Webpack nodejs fs.readFile is not a function

Question

I have a webpack config like:

var path = require('path')

module.exports = {
    entry: "./index.js",
    output: {
        path: path.join(__dirname, 'static'),
        filename:'bundle.js'
    },
    module: {
        loaders: [
            { test: /\.js$/, exclude: /node_modules/, loader: "babel-loader"},
            { test: /\.json$/, loader: 'json-loader' },
        ]
    },
    node: {
      fs: "empty"
    }
};

And I want to read a file using fs

I am doing something like:

var fs = require('fs')
console.log(fs)

fs.readFile('input.txt', function (err, buffer) {
        console.log("buffer")
        console.log(buffer)


    })

I just want to read a file here but when I do this it gives me error saying:

fs.readFile is not a function

I have installed fs using npm install --save fs

Also when I print fs it gives me empty object. Above I have done console.log(fs) it is giving me empty object

What is wrong in here?

Remove `node: { fs: "empty" }` and add `target: 'node'`: https://webpack.github.io/docs/configuration.html#target — Bob Sponge, May 19 '16 at 09:40
You trying to run this code from browser? In browser, obviously, there is not any access to file system. — Bob Sponge, May 19 '16 at 09:54
actually I am starting tthe server with python -m SimpleHTTPServer — gamer, May 19 '16 at 10:22
@doubledherin Yes but when you run a Front-End server you have to run it through the bundle, not through the Node WebServer. — Eksapsy, Mar 26 '18 at 11:40

score 4 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 28 '19 at 02:45

As I believe the comments mentioned,

node: { fs: "empty" }

Needs to be removed. Moreover, all your code must run on the server. You cannot read files like this in the browser. Node APIs are server-side only, so you would need to build an API using express or some similar library e.g.

    router.get('/file/read', (req, res, next) => { fs.readFile('input.txt', function (err, buffer) {
            console.log("buffer")
            res.send(buffer);
        }) 
    })

Then in your browser you would need to use AJAX to call the API and retrieve the file contents.

Reading arbitrary files has OBVIOUS SECURITY ISSUES . You should not allow the api to read any files the user likes. You should be very careful here to restict input and limit the set of files available.

Webpack nodejs fs.readFile is not a function

1 Answers1

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