Cannot render express-handelbars template - node.js

Question

I'm new to node and having difficulty to get a simple express-handlebar to render a static html page:
require('./config/config');
const path = require('path');
const http = require('http');
const _ = require('lodash');
const express = require('express');
const bodyParser = require('body-parser');
const {ObjectID} = require('mongodb');
const socketIO = require('socket.io');
const exphbs = require('express-handlebars');
var {mongoose} = require('./db/mongoose');
var {Todo} = require('./models/todo');
var {User} = require('./models/user');
var {authenticate} = require('./middleware/authenticate');
var app = express();
var server = http.createServer(app);
var io =socketIO(server);
const port = process.env.PORT;
const publicPath = path.join(__dirname, './public');
app.use(bodyParser.json());
app.set('views', path.join(__dirname, 'views'));
app.set('view engine', exphbs);
app.use(express.static(publicPath));
app.get('/', (req, res) => {
res.render('index');
});
Instead of index.html sitting in views folder, I get this error:
Error: Cannot find module 'function exphbs(config) {
return create(config).engine;
}'
at Function.Module._resolveFilename (module.js:538:15)
at Function.Module._load (module.js:468:25)
at Module.require (module.js:587:17)
at require (internal/module.js:11:18)
at new View (/home/me/nodechatapp/node_modules/express/lib/view.js:81:14)
at Function.render (/home/me/nodechatapp/node_modules/express/lib/application.js:570:12)
at ServerResponse.render (/home/me/nodechatapp/node_modules/express/lib/response.js:1008:7)
at app.get (/home/me/nodechatapp/server.js:37:7)
at Layer.handle [as handle_request] (/home/me/nodechatapp/node_modules/express/lib/router/layer.js:95:5)
at next (/home/me/nodechatapp/node_modules/express/lib/router/route.js:137:13)
at Route.dispatch (/home/me/nodechatapp/node_modules/express/lib/router/route.js:112:3)
at Layer.handle [as handle_request] (/home/me/nodechatapp/node_modules/express/lib/router/layer.js:95:5)
at /home/me/nodechatapp/node_modules/express/lib/router/index.js:281:22
at Function.process_params (/home/me/nodechatapp/node_modules/express/lib/router/index.js:335:12)
at next (/home/me/nodechatapp/node_modules/express/lib/router/index.js:275:10)
at SendStream.error (/home/me/nodechatapp/node_modules/serve-static/index.js:121:7)
What could be wrong here? How can I fix it?

Answer 1

I'm pretty sure you are missing the app.engine() call in your server set up. Based on the docs you need:
app.engine('handlebars', exphbs({defaultLayout: 'main'}));
app.set('view engine', 'handlebars');
You already use app.set for the view engine, but I think you need to call the prior line.