Using Node.js and SQL Server with Edge.js

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David Neal is a father, geek, musician, and software developer living near Chattanooga, TN. He has spent the last several years building high-performance, scalable web applications, and currently works at LeanKit as a Developer Advocate. David served as president of the Nashville .NET User Group for 2012 and 2013. David is passionate about software craftsmanship, user experience, music, and bacon. You can find David on Twitter as @reverentgeek.

I've looked at Node.js many times over the past few years. It is hard to ignore all the attention it has received. Unfortunately, being heavily invested in Microsoft technology, one of the reasons I have never got very far in learning Node.js is its lack of support for SQL Server. If you've ever tried connecting to MS SQL Server from Node.js, then you know that the modules currently available are incomplete and immature. Microsoft released an official SQL Server driver. However, it is still "preview" technology with a number of missing features and outstanding issues that haven't been addressed since its release.

One compelling alternative I have discovered is Edge.js. Edge.js is a Node.js module that allows .NET code and assemblies to run in the same process with Node.js. This potentially enables a Node.js developer to leverage technologies that have traditionally been very hard or impossible to use in the past. For example:

• SQL Server

• Active Directory

• Nuget packages (currently 18K+ packages available)

• PC or Server hardware (e.g. webcam, microphone, and printers)

• Legacy .NET code

• Windows (desktop or server)

• .NET Framework 4.5 (required for async support)

• Node.js

Note: As of this writing, Edge.js works only on Windows – there's a Beta for OS X though.

If you don't have Node.js already, go to nodejs.org and download the installer. After Node.js is installed, you can verify it's working by opening a command prompt and typing:

#!javascript
> node -v

This should print the current version of Node.js.

Next, create a folder for your Node.js project. For example, from the command prompt, you could enter:

#!javascript
> md \projects\node-edge-test1
> cd \projects\node-edge-test1

Node comes with a package manager that makes it extremely easy to download and install modules. From the command prompt, enter the following:

#!javascript
> npm install edge
> npm install edge-sql

The first command installs Edge.js. The second command installs additional support for SQL Server.

Create a text file named server.js and copy in the following:

#!javascript
var edge = require('edge');
// The text in edge.func() is C# code
var helloWorld = edge.func('async (input) => { return input.ToString(); }');
helloWorld('Hello World!', function (error, result) {
    if (error) throw error;
    console.log(result);
});

Now, run the Node.js application at the command prompt by entering:

#!javascript
> node server.js

You should see "Hello World!" printed immediately to the console window.

In these next examples, we need a database to query. If you do not already have SQL Server installed, I recommend you download and install the free Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Express. Also, be sure to download and install the free SQL Management Studio Express.

• In SQL Management Studio, create a new database named node-test and accept all the defaults.

• Right-click on the new database and select New Query.

• Copy & paste the following script and click Execute.

Let's take a look.

#!javascript
IF EXISTS(SELECT 1 FROM sys.tables WHERE object_id = OBJECT_ID('SampleUsers')) BEGIN; DROP TABLE SampleUsers; END; GO
CREATE TABLE SampleUsers ( Id INTEGER NOT NULL IDENTITY(1, 1), FirstName VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL, LastName VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL, Email VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL, CreateDate DATETIME NOT NULL DEFAULT(getdate()), PRIMARY KEY (Id) ); GO
INSERT INTO SampleUsers(FirstName,LastName,Email,CreateDate) VALUES('Orla','Sweeney','nunc@convallisincursus.ca','Apr 13, 2013'); INSERT INTO SampleUsers(FirstName,LastName,Email,CreateDate) VALUES('Zia','Pickett','porttitor.tellus.non@Duis.com','Aug 31, 2013'); INSERT INTO SampleUsers(FirstName,LastName,Email,CreateDate) VALUES('Justina','Ayala','neque.tellus.imperdiet@temporestac.com','Jul 28, 2013'); INSERT INTO SampleUsers(FirstName,LastName,Email,CreateDate) VALUES('Levi','Parrish','adipiscing.elit@velarcueu.com','Jun 21, 2013'); INSERT INTO SampleUsers(FirstName,LastName,Email,CreateDate) VALUES('Pearl','Warren','In@dignissimpharetra.org','Mar 3, 2013'); INSERT INTO SampleUsers(FirstName,LastName,Email,CreateDate) VALUES('Rinah','Compton','egestas@feliseget.ca','Oct 24, 2013'); INSERT INTO SampleUsers(FirstName,LastName,Email,CreateDate) VALUES('Hasad','Shepherd','fermentum.metus@velit.com','Sep 15, 2013'); INSERT INTO SampleUsers(FirstName,LastName,Email,CreateDate) VALUES('Noelani','Hill','lacus@non.org','Jun 6, 2013'); INSERT INTO SampleUsers(FirstName,LastName,Email,CreateDate) VALUES('Nicole','Jacobson','risus@mattis.com','Aug 8, 2013'); INSERT INTO SampleUsers(FirstName,LastName,Email,CreateDate) VALUES('Alika','Acosta','Duis@felis.ca','Nov 23, 2013');

This will create a new table named

SampleUsers

and insert 10 records.

Before you can use Edge.js with SQL Server, you must set an environment variable named

EDGE_SQL_CONNECTION_STRING

to a valid ADO.NET connection string. For example:

#!javascript
> set EDGE_SQL_CONNECTION_STRING=Data Source=localhost;Initial Catalog=node-test;Integrated Security=True

Note: This environment variable is only good for the current command prompt, and will go away when the window is closed. If you are using the Node.js Tools for Visual Studio, you will need to set a permanent environment variable and restart Visual Studio.

Alternatively, you can set a permanent environment variable using

SETX

.

#!javascript
> SETX EDGE_SQL_CONNECTION_STRING "Data Source=localhost;Initial Catalog=node-test;Integrated Security=True"

Create a new text file named

server-sql-query.js

and copy & paste the following code.

#!javascript
var http = require('http');
var edge = require('edge');
var port = process.env.PORT || 8080;
var getTopUsers = edge.func('sql', function () {/*
    SELECT TOP 5 * FROM SampleUsers ORDER BY CreateDate DESC
*/});
function logError(err, res) {
    res.writeHead(200, { 'Content-Type': 'text/plain' });
    res.write("Error: " + err);
    res.end("");
}
http.createServer(function (req, res) {
    res.writeHead(200, { 'Content-Type': 'text/html' });
    getTopUsers(null, function (error, result) {
        if (error) { logError(error, res); return; }
        if (result) {
            res.write("<ul>");
            result.forEach(function(user) {
                res.write("<li>" + user.FirstName + " " + user.LastName + ": " + user.Email + "</li>");
            });
            res.end("</ul>");
        }
        else {
        }
    });
}).listen(port);
console.log("Node server listening on port " + port);

Save your text file, and from a command prompt enter:

#!javascript
> node server-sql-query.js

Open your web browser, and navigate to http://localhost:8080. If all goes well, you should see a list of five users.

Edge.js supports only very basic parameterized Select, Insert, Update, and Delete statements. It does not currently support stored procedures or blocks of SQL code. So, if you need to do anything more than a trivial CRUD operation, you will need to implement that in .NET.

The Node.js execution model is a single-threaded event loop. So, it is very important that your .NET code honor this by being fully async. Otherwise, a blocking call to .NET would create havoc for Node.js.

Our first step is to create a sample class library in Visual Studio that we can compile to a .DLL and use with Edge.js.

• Open Visual Studio. - Create a new Class Library project named

EdgeSampleLibrary

.- Delete the automatically-generated

Class1.cs

file.- Create a new class named Sample1.- Copy & paste the following code into your

Sample1.cs

file.

#!javascript
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Data;
using System.Data.SqlClient;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
namespace EdgeSampleLibrary
{
        public class Sample1
    {
        public async Task<object> Invoke(object input)
        {
            // Edge marshalls data to .NET using an IDictionary<string, object>
            var payload = (IDictionary<string, object>) input;
            var pageNumber = (int) payload["pageNumber"];
            var pageSize = (int) payload["pageSize"];
            return await QueryUsers(pageNumber, pageSize);
        }
        public async Task<List<SampleUser>> QueryUsers(int pageNumber, int pageSize)
        {
            // Use the same connection string env variable
            var connectionString = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("EDGE_SQL_CONNECTION_STRING");
            if (connectionString == null)
                throw new ArgumentException("You must set the EDGE_SQL_CONNECTION_STRING environment variable.");
            // Paging the result set using a common table expression (CTE).
            // You may rather do this in a stored procedure or use an
            // ORM that supports async.
            var sql = @"
DECLARE @RowStart int, @RowEnd int;
SET @RowStart = (@PageNumber - 1) * @PageSize + 1;
SET @RowEnd = @PageNumber * @PageSize;
WITH Paging AS
(
    SELECT  ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY CreateDate DESC) AS RowNum,
            Id, FirstName, LastName, Email, CreateDate
    FROM    SampleUsers
)
SELECT  Id, FirstName, LastName, Email, CreateDate
FROM    Paging
WHERE   RowNum BETWEEN @RowStart AND @RowEnd
ORDER BY RowNum;
";
            var users = new List<SampleUser>();
            using (var cnx = new SqlConnection(connectionString))
            {
                using (var cmd = new SqlCommand(sql, cnx))
                {
                    await cnx.OpenAsync();
                    cmd.Parameters.Add(new SqlParameter("@PageNumber", SqlDbType.Int) { Value = pageNumber });
                    cmd.Parameters.Add(new SqlParameter("@PageSize", SqlDbType.Int) { Value = pageSize });
                    using (var reader = await cmd.ExecuteReaderAsync(CommandBehavior.CloseConnection))
                    {
                        while (await reader.ReadAsync())
                        {
                            var user = new SampleUser
                            {
                                Id = reader.GetInt32(0),
                                FirstName = reader.GetString(1),
                                LastName = reader.GetString(2),
                                Email = reader.GetString(3),
                                CreateDate = reader.GetDateTime(4)
                            };
                           users.Add(user);
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
            return users;
        }
    }
    public class SampleUser
    {
        public int Id { get; set; }
        public string FirstName { get; set; }
        public string LastName { get; set; }
        public string Email { get; set; }
        public DateTime CreateDate { get; set; }
    }
}

• Save and compile.

• Locate the assembly

([project]/bin/Debug/EdgeSampleLibrary.dll)

and copy it into the Node.js project folder.- Create a new text file in your Node.js project named

server-dotnet-query.js

and Copy & paste the following code.

#!javascript
var http = require('http'); var edge = require('edge'); var port = process.env.PORT || 8080;
// Set up the assembly to call from Node.js var querySample = edge.func({ assemblyFile: 'EdgeSampleLibrary.dll', typeName: 'EdgeSampleLibrary.Sample1', methodName: 'Invoke' });
function logError(err, res) { res.writeHead(200, { 'Content-Type': 'text/plain' }); res.write("Got error: " + err); res.end(""); }
http.createServer(function (req, res) { res.writeHead(200, { 'Content-Type': 'text/html' });
    // This is the data we will pass to .NET
    var data = { pageNumber: 2, pageSize: 3 };
    // Invoke the .NET function
    querySample(data, function (error, result) {
        if (error) { logError(error, res); return; }
        if (result) {
            res.write("<ul>");
            result.forEach(function(user) {
                res.write("<li>" + user.FirstName + " " + user.LastName + ": " + user.Email + "</li>");
            });
            res.end("</ul>");
        }
        else {
            res.end("No results");
        }
    });
}).listen(port);
console.log("Node server listening on port " + port);

Then save the text file, and from your command prompt, enter:

#!javascript
> node server-dotnet-query.js

Open your web browser, and navigate to http://localhost:8080. If all goes well, you should see a list of three users. Try changing the

pageNumber

and

pageSize

values in the JavaScript file and observe how that affects the output.

Bonus homework: Use the Connect module to parse query string parameters and set the pageNumber and pageSize values dynamically!

Edge.js appears to be a very promising solution to bridge the gap between Node.js and the world of .NET.

• Although .NET code can be executed in-line, I highly recommend managing all .NET code in a separate assembly.

• An ORM can make your life much easier. I prefer Micro-ORMs that aren't heavy-handed and let me do my own thing. Unfortunately, not many ORMs have adopted async support. AsyncPoco and Insight.Database look promising, but I have not tried them.

• If you use Visual Studio, download and install the Node.js Tools for Visual Studio.

• Remember, stay async in .NET as much as possible!

• Test, test, test! Profile your application's memory, CPU, and concurrency under load to ensure something isn't going terribly wrong between Node.js and .NET.

• If your motivation for using Node.js is concurrency and scalability, or reducing your Microsoft licensing footprint, you may want to consider benchmarking Edge.js against a message queue architecture. Take a look at using RabbitMQ or ZeroMQ between your Node.js and Windows environments. A message-based architecture has many benefits. Use the solution that works best for you.

• Your mileage may vary.

• Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

• Consume copious amounts of caffeine and bacon.

• Edge.js Readme

• Edge.js is 32x faster than a cross-process call

• Introducing Node.js Tools for Visual Studio

• Access SQL Azure from a Node.js app...

PS: Codeship lets you test and deploy your Node.js projects. Set up Continuous Integration with Codeship today.

• Node.js Security Tips

• A Node.js Tutorial for beginners

• Making the Switch from Node.js to Golang

• Using Jasmine to Test Node.js Applications