Learning Node - Express Public folder not working

Question

So I'm new to node and trying to learn how to use the express library with it. However, the problem I'm trying to figure out is why the files in my /public folder do not seem to be served as static content.

Here's my code:

var http = require('http');
var port = process.env.port || 1337;
var express = require('express');
var handlebars = require('express3-handlebars');
var path = require('path');

var application = express();

application.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname, 'public')));

application.engine('handlebars', handlebars({ defaultLayout: 'main' }));

application.get('/', function(req, res){
    res.render('index.handlebars', { someProp: 3 });
});

application.listen(port);

And my directory structure:

/
  - server.js (the above referenced file)
  / Views
    - index.handlebars
    / Layouts
      - main.handlebars
  / public
    - ServeMe.txt

My understanding was that application.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname, 'public'))); was supposed to configure the server to respond to any request under the public folder with that resource if found. What am I doing wrong? Funnily enough, it was easier to configure handlebars as the view engine than to get this public folder working =D

EDIT: The full URL I am trying to request: http://localhost:1337/public/serveme.txt

I've tried case sensitivity (which should be a non-issue), and that also did not work.

Answer 1

The full URL I am trying to request: http://localhost:1337/public/serveme.txt

That's your problem. Anything inside the directory you designate as static content is made available directly from the base URL. You need to request http://localhost:1337/serveme.txt instead.

If you want to only serve static files from /public you can pass a string as the first argument:

application.use("/public", express.static(path.join(__dirname, 'public')));

Answer 2

From the Express API reference

app.use(express.static(__dirname + '/public'));

This line serves your public folder at your app's root URL, meaning the following requests are valid and don't give a 404 error.

// GET /javascripts/jquery.js // GET /style.css // GET /favicon.ico

app.use takes an optional first argument as well that allows you to specify which request URL you want to serve content at. This first argument defaults to "/", meaning your static content will be served at the base URL. If you want your static content to be served not at the root level, like your code currently does, check out the following example (again taken from the docs)

app.use('/static', express.static(__dirname + '/public'));

This line serves your public folder again, but at your app's /static URL, making the following requests valid without a 404 error.

(Example URL: http://localhost:1337/static/anythingInYourPublicFolder)

// GET /static/javascripts/jquery.js // GET /static/style.css // GET /static/favicon.ico

Answer 3

What URLs are you trying to load? You should not include "public" in your URLs, so curl -v 'http://localhost:1337/ServeMe.txt'.