CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javascriptnode.jsexpress
matchai
matchai

Reputation: 321

Having all website paths load the same static website in express

In my express server, I want to have all paths load the same static website, which I tried doing with the following code:

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

app.use('*', express.static('build'));
app.listen(3000);

Unfortunately I am presented with the following console errors when I navigate to any path on localhost:

:3000/main.js/:1 Uncaught SyntaxError: Unexpected token <

When attempting to view the JS file with the error, it seems to be serving index.html in its place.

I know this is due to the wildcard, but I can't think of a way to cleanly exclude all file names and paths from the static server.

Upvotes: 3

Views: 190

Answers (1)

Andrei
Andrei

Reputation: 1216

I think you're looking for something a little more like this..app.use(express.static('public')

if your tree looks like

ProjectName
| server.js
| public
   | index.html

you don't need the * as a parameter since setting the express.static sets the folder open to public view. This is how you separate your server code and client code. Be careful not to expose your entire project directory as people will then have access to your server code. This is why you're client files should be kept in a public folder or a www folder (common practices)

--EDIT

//this will server css, and js files so they can be linked into the html
app.use(express.static(__dirname + '/public'));

//this will force all url's except the public files to be given the index.html file.
app.use('*', function(req, res) {
  res.sendFile(__dirname + '/public/index.html');
});

Upvotes: 1

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