miltnerunit

Hi, beginner here... I have a patch that runs a node server script that uses fs.readFile to get the contents of a json file and send them to Max. The fs.readFile is set up like this, with just a relative path, for the moment:

var soundsJsonPath = "../sounds/sounds.json";

fs.readFile(soundsJsonPath, function(err, fileContents) {

So, the folder with the json doc is on the same level as the patch, the app, and a folder called 'staticSiteComponents' ('staticSiteComponents' is 'nodeContents', as recommended here: https://cycling74.com/forums/node-for-max-in-standalone -- just named differently) , this folder is where the server.js is located, along with the other js files, my nodeModules folder, css, and index.html. 

Screen Shot 2019-10-27 at 8.22.48 PM.png

I didn't change the relative path to sounds.json, because it works brilliantly - once I launch the node script, it sends 'fileContents' in their entirety back to Max. I wanted a standalone that others could run, so I built the app, this went ok, nothing missing when I run the app -- except it can't locate that json doc. The json doc is literally in the same directory it has always been in, and the app is right alongside the original Max patch. Nothing has changed, except I'm now using the app to start the script instead of the original Max patch.

My question is: what am I not understanding about the app's home directory, or the directory my server.js file is in when I'm running the app vs the patch? I thought the relationship of server.js to ../sounds/sounds.json would stay exactly the same. I kind of wanted users to be able to place new sounds.json docs inside the /sounds folder and run server.js. 

I could set up a drag and drop situation for it I suppose, but I think I should try and figure out what I'm not getting, first, because it's probably pretty fundamental to the process of running standalone apps that contain server scripts.

Hi, beginner here... I have a patch that runs a node server script that uses fs.readFile to get the contents of a json file and send them to Max. The fs.readFile is set up like this, with just a relative path, for the moment:

var soundsJsonPath = "../sounds/sounds.json";

fs.readFile(soundsJsonPath, function(err, fileContents) {
...}

So, the folder with the json doc is on the same level as the patch, the app, and a folder called 'staticSiteComponents' ('staticSiteComponents' is 'nodeContents', as recommended here: https://cycling74.com/forums/node-for-max-in-standalone -- just named differently) , this folder is where the server.js is located, along with the other js files, my nodeModules folder, css, and index.html. 
The whole thing looks like this:




I didn't change the relative path to sounds.json, because it works brilliantly - once I launch the node script, it sends 'fileContents' in their entirety back to Max. I wanted a standalone that others could run, so I built the app, this went ok, nothing missing when I run the app -- except it can't locate that json doc. The json doc is literally in the same directory it has always been in, and the app is right alongside the original Max patch. Nothing has changed, except I'm now using the app to start the script instead of the original Max patch.  

My question is: what am I not understanding about the app's home directory, or the directory my server.js file is in when I'm running the app vs the patch? I thought the relationship of server.js to ../sounds/sounds.json would stay exactly the same. I kind of wanted users to be able to place new sounds.json docs inside the /sounds folder and run server.js.  

I could set up a drag and drop situation for it I suppose, but I think I should try and figure out what I'm not getting, first, because it's probably pretty fundamental to the process of running standalone apps that contain server scripts.  

Hi, beginner here... I have a patch that runs a node server script that uses fs.readFile to get the contents of a json file and send them to

path-to-server-js-file-seems-to-be-different-when-starting-script-from-an-app-standalone-vs-the-original-max-patch

in the case of a standalone the content gets unpacked and stored in a temporary location, which unfortunately breaks your relative filepath. As an easy workaround, in addition to the ways you mentioned before, but maybe also first relatively small improvement you could pass the absolute path to the 

This way things are a bit more flexible within Max when it comes to finding the file in the patching and the standalone environment and you can pass the correct path to your script in both cases.

in the case of a standalone the content gets unpacked and stored in a temporary location, which unfortunately breaks your relative filepath. As an easy workaround, in addition to the ways you mentioned before, but maybe also first relatively small improvement you could pass the absolute path to the sounds.json file as argument alongside the start message to your node.script. 

Oh! That's a great idea, I didn't think of that. Helps a lot, thanks.

path to server.js file seems to be different when starting script from an app standalone vs the original max patch