Correct way to Load JS Files With HTML files through NodeJS

Question 1

I'm going to throw my two cents in here as well.

The way I solved the same problem with serving static files is that I started using the Paperboy module, which is deprecated in favor of the Send module nowadays.

Anyhoo, the way I solved it was to "hijack" the request before it went into my GET method and check the path of it.

The way I "hijack it" is as follows

self.preProcess(self, request, response);

and

preProcess: function onRequest(app, request, response){ //DO STUFF }

If the path contained the STATICFILES dir, I would do a diffrent serving of files otherwise I'd go with the "html"-path. Below is the //DO STUFF of the preProcess() function

var path = urllib.parse(request.url).pathname;
if(path.indexOf(settings.STATICFILES_DIR) != -1) {
    path = settings.STATICFILES_DIR;
    requestedFile = request.url.substring(request.url.lastIndexOf('/') + 1, request.url.length);
    return resolver.resolveResourceOr404(requestedFile, request, response);
}

There might be a better way of doing this but this works like a charm for the things that I need it to do.

Using the Paperboy module I then, using the resolver.resolveResourceOr404(); function deliver the file like so

resolveResourceOr404 : function (filename, httpRequest, httpResponse) {
    var root = path.join(path.dirname(__filename), '');

    paperboy.deliver(root, httpRequest, httpResponse)
    .error(function(e){
        this.raise500(httpResponse);
    })
    .otherwise(function(){
        this.raise404(httpResponse);
    });
}

Question 2

Your Javascript and styles are failing because they don't exist. Your current webserver is only sending a single route, the root route. Instead you'll need to allow the use of multiple routes. ExpressJS does this for you in a simpler way, but still very possible without it.

    var http = require('http');
    var fs   = require('fs');


    var server = http.createServer(function(request, response){
       var header_type = "";
       var data        = "";
       var get = function (uri, callback) {
           // match `request.url` with uri with a regex or something.
           var regex = uri;
           if (request.url.match(regex)) {
               callback();
           }
       };    

       var render = function (resource) {
           // resource = name of resource (i.e. index, site.min, jquery.min)
           fs.readFile( __dirname + "/" + resource, function(err, file) {
              if (err) return false; // Do something with the error....
              header_type = ""; // Do some checking to find out what header type you must send.
              data = file;
           }
       };

       get('/', function(req, res, next) {
           // Send out the index.html
           render('index.html');
           next();
       });


       get('/javascript.min', function(req, res, next) {
          render('javascript.js');
          next();
       });


    });

    server.listen(8080);

This might get you started, but you'll have to implement some things like next() yourself. A pretty simple solution, but a working one.

Another solution for responding to static files would be to create a catcher within the http.createServer callback. Within the get method, if the uris don't match, then you would look within a public folder matching the full uri to the file system structure.

Question 3

Well, you are serving your default.htm file on all requests. So, when the browser asks for objects/js/jquery.min.js, your server returns the contents of default.htm.

You should really consider using express or some other framework.

Question 4

what about trying this:

var http = require('http');
var fs = require('fs');
var path = require('path');

http.createServer(function (request, response) {
console.log('request starting...');

var filePath = '.' + request.url;
if (filePath == './')
    filePath = './index.html';

var extname = path.extname(filePath);
var contentType = 'text/html';
switch (extname) {
    case '.js':
        contentType = 'text/javascript';
        break;
    case '.css':
        contentType = 'text/css';
        break;
    case '.json':
        contentType = 'application/json';
        break;
    case '.png':
        contentType = 'image/png';
        break;      
    case '.jpg':
        contentType = 'image/jpg';
        break;
    case '.wav':
        contentType = 'audio/wav';
        break;
}

fs.readFile(filePath, function(error, content) {
    if (error) {
        if(error.code == 'ENOENT'){
            fs.readFile('./404.html', function(error, content) {
                response.writeHead(200, { 'Content-Type': contentType });
                response.end(content, 'utf-8');
            });
        }
        else {
            response.writeHead(500);
            response.end('Sorry, check with the site admin for error: '+error.code+' ..\n');
            response.end(); 
        }
    }
    else {
        response.writeHead(200, { 'Content-Type': contentType });
        response.end(content, 'utf-8');
    }
});

}).listen(8125);
console.log('Server running at http://127.0.0.1:8125/');

Question 5

You're better off with using Express for this kind of stuff.

Something like this will do the job.

App.js

var express = require('express')
  , http = require('http')
  , path = require('path');

var app = express();

//Configure Your App and Static Stuff Like Scripts Css
app.configure(function(){
  app.set('port', process.env.PORT || 3000);
  app.set('views', __dirname + '/views'); // Your view folder
  app.set('view engine', 'jade');  //Use jade as view template engine
  // app.set("view options", {layout: false});  
  // app.engine('html', require('ejs').renderFile); //Use ejs as view template engine
  app.use(express.logger('dev'));

  app.use(express.bodyParser());
  app.use(express.methodOverride());
  app.use(express.cookieParser());
  app.use(app.router); 
  app.use(require('stylus').middleware(__dirname + '/public')); //Use Stylus as the CSS template engine
  app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname, 'public'))); //This is the place for your static stuff
});


app.get('/',function(req,res){
  res.render('index.jade',{
    title:"Index Page 
    }
});

Index is a jade template page.Which renders into static html and works pretty good with express.

For a global static header to all of your pages you can make a template like this and include it in any.

static_header.jade

  doctype 5
html
  head
    title= title
    script(src='/javascripts/jquery-1.8.2.min.js')   
    block header 
    link(rel='stylesheet', href='/stylesheets/style.css')
  body
    block content

And finally your index.jade which is using the static_header and own dynamic header with its own scripts.

extends static_header

block header
  script(src='/javascripts/jquery-ui-1.9.1.custom.js')
  script(src='http://jquery-ui.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/ui/i18n/jquery.ui.datepicker-tr.js')
  link(rel='stylesheet',href='/stylesheets/jquery-ui-1.9.1.custom.min.css')
block content
  h1= title

Put both of the files in your views folder and ready to roll.