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layout: docpage title: Command line scripting description: Write a Node.js script with ActionScript and Apache Royale permalink: /features/nodejs/scripting

Node.js scripting with Apache Royale

Write command line scripts for Node.js using ActionScript

Much of the JavaScript development ecosystem is powered by Node.js. This runtime is used for simple command line scripts, web servers, and more. With the help of Apache Royale, developers can use ActionScript to create their own tools that run on Node.js.

Hello, Node.js

Create a file named MyServer.as, and add the following code:

package
{
	public class MyServer
	{
		public function MyServer()
		{
		}
	}
}

Apache Royale requires an ActionScript class, like this one, as the entrypoint for a Node.js project. The constructor will run automatically on startup.

Next, let's expand this code to create a simple server using the http module, which is included with Node.js.

package
{
	import http.IncomingMessage;
	import http.Server;
	import http.ServerResponse;

	public class MyServer
	{
		private static const HOSTNAME:String = "localhost";
		private static const PORT:int = 3000;

		public function MyServer()
		{
			var server:Server = http.createServer(handleRequest);

			server.listen(PORT, HOSTNAME, handleServerStart);
		}

		private function handleRequest(req:IncomingMessage, res:ServerResponse):void
		{
			res.statusCode = 200;
			res.setHeader("Content-Type", "text/plain");
			res.end("Hello World\n");
		}

		private function handleServerStart():void
		{
			console.log("Server running at http://" + HOSTNAME + ":" + PORT + "/");
		}
	}
}

Notice that there's no need to call require("http"), as would be necessary in plain JavaScript. When the Apache Royale compiler detects a reference to a Node.js module, like http, it automatically generates the appropriate require() calls.

Compile with asnodec

Using Apache Royale's asnodec compiler, compile the project into JavaScript code that can be run with Node.js:

asnodec src/MyServer.as

The generated JavaScript code will be created in the bin/js-debug folder for debug builds, and the bin/js-release folder for release builds.

Run the project

To run the generated JavaScript, you must have Node.js installed.

Use the following command to run the compiled project:

node bin/js-release/index.js

In a web browser, open http://localhost:3000/ and verify that you can see a webpage that simply contains the text, “Hello World”.