How to load Nodejs core modules using webpack

Question

I'm having trouble loading the core modules of nodejs to the browser.

My xlsx library depends on fs which is a core module and loading my app produces cannot find module "fs" error.

I've done some googling repeatedly ended up here - saying I should add target:node to my webpack.config.js file BUT, done as he suggested produces another error -> process is not defined

I was wondering if there's any module-loader for that need? i couldnt find any.

webpack.config.js:

module.exports = {
  entry: "./app/boot",
  output: {
    path: __dirname,
    filename: "./dist/bundle.js"
  },
  resolve: {
    extensions: ['', '.js', '.ts']
  },
  module: {
    loaders: [
      { test: /\.ts/,   loaders: ["ts-loader"], exclude: /node_modules/ }
    ],
    preLoaders: [
      // All output '.js' files will have any sourcemaps re-processed by 'source-map-loader'.
      { test: /\.js$/, loader: "source-map-loader", exclude: ['node_modules', 'ext-*', 'lib', 'tools'] }
    ]
  },
  debug: true,
  devtool: 'source-map'
};

Any insights would be much apreciated, thanks in advance and please let me know if any other information would be helpful.

I'm not using babel nor gulp

TimoStaudinger · Accepted Answer · 2016-11-29T19:50:02.287

1

You can't.

There is no equivalent to fs that would work properly in the browser. JavaScript executed in a browser is running in a sandbox for security reasons and you have only very limited access to the client's file system, which is what the module fs is used for in NodeJS.

edited Nov 29 '16 at 19:50

answered Nov 29 '16 at 19:48

TimoStaudinger

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I see, that makes perfect sense. so what am i supposed to do having the `xlsx` using `fs`? – Kesem David Nov 29 '16 at 19:49
That depends on the library. Can you use it without `fs` by e.g. loading the file manually via HTTP requests from your server? Then do that. Otherwise you'll have to look for a different library. – TimoStaudinger Nov 29 '16 at 19:51
That probably is out of the scope of the question but more precisely I'm using `ng2-file-uploader` to get a file from the client and the using `node-xlsx` to parse the file to an object, all that on the client without using the server, any suggestions? – Kesem David Nov 29 '16 at 20:03
`node-xlsx` seems to have NodeJS's API baked into it and won't be of any help to you. It is based on `js-xlsx` though, which seems to be able to run in a browser as well: https://github.com/SheetJS/js-xlsx – TimoStaudinger Nov 29 '16 at 20:05

How to load Nodejs core modules using webpack

1 Answers1