How do I read and write files to the server with Meteor?

Question

I'm working on a NoDB CMS in Meteor, but I'm new to both Meteor and JavaScript frameworks.

How do I go about reading and writing files to the server?

Answer 1

Within the Node fs module you have a writeFile function.

getUser = Meteor.users.findOne({_id : Meteor.userId()});
userObject = JSON.stringify(getUser);
var path = process.env["PWD"] + "/public/";
fs.writeFile(process.env["PWD"] + "/public/"+Meteor.userId()+'.txt', userObject, 
        function (err) {
            if (err) throw err;
              console.log('Done!');
        }
    );

The above snippet would create a file with all the information of the user. You could access the properties of the result of your query with something like getUser._id to prepare your data parameter (String or Buffer) to print pretty.

All this of course is server side.

Answer 2

you can try to use Npm.require inside the startup function. Like so

Meteor.startup(function () {
   fs = Npm.require('fs');
}

But you should definitely have a look at collectionFS that does what you are looking for: storing files on the server and allowing you to retrieve them

an added advantage is that you can distribute everything over many nodes of a MongoDB cluster

to manipulate image files, you can use imagemagick with nodejs this should allow you to transform in any way you need.

Answer 3

The node fs module is a start. http://nodejs.org/api/fs.html

You might want to be a bit more specific with your question though, as it's kind of broad.