted above, they should be used via another module. They cannot be directly called from this module as it is not instantiated.

See the source code for all methods that belong to this module.

async render(req, template, data)

Returns rendered HTML for a template with the data provided. You must pass req, a request object, as the first argument. The template argument should be the name of a template file in the module's views directory. If the template argument has no file extension Apostrophe will look for an .html or .njk file.

All properties of data can be used in Nunjucks templates as properties of the data object. This argument may be omitted to include no additional data.

async renderString(req, string, data)

Returns rendered HTML for a Nunjucks-style string with the data provided. You must pass req, a request object, as the first argument. The string argument will be used as the template itself for rendering (not the template filename).

All properties of data can be used in Nunjucks templates as properties of the data object. This argument may be omitted to include no additional data.

async send(req, template, data)

The send() method renders a template with data as with the render(), then sends the rendered HTML as a response to the request (req).

async sendPage(req, template, data)

Similar to the send() method, this renders a template and sends the rendered HTML as a response to the request (req). Where send() is used to render general template files, sendPage() is specifically used to render and send full pages for Apostrophe projects. Page templates should extend the outer layout template – either directly ({% extends data.outerLayout %}) or by extending a template that does so.

Templates rendered and sent with this method have full access to all template data properties appropriate for the related module. The template is also wrapped with the proper layout file ('@apostrophecms/template:outerLayout.html' by default), including the full head tag.

This method triggers the @apostrophecms/page module to emit a beforeSend event.

enableBrowserData(scene)

Call this method from a module's initialization function if the module implements the getBrowserData() method. This is only necessary for modules that do not already do this (all doc type and widget type modules already do this). The data returned by getBrowserData(req) will then be available on apos.modules['the-module-name'] in the browser.

The scene argument is only needed if making the data available while logged-out. By default browser data is pushed only for the apos scene (the logged-in context), so the anonymous site visitor experience will include the extra data (except on the /login page and other pages that opt into the apos scene). If scene is set to public then the data is available to all visitors.

getBrowserData(req)

The getBrowserData() method can be extended to adjust or add data that the module makes available in the browser. It should return an object to make the data available in browsers (as controlled by the enableBrowserData() method).

The data will be available on a property of the apos.modules object matching the module name. For example, @apostrophecms/i18n module data is available on apos.modules['@apostrophecms/i18n']. If the module has an alias the data will also be accessible via apos.yourAlias.

Many Apostrophe core modules already populate browser data, including piece type, page type, and widget type modules. For this reason, it is ususally correct to extend this method to add additional browser data using the module's extendMethods customization function.

Avoid returning large data structures, as this will impact page load time and performance.

getOption(req, dotPathOrArray, def)

This is a convenience method to fetch properties of self.options in a module. It will look for, then return the option identified by the second argument.

req is required to provide extensibility. Modules can use it to change the response based on the current page and other factors tied to the request. The second argument, dotPathOrArray, may be a dot path ('flavors.grape.sweetness') or an array [ 'flavors', 'grape', 'sweetness' ].

The optional def argument is returned if the property, or any of its ancestors, does not exist. If no third argument is given in this situation, undefined is returned.

Using getOption() in templates

getOption() is also made available in templates as a global function (directly as getOption()), not as a property of a module or the apos object. In templates, skip the req argument.

Normally in templates this returns options located in the module that called render() (often the module the template file belongs to). If you prefix the option path with a cross-module key, such as module-name:optionName, it will return the option located in the specified module.

email(req, templateName, data, options)

Use the email() method to send email messages from a module. It renders an HTML email message using the template specified by templateName, which receives the third argument as its data object.

Either the nodemailer option must be configured on the @apostrophecms/email module or another Nodemailer transport must be defined on that module as self.transport before this method can be used. Examples of other email transports include ones built for particular services that wrap Nodemailer themselves (e.g., nodemailer-mailjet-transport, nodemailer-mailgun-transport).

A plain text version is automatically generated for email clients that require or prefer it, including plain text versions of links. You do not need a separate plain text template.

The options object is passed on to the email transport except that options.html and options.plaintext are automatically provided via the template.

In particular, the options object should contain:

• from: The email address the message should come from.
• to: One or more email recipient addresses (comma-separated in a string for multiple).
• subject: The subject line

You can also configure a default from address, either globally by setting the from option of the @apostrophecms/email module, or locally for a particular module by adding an email option with a from property. If you need to localize options.subject, you can call req.t(subject).

This method returns info as per the Nodemailer documentation. With most transports, a successful return indicates the message was handed off but has not necessarily arrived yet and could still bounce back at some point.

emit(name, ...args)

The emit() method is used to emit server-side events. Events are automatically associated with the module that emitted them. The first argument is the name of the event. Additional arguments are passed, in order, to the event handlers listening to the event.

See the server events guide for more on this subject.

logInfo(req, 'event-type', 'notification message', { key: 'value' })

The logInfo() method is used to log notifications with a severity of info. The event-type argument is required and uniquely identifies the notification. The remainder of the arguments are optional.

Adding the req object populates the log notification with the originalUrl, path, method, ip, query, and requestId from this object.

The notification message and object added as the final argument will both be added to the notification by the @apostrophecms/log module.

logDebug(req, 'event-type', 'notification message', { key: 'value' })

The logDebug() method is used to log notifications with a severity of debug. The event-type argument is required and uniquely identifies the notification. The remainder of the arguments are optional.

Adding the req object populates the log notification with the originalUrl, path, method, ip, query, and requestId from this object.

The notification message and object added as the final argument will both be added to the notification by the @apostrophecms/log module.

logWarn(req, 'event-type', 'notification message', { key: 'value' })

The logWarn() method is used to log notifications with a severity of warn. The event-type argument is required and uniquely identifies the notification. The remainder of the arguments are optional.

Adding the req object populates the log notification with the originalUrl, path, method, ip, query, and requestId from this object.

The notification message and object added as the final argument will both be added to the notification by the @apostrophecms/log module.

logError(req, 'event-type', 'notification message', { key: 'value' })

The logError() method is used to log notifications with a severity of error. The event-type argument is required and uniquely identifies the notification. The remainder of the arguments are optional.

Adding the req object populates the log notification with the originalUrl, path, method, ip, query, and requestId from this object.

The notification message and object added as the final argument will both be added to the notification by the @apostrophecms/log module.