Override a route - Forest Documentation

Overriding a route allows you to change or completely replace a Forest’s route behavior.

Changing Forest’s behavior

To achieve this, use existing snippets of default routes and modify them according to your needs. Here are a few examples:

Use extended search by default

SQL
Mongoose
Rails

const express = require('express');
const {
  PermissionMiddlewareCreator,
  RecordsGetter,
  RecordsCounter,
} = require('forest-express-sequelize');
const { companies } = require('../models');

const router = express.Router();
const permissionMiddlewareCreator = new PermissionMiddlewareCreator(
  'companies'
);

//...

// Get a list of Companies - Check out our documentation for more details: https://docs.forestadmin.com/documentation/reference-guide/routes/default-routes#get-a-list-of-records
router.get(
  '/companies',
  permissionMiddlewareCreator.list(),
  (request, response, next) => {
    const { query, user } = request;
    query.searchExtended = '1';

    const recordsGetter = new RecordsGetter(companies, user, query);
    recordsGetter
      .getAll()
      .then((records) => recordsGetter.serialize(records))
      .then((recordsSerialized) => response.send(recordsSerialized))
      .catch(next);
  }
);

// Get a number of Companies - Check out our documentation for more details: https://docs.forestadmin.com/documentation/reference-guide/routes/default-routes#get-a-list-of-records
router.get(
  '/companies/count',
  permissionMiddlewareCreator.list(),
  (request, response, next) => {
    const { query, user } = request;
    query.searchExtended = '1';

    const recordsCounter = new RecordsCounter(companies, user, query);
    recordsCounter
      .count()
      .then((count) => response.send({ count }))
      .catch(next);
  }
);

//...

const express = require('express');
const {
  PermissionMiddlewareCreator,
  RecordsGetter,
  RecordsCounter,
} = require('forest-express-mongoose');
const { companies } = require('../models');

const router = express.Router();
const permissionMiddlewareCreator = new PermissionMiddlewareCreator(
  'companies'
);

//...

// Get a list of Companies - Check out our documentation for more details: https://docs.forestadmin.com/documentation/reference-guide/routes/default-routes#get-a-list-of-records
router.get(
  '/companies',
  permissionMiddlewareCreator.list(),
  (request, response, next) => {
    const { query, user } = request;
    query.searchExtended = '1';

    const recordsGetter = new RecordsGetter(companies, user, query);
    recordsGetter
      .getAll()
      .then((records) => recordsGetter.serialize(records))
      .then((recordsSerialized) => response.send(recordsSerialized))
      .catch(next);
  }
);

// Get a number of Companies - Check out our documentation for more details: https://docs.forestadmin.com/documentation/reference-guide/routes/default-routes#get-a-list-of-records
router.get(
  '/companies/count',
  permissionMiddlewareCreator.list(),
  (request, response, next) => {
    const { query, user } = request;
    query.searchExtended = '1';

    const recordsCounter = new RecordsCounter(companies, user, query);
    recordsCounter
      .count()
      .then((count) => response.send({ count }))
      .catch(next);
  }
);

//...

if ForestLiana::UserSpace.const_defined?('CompanyController')
  ForestLiana::UserSpace::CompanyController.class_eval do
    alias_method :default_index, :index
    alias_method :default_count, :count

    # Get a list of Companies
    def index
      params['searchExtended'] = '1'
      default_index
    end

    # Get a number of Companies
    def count
      params['searchExtended'] = '1'
      default_count
    end
  end
end

With this snippet, only the companies collection would use extended search by default.

Using extended search is less performant than default search. Use this wisely.

Protect a specific record

SQL
Mongoose
Rails

router.delete(
  '/companies/:recordId',
  permissionMiddlewareCreator.delete(),
  (request, response, next) => {
    const { params, query, user } = request;

    if (Number(params.recordId) === 82) {
      response
        .status(403)
        .send('This record is protected, you cannot remove it.');
      return;
    }

    const recordRemover = new RecordRemover(companies, user, query);
    recordRemover
      .remove(params.recordId)
      .then(() => response.status(204).send())
      .catch(next);
  }
);

router.delete(
  '/companies/:recordId',
  permissionMiddlewareCreator.delete(),
  (request, response, next) => {
    const { params, query, user } = request;

    if (Number(params.recordId) === 82) {
      response
        .status(403)
        .send('This record is protected, you cannot remove it.');
      return;
    }

    const recordRemover = new RecordRemover(companies, user, query);
    recordRemover
      .remove(params.recordId)
      .then(() => response.status(204).send())
      .catch(next);
  }
);

if ForestLiana::UserSpace.const_defined?('CompanyController')
  ForestLiana::UserSpace::CompanyController.class_eval do
    alias_method :default_destroy, :destroy
    def destroy
      if params["id"] == "50"
        render status: 403, plain: 'This record is protected, you cannot remove it.'
      else
        default_destroy
      end
    end
  end
end

Replacing Forest’s behavior

To achieve this, simply remove the next() statement of any route:

SQL
Mongoose
Rails

...

// Create a Company - Check out our documentation for more details: https://docs.forestadmin.com/documentation/reference-guide/routes/default-routes#create-a-record
router.post('/companies', permissionMiddlewareCreator.create(), (req, res, next) => {
  // >> Add your own logic here <<
});

...

...

// Create a Company - Check out our documentation for more details: https://docs.forestadmin.com/documentation/reference-guide/routes/default-routes#create-a-record
router.post('/companies', permissionMiddlewareCreator.create(), (req, res, next) => {
  // >> Add your own logic here <<
});

...

if ForestLiana::UserSpace.const_defined?('CompanyController')
  ForestLiana::UserSpace::CompanyController.class_eval do
    # Create a Company
    def create
      # >> Add your own logic here <<
    end
  end
end

For instance, if you have a Users collection, you might want to create your users via your own api:

SQL
Mongoose
Rails

...

const axios = require('axios');
const { RecordSerializer } = require('forest-express-sequelize');
const { users } = require('../models');

...

router.post('/users', permissionMiddlewareCreator.create(), (request, response, next) => {
  const recordSerializer = new RecordSerializer(users);
  const axiosRequest = {
    url: 'https://<your-api>/users',
    method: 'post',
    data: request.body.data.attributes,
  };

  axios(axiosRequest)
    .then(result => recordSerializer.serialize(result.data))
    .then(resultSerialized => response.send(resultSerialized))
    .catch(error => {
      console.log('error:', error);
      next(error);
    });
});

...

const axios = require('axios');
const { RecordSerializer } = require('forest-express-mongoose');
const { users } = require('../models');

...

router.post('/users', permissionMiddlewareCreator.create(), (request, response, next) => {
  const recordSerializer = new RecordSerializer(users);
  const axiosRequest = {
    url: 'https://<your-api>/users',
    method: 'post',
    data: request.body.data.attributes,
  };

  axios(axiosRequest)
    .then(result => recordSerializer.serialize(result.data))
    .then(resultSerialized => response.send(resultSerialized))
    .catch(error => {
      console.log('error:', error);
      next(error);
    });
});

require 'net/http'
require 'uri'

if ForestLiana::UserSpace.const_defined?('UserController')
  ForestLiana::UserSpace::UserController.class_eval do

    # Create a User
    def create
      forest_authorize!('add', forest_user, @resource)
      begin
        response = Net::HTTP.post URI('https://<your-api>/users'), params.to_json, "Content-Type" => "application/json"
        render serializer: nil, json: render_record_jsonapi(response.body)
      rescue => errors
        render serializer: nil, json: JSONAPI::Serializer.serialize_errors(errors), status: 400
      end
    end
  end
end

​Changing Forest’s behavior

​Use extended search by default

​Protect a specific record

​Replacing Forest’s behavior

Changing Forest’s behavior

Use extended search by default

Protect a specific record

Replacing Forest’s behavior