Two things.
First I'd clarify your pathing setup and usage, more like this:
const publicPath = path.resolve(__dirname, '/views');
// point for static assets
app.use(express.static(publicPath));
//view engine setup
app.set('views', path.join(__dirname, '/views/'));
app.engine('html', require('ejs').renderFile);
app.set('view engine', 'html');
Second, I would wrap all my express code into a single file that is a self-executing function, so it runs once when you require it. Such as my express file which I call my app.js file:
'use strict';
(function () {
const express = require('express');
const path = require('path');
const logger = require('morgan');
const cookieParser = require('cookie-parser');
const bodyParser = require('body-parser');
const routes = require('./routes.js');
const app = express();
const publicPath = path.resolve(__dirname, '../dist');
const port = 3000;
// point for static assets
app.use(express.static(publicPath));
//view engine setup
app.set('views', path.join(__dirname, '../dist'));
app.engine('html', require('ejs').renderFile);
app.set('view engine', 'html');
app.use(logger('dev'));
app.use(bodyParser.json());
app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({
extended:true
}));
app.use('/', routes);
app.use(cookieParser());
const server = app.listen(port, () => console.log(`Express server listening on port ${port}`));
module.exports = app;
}());
Then in my main file (which I call main.js not app.js, in my case), I instantiate the app and the express server as follows:
'use strict';
const app = require('electron').app;
const Window = require('electron').BrowserWindow; // jshint ignore:line
const Tray = require('electron').Tray; // jshint ignore:line
const Menu = require('electron').Menu; // jshint ignore:line
const fs = require('fs');
const server = require('./ServerSide/app');
let mainWindow = null;
app.on('ready', function () {
const path = require('path');
const iconPath = path.resolve(__dirname, './dist/myicon.ico');
const appIcon = new Tray(iconPath);
mainWindow = new Window({
width: 1280,
height: 1024,
autoHideMenuBar: false,
useContentSize: true,
resizable: true,
icon: iconPath
// 'node-integration': false // otherwise various client-side things may break
});
appIcon.setToolTip('My Cool App');
mainWindow.loadURL('http://localhost:3000/');
// remove this for production
var template = [
{
label: 'View',
submenu: [
{
label: 'Reload',
accelerator: 'CmdOrCtrl+R',
click: function(item, focusedWindow) {
if (focusedWindow) {
focusedWindow.reload();
}
}
},
{
label: 'Toggle Full Screen',
accelerator: (function() {
if (process.platform === 'darwin') {
return 'Ctrl+Command+F';
} else {
return 'F11';
}
})(),
click: function(item, focusedWindow) {
if (focusedWindow) {
focusedWindow.setFullScreen(!focusedWindow.isFullScreen());
}
}
},
{
label: 'Toggle Developer Tools',
accelerator: (function() {
if (process.platform === 'darwin') {
return 'Alt+Command+I';
} else {
return 'Ctrl+Shift+I';
}
})(),
click: function(item, focusedWindow) {
if (focusedWindow) {
focusedWindow.toggleDevTools();
}
}
}
]
}
];
const menu = Menu.buildFromTemplate(template);
Menu.setApplicationMenu(menu);
mainWindow.focus();
});
// shut down all parts to app after windows all closed.
app.on('window-all-closed', function () {
app.quit();
});
Note that I am using this with success on Windows platform, so small tweaks may be needed for any platform specific items listed in this example.
