Mounting parse dashboard on to a router won't work.

[tomasgvivo]

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Steps to reproduce

var express = require('express');
var ParseDashboard = require('parse-dashboard');

var dashboard = new ParseDashboard({
  "apps": [
    {
      "serverURL": "http://localhost:1337/parse",
      "appId": "myAppId",
      "masterKey": "myMasterKey",
      "appName": "MyApp"
    }
  ]
});

var app = express();

// Here is where the problem starts...
var router = express.Router();

// make the Parse Dashboard available at /dashboard
router.use(dashboard);

// mount the router.
app.use('/dashboard', router);

var httpServer = require('http').createServer(app);
httpServer.listen(4040);

The problem:

ParseServer doesn't care where you mount it to.
It allways use app.

module.exports = function(config, allowInsecureHTTP) {
  var app = express(); //   <----------------------------------------- The problem
  // Serve public files.
  app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname,'public')));

  // Allow setting via middleware
  if (config.trustProxy && app.disabled('trust proxy')) {
    app.enable('trust proxy');
  }

  // wait for app to mount in order to get mountpath
  app.on('mount', function() { // <--------------------------------- More prblems
    const mountPath = getMount(app.mountpath);
    const users = config.users;
    const useEncryptedPasswords = config.useEncryptedPasswords ? true : false;
    const authInstance = new Authentication(users, useEncryptedPasswords, mountPath);
    authInstance.initialize(app);

    // CSRF error handler
    app.use(function (err, req, res, next) {
      if (err.code !== 'EBADCSRFTOKEN') return next(err)

      // handle CSRF token errors here
      res.status(403)
      res.send('form tampered with')
    });

[...]

I have some idea of how to solve this.. but maybe there is a better one.

Btw, sorry for my bad english.

[flovilmart]

And if you use:

app.use('/dashboard', parseDashboard)

?

[tomasgvivo]

@flovilmart

That's not the case.
Is not allways posible to mount parseDashboard onto the app, especially when you have multiple frontend applications in the same project. That's why routers exists... so all the mounted middlewares don't need to share the same application singleton.

[flovilmart]

Not sure when calling app = express() returns a singleton.

Also, can you expand on what 'won't work', because I personally would have done:

var router = express.Router()
router.use('/dashboard', dashboard)
app.use(router)

Also see: https://gist.github.com/flovilmart/6e72ae9a5c61246d21a7465013e64d75

[tomasgvivo]

@flovilmart

Thanks, now I understand better the problem.
When you mount a sub-app onto a router, the sub-app's app.on('mount', [...]) is never called.
I don't know if it's a express bug or parse-dashboard bug.

Btw, I thought app = express() returned a singleton.. every day you learn something new.

[flovilmart]

I would say an express one, or you can probably forward the router on mount call to the dashboard by emitting the mount event back.

[tomasgvivo]

It's seams it's a feature..
expressjs/express#3285

But now I know how to solve my problem.

Thanks.

[flovilmart]

I don't believe there is any need to use a Router unless 100% necessary.