Why my module.exports doesn't work?

Question

Why my module.exports doesn't work?

Here is my basic node.js app with only two files:

app.js

var express = require('express')
  , routes = require('./routes')
  , http = require('http')
  , path = require('path');
var app = express();

module.exports = { 
  test: "test"
};


// all environments
app.set('port', process.env.PORT || 3000);
app.set('views', __dirname + '/views');
app.set('view engine', 'jade');
    // defining  middlewares

app.get('/', routes.index);




http.createServer(app).listen(app.get('port'), function(){
  console.log('Express server listening on port ' + app.get('port'));
});

and my index.js:

var server = require('../app');
exports.index = function(req, res){
    console.log(server);
    res.send('Hello world');
};

My problem is when I go to http:\\localhost:3000 , I see in my console {} instead of {test: "test"} , it looks like the module.eports doesn't work correctly. Why ?

node.js

Answer 1

Requiring index.js from within app.js, and then requiring app.js from within index.js, looks like code smell to me. Additionally, if you use var app = module.exports = express() then Express is able to treat your app as middleware (so for instance, you could have a second app that requires the first app, and passes some requests to it.

When I need to access app inside another required file I do the following:

// ./routes/index.js
module.exports = function(app){
  var routes = {};
  routes.index = function(req, res){
    console.log(app.myConfig);
    res.send('Hello world');
  };
  return routes;
};

// ./app.js
var app = module.exports = express();
app.myConfig = {foo:'bar'};
var routes = require('./routes/index.js')(app);

Answer 2

You don't need to include app in index.js

indes.js should just be

exports.index = function(req, res){
    console.log(server);
    res.send('Hello world');
};

And I am assuming index.js is in the routes folder like so

app.js
routes
  index.js