express-renderer-middleware

Middleware for Express.JS which allows for automatic template engine rendering.

WARNING: I have not yet been able to figure out the file extension dynamically from Express. I'm using the name of the engine for now (works with pug, ejs, and some others, but fails on some engines, including placeholder). If your engine's file extension does not match its name, please pass the ext option.

Why?

express-renderer-middleware significantly cuts down on the amount of code needed to render a directory of files.

Without express-renderer-middleware

let app = (require("express"))();
app.set("view engine", "pug");
// ...

app.get("/", (req, res) => {
	res.render("index");
});

app.get("/somePage", (req, res) => {
	res.render("somePage");
})

app.get("/otherPage", (req, res) => {
	res.render("otherPage");
})

// ... Repeat for each page ...
// ... other routes ...

app.listen(port);

With express-renderer-middleware

let app = (require("express"))();
let renderer = require("express-renderer-middleware");
app.set("view engine", "pug");

// ...

app.use(renderer());

//... other routes ...

app.listen(port);

Reference

app.use(renderer(options))

Renders all files in the views directory automatically.

Params

Name	Type	Description	Default
options.vars	object	Variables to be passed to res.render(file, vars).	{}
options.dir	string	The directory to lookup views in.	`app.get("views")
options.ext	string	The file extension to use when checking for views	`app.get("view engine")

URL Mappings

URL	File on server (relative to views folder)
/	index.<ext>
/<filename>	<filename>.<ext>
/<filename>.html	<filename>.<ext>
/<foldername>	<foldername>/index.<ext>
/<foldername>.html	<foldername/index.<ext>
/<foldername>/<filename>	<foldername>/<filename>.<ext>
/<foldername>/<foldername>	<foldername>/<foldername>/index.<ext>

NOTE: /<filename>.<ext> is intentionally not mapped, in case you want to use in conjunction with Express.static to serve the source files.

Installation

This is a Node.js module available through the npm registry.

Before installing, download and install Node.js.

Installation is done using the npm install command:

npm install express-renderer-middleware --save