Node - Loading a JSON file into code

Question

I have a Node app. In this app, I have a directory structure like this:

library/
  ents/
    index.js
index.js
package.json
settings.json

My settings.json file looks like this:

settings.json

{
  "url":"http://www.example.com"
}

There's more in the file, but that's not relevant to this question. In the ./library/ents/index.js file I have the following:

let settings = require('../../settings');
console.log(settings);

This executes. But, I was expecting to see the contents of the settings.json file printed out. Instead, I just see {}. I really don't understand why this would happen.

Have you tried the requiring with the JSON file with the .json file ending, like require('../../settings.json')? — helpermethod
– helpermethod, Commented Apr 22, 2016 at 13:20
I reproduced your folder structure and copy-pasted your json and code, it works fine. Are you sure your json file is not empty? Did you try using an absolute path? — Shanoor
– Shanoor, Commented Apr 22, 2016 at 13:45

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 12:23:54Z

2

require is for loading amd modules, not for reading json in this manner, if you wish to keep yout file as true json, you can try something like:

var fs = require('fs');
var obj = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync('file', 'utf8'));

Taken from Using Node.JS, how do I read a JSON object into (server) memory?

edited May 23, 2017 at 12:23

CommunityBot

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answered Apr 22, 2016 at 13:13

CosmicChild

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2 Comments

jkondratowicz Over a year ago

Just a reminder - better wrap it in try/catch, both FS operations and JSON.parse may throw exceptions.

Shanoor Over a year ago

require() is commonly used to load/parse JSON files, you can see an example in npm's doc.

HK JR · Accepted Answer · 2016-04-22 19:45:32Z

0

You could change settings.json to settings.js which looks like this:

module.exports = {
  "url":"http://www.example.com"
}

then

let settings = require('../../settings');

answered Apr 22, 2016 at 19:45

HK JR

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