how to set view engine in express

To set the view engine in Express, you need to follow these steps:

  1. Install the desired view engine package: Start by installing the view engine package of your choice. Commonly used view engines in Express include EJS, Handlebars, Pug, and Mustache. You can install these packages using npm (Node Package Manager) by running the following command in your terminal:
npm install <view-engine-package-name>

Replace <view-engine-package-name> with the name of the view engine package you want to install.

  1. Require the view engine module: Once the view engine package is installed, you need to require it in your Express application. In your main server file (usually app.js or server.js), add the following line of code:
const <view-engine> = require('<view-engine-package-name>');

Replace <view-engine> with a variable name of your choice and <view-engine-package-name> with the name of the view engine package you installed.

  1. Set the view engine: After requiring the view engine module, you need to set it as the view engine for your Express application. Use the following line of code:
app.set('view engine', '<view-engine>');

Replace <view-engine> with the variable name you used in the previous step.

  1. Specify the views directory: In Express, views are typically stored in a specific directory. You need to specify this directory using the following line of code:
app.set('views', path.join(__dirname, 'views'));

Make sure to adjust the path if your views directory is located in a different location.

  1. Render views: Finally, you can render views using the view engine you set. In your routes or controllers, you can use the res.render() method to render a specific view. The view engine will automatically look for the view file with the appropriate extension (e.g., .ejs, .hbs, .pug, etc.) in the views directory you specified.

That's it! You have successfully set the view engine in Express. Remember to replace <view-engine-package-name> and <view-engine> with the actual names of the view engine package you installed and the variable name you chose, respectively.