How to keep multiple requests separate in Nodejs / Expressjs

Question

I am developing a NodeJS / ExpressJS application on my computer. I have node running locally. I have a single page web app. When it needs information it makes ajax requests with jQuery.

The problem is when I have multiple requests for different sets of data. Node/express will start processing the first request and then the second request comes in before the first request has been fulfilled, it sends the response to the second request from the first request instead of sending it to the first request like it is suppose to. If I put a pause ( using an alert ) in my app so that is slows it down so the next request doesn't get sent until the first request was fulfilled, everything works fine.

I don't understand why this is happening. I thought node / express was suppose to be able to handle this and keep the requests separate.

Also, I get a "Can't set headers after they are sent" error in node because it is apparently merging the requests....

Here is what happens

ajax request 1 -> server
ajax request 2 -> server
ajax request 3 -> server

server -> request1 ( no response )
server -> request2 ( request 1's data)
server -> request3 ( request 2's data)
server for request3 --> error: header's already sent

I am using Google Chrome 63 with jQuery 3.3.1 on a Windows 10 machine running Node 8.9.4 and Express 4.16.2

My work-around is to chain the ajax requests so that each request doesn't get called until the prior request has received a response from the server. But I shouldn't have to do that...

Here is the relevant server code:

var mysql = require("mysql");
var express = require('express');
var app = express();

var DEBUG = true;

var request = null;
var response = null;

var currentDataRowParser = null;
var con = mysql.createConnection(config);

function ParseMySqlRowData(rowData)
{
    if (DEBUG) console.log("ParseMySqlRowData");

    return JSON.stringify(rowData);
}

var ParseMySqlRowsDatatoResponse = function (err, rows)
{
    if (DEBUG) console.log("ParseMySqlRowsDatatoResponse");

    var MySQLRows;

    try
    {
        if (!err)
        {
            MySQLRows = "[";
            for (var i = 0; i < rows.length; i++)
            {
                if (i > 0)
                    MySQLRows += ", ";

                MySQLRows += currentDataRowParser(rows[i]);
            }

            MySQLRows += "]";

            if (DEBUG) console.log("write rows");
            if (DEBUG) console.log(MySQLRows);
            response.send(MySQLRows);
            response.end();
        }
    }
    catch (ex)
    {
        if (DEBUG) console.log("ParseMySQLRowsDatatoResponse: ERROR");
        if (DEBUG) console.log(ex);
    }
};

var GetQueryData = function (query, dataRowParser, parseDataCallbackFunction)
{
    if (DEBUG) console.log("GetQueryData");

    currentDataRowParser = dataRowParser;

    if (parseDataCallbackFunction == null || parseDataCallbackFunction == undefined)
        parseDataCallbackFunction = ParseDataCallback;

    try
    {
        if (DEBUGQUERY)
        {
            console.log("before query");
            console.log(con.query(query, parseDataCallbackFunction));
            console.log("after query");
            console.log(query.sql);
            DEBUGQUERY = false;
        }
        else
        {
            con.query(query, parseDataCallbackFunction);
        }
    }
    catch (ex)
    {
        console.log(ex);
    }
};

app.post('/getdata', function(req, res)
{
    request = req;
    response = res;
    var query;
    switch (request.body.loaddata)
    {
    case "dataset1":
        query = "SELECT * FROM table1 WHERE key='" + request.body.key + "'";
        GetQueryData(query,ParseMySqlRowData,ParseMySqlRowsDatatoResponse);
        break;
    case "dataset2":
        query = "SELECT * FROM table2 WHERE key='" + request.body.key + "'";
        GetQueryData(query,ParseMySqlRowData,ParseMySqlRowsDatatoResponse);
        break;
    case "dataset3":
        query = "SELECT * FROM table3 WHERE key='" + request.body.key + "'";
        GetQueryData(query,ParseMySqlRowData,ParseMySqlRowsDatatoResponse);
        break;

    }
};

Answer 1

You cannot store req and res in global or module-level variables. When a second request comes in, it will immediately overwrite your globals and it will mix up the data for the various requests.

Does't node separate each request instance?

Yes, there is a separate request instance, but not a separate global or module-level namespace. So, when you assign the req into the global space, you are overwriting the previous one and your code will then use the wrong one.

It is very helpful to have the request and response as a global variable. Otherwise I would have to be passing them all over the place.

You HAVE to pass them to lower level functions that need them. That's how you keep each request separate from the others. ANY function that needs to operate on req or res should be passed those variables so it knows exactly which ones to operate on.

node.js has a shared global and module-level namespace. So, all requests in flight at the same time use that same namespace. The ONLY data that should ever be stored there is data that you specifically want to be shared between requests (such as session state, for example). Individual request or response objects should never be stored in a shared variable.

---

A more common way to code your type of code is to call a function like your GetQueryData() and have it return the data (likely via a promise) and then you send the response in the original request handler. Then, you don't have to pass req or res down multiple levels at all. Your helper functions just fetch data. The request handlers fetch data, then send the response. It's often a better encapsulation of functionality.

---

Here's one way to restructure your code along the lines described above.

1. GetQueryData() returns a promise that fulfills with the data
2. ParseMySqlRowsData() just returns a parsed result or null if a parsing error
3. app.post() just gets the data (via a promise) and then sends the appropriate response.
4. There's no global req or res and there's no need to pass them anywhere.

Here's the code:

var mysql = require("mysql");
var express = require('express');
var app = express();

var DEBUG = true;

var currentDataRowParser = null;
var con = mysql.createConnection(config);

function ParseMySqlRowData(rowData) {
    if (DEBUG) console.log("ParseMySqlRowData");

    return JSON.stringify(rowData);
}

var ParseMySqlRowsData = function(err, rows) {
    if (DEBUG) console.log("ParseMySqlRowsDatatoResponse");

    var MySQLRows;

    try {
        if (!err) {
            MySQLRows = "[";
            for (var i = 0; i < rows.length; i++) {
                if (i > 0)
                    MySQLRows += ", ";

                MySQLRows += currentDataRowParser(rows[i]);
            }

            MySQLRows += "]";

            if (DEBUG) console.log("write rows");
            if (DEBUG) console.log(MySQLRows);
            return MySQLRows;
        }
    } catch (ex) {
        if (DEBUG) console.log("ParseMySQLRowsDatatoResponse: ERROR");
        if (DEBUG) console.log(ex);
        return null;
    }
};

var GetQueryData = function(query, dataRowParser, parseDataCallbackFunction) {
    return new Promise((resolve, reject) =>{
        if (DEBUG) console.log("GetQueryData");

        let currentDataRowParser = dataRowParser;

        if (parseDataCallbackFunction == null || parseDataCallbackFunction == undefined)
            parseDataCallbackFunction = ParseDataCallback;

        try {
            if (DEBUGQUERY) {
                console.log("before query");
                console.log(con.query(query, parseDataCallbackFunction));
                console.log("after query");
                console.log(query.sql);
                DEBUGQUERY = false;
            } else {
                con.query(query, function(err, rows) {
                    if (err) {
                        reject(err);
                    } else {
                        let result = parseDataCallbackFunction(rows);
                        if (result) {
                            resolve(result);
                        } else {
                            reject(new Error("ParseMySqlRowsData error"));
                        }
                    }
                });
            }
        } catch (ex) {
            console.log(ex);
            reject(new Error("GetQueryData error"));
        }
    });
};

app.post('/getdata', function(req, res) {
    var query;
    let p;
    switch (request.body.loaddata) {
        case "dataset1":
            query = "SELECT * FROM table1 WHERE key='" + request.body.key + "'";
            p = GetQueryData(query, ParseMySqlRowData, ParseMySqlRowsData);
            break;
        case "dataset2":
            query = "SELECT * FROM table2 WHERE key='" + request.body.key + "'";
            p = GetQueryData(query, ParseMySqlRowData, ParseMySqlRowsData);
            break;
        case "dataset3":
            query = "SELECT * FROM table3 WHERE key='" + request.body.key + "'";
            p = GetQueryData(query, ParseMySqlRowData, ParseMySqlRowsData);
            break;
        default:
            p = Promise.reject(new Error("Invalid request.body.loaddata"));
            break;
    }
    p.then(data => {
        res.send(data);
    }).catch(err => {
        console.log(err);
        res.sendStatus(500);
    });
};

P.S. I see you still have a module-level variable you should not have: currentDataRowParser. That needs to be replaced by passing the appropriate parser to ParseMySqlRowsData() as an argument, not using a module-level shared variable. I will leave that as an excercise for you to fix. Shared variables for operating on a specific request state are a bad idea in ANY server programming and specifically in node.js programming. Keep your request-specific state in your function arguments or on the req or res object itself. That's how you prevent overwritting the data from one request with the data from another while they are being processed.