can't export async function with puppeteer

Question

I'm trying to export an async function that returns object data to be used in another file... I'm having a lot of trouble. I would really appreciate any help.

Code:

    const puppeteer = require('puppeteer');

(async () => {
    let browser = await puppeteer.launch({ args: ['--no-sandbox'] , headless: true});
    let page = await browser.newPage();

    // JCC URL's:
    let ph_jcc_pool_url = 'https://jcc.org/park-heights-indoor-pool-registration';

    // go to park heights pool registration url:
    await page.goto(ph_jcc_pool_url, {waitUntil: 'networkidle0'});

    // evaluate park heights pool registration:
    let scraped_ph_jcc_pool = await page.evaluate(() => {
        let slots_array = [];

        $(".GXPEntry").each(function (index, element) {
           slots_array[index] = {
                cancelled: null,
                todaySlotTimePassed: null,
                displayDayHeading: null,
                signUpAble: null,
                time: element.querySelector(".GXPTime").textContent,
                dayOfWeek: $(element).parent().attr('id').replace("GXP", ""),
                date: element.querySelector("a.descGXP").getAttribute("data-date"),
                slotType: element.querySelector('.GXPTitle').textContent,
                gender: null,
                availability: null,
                signUpLink: null,
                appleCalendarLink: null,
                location: element.querySelector(".GXPLocation").textContent,
                studio: element.querySelector(".GXPStudio").textContent.slice(0, -1),
            };

            // Check if slot is cancelled or not
                // - if cancelled, set as cancelled
                // - if not, get data that only shows if item not cancelled
            if (slots_array[index].slotType.includes("CANCELED") || slots_array[index].slotType.includes("CANCELLED")) {
                slots_array[index].cancelled = true;
            } else {
                slots_array[index].cancelled = false;
                slots_array[index].signUpLink = element.querySelector('a.signUpGXP').getAttribute("href");
                slots_array[index].availability = element.querySelector('div.GXPDescription span').textContent;
            }

            // Check gender and set type string to .gender
            if (slots_array[index].slotType.includes("Women")) {
                slots_array[index].gender = "Female";
            } else {
                slots_array[index].gender = "Male";
            }

        }); // close .each(".GXPEntry") iterator function

        return slots_array;

    }); // close await page.evaluate jcc park heights

    // park heights jcc pool registration data:
    let ph_jcc_pool = {
        main: scraped_ph_jcc_pool, // main entries to be displayed
        taken_out: [], // to display in extra accordion style
        days: [] // to display in nav
    }

    // add slotTimePassed data from time.js. test time for specific slots of TODAY
    // --Returns--:
    // FALSE: time has not passed and content should be displayed
    // TRUE: time has passed and should be hidden
    let time = require("./time");
    ph_jcc_pool.main.forEach(function (object, index) {
        // mark true or false if time has passed for each object
        object.todaySlotTimePassed =
            time.calculateIfSlotTimePassed(ph_jcc_pool.main[index].date, ph_jcc_pool.main[index].time);

        // push objects that are (from today) in the past to new array
        if (time.calculateIfSlotTimePassed(ph_jcc_pool.main[index].date, ph_jcc_pool.main[index].time)
            === true) {
            ph_jcc_pool.taken_out.push(object);
        }
    }); // close time forEach()

    // return false if no items have been taken out from today
    if (ph_jcc_pool.taken_out.length === 0) {
        ph_jcc_pool.taken_out = false;
    }

    // remove todaySlotTimePassed entries from ph_jcc_pool_data array
    ph_jcc_pool.main = ph_jcc_pool.main.filter(function(object) {
        return object.todaySlotTimePassed !== true;
    })

    // test when to put day heading. if true, then yes, if false, then no.
    for (let i = 0; i<ph_jcc_pool.main.length; i++) {
        if (i === 0) {
            ph_jcc_pool.main[0].displayDayHeading = true;
            ph_jcc_pool.days.push(ph_jcc_pool.main[0].dayOfWeek);
        } else {
            if (ph_jcc_pool.main[i - 1].dayOfWeek !== ph_jcc_pool.main[i].dayOfWeek) {
                ph_jcc_pool.main[i].displayDayHeading = true;
                ph_jcc_pool.days.push(ph_jcc_pool.main[i].dayOfWeek);
            } else {
                ph_jcc_pool.main[i].displayDayHeading = false;
            }
        }
    }

    await browser.close();

    return ph_jcc_pool;

})(); // close async function

I'm really frustrated trying to figure this out. I need the variable/object ph_jcc_pool to be accessible in the other file to be used with express, etc.

Thanks in advance if you can help!

Answer 1

This should work:

// in get-data.js

const puppeteer = require('puppeteer');

async function getData() {
  const browser = await puppeteer.launch();
  // ...
  return data;
}

module.exports = {
  getData,
};

// in main.js

const { getData } = require('./get-data.js');

(async function main() {
  try {
    const data = await getData();
    console.log(data);
  } catch (err) {
    console.error(err);
  }
})();