Sails.js model method (non-instance) - methods

Question

I've been working on this app for a while. I have several other modules that all work fine. I've been having a ton of trouble with this particular module and it's super frustrating. This problem looks super simple. Maybe I'm over thinking it. Hopefully someone will say that I am. :)
In this module, I decided to use methods from my model. This particular one is non-instanced. Here is my model:
/*
* Account.js
*/
module.exports = {
connection: 'islMongo',
attributes: {
name: {
type: 'string',
required: true,
},
},
numberToName: function(accountNumber) {
Account.findOne(accountNumber).exec(function(err, a){
if (err) {
return 'err';
} else {
return 'ok';
}
});
return 'broke';
},
};
I call it from one of my controllers like this:
var accountName = Account.numberToName(params.id);
At this point accountName's value is "broke". I don't understand why it wouldn't either return "err" or "ok". I simplified my actual function here for testing.
Edit:
I have other calls that work properly. For instance:
updateBalance: function(account, amount, callback) {
/* Accepts account id or account object */
(function _lookupAccount(afterLookup) {
if (typeof account === 'object') return afterLookup(null, account);
Account.findOne(account)
.exec(afterLookup);
})(function (err, a) {
if (err) return callback(err);
if (!a) {
err = new Error();
err.message = "Couldn't find account.";
err.status = 400;
return callback(err);
}
a.balance = parseInt(a.balance) + parseInt(amount);
a.save(callback);
});
},
Is called like this:
Account.updateBalance(params.account, -2000);
The definition has a callback, but I don't actually use one because it isn't needed. The method works fine.
Sails.js documentation provides example methods that don't use callbacks. They simply return the requested data.
// Attribute methods
getFullName: function (){
return this.firstName + ' ' + this.lastName;
},
isMarried: function () {
return !!this.spouse;
},
isEligibleForSocialSecurity: function (){
return this.age >= 65;
},
encryptPassword: function () {
}
And called like this:
if ( rick.isMarried() ) {
// ...
}
Which is what I am trying to do with my method at the top of this post. It seems like the exec() portion of Account.findOne() isn't even being called.

Answer 1

Sails.js & Node.js are asynchronous. So in simple words they don't wait for response from database, but when they got date they call a callback. So you need to read about Queries and callbacks and what is callback hell (you should never do that).
And now get back to your problem.
/*
Account.js
*/
//...
numberToName: function(accountNumber, callback) {
// if you want some additional logic you can create function here and call callback in it
Account.findOne(accountNumber).exec(callback);
}
//...
Tip: callbacks first param is always error.
// AccountController
method: function(req, res){
var id = req.param('id'); // if its int you should parseInt()
var callback = function(error, account){
if(error)
res.send('error');
else
res.send(account.name);
};
Account.numberToName(id, callback);
}