I am trying to route multiple HTML pages. It loads index.html file, but when I want to load raw.html, it says

Error: Failed to lookup view "error" in views directory

app.js

var routes = require('./routes/index');
var users = require('./routes/users');
var raw = require('./routes/raw');


var app = express();


// view engine setup
app.set('views', path.join(__dirname, 'views'));
app.set('view engine', 'jade');

// unment after placing your favicon in /public
//app.use(favicon(path.join(__dirname, 'public', 'favicon.ico')));
app.use(logger('dev'));
app.use(bodyParser.json());
app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({ extended: false }));
app.use(cookieParser());
app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname, 'public')));

app.use('/', routes);
app.use('/users', users);
app.use('/raw', raw);

/routes/index.js

var express = require('express');
var router = express.Router();
var path = require('path');

router.get('/', function(req, res) {
  res.sendFile(path.join(__dirname + '/public/index.html'));

});
module.exports = router;

/routes/raw.js

var express = require('express');
var router = express.Router();
var path = require('path');

router.get('/raw', function(req, res) {
    res.sendFile(path.join(__dirname + '/public/raw.html'));

});
module.exports = router;

I am trying to route multiple HTML pages. It loads index.html file, but when I want to load raw.html, it says

Error: Failed to lookup view "error" in views directory

app.js

var routes = require('./routes/index');
var users = require('./routes/users');
var raw = require('./routes/raw');


var app = express();


// view engine setup
app.set('views', path.join(__dirname, 'views'));
app.set('view engine', 'jade');

// unment after placing your favicon in /public
//app.use(favicon(path.join(__dirname, 'public', 'favicon.ico')));
app.use(logger('dev'));
app.use(bodyParser.json());
app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({ extended: false }));
app.use(cookieParser());
app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname, 'public')));

app.use('/', routes);
app.use('/users', users);
app.use('/raw', raw);

/routes/index.js

var express = require('express');
var router = express.Router();
var path = require('path');

router.get('/', function(req, res) {
  res.sendFile(path.join(__dirname + '/public/index.html'));

});
module.exports = router;

/routes/raw.js

var express = require('express');
var router = express.Router();
var path = require('path');

router.get('/raw', function(req, res) {
    res.sendFile(path.join(__dirname + '/public/raw.html'));

});
module.exports = router;

• javascript
• html
• node.js
• express

Share Improve this question Follow edited Dec 25, 2016 at 13:19 Rabbit asked Dec 25, 2016 at 12:38 RabbitRabbit 3933 silver badges66 bronze badges 6

• Is Jade Installed – Nane Commented Dec 25, 2016 at 12:41
• Yes, it is installed by default. – Rabbit Commented Dec 25, 2016 at 12:43
• Might Help ,Try this res.sendFile('raw.html'); – Nane Commented Dec 25, 2016 at 12:48
• Try installing jade again by npm install jade – udarabibile Commented Dec 25, 2016 at 12:48
• Error: Failed to lookup view "error" in views directory – Rabbit Commented Dec 25, 2016 at 12:55

 |  Show 1 more ment

2 Answers 2

Sorted by: Reset to default 3

You are configuring express to use the pug (formerly known as jade) template engine.

A template engine enables you to use static template files in your application. At runtime, the template engine replaces variables in a template file with actual values, and transforms the template into an HTML file sent to the client. This approach makes it easier to design an HTML page.

The error you mention above is because you do not have a template file named error.pug in the views directory. The template engine catches the first error, which is:

Error: ENOENT: no such file or directory,

and then tries to render the error template.

res.sendFile(path.join(__dirname + '/public/index.html'));

The line above in your file routes/index.js will try to send routes/public/index.html and that file do not exists.

You can fix your express configuration using a correct path in your request handlers, i.e:

router.get('/', function(req, res) {
  res.sendFile(path.join(__dirname + '/../public/index.html'));
});

You should also remove the template engine configuration, since you do not seem use it.

You mentioned in the ments that you want to use Angular, so... You dont need a view engine if you want to use Angular.

When using Angular, the "main" part of your website is located on the clients' side, in the index.html file (this is not 100% correct, just an example). That part (in the users browser) has JS code (Angular) that sends http request to the server - $http.

The server part basicaly just operates these requests and sends back data to Angular on the clients side, and then you do what ever you want with that data on the clients side. You can respond to these requests with Node, PHP and etc. This is similar to the idea behind AJAX, when only small parts of the page are changed without reloading the whole page.

On the other hand, if you are using view-engines, when the server gets a request, for example:

app.get('/',.routes.views.home);

The server renders an entire html page and sends it to the client, as it works with PHP.