How to export a JavaScript object using module.exports in an npm package?

Question

I published an npm package. The directory structure is something like the following:

my-package
└── js/script.js
└── index.js

The js/script.js file contains an object that is the name of my library, lets say elephant. Something like this:

var elephant = {
    function_1: function() {
        ...
    },
    function_2: function() {
        ...
    }
}

In my index.js file, I am exporting this like so:

import { elephant } from "./js/script.js";

module.exports = elephant;

Once I published and installed my package, I tried to pull it in my project using the following line of code:

const elephant = require('my-package');
elephant.function_1();
elephant.function_2();

However, unfortunately when I run my server (in a Vue project), I get the following error:

Uncaught TypeError: Cannot assign to read only property 'exports' of object '#<Object>'

I assume this is referring to the third line in the index.js file. How can I fix this issue? How do I export my object variable and use it in my node project? Thanks for any help!

Have you tried swapping var elephant = to export elephant = in your script.js? I'm expecting the code-splitting is failing here... if not, have you tried console.log() all the way up? — Matthew Spence
– Matthew Spence, Commented Jul 12, 2020 at 1:28
@MatthewSpence Yes, that fails and I get Module parse failed — darkhorse
– darkhorse, Commented Jul 12, 2020 at 1:33

anehme · Accepted Answer · 2020-07-12 01:38:58Z

2

You can't mix import and module.exports

use export default elephant instead of module.exports = elephant;

answered Jul 12, 2020 at 1:38

anehme

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1 Comment

darkhorse Over a year ago

The import works but if I call a function in node project, ie, elephant.function_1(), I get this error: "TypeError: elephant.function_1 is not a function".

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