I've heared that NodeJS is great for making real-time chat applications and I want to implement a chat on my website. Right now I only have the design so I have to make the back-end code now.

However when I'm using socket.io + express it doesn't work out like it should.

Code from server.js:

var app = require('express')();
var http = require('http').Server(app);

app.get('/', function(req, res){
    res.sendFile(__dirname + '/index.php');
});

http.listen(3000, function(){
    console.log('listening on *:3000');
});

I simply want to show index.php on localhost:3000, however when I browse to the website it doesn't want to show the page. Instead it downloads the index.php file.

But if I change the extention of the file to html, so it bees index.html, it works. But that is not what I want.

I know there are some smart guys out there that can solve this problem in no time. I've been sitting for a very long time myself trying to sovle it.

I've heared that NodeJS is great for making real-time chat applications and I want to implement a chat on my website. Right now I only have the design so I have to make the back-end code now.

However when I'm using socket.io + express it doesn't work out like it should.

Code from server.js:

var app = require('express')();
var http = require('http').Server(app);

app.get('/', function(req, res){
    res.sendFile(__dirname + '/index.php');
});

http.listen(3000, function(){
    console.log('listening on *:3000');
});

I simply want to show index.php on localhost:3000, however when I browse to the website it doesn't want to show the page. Instead it downloads the index.php file.

But if I change the extention of the file to html, so it bees index.html, it works. But that is not what I want.

I know there are some smart guys out there that can solve this problem in no time. I've been sitting for a very long time myself trying to sovle it.

• javascript
• php
• node.js
• express
• socket.io

• At Stack Overflow you are expected to try to write the code yourself. After doing more research if you have a problem you can post what you've tried with a clear explanation of what isn't working and providing a Minimal, Complete, and Verifiable example. I suggest reading How to Ask a good question and the perfect question. Also, be sure to take the tour and read this. – John Conde Commented Jun 4, 2017 at 13:21
• I've posted this to learn, not for someone to make it for me. – Nabil Hayek Commented Jun 4, 2017 at 13:26
• 1 Unfortunately that is not allowed here. This isn't a tutorial site, google, or the manual. It's for developers who have written some code and need help understanding why it isn't working as expected. – John Conde Commented Jun 4, 2017 at 13:27
• Yes, and in this case i need help understanding why it downloads the file instead of showing it. That way I can know how to proceed with the project myself. – Nabil Hayek Commented Jun 4, 2017 at 13:29

1 Answer 1

You can use the php-express package to render PHP files with Express:

npm install --save php-express

Then use this (make sure you have PHP installed on your machine):

server.js

var express = require('express');
var app = express();

var phpExpress = require('php-express')({
  binPath: 'php'
});

// set view engine to php-express
app.set('views', './views');
app.engine('php', phpExpress.engine);
app.set('view engine', 'php');

// routing all .php file to php-express
app.all(/.+\.php$/, phpExpress.router);

var server = app.listen(3000, function () {
  console.log('listening on *:3000');
});

Source: https://www.npmjs./package/php-express