Rendering HTML file with res.sendFile() in Express.js - javascript

I'm trying to render my HTML file with some a local CSS file, local JS file and two remote files as links
but all I got is a plain HTML in the browser
here is the top of my HTML file (index.html):
<script src="src/drawflow.js"></script>
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.5.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.4.1/js/bootstrap.min.js"></script>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="src/index.css" />
<link
rel="stylesheet"
href="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.4.1/css/bootstrap.min.css"
/>
This is my server code (app.js):
"use strict";
const express = require("express");
const path = require("path");
const app = express();
app.use(express.static(__dirname + "/src"));
app.get("/", (req, res) => {
res.sendFile(path.join(__dirname + "/index.html"));
});
app.listen(process.env.port || 4000, () => {
console.log("listening to port 4000...");
});
and here is my file structure:
file structure
The index.html file is working just fine when opened in the browser but it can't be fetched properly from the server.
Any ideas ?

Thanks to the comment by Chris Short
I replaced
app.use(express.static(__dirname + "/src"));
to
app.use('/src', express.static(path.join(__dirname + '/src')));
and it worked perfectly.
Thanks a lot.

If I'm understanding correctly. The assets for your HTML file are not being fetched properly, so your HTML is showing as bare when you access through the browser. With this understanding, the reason your assets are not loading properly is due to the way your app.js is set up.
Currently you are trying to access href="src/index.css" in your header, however all of your assets are going to be found from your website root. Expressjs handles all app.use statements as middleware and by default are attached to the root of your website. If you would like to have this accessible from "src" then you will need to set up your express.static a bit differently like so.
app.use("/src", express.static(path.join(__dirname, "/src"));
See the below for more info
https://expressjs.com/en/starter/static-files.html
https://expressjs.com/en/guide/using-middleware.html

Related

How to use javascript methd from external files in hbs file

Let's say i have a simple project, index.html and one .js file with a method:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="pl">
<HEAD>
<script src="controller.js"></script>
<meta charset="utf-8"/>
<title>Project</title>
</HEAD>
<body>
<textarea id ="someID" name = "textFieldName"></textarea>
<button onclick="showNewData()">Button</button>
<p id="score"></p>
</body>
</html>
function getText(){
value = document.getElementById('someID').value;
}
function showNewData(){
getText();
document.getElementById('score').innerHTML = "Current data: "+value;
}
I tried to do the same on localhost:3000. So i've done npm project with express and hbs dependencies. It start from server.js file:
const express = require('express');
const port = 3000;
const app = express();
app.set('view engine', 'hbs');
app.get('/', (req, res) => {
res.render('index')
})
app.listen(port);
In "views" folder i have hbs file looked the same like former index.html file but it can't use javascript method from external file. Does anyone know how to do that?
in hbs file
As far as the browser knows, it is HTML. Clients do not care, and cannot know, if an HTTP response is generated by reading a static file or dynamically with some form of server side processing.
src="controller.js"
The value of the src attribute has to resolve to a URL containing the JavaScript
app.get('/', (req, res) => {
res.render('index')
})
The only URL your web server knows about (and so will provide anything other than a 404 error for) is /.
If you want /controller.js to provide a JS file then you need to write code to make that happen.
How to handle static files is covered in the Express Getting Started Guide.

node.js rendered page not loading styles

That's my first-day learning Node.js and on making a basic server that basically renders 1 page containing a header tag, I get an error saying that the CSS file can't be loaded
That's my code:
const express = require('express');
const path = require('path');
const HOST = '127.0.0.1';
const PORT = 3000;
const app = express();
//app.use("/public", express.static(path.join(__dirname, "static")));
app.get('/', (request, response) => {
response.setHeader("Content-Type", "text/html");
response.sendFile(path.join(__dirname, "static", 'index.html'));
});
app.listen(PORT, HOST, () => {
console.log(`Running Server on ${HOST}:${PORT}`)
});
The HTML file:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en-us">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<title>Hello World!</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="./css/index.css">
</head>
<body>
<h1>Hello World From Node.js!</h1>
</body>
</html>
The Error:
File Tree:
I just want to be pointed at the missing part here for the css file to be linked with the HTML
Note: the CSS file is loaded when I directly run the HTML by browser
You can use express.static() (that you commented out) to serve static files.
According to docs you need
app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname, "static")));
This way CSS should load. Any request like http://127.0.0.1:3000/css/index.css will be checked against static directory and if matching file is found Express will serve it.
If request does not match the file in that directory (for example http://127.0.0.1:3000/) Express will continue to look for other matching routes and will execute app.get('/', fn) because it'll match.
For reference, full code:
const express = require('express');
const path = require('path');
const HOST = '127.0.0.1';
const PORT = 3000;
const app = express();
app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname, "static")));
app.get('/', (request, response) => {
response.setHeader("Content-Type", "text/html");
response.sendFile(path.join(__dirname, "static", 'index.html'));
});
app.listen(PORT, HOST, () => {
console.log(`Running Server on ${HOST}:${PORT}`)
});
UPDATED There are two ways to use express.static() as docs explain:
When calling app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname, "static"))); (without a prefix specified) index.css file, for example, will be available at
http://127.0.0.1:3000/css/index.css
When calling app.use("/public", express.static(path.join(__dirname, "static"))); (with /public prefix) the same index.css file will be available under /public prefix at
http://127.0.0.1:3000/public/css/index.css
This approach counter-intuitive because index.html needs to be updated to load CSS from this prefix (and will only work when loaded via http://127.0.0.1:3000/, not when opened as a local file):
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="./public/css/index.css">
you can load the static assets by creating a virtual path like
app.use('/assets',express.static(__dirname + '/public/css'));
where the public is the directory where all your assets are stored,in which CSS is the folder where is all your CSS file are stored , you can you the virtual path in the link tag , href attribute for loading the css ,eg: if you have template file ,you write in it ,the link tag i have tried with the same directory structure like yours and tried to emulate the bug and fixed the css load issue you can refer : https://github.com/ardnahcivar/Node.js-Code-/tree/master/11-17-18 the code

Why am i getting a 404 js file, while including a script tag?

index.html
<head>
<script src="/main.js"></script>
</head>
Error:
GET http://localhost:3000/main.js
Structure
Project
app.js
view
index.html
main.js
I've tried src="main.js". /view/main.js
Very basic, but dont want to get stuck on this any longer... sigh.
if it helps my app.js file has this:
app.get('/', function (req, res) {
res.sendFile(__dirname + '/view/home.html');
});
So, according to your comments - you are serving only the 'index.html' file instead of whole directory.
Try this code:
var express = require('express');
var path = require('path');
var app = express();
app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname, 'view')));
//... other settings and server launching further
If you want to set serving static files to particular route - extend 'app.use' line with '/your-route', like this:
app.use('/your-route', express.static(path.join(__dirname, 'view')));
After that you can use <script src="main.js"></script> in your index.html

Send a index.html file when server is created

I want a file like index.html to be loaded when the server is created. When I execute the server.js using node, I send a response as text like this res.end("text"). But I want the index.html to load.
I tried to load it using sendFile() in app.get('/getFile') but when I type in the address bar, I get the text for all the urls..even for localhost:3000/getFile.
This is my server.js:
(function(){
var http = require("http");
var express = require('express');
var app = express();
var bodyParser = require('body-parser');
var path = require('path');
// app.use(express.static(__dirname));
app.use(bodyParser.json());
app.use(express.static(__dirname+'/views'));
var server = http.createServer(function(request, response) {
response.end("text");
});
server.listen('3000');
console.log("Server is listening");
app.get('/getFile',function(request,response){
// response.end('shi');
response.sendFile(path.join('/index.html'));
})
})();
Change the following in your code:
var server = http.createServer(function(request, response) {
response.end("text");
});
to this:
var server = http.createServer(app);
Now, you can serve your static index.html file with this code:
app.get('/', function(req, res, next){
// Serve the index.html file in the root directory of the website.
res.sendFile(path.join('/index.html'));
});
I hope this helps. If you have any questions, let me know.
EDITED
I just made a folder and wrote the following code and I have checked that this is working.
var express = require('express');
var app = express();
app.use(express.static(__dirname + '/public'));
app.get('/', function(req, res) {
res.sendFile(__dirname + '/public/indexz.html');
});
app.listen(1339);
console.log('Open this link http://localhost:1337');
Steps
1 Copy the code given above in a new folder and name it whatever you want, name the file server.js
2 go to your cmd and propagate to location of your code and now npm install express
3 now type node server on console
4 open the link that is there on the console.
Note : Make sure there is folder name public and there is a file named
indexz.html in there.
Edited
Regarding proper client side files arrangement
You will have to keep all your files in public folder, first of all and attach them accordingly in your html document.
Example
<!-- Owl Carousel Assets -->
<link href="css/owl.carousel.css" rel="stylesheet">
<link href="css/owl.theme.css" rel="stylesheet">
<script src="js/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script src="angular.js"></script>
<script src="controller.js"></script>
and then within public folder you'll have folders named js and css and in root of the public folder your html files.
Looks your issue is with all the static assets.
In application server like express you have 3 different kind of elements to serve:
static content: this is all html, client side js, css, images and so on
server side templates or views, are documents you assemble with some sort of templating library like handlebars or jade to produce html
api that provide data in xml or more common json format
Your issue is how to serve a static part.
You should add to the static folder of your express app the folder where you build your angular app.
Not just the index.html you need the client side .js, .css and all images the page require.
UPDATE:
Here you could find the express documentation about static content.
UPDATE:
When you add a static folder to the express middleware, you should be able to access your file directly.
For example, if you have 2 files: $project/static/main.js and $project/static/js/my-lib.js, you should use the following urls:
http://127.0.0.1:3000/main.js
http://127.0.0.1:3000/js/my-lib.js
Considering you're executing the node http server on localhost on port 3000.
If you provide a specific path to access the static content, then you have to rewrite your url so.
If you use a line like:
app.use('/staticFolder', express.static('staticFolder'));
Than the urls to the mentioned files will be:
http://127.0.0.1:3000/staticFolder/main.js
http://127.0.0.1:3000/staticFolder/js/my-lib.js
Also pay attention to the path you provide to express.
You should give a proper path, and it's always safer to use absolute paths:
app.use(express.static(__dirname + 'staticFolder'));
or
app.use('/staticFolder', express.static(__dirname + 'staticFolder'));

javascript not loading in HTML file - nodejs + expressjs

I am new to nodejs and expressjs so Im trying to build simple web app to grasp both frameworks.
Here I have built a project with the following architecture:
js
test.js
views
index.html
server.js
my server file looks like this:
var fs = require("fs");
var host = "127.0.0.1";
var port = 1337;
var express = require("express");
var ejs = require("ejs");
var server = express();
server.use(server.router);
server.use(express(__dirname));
server.set('view engine','html');
server.engine('html', require('ejs').renderFile);
server.get("*", function(request, response){
response.render('index.html');
});
server.listen(port, host);
and my index file like this:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<title>Starter Template for Bootstrap</title>
<script type="text/javascript" src="//ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.0.0/jquery.js"></script>
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/angularjs/1.0.7/angular.min.js"></script>
<script language="javascript" src="/js/test.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
</head>
<body ng-app>
<div class="container">
<div class="starter-template">
some code
</div>
</div><!-- /.container -->
</body>
</html>
My index.html file loads properly but I cannot get the test.js file to load. How can I fix this?
Use express.static built-in middleware function in Express.
Add this line after server.engine. This mechanism should allow static files to be served e.g. images, javascripts, css
app.use(express.static(__dirname + '/js'));
Now you can load:
http://localhost:1337/js/test.js
change render into sendfile and move your js folder to public folder then add this middleware
server.use(express(__dirname+'/public'));
JS files are rendered as static files.
Ref: https://expressjs.com/en/starter/static-files.html
First create a folder "static" and keep .js files in it.
Now, correct the script tags of these .js files in .ejs file.
in the nodejs side :
var path = require("path");
app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname + '/js')));//middleware
in the HTML page :
<script src="./my_script.js"></script>
As this files is static, you should add the entire root directory to 'app'.
Like this:
app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname, '/')));
So that you can quote all of your files by relative path.

Categories