Include CSS or Javascript file for specific node in Drupal 6

Question

What is the best method for including a CSS or Javascript file for a specific node in Drupal 6.

I want to create a page on my site that has a little javascript application running, so the CSS and javascript is specific to that page and would not want to be included in other page loads at all.

Answer 1

I'd advise against using hook_nodeapi for that. Adding CSS and Javascript is related to layout so hook_nodeapi is not the place for it: use themeing. This way, you can override those files when you're going to develop a new theme. Doing that with the nodeapi approach would be a bit harder (you'd have to search the js/css list for the files, remove them and replace them with your own).

Anyway: what you need to do is add a node preprocess function that adds those files for you. You can do this either in a module or in a custom theme. For a module this would be:

function mymodule_preprocess_node(&$variables) {   $node = $variables['node'];   if (!empty($node) && $node->nid == $the_specific_node_id) {     drupal_add_js(drupal_get_path('module', 'mymodule') . "/file.js", "module");     drupal_add_css(drupal_get_path('module', 'mymodule') . "/file.css", "module");   } } 

or for a theme:

function mytheme_preprocess_node(&$variables) {   $node = $variables['node'];   if (!empty($node) && $node->nid == $the_specific_node_id) {     drupal_add_js(path_to_theme() . "/file.js", "theme");     drupal_add_css(path_to_theme(). "/file.css", "theme");   } } 

Don't forget to clear the cache, first.

These functions are called before the node is themed. Specifing the js/css there allows for a cascaded approach: you can have the generic/basic stuff in the module and provide enhanced or specific functionality in the theme.