Read a file in Node.js

Question

I\'m quite puzzled with reading files in Node.js.

fs.open(\'./start.html\', \'r\', function(err, fileToRead){
    if (!err){
        fs.readFile(fileToRead,         


        

Answer 1

With Node 0.12, it's possible to do this synchronously now:

  var fs = require('fs');
  var path = require('path');

  // Buffer mydata
  var BUFFER = bufferFile('../public/mydata.png');

  function bufferFile(relPath) {
    return fs.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, relPath)); // zzzz....
  }

fs is the file system. readFileSync() returns a Buffer, or string if you ask.

fs correctly assumes relative paths are a security issue. path is a work-around.

To load as a string, specify the encoding:

return fs.readFileSync(path,{ encoding: 'utf8' });