MeteorJS Meteor Methods call from server to server - meteor

Question

I understand that Meteor methods let you do a client to server call, but what's the best approach to call another function or method from a Meteor method, i.e. a server to server call.
Right now if I do a regular JS function call it only works if the JS file is in the lib folder. But I need it to be in the server folder.
Here is the code
I have a topics collection which sits in the collection folder and has the following
I have the following which is a collection
Meteor.methods({
topicPost: function(topicAttributes) {
var user = Meteor.user(),
topicWithSameTitle = Topics.findOne({title: topicAttributes.title});
// ensure the user is logged in
if (!user)
throw new Meteor.Error(401, "You need to login to add a new topic");
Meteor.call('checkUser');
}
});
I then have the following method which sits in the server folder
Meteor.methods({
checkUser: function () {
alert('aaaa');
}
});

Answer 1

This works, but it's not a great solution. My method for handling this is to have all of my functions outside the Meteor.methods, and simply relay to the proper functions when necessary.
// Client
Meteor.call('foo');
And:
// Server
Meteor.methods({
foo: function() {
foo();
}
});
foo = function() {
foo = bar;
};
The advantage is that the foo fn can be called from anywhere on the server without a Meteor.call. Meanwhile, Meteor.methods only exposes what is absolutely necessary to the client.
[EDIT] There is some ambiguity as to which 'foo' you're talking about; obviously the server knows you mean the one outside the methods call. But if you're feeling confused, you can always rename one or the other. The advantage to this is that there is minimal refactoring involved.

Answer 2

Just to clarify for readers who don't notice that the OP's code actually contains the answer, you just do
Meteor.call('checkUser');
on the server. Per the meteor docs (https://docs.meteor.com/api/methods.html#Meteor-call), on the server, if you use Meteor.call() without a callback argument, the call runs synchronously and waits for the result. For example, if 'checkUser' was written to provide a userId value, you'd just do
let userId = Meteor.call('checkUser');
On the client, though, you have to provide a callback function as an argument to Meteor.call(), and the userId would be provided asynchronously to your callback function.