Simple include file to node.js

Question

I'm new to NodeJS, sorry for a simple question. I have a not-so big program, but want to make my main web.js file a bit more clear and create a few separate files (e.g. user_login.js, admin.js, etc) and simply paste these files' contents into web.js.

On the Internets everyone is advising to use require(), but that means writing a module - a self-consistent piece of code. But I need to simply include text of one file into another. Say, I would have

admin.js:

app.get('/admin', function (request, response)
{
    response.send("hey, you are an admin!");
});

user.js:

app.get('/', function (request, response)
{
    response.send("hi, how are you?");
}

web.js:

var express = require('express');
var app = express();

include('admin.js');
include('user.js');

Dan D. · Accepted Answer · 2013-07-16 16:06:33Z

2

How about this:

admin.js

module.exports = function(app) {
    app.get('/admin', function(request, response) {
        response.send("hey, you are an admin!");
    });
}

web.js

var app = express();
require('./admin.js')(app);

I did not test it, so I might be wrong.

edited Jul 16, 2013 at 16:06

Dan D.

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answered Jul 16, 2013 at 14:59

Amberlamps

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3 Comments

xaxa Over a year ago

OK, but what if I have more than one "global" objects (except for app). I would have to rewrite each module every time to add these objects to module.exports=function(app, ...)?

xaxa Over a year ago

I still don't understand the "feature" here. Though I do appreciate "moduleness" and all the stuff, it does not seem to be justified in such simple cases. In my first app I'm already using three modules. So I would have module.exports = function(app, swig, mongodb) {...}. But what if next time I want to use MySQL instead of MongoDB, or Jade instead of Swig? or add five more modules? I would have to rewrite everything OR use high-level abstractions (ORM?), additional parameters, etc from the very beginning. This would take a week to learn and write, and still won't be an "overall solution".

Amberlamps Over a year ago

@xaxa: I think, I know what you mean. But when you decide to change the content for your admin route for instance, you have to change the function anyway. Only this time you add the arguments to your function´s signature. There is another thing you can consider: How about creating a super object like awesome. Store your app in awesome.app, your mongo in awesome.mongo etc. and pass only the awesome object to your route functions. You will not need to change your signatures or function calls anymore.

gustavohenke · Accepted Answer · 2013-07-16 14:58:45Z

0

There's really no reason why you would need something like this.

Node has the built-in module vm, which can help you in your problem, but there will be a lot of more problems envolving using it.
For example: you'll need to pass a common context to your file, so it'll be able to require things at their own. This is very problematic, just write something that uses the standard module.exports from Node and forget this PHP thoughts :)

answered Jul 16, 2013 at 14:58

gustavohenke

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1 Comment

xaxa Over a year ago

I'm not actually coming from PHP :) Though vm can help, I believe I can with the same luck use eval(fs.readFile(...)), but this seems like an overkill for such a simple task.

mpm · Accepted Answer · 2013-07-16 15:07:02Z

-1

first:

// admin.js
var express=require('express')
var app=express();
app.get('/', function (request, response)
{
    response.send("hey, you are an admin!");
});

module.exports = app;

then:

// main.js
var express=require("express");
var app = express();
var admin=require("./admin");
app.use("/admin",admin.routes);

that's how node and express works. include "à la" PHP is an antipattern , and you should not even think about using that.

answered Jul 16, 2013 at 15:07

mpm

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2 Comments

xaxa Over a year ago

So I initialize a (new?) object each time a new file is included? If I want to have 10 files, it means 10 initializations? Such a pattern doesn't look cool)

mpm Over a year ago

doesnt matter , the objects are only initialized once , when you start the server. they are not created on each request. So there is next to no cost. What i'm showing you is a way to make your app modular. that way you can you the same admin app on several projects , for instance.

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