ejs + express.js with global template variables

Using ejs as template-engine within express.js default configuration can be very annoying – you have to pass a dedicated variable set to each response.render() call. But for a lot of tasks it is required to use some kind of global variables in your templates, e.g. page title, resources and much more.

The most reliable solution is a custom template renderer which invokes ejs in the way you want.

Custom Template Engine/Renderer Function#

const _ejs = require('ejs');

// example: global config
const _config = require('../config.json');

// custom ejs render function
module.exports = function render(filename, payload={}, cb){
    // some default page vars
    payload.page = payload.page || {};
    payload.page.slogan = payload.page.slogan || _config.slogan;
    payload.page.title = payload.page.title || _config.title;
    payload.page.brandname = payload.page.brandname || _config.name;

    // resources
    payload.resources = payload.resources || {};

    // render file
    // you can also pass some ejs lowlevel options
    _ejs.renderFile(filename, payload, {
        
    }, cb);
}

Usage#

const _express = require('express');
const _webapp = _express();
const _path = require('path');
const _tplengine = require('./my-template-engine');

// set the view engine to ejs
_webapp.set('views', _path.join(__dirname, '../views'));
_webapp.engine('ejs', _tplengine);
_webapp.set('view engine', 'ejs');

// your controller
_webapp.get('/', function(req, res){
   // render the view using additional variables
   res.render('myview', {
     x: 1,
     y: 2
   });
});