CODEWITHSUNDEEP
node.jssocket.io
slifty
slifty

Reputation: 13781

Sharing constants between a web client and NodeJS server

I have a NodeJS application with common constants between the client and the server.

The constants are stored in variables rather than inline. Those variables could be defined in two separate files, one for client and one for server.

File 1: 

// client_constants.js
MESSAGE_TYPE_A = "a";
MESSAGE_TYPE_B = "b";

File 2:

// server_constants.js
exports.MESSAGE_TYPE_A = "a";
exports.MESSAGE_TYPE_B = "b";

To avoid duplicate code I would like to store constants in a single location and a single format for both the client and the server. Wat do?

Upvotes: 2

Views: 1181

Answers (2)

atlex2
atlex2

Reputation: 2624

Sort of like Hector's answer, but works in my version of Node and in my browser because it uses comparisons to "undefined" and typeof.

var context = (typeof exports != "undefined") ? exports : window;
context.constant_name = "constant_name_string";

Upvotes: 1

Hector Correa
Hector Correa

Reputation: 26690

You can do something like this:

// constants.js
root = exports ? window
root.MESSAGE_TYPE_A = "a";
root.MESSAGE_TYPE_B = "b";

"exports" does not exist on the client side in which case it will use the default "window" object.

Upvotes: 4

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