How Do Relative Paths in External JavaScript Files Work, and What\'s the Best Practice for Deployment?

Relative Paths in JavaScript External Files

When using relative paths in JavaScript files that are external to HTML documents, the path is interpreted relative to the HTML page where the script is included, not the location of the JavaScript file.

This can be an issue when deploying a website to a virtual directory, as the paths may become incorrect. To resolve this, you can use an absolute path that includes the virtual directory information.

Additionally, using an absolute path is preferred for performance reasons, as the browser does not have to traverse the file system to locate the file.

Solution for Virtual Directories

To ensure that the paths are correct when deployed to a virtual directory, use an absolute path that includes the virtual directory information. For example, if your virtual directory is "mysite", and the JavaScript file is located in the "Scripts" folder, the path would be:

<script src="/mysite/Scripts/myjsfile.js"></script>

This will ensure that the browser finds the JavaScript file correctly, regardless of where it is deployed.

Paths in External JavaScript Files

Regardless of whether an absolute or relative path is used, paths in external JavaScript files are always relative to the HTML page where the script is included. This is true even for paths that start with a slash "/", which indicates an absolute path from the root of the website.

Therefore, when including an external JavaScript file, it is generally preferred to use a relative path that is based on the location of the HTML page. This will ensure that the path is correct when the website is deployed to a different location or domain.

Additional Tip

You can also use a variable to store the base path of your website, such as:

var basePath = document.location.origin;

And then use this variable to construct paths to images and other resources:

$(this).css("background", "url('" + basePath + "/Images/filters_expand.jpg')");

This technique can make your code more portable and easier to maintain.

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