Using Express.js 4, when I try to use sendFile in order to serve a page that has additional links to javascript files or images, the browser does not load those other assets. If I access the page using a URL it works fine, it is just when I try loading the page with the sendFile method that is the problem.
For example, here is what my code looks like:
var express = require('express');
var app = express();
app.use(express.static('client'));
var path = require('path');
app.get('/game/:gameid', function (req,res) {
var gameID = req.params.gameid;
if (checkGameExists(gameID)) {
res.sendFile(path.resolve(__dirname + '/client/chessBoard.html'));
}
I have tried a bunch of variations like:
res.sendFile(path.resolve(__dirname + '/client/chessBoard.html'));
res.sendFile(__dirname + "/chessBoard.html");`
res.sendFile("chessBoard.html", {root: __dirname + "/client/"});
I have read the Express4 API documentation on sendFile (http://expressjs.com/4x/api.html#res.sendFile), but I am not sure what I am doing wrong.
I am new to Node.js & Express.js so any help would be appreciated!
You can do something like:
app.use('/assets',express.static(path.join(__dirname,'public/assets')));
and also to make it more specific
app.use('/stylesheets',express.static(path.join(__dirname,'public/javascripts/stylesheets')));
Now put your files in the public/assets folder and let's say your HTML file name is index.html.
In the index.html you can link files as src="/assets/js/abc.js".
For more reference you can look into my demo here.
I hope this helps.
Related
I am trying to view the log File in the browser on hitting a particular url. I have the log file in my local (/logsFolder/app.log)
I tried the following codes:
Code: 1
var app = express();
var path = require('path');
var logFile = require('/logs/app');
app.use('/logs',logFile);
It threw error like
Error: Cannot find module '/logs/app'
Code :2
const app = express();
const path = require('path');
const router = express.Router();
router.get('/logFile', function(req, res){
console.log("inside logt :");
res.render('./logs/app.log');
});
can anyone Please help me to resolve.
Your log is static text file, not a javascript, nor json file, that why you can't require it. (code 1)
You are not using template engine either, that's why your code 2 didn't work, It cannot be render by itself.
You can use the built in express middleware for static files.
Try this:
app.use(express.static('logsFolder'))
Now you can access all the content of logsFolder by requesting the file name. For example: http://your-url/app.log
Or try your code 2 with res.sendFile instead of res.render
I want to convert some html page to pdf via wkhtmltopdf. However, the html page I want to convert to pdf is dynamically generated using handlebars.
So I think one solution maybe to generate the html page via handlebars but to a file (html file). Then, convert that file to pdf using hkhtmltopdf, then allow the user to, somehow, download the pdf.
So, my question is: how can I render the (handlebars) dynamically generated html page to a file?
Thanks and bye ...
Simple example for create file.
var Handlebars = require('handlebars');
var source = "<p>Hello, my name is {{name}}. I am from {{hometown}}. I have " +
"{{kids.length}} kids:</p>" +
"<ul>{{#kids}}<li>{{name}} is {{age}}</li>{{/kids}}</ul>";
var template = Handlebars.compile(source);
var data = { "name": "Alan", "hometown": "Somewhere, TX",
"kids": [{"name": "Jimmy", "age": "12"}, {"name": "Sally", "age": "4"}]};
var result = template(data);
var fs = require('fs');
fs.writeFile("test.html", result, function(err) {
if(err) {
return console.log(err);
}
});
Using express-handlebars, you should use the advanced mode and create an instance of it like in this example.
The proper way would be to create a view file (like you probably already have per you question) and use the express handlebars instance to render it:
// init code
var exphbs = require('express-handlebars');
var hbs = exphbs.create({
defaultLayout: 'your-layout-name',
helpers: require("path-to-your-helpers-if-any"),
});
app.engine('.file-extention-you-use', hbs.engine);
app.set('view engine', '.file-extention-you-use');
// ...then, in the router
hbs.render('full-path-to-view',conext, options).then(function(hbsTemplate){
// hbsTemplate contains the rendered html, do something with it...
});
HTH
Code above from Alex works perfect. However, my confusion was: I was using 'express-handlebars' and not 'handlebars'. Now, what I can understand is Express-Handlebars is an implementation of Handlebars for an Express application, which I´m using. I just didn't find a way to use the 'compile()' method in Express-Handlebars, so I ended up installing Handlebars (standalone) and used it to compile my (html) template and save the result to disk, just as Alex explained above.
In summary:
1) I know Express-Handlebars is Handlebars for Express app.
2) I don't know how to use "compile()" method just from express-handlebars, so I ended up installing Handlebars (from npm) and using it on the server to produce my html file (from template) and save it to disk.
3) Of course I installed and use Express-Handlebars everywhere to serve my pages in my Express app; just installed Handlebars to produce my html (in the server) with "compile()" method and save the result to disk.
Hope this is understandable. Thanks again and bye ...
Is there any way to exclude sub directory from express static middleware in express 4.8.5.
For example if I have :
app.use(express.static(__dirname + 'public'));
And my public directory is like this :
- public
- css
- images
- scripts
- index.html
- exclude_me
- scripts
- views
- index.html
So I need to exclude last sub directory and when user does :
GET /exclude_me
It should call my route rather than returning directory automatically.
I can't just remove it from public dir because it depends on stuff inside it because public directory is angular application and exclude_me is another angular application that fetches scripts from /exclude_me/scripts AND from /public/scripts.
I know it is little confusing but it is how it is and I cannot just remove it from public dir because it won't see public/scripts any more which are needed and I cannot leave it because I cannot authorize it then (all authorization is in public/scripts)
If there is some smarter way to do this, feel free to let me know :)
You can add your own middleware. Here's what I did to exclude some folders:
app.use('/public', (req, res, next) => {
if (env !== 'development') {
var result = req.url.match(/^\/js\/(maps|src)\/.+\.js$/)
if (result) {
return res.status(403).end('403 Forbidden')
}
}
next()
})
app.use('/public', express.static(path.join(__dirname, '/public')))
It's possible by adding regular expressions to the first optional param of use method.
According with Express 4.x API path documentation.
Example, I don't want to give access to my secure folder inside public folder:
var express = require('express');
var app = express();
app.use([/^\/public\/secure($|\/)/, '/public'], express.static(__dirname + '/public'));
This will allow you to access all files but not the ones in the secure folder.
You can use it also to restrict a file extension, example files that ends with .js.map:
app.use([/(.*)\.js\.map$/, '/public'], express.static(__dirname + '/public'));
And you also can add multiple rules, like this example where secure folder and files that end with .js.map are ignored from the static folder:
app.use([/^\/public\/secure($|\/)/, /(.*)\.js\.map$/, '/public'], express.static(__dirname + '/public'));
I had a similar problem, which may be the answer you were seeking. Given the following directory:
public
css/
images/
secure/
index.html
The Express Middleware stack I wanted was this:
1. Static files (except the `secure/` directory)
2. Logging
3. Authentication
4. `secure/` static files
Here's how I solved it:
var express = require('express');
var path = require('path');
var app = express();
// path.join here makes it work cross platform with Windows / Linux / etc
var statics = express.static(path.join(__dirname, 'public'));
function secureStatic(secure) {
return function (req, res, next) {
if (/^\/secure/.test(req.path) === !!secure) return statics(req, res, next);
return next();
};
}
// add public files
app.use(secureStatic());
app.use(logging());
app.use(authentication());
// add secured files
app.use(secureStatic(true));
This will only serve public files when unauthenticated, and only serve secure files after authentication.
Most solutions above are to use a middleware.
However, there is a just easier way to solve this.
Don't serve static assests directly with the dir public rather than serve dir just what you want to serve with a virtual path prefix .
You can serve like below
var express = require('express');
var app = express();
app.use('/public', __dirname + 'css');
app.use('/public', __dirname + 'images');
...
Usually you render a Jade page in a route like this:
app.get('/page', function(req, res, next){
res.render('page.jade');
});
But I want to serve all Jade pages (automatically rendered), just like how one would serve static HTML
app.use(express.static('public'))
Is there a way to do something similar for Jade?
"static" means sending existing files unchanged directly from disk to the browser. Jade can be served this way but that is pretty unusual. Usually you want to render jade to HTML on the server which by definition is not "static", it's dynamic. You do it like this:
app.get('/home', function (req, res) {
res.render('home'); // will render home.jade and send the HTML
});
If you want to serve the jade itself for rendering in the browser, just reference it directly in the url when loading it into the browser like:
$.get('/index.jade', function (jade) {
//...
});
https://github.com/runk/connect-jade-static
Usage
Assume the following structure of your project:
/views
/partials
/file.jade
Let's make jade files from /views/partials web accessable:
var jadeStatic = require('connect-jade-static');
app = express();
app.configure(function() {
app.use(jadeStatic({
baseDir: path.join(__dirname, '/views/partials'),
baseUrl: '/partials',
jade: { pretty: true }
}));
});
Now, if you start your web server and request /views/partials/file.html in browser you
should be able see the compiled jade template.
Connect-jade-static is good, but not the perfect solution for me.
To begin with, here are the reasons why I needed jade:
My app is a single page app, there are no HTMLs generated from templates at runtime. Yet, I am using jade to generate HTML files because:
Mixins: lots of repeated / similar code in my HTML is shortened by the use of mixins
Dropdowns: I know, lots of people use ng-repeat to fill the options in a select box. This is a waste of CPU when the list is static, e.g., list of countries. The right thing to do is have the select options filled in within the HTML or partial. But then, a long list of options makes the HTML / jade hard to read. Also, very likely, the list of countries is already available elsewhere, and it doesn’t make sense to duplicate this list.
So, I decided to generate most of my HTML partials using jade at build time. But, this became a pain during development, because of the need to re-build HTMLs when the jade file changes. Yes, I could have used connect-jade-static, but I really don’t want to generate the HTMLs at run time — they are indeed static files.
So, this is what I did:
Added a 'use' before the usual use of express.static
Within this, I check for the timestamps of jade and the corresponding html file
If the jade file is newer, regenerate the html file
Call next() after the regeneration, or immediately, if regeneration is not required.
next() will fall-through to express.static, where the generated HTML will be served
Wrap the ‘use’ around a “if !production” condition, and in the build scripts, generate all the HTML files required.
This way, I can also use all the goodies express.static (like custom headers) provides and still use jade to generate these.
Some code snippets:
var express = require('express');
var fs = require('fs')
var jade = require('jade');
var urlutil = require('url');
var pathutil = require('path');
var countries = require('./countries.js');
var staticDir = 'static'; // really static files like .css and .js
var staticGenDir = 'static.gen'; // generated static files, like .html
var staticSrcDir = 'static.src'; // source for generated static files, .jade
if (process.argv[2] != 'prod') {
app.use(‘/static', function(req, res, next) {
var u = urlutil.parse(req.url);
if (pathutil.extname(u.pathname) == '.html') {
var basename = u.pathname.split('.')[0];
var htmlFile = staticGenDir + basename + '.html';
var jadeFile = staticSrcDir + basename + '.jade';
var hstat = fs.existsSync(htmlFile) ? fs.statSync(htmlFile) : null;
var jstat = fs.existsSync(jadeFile) ? fs.statSync(jadeFile) : null;
if ( jstat && (!hstat || (jstat.mtime.getTime() > hstat.mtime.getTime())) ) {
var out = jade.renderFile(jadeFile, {pretty: true, countries: countries});
fs.writeFile(htmlFile, out, function() {
next();
});
} else {
next();
}
} else {
next();
}
});
}
app.use('/static', express.static(staticDir)); // serve files from really static if exists
app.use('/static', express.static(staticGenDir)); // if not, look in generated static dir
In reality, I have a js file containing not just countries, but various other lists shared between node, javascript and jade.
Hope this helps someone looking for an alternative.
I've created a basic node.js server program and used socket.io to pass some field data from a client (see below). Pretty chuffed as I'm new to this business. I liked this node-express-socket.io approach as its all Javascript and is apparently usable by most browsers (incl' mobile). The problem is I've kind of fumbled my way through and do not not fully understand what I have created! Two questions...
1) Do I need to use the "//ajax.googleapis.com...jquery..."? This is annoying as the browser will need to have an internet connection to work. Is there another way to access the html doc elements without needing an internet connection?
2) What does the "app.use(express.static...." line do? The "app.get..." function seems to require this to work.
If there are any other general comments about my code please let me have it!
Cheers,
Kirbs
Client side code:
<script src="//ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.8.2/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script src="/socket.io/socket.io.js"></script>
<script>
var socket = io.connect(document.location.protocol+'//'+document.location.host);
function clicked(){
$(function(){
var makeInput=$('.app').find('#make').val();
var modelInput=$('.app').find('#model').val();
socket.emit('make', makeInput);
socket.emit('model', modelInput);
});
};
</script>
Server side code:
var express = require('express');
var http = require('http');
var socketio = require('socket.io');
var app = express();
var server = http.createServer(app);
var io = socketio.listen(server);
app.use(express.static(__dirname));
app.get('/', function (req, res) {
res.render(__dirname + '/index.html');
});
io.sockets.on('connection', function (socket) {
socket.on('make', function (make) {
socket.on('model',function (model){
console.log('recieved message:', make+','+model);
});
});
});
server.listen(8000);
1) As you have setup a static web server (see answer 2), you could simply download the jquery source and serve the .js file from there.
2) "app.use(express.static...." configure a static webserver and setting up the http root directory to the directory that your node.js script lives, as indicated by the __dirname variable. For more detail, see app.use API reference.
As result, I would recommend you change you app.use to:
app.use(express.static(__dirname + '/public'));
and place all your static files, including your jquery file(s), under a public subdirectory.
Also, your server side code has a dependency on sequence of make and model which should be changed. For example, if you switch the emit order to model then make, you should see that your server's console.log will be picking up the make from the previous call.
Instead, try something like:
// On server:
socket.on('info', function (info) {
console.log('recieved message:', info.make+','+info.model);
});
// On client:
socket.emit('info', { make: makeInput, model: modelInput })
1) You can serve the jQuery library also from your server if you like that better. You should put it in the public/vendor or public/js folder in your project.
2) This is a middleware call from Express framework, which uses in turn the Connect middleware stack. Read up on this here.