cannot get app.local to a routing file

Question

So, in my express.js 4.13.3. , in the app.js file I set an app.local var

app.set('multimedia', __dirname + '/public/multimedia');

then in the routes/settings.js I try to access that var like

var app = require('../app');
var dir = app.get('multimedia');

and I get app.get is not a function.

I also tried var dir = app.get.multimedia; and var dir = app.locals('multimedia'); and var dir = app.locals.multimedia; and still nothing.

What am I missing here?

Thanks

Answer 1

The problem is that you have not defined what to do when required('../app') is called. You should do this using module.exports as shown below. Try one of these approaches to fix this problem.

Approach 1:

Add this line to the app.js file.

module.exports = app;

This simply says to export the app whenever require('../app') is called. If you use require('routes/settings'); within the app.js, this line should be placed before the require('routes/settings'); or it will not work.

Approach 2:

//change the `routes/settings.js` like this
module.exports = function (app) {//notice that you pass the app to this
    //............     
    var dir = app.get('multimedia');
    console.log(dir);
    //............
}

Add this line to app.js

require('routes/settings')(app);

Now you should be able to use the app.get() without any problem.

Example:

//app.js
var express=require('express');

var app = express();

app.set('multimedia', __dirname + '/public/multimedia');

app.get('/',function(req,res){
  res.send('Hello World!');
});

var server = app.listen(3000, function () {
  var host = server.address().address;
  var port = server.address().port;
  console.log('Listening at http://%s:%s', host, port);
});

module.exports=app;

require('./settings');



//settings.js
var app= require('./app');

var dir = app.get('multimedia');

console.log(dir);

More details about module.exports can be found here