For Express.js 4.x, is it possible to use express.static twice?

Question

I would like to show a custom 404 page (containing html, css, img, and ico). I know my 404 folder works when I replace the first public static homepage. However, I believe I am either not using routes the right way or it is not possible to set up two static folders.

I do not want to use template view engines at all. I want everything to be rendered on the frontend.

My project looks as follows:

404
--index.html
--error.css
--404.jpg
bin
--server.js
public
--index.html
routes
--index.js
package.json
app.js

app.js

...
var index = require(./routes/index); //works
...
app.use(favicon(__dirname + '/public/content/images/logo.ico'));
app.use(logger('dev'));
app.use(jsonParser);
app.use(urlencodedParser);
app.use(cookieParser());
app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname, 'public'))); //love it
app.use('/', index); //this is fine
...

index.js

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

router.use(function timeLog(req, res, next) {
    console.log('Time: ', Date.now());
    next();
});

router.use('/', express.static(path.join(__dirname, './404'))); // HALP!

module.exports = router;

I've played around with the directory (trying to use '404' vs './404'). I am testing this by entering "localhost:3000/error". So if my path is '/error', it should still use the parent path: '/'. The documentation states that as long as my route is placed last, it should still work. I tested it without express.static and used an anon function that prints error on console.

Is it impossible to use express.static() twice?

Answer 1

https://github.com/jekku/users/blob/master/server.js#L41

Here's how I route my static files on an ExpressJS app. I usually don't do it in the routes, but I consider it as an 'initialization' process. It is possible to use ANY middleware twice or even more - as much as you want, keep that in mind.

Answer 2

Moving some of my comments into an answer since this led to your solution.

For Express.js 4.x, is it possible to use express.static twice?

Yes, you can use express.static() as many times as you want. It is middleware and, if it does not find a file matching the request, it just calls next() and allows the middleware chain to continue. So, you can have as many of them as you want and they will each get to search for a matching file in the order you register them.

I would like to show a custom 404 page (containing html, css, img, and ico). I know my 404 folder works when I replace the first public static homepage. However, I believe I am either not using routes the right way or it is not possible to set up two static folders.

You are mistakenly trying to use express.static() to implement a custom 404 page. That is not what it does. The usual way to implement a custom 404 page is with the last middleware handler in the chain. When that gets hit, nothing else has found a match for the current request, therefore you send your custom 404 page.

That typically looks like this:

app.use(function(req, res, next) {
    res.status(404).sendFile(localPathToYour404Page);
});

See the "How do I handle 404 responses" section of this Express starter FAQ .

And, here's an article on custom error pages that shows some other examples.