nodejs connect error: "has no method 'static'"

Question

A newbie with NodeJs. I am trying to follow AngularJS pro and got stuck with setting up NodeJs server. According to book, I installed nodejs and then installed connect package using npm install connect.

Then downloaded angularjs in folder next to nodejs folder. Then wrote server.js file to connect to server. Here is the content of the file:

    var connect = require('connect');
connect.createServer(connect.static("../angularjs")).listen( 5000);

When I run this server.js file using:

node server.js

I get following error:

 function app(req, res, next){ app.handle(req, res, next); }
 merge(app, proto);
 merge(app, EventEmitter.prototype);
 app.route = '/';
 app.stack = [];
 return app;
 has no method 'static'
   at Object.<anonymous> (C:\web\nodejs\server.js:2:36)
   at Module._compile (module.js:456:26)
   at Object.Module._extensions..js (module.js:474:10)
   at Module.load (module.js:356:32)
   at Function.Module._load (module.js:312:12)
   at Function.Module.runMain (module.js:497:10)
   at startup (node.js:119:16)
   at node.js:906:3

NOTE: I have tried other solution given here but it didn't work

Any ideas?

Obeah

Answer 1

The connect package has made some changes in the latest 3.x version of their code base, moving the static middleware to it's own package. You can view the list of packages that have been moved here.

So you have two options:

Option 1
You can install an older, 2.x version of connect and use that as is:

$ npm install [email protected]

Installing the latest 2.X.X version will allow your current implementation to function properly.

Option 2
You can continue to use the 3.x version of connect, and also add serve-static:

$ npm install serve-static

You would also have to update your server.js file to include the new serve-static module:

var connect = require('connect'),
    serveStatic = require('serve-static');

var app = connect();

app.use(serveStatic("../angularjs"));
app.listen(5000);

Conqueror

worked for me by using single dot in case of same folder i.e. ./angularjs – Hydromechanics

@Hydromechanics This all depends on your pwd when you start node. Using two dots is correct when running node server.js when starting from /angularjs (presumably your pwd is /angularjs/..) – Snore

I tried this , now I am getting error in browser "cannot get /" – Tetraspore

@AnsBilal try "localhost:5000/test.html". Assuming you are following the example in the book (referenced in the OP) that URL should work for you. – Drusie

yes i was trying an example from the book (Pro AngularJs by Adam Freeman). After lit bit search I came to solution and I posted that on my blog for others also : anscoding.blogspot.com/2017/11/… – Tetraspore

Answer 2

The answer by dylants is helpful. However, here are the exact steps that I followed in order to resolve the same error. 1. From the command window , change directory to the directory in which you installed nodeJS. 2. After having already ran npm install connect, run:

npm install serve-static

3. Create a file named server.js with the following code:

var connect = require('connect'),
serveStatic = require('serve-static');

var app = connect();

app.use(serveStatic("./angularjs"));
app.listen(5000);

4. While still in command window, and still in the directory in which you have installed nodeJS, run:

   node server.js

5. Navigate to the URL http://localhost:5000/test.html

This should work. Here is my directory configuration: C:\NodeJSInstallLocation\angularjs

Stan

Answer 3

var connect = require('connect'),
    serveStatic = require('serve-static');

connect().use(
    serveStatic("angularjs")
).listen(5000);

Hemline

Welcome to SO. Please read up on stackoverflow.com/help/how-to-answer. Your answer does not really give any additional insight to the accepted answer. – Sorcerer

Answer 4

You might want to try something like this

var express = require('express');
var app = express();
app.use(express.static('angularjs'));

Byroad

Answer 5

Try this...

  const express = require('express');
  const app = express();
  const path = require('path');

  app.use('',express.static(path.join(__dirname, '/static/')));

Cyclograph

Please add some explanation on what the code is doing – Saddlebag