API-GAnalytics

NodeJS API analytics using Google Analytics.

This module is Express middleware which utilizes the Analytics Measurement Protocol and sends statistics from received requests to Google Analytics.

As of now, the supported actions are:

• Events
• Pageviews
• Exceptions

The module also gathers as much data as possible to give meaningful insights. It supports the following parameters:

• Client ID
• User ID
• Data Source
• IP Override
• User Language
• User Agent
• Exceptions

Installation

$ npm install api-ganalytics

Express example

var express = require('express');
var Analytics = require('api-ganalytics');

var app = express();

var options = {
    hostname : 'API-Ganalytics',
    userId : [ 'user', 'id'],
    locale : [ 'user', 'locale'],
    debug : false
};

Analytics('UA-XXXXXXXX-1', options)


app.get('/', function(req, res, next) {
  res.send('Hello API-GAnalytics');
  next(); // <-- very important!
});


app.use(Analytics.track);
app.use(Analytics.exceptions);

app.listen(3000);

Placement

The palcement of the app.use(); statements is critical for the availability of some features. For example, the pageview path property is only available after parsing of the request object, which is right after all custom middleware. Therefor, all app.use(); statements must be placed BELOW the route decleration. The initialization of the Analytics module can take place anywhere, as long as it happens before any features are used.

!!! Be sure to call next(); on your routes in order to allow the execution of the middleware !!!

Environment options

The module only hits the Google Analytics server when the environment variable NODE_ENV is set to production. If the NODE_ENV environment variable is unset or equals anything other than production it will not fire any requests. The exception to this is when debug is set to true in the options object. In that case the module will hit the debug endpoint and output it's results.

options

The API-GAnalytics middleware accepts a dictionary of options allowing you to modify the inner workings. This section explains the individual options and their effects.

var options = {
    hostname : 'API-Ganalytics',
    userId : [ 'user', 'id'],
    locale : [ 'user', 'locale'],
    debug : false
};

hostname

The hostname will be used to set the Data Source property of the action. Originally, this is web for websites and app for mobile applications. If this property is not set, it will default to API.

userId

UserId is either a string or an array of object keys which will be used to fetch a numeric userId from the request object. In this case, the request object contains a user object which has a field id. A visual representation would look like this:

var request = {
    // ...
    user : {
        id : 1,
        name : 'API-GAnalytics'
        // ...
    }
    // ...
}

The userId will be used to traverse the request object until a destionation is reached.

locale

Like the clientId, the locale option either is a string or an array of object keys which will be used to fetch a locale/language setting from the request object.

debug

Debug will put the module in debug mode. This means additional output where necessary and that the requests towards the Google Analytics server will be redirected to their /debug endpoint. This allows for checking if the request sent is valid. By default, debug is false.

License

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2016 Lars de Bruijn

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.