I have some server side code in node js, which creates a express js object and runs the server. The app loads the index.html page which is inside the public folder. I have never written the code to serve the home page (mention below), still it works.
app.get('*', (req, res) => {
res.sendFile(path.join(__dirname, 'public/index.html'));
});
I have not written this code so how does the index.html gets rendered. My understanding says express JS looks for the first instance of index.html page in all the static folders declared in the code and renders it, in my case the static folder is "publimc" and it has index.html at the root level.
server code follows below, which I have written.
var express = require('express');
var app = express();
var mongojs = require('mongojs');
var db = mongojs('contactlist', ['contactlist']);
var bodyParser = require('body-parser');
app.use(express.static(__dirname + '/publimc'));
app.use(bodyParser.json());
app.get('/contactlist', function (req, res) {
console.log('I received a GET request');
db.contactlist.find(function (err, docs) {
console.log(docs);
res.json(docs);
});
});
app.listen(8000);
console.log("Server running on port 8000");
The home page is rendered as part of the express.static middleware default options.
To disable this logic, set express.static(..., { index: false }).
If you want to change the file served as a home page, set express.static(..., { index: 'yourfile.html' }).
What this option does, in fact, is attempt to serve an index page with given file name for each directory in your public folder, so if you have public/foo/index.html then it will get served when requesting /foo/ path.
Related
Background
I am migrating an Angular app in GKE cluster. The base docker image that I must use(company policy) does not have any options to install any new softwares like shell, Angular cli command ng etc. The base docker image has only Node installed.
There is a shared base url, let's say, www.my-company.com, that everyone has to use for app deployment with a path added after the base url like www.my-company.com/my-angular-app/ - all the other Angular apps must be differentiated using the path of the app.
What I did
Since I can't run ng serve command in the base image, I added Express dependency in the package.json in Angular application and created an express server to route the traffic to Angular app.
I was following this youtube video to configure the application - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTbQphoYbK0&t=303s. The problem I am facing is to how I load the the static files in the application.
If I define absolute path inside sendFile method of server.js file, although the application is working, but in future, if I need to add any other files in the application, I have to create another route in server.js file.
I don't know how Express can search a file automatically from the static folder(and sub folders) and return only that file when needed. I defined a static folder too, but seems like it is not working.
Following is my server.js code
==============================
const express = require('express');
const http = require('http');
const path = require('path');
const port = 8080;
const contextPath = '/my-angular-app';
const router = express.Router();
const app = express();
app.use(contextPath, router);
app.listen(port, ()=> {
console.log("Listening on port: ", port);
});
app.use(express.static(__dirname + '/dist/testapp/'));
router.get('/', function(req, res) {
// to get index.html file
res.sendFile(path.resolve(__dirname + '/dist/testapp/index.html'));
});
router.get('/*', function(req, res) {
let path = __dirname +'/dist/testapp/' + req.path
console.log('full path: ', path);
// To return static files based on incoming request, I am facing problem here(I think)
res.sendFile(path);
});
==============================
I want Express will send any files based on file name in the request. It should also take care of nested directories in the /dist/testapp/ directory
/dist/testapp/ -> This is the directory where Angular generates code for my app after I execute ng build command
WEBAPP.get("/admin/script.js", (req, res) => {
console.log(req.path);
if (req.session.username !== "Admin") return res.render("error");
res.sendFile(__dirname + "/admin/admin.js")
});
WEBAPP.get("/admin", (req, res) => {
if (!req.session.loggedin) return res.render("error");
if (req.session.username !== "Admin") return res.render("error",);
res.render("admin", {
csrfToken: req.csrfToken(),
title: "ADMIN PORTAL",
username: req.session.username,
nav_avatar: GetImageURL(req.session.avatar, "small")
});
});
There's no need to publically share /admin/script.js in my case but if a user requests this URL say example.com/admin/script.js a check for username equaling "Admin" if all is okay we sendFile.
I would maybe assume that you're not properly targeting your static files. Perhaps console.log the target.
I'm trying to only use html and render pages from my express server. I keep getting the error
No default engine was specified and no extension was provided.
I have specified the dirname in app.js and I am telling the server to render by using the dirname in my router. I'm not really sure what's holding me up? Can someone provide some insight?
app.js ( I have removed import statements that aren't relevant)
var app = express();
app.use(express.static(__dirname + '/public')); //setting static file directory
//Store all HTML files in view folder.
module.exports = app;
here's my index router where I am calling render on the pages
var express = require('express');
var router = express.Router();
const path = require('path');
/* GET home page. */
router.get('/', function(req, res, next) {
res.render('main', { title: 'Express' });
});
/* GET styles page. */
router.get('/style', function(req, res, next) {
res.render('styles', { title: 'styles' });
});
/* GET styles page. */
router.get('/style',function(req,res){
res.sendFile(path.join(__dirname+'/style.html'));
});
module.exports = router;
If you don't have a renderer like Handlebars, you can't call res.render as far as I know. If you are serving static views you don't need a renderer anyways, you just specify the folder where the static files are located at.
This means after you have specified your static folder, you will be able to access the files by having their filename in the route. Express' documentation on static files. You don't need routes to send the files.
Example
CodeSandbox Example
src
|- view
| |- hello.html
|- index.js
index.js
const express = require("express");
//create a server object:
const app = express();
//Serve all files inside the view directory, path relative to where you started node
app.use(express.static("src/view/"));
app.listen(8080, function() {
console.log("server running on 8080");
}); //the server object listens on port 8080
module.exports = app;
You will now see hello.html on the /hello.html route. Any other file will also be visible under its name.
Folder structure
bin - www.js
lib - jsFiles...
models - jsFiles...
node_modules -Folders and Files
public - index.html
route - jsFiles...
index.js
package.json
I use Express, angular.js. Server starts at www.js and It calls
index.js. After that, When I type merely "localhost:3000" It shows me
public/index.html. I don't have route for '/' but It shows me
'public/index.html'. I can not understand this. Please let me know
about the process.
www.js
var debug = require('debug')('example-server');
var app = require(process.cwd()+'/index');
//listen at 3000 port
app.set('port',process.env.PORT || 3000);
var server = app.listen(app.get('port'),function()
{
debug('Express server listening on port ' + server.address().port);
});
index.js
var favicon = require('serve-favicon');
var express = require('express');
var path = require('path');
var logger = require('morgan');
var cookieParser = require('cookie-parser');
var bodyParser = require('body-parser');
//Connection for DB
require('./lib/connection');
var employees = require('./routes/employees');
var teams = require('./routes/teams');
var app = express();
// Writing at routing table
app.use(favicon(__dirname + '/public/favicon.ico'));
app.use(logger('dev'));
app.use(bodyParser.json());
app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({ extended:true }));
app.use(cookieParser());
app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname,'public')));
app.use(employees);
app.use(teams);
// send 404 to errorhandler
app.use(function(err,req,res,next)
{
var err = new Error('Not Found');
err.status = 404;
console.log(error);
next(error);
});
...
...
module.exports = app;
In express.js the sequence in which you register your middleware makes a huge difference.
When express.js receives a request, it starts from top and executes registered middleware.
Middlewares are registered in express app using app.use(middleware_goes_here) this type of middleware gets executed no matter what the request url is on the other hand you can also register a middleware like app.use('/url/path',middleware_goes_here) in this case we are registering this middleware to '/url/path' so this middleware will only get executed when you visit '/url/path' (and non of the previous matching middleware serves the request without calling next() )
This app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname,'public'))); line of code does the magic.
You can go here (express.static ref) to know more about static content serving and routing.
Basically what happens is, we are configuring express.static middleware to serve static content "as is" from "public" folder. So when you make any request and it matches a static content in public folder, then it will serve it otherwise express.static will call next middleware in sequence.
So in your case, the first middleware that actually server input request is express.static without any route filters, so it servers index.html even without a specifically defined route. If your public folder had file at public/javascript/jquery.js then following url will map to it http://localhost:3000/javascript/jquery.js
NOTE: You do not have to specify "public" in the url, the way in which express.static is registered, it will server contents FROM "public" folder.
................
UPDATE: How does default work in express.static?
By default, app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname,'public'))); this will take index.html as default document. If you want to set index2.html as your default document, you can do that by doing something like this app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname,'public'),{index: 'index2.html'}));
Hope it helps.
Put a relative path to folder(one up in hierarchy).
var app = require('../index');
I am running a NodeJS server which uses a catchall route to serve a file 'index.html'. In that file, I am linking to a javascript file in the same directory. That javascript file is not being correctly loaded. The error in my console reads 'Uncaught SyntaxError: Unexpected Token <', which after researching seems to mean that the path to my JS file is incorrect. However, the js file is located in the same directory as 'index.html', and I am referencing it like so which should be correct?
Here is my code
server.js
var express = require('express');
var app = express();
var config = require('./config');
var apiRouter = express.Router();
var mongoose = require('mongoose');
var bodyParser = require('body-parser');
var User = require('./app/models/User');
var jwt = require('jsonwebtoken');
var path = require('path');
//Set the public folder
app.use(express.static('/public'));
//Allows us to parse POST data.
app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({ extended: true }));
app.use(bodyParser.json());
mongoose.connect(config.db);
var apiRouter = require('./app/routes/api')(app, express);
app.use('/api', apiRouter);
//MEAN apps use a catchall after any routes created by Node.
app.get('*', function(req, res) {
res.sendFile(path.join(__dirname, 'public/app/views/index.html'));
});
app.listen(1337);
console.log('Server started at ' + Date());
public/app/views/index.html
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<script src="./test.js"></script>
<head>
<body>
<h1>Served by node + express.</h1>
</body>
</html>
public/app/views/test.js
console.log('test.js loaded');
You should set your static folder like this
app.use(express.static(__dirname + '/public'));
Also, your html file will look inside the /public folder itself for your script file. You'll need to give your index.html file the right path to your script file.
<script src="/app/views/test.js"></script>
Here's what's happening:
The browser requests /, which is responded to by your catchall route, so it gets back index.html.
The browser then sees a script in the html at ./test.js, so the browser then interprets that as /test.js and makes a request for that. The express.static middleware looks up public/test.js, which does not exist, so it passes execution to the next defined route that matches the request, which is your catchall route. This means html is sent for the javascript file, hence the error that you see.
So to fix this, you need to change ./test.js to the actual relative path (./app/views/test.js) or use an absolute path (/app/views/test.js) to make sure the correct path is always used, no matter what the current path is.
Additionally, you will need to change this:
app.use(express.static('/public'));
to something like this:
app.use(express.static(__dirname + '/public'));
Otherwise the express.static middleware will look for a directory named public off the root of your filesystem and you will have the same problem with the catchall route serving html for your javascript file request.
How do I GET a JSON file with express.js? I want to be able to access it in my Mac terminal. I'm working on a college assignment that asks me to write an HTTP server that will act as a simple data store. It must respond to GET, PUT, POST, and DELETE requests. I must use express.js instead of fs for this app.
So far, in my root directory I have a server.js file and I have a subdirectory called lib that holds another subdirectory called notes. Notes is where the JSON files will live.
In my root directory, I have a server.js file. This is all I have so far:
'use strict'
var express = require('express');
var bodyParser = require('body-parser');
var app = express();
var notes = './lib/notes';
app.use(bodyParser.json());
app.get('/', function(req, res) {
//
//this is the part I need help with
//
}
var port = process.env.PORT || 3000;
app.listen(port, function() {
console.log('Server started on port ' + port;
});
Once I have this GET request working, from my Mac terminal I should be able to send a GET request and receive all JSON files inside the notes directory.
...from my Mac terminal I should be able to send a GET request and
receive all JSON files inside the notes directory.
Provided you do not want to use fs module(well you dont need one either),
you can simply set a route for GET requests and send the json file in response with app.sendFile()
app.get('/',function(req,res){
res.sendFile(path.normalize(__dirname + '/foo.json'))
//assuming your app.js and json file are at same level.
//You may change this to 'lib/notes/foo.json' to fit you case
})
path is a module that you would need to require().
__dirname is the directory that the currently executing script is in.
and finally foo.json is the file containing your json
{
"name":"nalin",
"origin":"stackoverflow"
}
Here's the complete code for app.js
var express = require('express');
var path = require('path');
var app = express();
app.get('/',function(req,res){
res.sendFile(path.normalize(__dirname + '/foo.json'))
})
app.listen(3000);
Which will help you run the node server with node app.js.
Finally you can access the json with by
visiting http://localhost:3000/ on your browser
by running curl command on your mac terminal curl localhost:3000
Hope this helps.
You can serve your .json files as static:
app.use('/notes', express.static( notes ));
http://expressjs.com/starter/static-files.html
Or you can do it manually width path pattern:
app.get('/notes/:file', function(req, res) {
fs.readFile(notes + "/" + req.params.file, function(err, data) {
if(err) {
res.status(404).send('Not found');
} else {
res.contentType(req.params.file);
res.send(data);
}
res.end();
});
});