EJS template for express.js app: transferring data into variable

Question

I want to transfer data from my node.js (express) app to a variable in the <script> on the page.

On the server-side I have

let tmp = JSON.stringify(await f(i));
console.log(tmp); //correct data [{"id":"729199920929701988","a ...}]
res.render('r.ejs', {"guilds": tmp});

Then in r.ejs I have

<input type='hidden' id='getter' value="<%= guilds %>">
<script>
    console.log(document.getElementById("getter").value); //correct value: [{"id":"729199920929701988","...}]
    let v = "<%= guilds %>";
    console.log(v);
    console.log("<%= guilds %>"); //dumb value with " changed to special symbols: [{&#34;id&#34;:&#34;729199920929701988&#34;,&#34...}]
</script>

The way with making an extra tag does not look like a good way in terms of performance. At least it makes the browser create one more element which takes time, especially if more than one element like this will be needed.

I would like to get the data directly in the <script> tag. There should be a way to avoid changing " to &#34 when getting the value directly in the <script> tag (in fact, I do not understand why does that even happen). Can anyone help with that?

Answer 1

Just use let v = <%- guilds %>; instead of let v ="<%= guilds %>"; to tell ejs you need unescaped data