Why is __dirname not defined in node REPL?
node.jsnode.js Problem Overview
From the node manual I see that I can get the directory of a file with __dirname
, but from the REPL this seems to be undefined. Is this a misunderstanding on my side or where is the error?
$ node
> console.log(__dirname)
ReferenceError: __dirname is not defined
at repl:1:14
at REPLServer.eval (repl.js:80:21)
at Interface.<anonymous> (repl.js:182:12)
at Interface.emit (events.js:67:17)
at Interface._onLine (readline.js:162:10)
at Interface._line (readline.js:426:8)
at Interface._ttyWrite (readline.js:603:14)
at ReadStream.<anonymous> (readline.js:82:12)
at ReadStream.emit (events.js:88:20)
at ReadStream._emitKey (tty.js:320:10)
node.js Solutions
Solution 1 - node.js
__dirname
is only defined in scripts. It's not available in REPL.
try make a script a.js
console.log(__dirname);
and run it:
node a.js
you will see __dirname
printed.
Added background explanation: __dirname
means 'The directory of this script'. In REPL, you don't have a script. Hence, __dirname
would not have any real meaning.
Solution 2 - node.js
Building on the existing answers here, you could define this in your REPL:
__dirname = path.resolve(path.dirname(''));
Or:
__dirname = path.resolve();
Or @Jthorpe's alternatives:
__dirname = process.cwd();
__dirname = fs.realpathSync('.');
__dirname = process.env.PWD
Solution 3 - node.js
If you are using Node.js modules, __dirname
and __filename
don't exist.
From the Node.js documentation:
> No require, exports, module.exports, __filename, __dirname
>
> These CommonJS variables are not available in ES modules.
>
> require
can be imported into an ES module using module.createRequire()
.
>
> Equivalents of __filename
and __dirname
can be created inside of each file via import.meta.url
:
import { fileURLToPath } from 'url';
import { dirname } from 'path';
const __filename = fileURLToPath(import.meta.url);
const __dirname = dirname(__filename);
https://nodejs.org/docs/latest-v15.x/api/esm.html#esm_no_filename_or_dirname
Solution 4 - node.js
In ES6 use:
import path from 'path';
const __dirname = path.resolve();
also available when node is called with --experimental-modules
Solution 5 - node.js
-> At ES6 version use :
import path from "path"
const __dirname = path.resolve();
-> And use it like this for example:
res.sendFile(path.join(__dirname ,'views','shop.html'))
Solution 6 - node.js
As @qiao said, you can't use __dirname
in the node repl. However, if you need need this value in the console, you can use path.resolve()
or path.dirname()
. Although, path.dirname()
will just give you a "." so, probably not that helpful. Be sure to require('path')
.
Solution 7 - node.js
I was also trying to join my path using path.join(__dirname, 'access.log')
but it was throwing the same error.
Here is how I fixed it:
I first imported the path package and declared a variable named __dirname
, then called the resolve
path method.
In CommonJS
var path = require("path");
var __dirname = path.resolve();
In ES6+
import path from 'path';
const __dirname = path.resolve();
Happy coding.......
Solution 8 - node.js
If you got node __dirname not defined
with node --experimental-modules
, you can do :
const __dirname = path.dirname(import.meta.url)
.replace(/^file:\/\/\//, '') // can be usefull
Because othe example, work only with current/pwd directory not other directory.
Solution 9 - node.js
Seems like you could also do this:
__dirname=fs.realpathSync('.');
of course, dont forget fs=require('fs')
(it's not really global in node scripts exactly, its just defined on the module level)
Solution 10 - node.js
I was running a script from batch file as SYSTEM user and all variables like process.cwd()
, path.resolve()
and all other methods would give me path to C:\Windows\System32 folder instead of actual path. During experiments I noticed that when an error is thrown the stack contains a true path to the node file.
Here's a very hacky way to get true path by triggering an error and extracting path from e.stack. Do not use.
// this should be the name of currently executed file
const currentFilename = 'index.js';
function veryHackyGetFolder() {
try {
throw new Error();
} catch(e) {
const fullMsg = e.stack.toString();
const beginning = fullMsg.indexOf('file:///') + 8;
const end = fullMsg.indexOf('\/' + currentFilename);
const dir = fullMsg.substr(beginning, end - beginning).replace(/\//g, '\\');
return dir;
}
}
Usage
const dir = veryHackyGetFolder();
Solution 11 - node.js
Though its not the solution to this problem I would like to add it as it may help others.
You should have two underscores before dirname, not one underscore (__dirname
not _dirname
).