Use jquery's $.ajax to get a node.js script's output, not its code

I am building a small prototype, and have the following problem:

I am trying to communicate between client-side jQuery, and server-side node.js; when I make a jQuery ajax request to my node.js code, it just gives me the code, not the output of the code.

What am I doing wrong?

Part of client.js:

$.ajax({url      : './../includes/get_data.js', 
        success  : function(data) {
          alert('success!');
        },
        error    : function(data) {
          alert('error!');
        }
});

get_data.js:

var fs = require('fs');

console.log('test');

When I make a request to get_data.js, the output I want is: test

But instead I get the source code:

var fs = require('fs');

console.log('test');

Many thanks

You're just asking for a static .js file, you're not interacting with Node at all. If you want to do so, make an HTTP server (copy the example on http://nodejs.org/), bind it to a port and write a response back, don't use console.log (which will only output to the console).

Example:

Save the following file as app.js and then run it in the terminal with node app.js then visit localhost on port 1337:

var http = require('http'),
    ajaxResponse = { 'hello': 'world' },
    htmlContent;

htmlContent  = "<html><title></title><head>";
htmlContent += "<script src='http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.7.2/jquery.min.js'></script>";
htmlContent += "<script>$(function() {$.ajax({url:'/ajax',success:function(data){alert('success!');console.log(data);},error:function(data){alert('error!');}});});</script>";
htmlContent += "</head><body><h1>Hey there</h1>";
htmlContent +="</body></html>";

http.createServer(function (req, res) {   
  if (req.url === '/ajax') {
    res.writeHead(200, {'Content-Type': 'text/json'});
    res.end(JSON.stringify(ajaxResponse));
  } else {
    res.writeHead(200, {'Content-Type': 'text/html'});
    res.end(htmlContent);  
  }  
}).listen(1337, '127.0.0.1');
console.log('Server running at http://127.0.0.1:1337/');

I am guessing you want a GET a certain URL on your server (running Node) that in turn executes the code in get_data.js on your server?

If so, use express - look at http://expressjs.com/api.html#express.

  • In your Node Express's app.get() ...
    1. First arg - Supply the route you want (e.g., '/mygetdata').
    2. Second arg - In this callback function, call your get_data.js code
  • In your client code, modify it to request the URL (e.g., 'http://mywebsite.com/mygetdata'), instead of get_data.js.