Global Variable in app.js accessible in routes?

It is actually very easy to do this using the "set" and "get" methods available on an express object.

Example as follows, say you have a variable called config with your configuration related stuff that you want to be available in other places:

In app.js:

var config = require('./config');

app.configure(function() {
  ...
  app.set('config', config); 
  ...
}

In routes/index.js

exports.index = function(req, res){
  var config = req.app.get('config');
  // config is now available
  ...
}

A neat way to do this is to use app.locals provided by Express itself. Here is the documentation.

// In app.js:
app.locals.variable_you_need = 42;

// In index.js
exports.route = function(req, res){
    var variable_i_needed = req.app.locals.variable_you_need;
}

To make a global variable, just declare it without the var keyword. (Generally speaking this isn't best practice, but in some cases it can be useful - just be careful as it will make the variable available everywhere.)

Here's an example from visionmedia/screenshot-app

file app.js:

/**
 * Module dependencies.
 */

var express = require('express')
  , stylus = require('stylus')
  , redis = require('redis')
  , http = require('http');

app = express();

//... require() route files

file routes/main.js

//we can now access 'app' without redeclaring it or passing it in...

/*
 * GET home page.
 */

app.get('/', function(req, res, next){
  res.render('index');
});

//...

To declare a global variable you need do use global object. Like global.yourVariableName. But it is not a true way. To share variables between modules try to use injection style like

someModule.js:

module.exports = function(injectedVariable) {
    return {
        somePublicMethod: function() {
        },
        anotherPublicMethod: function() {
        },
    };
};

app.js

var someModule = require('./someModule')(someSharedVariable);

Or you may use surrogate object to do that. Like hub.

someModule.js:

var hub = require('hub');

module.somePublicMethod = function() {
    // We can use hub.db here
};

module.anotherPublicMethod = function() {
};

app.js

var hub = require('hub');
hub.db = dbConnection;
var someModule = require('./someModule');

the easiest way is to declare a global variable in your app.js, early on:

global.mySpecialVariable = "something"

then in any routes you can get it:

console.log(mySpecialVariable)

Global Variable in app.js accessible in routes?

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