Moving JS scripts to an external file in Node.js' express served Html page

Question

I use express that returns me some html page:

app.get('/', function(req, res){
    return res.sendFile(path.resolve(__dirname + '/views/index.html'));
});

That index.html contains a bunch of scripts in the tag <script></script>.

I would like to move it to an external file like this:

<script src="./indexScripts.js"></script>

However it doesn't work and returns the following errors:

GET http://.../indexScripts.js net::ERR_ABORTED

GET http://.../indexScripts.js 404 (Not Found)

Would you have any clue on what I should do?

A solution I found is exposing the script:

app.get('/scripts', function(req, res){
    return res.sendFile(path.resolve(__dirname + '/views/indexScripts.js'));
});

... then using it:

<script src="scripts"></script>

But it really seems not the correct way of handling this / prone to security breach...

Thank you

Tsvetan Ganev · Accepted Answer · 2017-12-27 11:55:04Z

1

By default Express won't serve static files (JavaScript, CSS and images). You need to use the express.static middleware to explicitly tell Express which folders it should serve from the file system.

Example:

app.use('/', express.static(path.join(__dirname, 'views')))

Then you can get your script file by navigating to http://localhost:3000/indexScripts.js.

You can read more about the static middleware here.

answered Dec 27, 2017 at 11:55

Tsvetan Ganev

8,9164 gold badges32 silver badges45 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Comment

goul Over a year ago

Thank you! I was concerned about the security aspects but seems the dotfiles option is the one to go for :-)

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Moving JS scripts to an external file in Node.js' express served Html page

1 Answer 1

1 Comment

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

1 Comment

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related