In Node.js, how do I "include" functions from my other files?

Question

Let's say I have a file called app.js. Pretty simple:

var express = require('express');
var app = express.createServer();
app.set('views', __dirname + '/views');
app.set('view engine', 'ejs');
app.get('/', function(req, res){
  res.render('index', {locals: {
    title: 'NowJS + Express Example'
  }});
});

app.listen(8080);

What if I have a functions inside "tools.js". How would I import them to use in apps.js?

Or...am I supposed to turn "tools" into a module, and then require it? << seems hard, I rather do the basic import of the tools.js file.

Answer 1

You can require any js file, you just need to declare what you want to expose.

// tools.js
// ========
module.exports = {
  foo: function () {
    // whatever
  },
  bar: function () {
    // whatever
  }
};

var zemba = function () {
}

And in your app file:

// app.js
// ======
var tools = require('./tools');
console.log(typeof tools.foo); // => 'function'
console.log(typeof tools.bar); // => 'function'
console.log(typeof tools.zemba); // => undefined