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Basic Node js express 4 build webapplication to exe issues

mukilan mws 1 Reputation point
2021-08-13T01:13:37.057+00:00

Hi Guys,
I am a newcomer to Visual Studio. I know only Nodejs. So, I try to create an EXE file for the node.js application. And I try to build but it's not working, it shows a Build succeeded message then I go to refer to the application folder I can't get anything. I tried to build the last couple of weeks. I can't get a result. Plz anyone support me and give a suggestion to build a node.js EXE file.

Thank you

122875-test.png

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  1. Ryan Hill 27,111 Reputation points Microsoft Employee
    2021-08-17T04:25:25.967+00:00

    Hi @mukilan mws ,

    When it comes to NodeJS, you don't create an exe. The Node runtime will start your .js file on a web server instance and expose the port so that it can respond to request. To determine what that start file is, it's set in your package.json file under "main:" or "start:". In Visual Studio NodeJS project, this is done by the <StartupFile /> and <StartWebBrowser /> element tags, VS 2019 and later. When it comes to build, I see that your codebase is js, so there isn't a project build per se, unless if you have to your package.json to copy your code to a /dist type of folder.

    I would encourage you to check out https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/javascript/?view=vs-2019 to become more familiar with Javascript projects in Visual Studio.

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  2. PengGe-MSFT 3,341 Reputation points
    2021-08-17T09:18:26.463+00:00

    Hi @mukilan mws

    I found this open source tool to create a single executable out of your node.js apps, this may meet your needs.

    Sincerely,
    Peng
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