CODEWITHSUNDEEP
node.jsmodulepathnode.js-fs
Clint Powell
Clint Powell

Reputation: 2398

How can I get the application base path from a module in Node.js?

I'm building a web application in Node.js, and I'm implementing my API routes in separate modules. In one of my routes I'm doing some file manipulation and I need to know the base app path. If I use __dirname, it gives me the directory that houses my module of course.

I'm currently using this to get the base application path (given that I know the relative path to the module from base path):

path.join(__dirname, "../../", myfilename)

Is there a better way than using ../../? I'm running Node.js under Windows, so there isn't any process.env.PWD, and I don't want to be platform-specific anyway.

Upvotes: 46

Views: 106959

Answers (3)

Hayreddin Tüzel
Hayreddin Tüzel

Reputation: 949

You can define a global variable like in your app.js file:

global.__basedir = __dirname;

Then you can use this global variable anywhere. Like this:

var base_path = __basedir

Upvotes: 10

Samuli Asmala
Samuli Asmala

Reputation: 2381

You can use path.resolve() without arguments to get the working directory which is usually the base application path. If the argument is a relative path then it's assumed to be relative to the current working directory, so you can write

require(path.resolve(myfilename));

to require your module at the application root.

Upvotes: 12

Tom
Tom

Reputation: 26849

The approach of using __dirname is the most reliable one. It will always give you correct directory. You do not have to worry about ../../ in Windows environment as path.join() will take care of that.

There is an alternative solution though. You can use process.cwd() which returns the current working directory of the process. That command works fine if you execute your Node.js application from the base application directory. However, if you execute your Node.js application from different directory, say, its parent directory (e.g., node yourapp\index.js) then the __dirname mechanism will work much better.

Upvotes: 45

Related Questions