Dashboard example includes confusing code

[ericallam]

The code itself isn't confusing, I'm just confused as to why this stuff is in the client app:

logging_gateway = engine.logging_gateway.create();
stdout_client = engine.logging_stdout_client.create();
logging_gateway.add_logger(stdout_client);

logging_opts = {
    logging_gateway: logging_gateway
};

intake = engine.intake.create(logging_opts);
exhaust = engine.exhaust.create(logging_opts);
cylinder = engine.cylinder.create(logging_opts);

It doesn't seem like it's necessary, or am I missing something? Can it be used for communication with the piston server?

[rehanift]

That code is what starts the "server" aspect of engine.js: an intake, an exhaust, and one or more cylinders (in fact, this is exactly whats in script/server.js). Its included in the app.js file because I didn't want the user to have to start a server, then start the express app. I do see how this can be confusing, though.

It should be possible to remove this code and start the server with script/server.js, then start the express application separately. Does that seem better to you?

On a related note, I have toyed with the idea of bundling this "bootstrap" code into a convenience method, something like engine.server.create() but I haven't gotten around to it yet. Another idea I have been kicking around in my head is creating a command line tool that will start the server for you and expose some config options, ie. engine server start --cylinders=3

[ericallam]

Ah ok I didn't realize you could run both the server and the client in the same node process, that makes sense. I think just some better documentation in the app.js file would do the trick.

I do like the idea of creating a "server factory" and along with that an easy to start server with options, but I would go the npm scripts route (something like npm start which would start the server).