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Using jQuery with kotlin and gradle (JS backend)

I'm currently trying to get a simple example running in which jQuery can be used by kotlin code compiled to JS with the help of gradle. So far I pieced together the following elements which should be enough according to older descriptions using the kotlin.js.externals:kotlin-js-jquery:3.2.0-0 package by adding it like this to the build.gradle.kts of the project:
repositories {
...
mavenCentral()
maven(url = uri("https://kotlin.bintray.com/js-externals"))
}
dependencies {
implementation("kotlin.js.externals:kotlin-js-jquery:3.2.0-0")
}
After adding the package I can sucessfully import the corresponding kotlin package in a simple Kotlin file like this:
import js.externals.jquery.jQuery
fun main() {
console.log(jQuery("div"))
}
But this sadly fails if executed with the following stack trace in the JS console:
Uncaught TypeError: $module$jquery is not a function
at main (simple.kt?9d2a:4)
at Object.eval (yet_another_one.js:14)
at eval (yet_another_one.js:5)
at eval (yet_another_one.js:8)
at Object../kotlin-dce-dev/yet_another_one.js (yet_another_one.js:515)
at __webpack_require__ (yet_another_one.js:30)
at Object.0 (yet_another_one.js:527)
at __webpack_require__ (yet_another_one.js:30)
at yet_another_one.js:94
at yet_another_one.js:97
After this I checked the packages webpack used for the bundling and I found out that as soon as the kotlin.js.externals:kotlin-js-jquery:3.2.0-0 package is used the following jquery.js file gets used instead of the one with the actual code:
(function (root, factory) {
if (typeof define === 'function' && define.amd)
define(['exports', 'kotlin'], factory);
else if (typeof exports === 'object')
factory(module.exports, require('kotlin'));
else {
if (typeof kotlin === 'undefined') {
throw new Error("Error loading module 'jquery'. Its dependency 'kotlin' was not found. Please, check whether 'kotlin' is loaded prior to 'jquery'.");
}
root.jquery = factory(typeof jquery === 'undefined' ? {} : jquery, kotlin);
}
}(this, function (_, Kotlin) {
'use strict';
Kotlin.defineModule('jquery', _);
return _;
}));
//# sourceMappingURL=jquery.js.map
As this looks a bit strange to me as the jquery code seems not to be found anywhere I also tried adding it as a NPM dependency to the build.gradle.kts like this:
dependencies {
...
implementation(npm("jquery", "3.6.0"))
}
But doing so didn't change a thing. Webpack still uses the jquery.js file shown above (and maybe rightfully so), but it also still doesn't work.
I would appreciate any help to get this working as I already invested a lot of time in it and I'm currently kinda hopeless :(.
Thanks a lot!

To create a simple example, start a multiplatform project from the IntelliJ IDEA:
Select: File -> New Project
In the new window on the left hand select: Kotlin
In the main pane select the project template "Full-stack Web Application"
Use Build-System "Gradle Kotlin" to have best compatibility.
After this, Dukat is installed to generate your externals for jQuery:
Simply go to build.kts (your gradle build file) and under dependencies of jsMain add:
val jsMain by getting {
dependencies {
/// ... ommitted pre-installed directives
implementation(npm("#types/jquery","3.5.1", generateExternals = true))
implementation(npm("jquery","3.5.1"))
}
}
After this you can simply access jquery using jQuery as a static import:
import jQuery
And use it like a kotlin library: val xhr = jQuery.get("http://example.com")

Loading webpack module in a require.js based project returns null

I'm trying to load a library that compiles to Webpack in a require.js project. While the library exposes an object, it returns null when required from the require.js project :
define(function(require, exports, module) {
[...]
require("./ext/mylib.core.js"); // -> null
})
Is there any flags that I can use in Webpack to enable AMD compliance ? There are some references to AMD in the generated library but as it is it does not seem to do anything.

The solution was in Webpack documentation : there is an outputLibrary flag that can be set to "amd" or "umd" and in that case webpack produces amd compliant modules.

EDIT 3:/EDIT: 4
Webpack is not cooperating it may seem, so another possibility would be to expose the module with the shim config option:
require.config({
paths: {
// Tell require where to find the webpack thingy
yourModule: 'path/to/the/webpack/asset'
},
shim: {
// This lets require ignore that there is no define
// call but will instead use the specified global
// as the module export
yourModule: {
exports: 'theGlobalThatIsPutInPlaceByWebpack'
}
}
});
This obviously only works in the case that the webpack stuff is putting something in the global scope. Hope this helps!
EDIT 2:
So I got the question wrong as pointed out in the comments. I didn't find any built-in functionality to produce AMD modules from webpack - the end result seems to be a static asset js file. You could wrap the result in a
define(function () {
return /* the object that webpack produces */;
});
block, maybe with the help of some after-build event (e.g. using this after build plugin for webpack). Then you should be able to require the module with an AMD loader.
Original Answer:
require.js loads it's dependencies asynchronously, you have to declare them explicitly when you're not using the r.js optimizer or the like. So if the module exposes an AMD definition it should work like this:
// It works the way you did it ...
define(['path/to/your/module'], function (require, exports, module) {
require('path/to/your/module'); // -> { ... }
});
// ... but I personally prefer this explicit syntax + it is
// friendlier to a code minifier
define(['path/to/your/module'], function (yourModule) {
console.log(yourModule); // { ... }
});
Maybe you have to configure your require instance, there are docs for that.
EDIT1: as pointed out the way the module is being accessed is not wrong but the dependencies were missing, so I added code that is closer to the original question.

Configure a generic jQuery plugin with Browserify-shim?

I'm using browserify-shim and I want to use a generic jQuery plugin. I have looked over the Browserify-shim docs multiple times and I just can't seem to understand what's going on and/or how it knows where to put plugins, attach to the jQuery object etc. Here's what my package.json file looks like:
"browser": {
"jquery": "./src/js/vendor/jquery.js",
"caret": "./src/js/vendor/jquery.caret.js"
},
"browserify-shim": {
"caret": {
"depends": ["jquery:$"]
}
}
According the the example given on the browserify-shim documentation, I don't want to specify an exports because this plugin (and most if not all jQuery plugins) attach themselves to the jQuery object. Unless I'm doing something wrong above, I don't understand why it doesn't work (I get an error telling me the function is undefined) when I use it. See below:
$('#contenteditable').caret(5); // Uncaught TypeError: undefined is not a function
So my question is, how does one configure a generic jQuery plugin (which attaches itself to the jQuery object) with browserify and browserify-shim?

After revisiting this and trying some more things, I finally wrapped my head around what browserify-shim is doing and how to use it. For me, there was one key principle I had to grasp before I finally understood how to use browserify-shim. There are basically two ways to use browserify-shim for two different use cases: exposing & shimming.
Background
Let's say you want to just drop in a script tag in your markup (for testing or performance reasons like caching, CDN & the like). By including a script tag in the markup the browser will hit the script, run it, and most likely attach a property on the window object (also known as a global in JS). Of course this can be accessed by either doing myGlobal or window.myGlobal. But there's an issue with either syntax. It doesn't follow the CommonJS spec which means that if a module begins supporting CommonJS syntax (require()), you're not able to take advantage of it.
The Solution
Browserify-shim allows you to specify a global you'd like "exposed" through CommonJS require() syntax. Remember, you could do var whatever = global; or var whatever = window.global; but you could NOT do var whatever = require('global') and expect it to give you the right lib/module. Don't be confused about the name of the variable. It could be anything arbitrary. You're essentially making a global variable a local variable. It sounds stupid, but its the sad state of JS in the browser. Again, the hope is that once a lib supports CommonJS syntax it will never attach itself via a global on the window object. Which means you MUST use require() syntax and assign it to a local variable and then use it wherever you need it.
Note: I found variable naming slightly confusing in the browserify-shim docs/examples. Remember, the key is that you want to include a lib as if it were a properly behaving CommonJS module. So what you end up doing is telling browserify that when you require myGlobal require('myGlobal') you actually just want to be given the global property on the window object which is window.myGlobal.
In fact, if you're curious as to what the require function actually does, it's pretty simple. Here's what happens under the hood:
var whatever = require('mygGlobal');
becomes...
var whatever = window.mygGlobal;
Exposing
So with that background, let's see how we expose a module/lib in our browserify-shim config. Basically, you tell browserify-shim two things. The name you want it accessible with when you call require() and the global it should expect to find on the window object. So here's where that global:* syntax comes in. Let's look at an example. I want to drop in jquery as a script tag in index.html so I get better performance. Here's what I'd need to do in my config (this would be in package.json or an external config JS file):
"browserify-shim": {
"jquery": "global:$"
}
So here's what that means. I've included jQuery somewhere else (remember, browserify-shim has no idea where we put our tag, but it doesn't need to know), but all I want is to be given the $ property on the window object when I require the module with the string parameter "jquery". To further illustrate. I could also have done this:
"browserify-shim": {
"thingy": "global:$"
}
In this case, I'd have to pass "thingy" as the parameter to the require function in order to get an instance of the jQuery object back (which it's just getting jQuery from window.$):
var $ = require('thingy');
And yes, again, the variable name could be anything. There's nothing special about $ being the same as the global property $ the actual jQuery library uses. Though it makes sense to use the same name to avoid confusion. This ends up referencing the the $ property on the window object, as selected by the global:$ value in the browserify-shim object in package.json.
Shimming
Ok, so that pretty much covers exposing. The other main feature of browserify-shim is shimming. So what's that? Shimming does essentially the same thing as exposing except rather than including the lib or module in HTML markup with something like a script tag, you tell browserify-shim where to grab the JS file locally. There's no need to use the global:* syntax. So let's refer back to our jQuery example, but this time suppose we are not loading jQuery from a CDN, but simply bundling it with all the JS files. So here's what the config would look like:
"browser": {
"jquery": "./src/js/vendor/jquery.js", // Path to the local JS file relative to package.json or an external shim JS file
},
"browserify-shim": {
"jquery": "$"
},
This config tells browserify-shim to load jQuery from the specified local path and then grab the $ property from the window object and return that when you require jQuery with a string parameter to the require function of "jquery". Again, for illustrative purposes, you can also rename this to anything else.
"browser": {
"thingy": "./src/js/vendor/jquery.js", // Path to the local JS file relative to package.json or an external shim JS file
},
"browserify-shim": {
"thingy": "$"
},
Which could be required with:
var whatever = require('thingy');
I'd recommend checking out the browserify-shim docs for more info on the long-hand syntax using the exports property and also the depends property which allows you to tell browserify-shim if a lib depends on another lib/module. What I've explained here applies to both.
Anonymous Shimming
Anonymous shimming is an alternative to browserify-shim which lets you transform libs like jQuery into UMD modules using browserify's --standalone option.
$ browserify ./src/js/vendor/jquery.js -s thingy > ../dist/jquery-UMD.js
If you dropped that into a script tag, this module would add jQuery onto the window object as thingy. Of course it could also be $ or whatever you like.
If however, it's requireed into your browserify'd app bundle, var $ = require("./dist/jquery-UMD.js");, you will have jQuery available inside the app without adding it to the window object.
This method doesn't require browserify-shim and exploits jQuery's CommonJS awareness where it looks for a module object and passes a noGlobal flag into its factory which tells it not to attach itself to the window object.

For everyone, who is looking for a concrete example:
The following is an example of package.json and app.js files for a jQuery plugin that attaches itself to the jQuery/$ object, e.g.: $('div').expose(). I don't want jQuery to be a global variable (window.jQuery) when I require it, that's why jQuery is set to 'exports': null. However, because the plugin is expecting a global jQuery object to which it can attach itself, you have to specify it in the dependency after the filename: ./jquery-2.1.3.js:jQuery. Furthermore you need to actually export the jQuery global when using the plugin, even if you don't want to, because the plugin won't work otherwise (at least this particular one).
package.json
{
"name": "test",
"version": "0.1.0",
"description": "test",
"browserify-shim": {
"./jquery-2.1.3.js": { "exports": null },
"./jquery.expose.js": { "exports": "jQuery", "depends": [ "./jquery-2.1.3.js:jQuery" ] }
},
"browserify": {
"transform": [
"browserify-shim"
]
}
}
app.js
// copy and delete any previously defined jQuery objects
if (window.jQuery) {
window.original_jQuery = window.jQuery;
delete window.jQuery;
if (typeof window.$.fn.jquery === 'string') {
window.original_$ = window.$;
delete window.$;
}
}
// exposes the jQuery global
require('./jquery.expose.js');
// copy it to another variable of my choosing and delete the global one
var my_jQuery = jQuery;
delete window.jQuery;
// re-setting the original jQuery object (if any)
if (window.original_jQuery) { window.jQuery = window.original_jQuery; delete window.original_jQuery; }
if (window.original_$) { window.$ = window.original_$; delete window.original_$; }
my_jQuery(document).ready(function() {
my_jQuery('button').click(function(){
my_jQuery(this).expose();
});
});
In the above example I didn't want my code to set any globals, but I temporarily had to do so, in order to make the plugin work. If you only need jQuery, you could just do this and don't need any workaround: var my_jQuery = require('./jquery-2.1.3.js'). If you are fine with your jQuery being exposed as a global, then you can modify the above package.json example like so:
"browserify-shim": {
"./jquery-2.1.3.js": { "exports": "$" },
"./jquery.expose.js": { "exports": null, "depends": [ "./jquery-2.1.3.js" ] }
Hope that helps some people, who were looking for concrete examples (like I was, when I found this question).

Just for completeness, here is a method that exploits jQuery's CommonJS awareness to avoid having to worry about polluting the window object without actually needing to shim.
Features
jQuery included in the bundle
plugin included in the bundle
no pollution of the window object
Config
In ./package.json, add a browser node to create aliases for the resource locations. This is purely for convenience, there is no need to actually shim anything because there is no communications between the module and the global space (script tags).
{
"main": "app.cb.js",
"scripts": {
"build": "browserify ./app.cb.js > ./app.cb.bundle.js"
},
"browser": {
"jquery": "./node_modules/jquery/dist/jquery.js",
"expose": "./js/jquery.expose.js",
"app": "./app.cb.js"
},
"author": "cool.blue",
"license": "MIT",
"dependencies": {
"jquery": "^3.1.0"
},
"devDependencies": {
"browserify": "^13.0.1",
"browserify-shim": "^3.8.12"
}
}
Method
Because jQuery is CommonJS-aware these days, it will sense the presence of the module object provided by browserify and return an instance, without adding it to the window object.
In the app, require jquery and add it to the module.exports object (along with any other context that needs to be shared).
Add a single line at the start of the plugin to require the app to access the jQuery instance it created.
In the app, copy the jQuery instance to $ and use jQuery with the plugin.
Browserify the app, with default options, and drop the resulting bundle into a script tag in your HTML.
Code
app.cb.js
var $ = module.exports.jQuery = require("jquery");
require('expose');
$(document).ready(function() {
$('body').append(
$('<button name="button" >Click me</button>')
.css({"position": "relative",
"top": "100px", "left": "100px"})
.click(function() {
$(this).expose();
})
);
});
at the top of the plugin
var jQuery = require("app").jQuery;
in the HTML
<script type="text/javascript" src="app.cb.bundle.js"></script>
Background
The pattern used by jQuery is to call it's factory with a noGlobal flag if it senses a CommonJS environment. It will not add an instance to the window object and will return an instance as always.
The CommonJS context is created by browserify by default. Below is an simplified extract from the bundle showing the jQuery module structure. I removed the code dealing with isomorphic handling of the window object for the sake of clarity.
3: [function(require, module, exports) {
( function( global, factory ) {
"use strict";
if ( typeof module === "object" && typeof module.exports === "object" ) {
module.exports = factory( global, true );
} else {
factory( global );
}
// Pass this if window is not defined yet
} )( window, function( window, noGlobal ) {
// ...
if ( !noGlobal ) {
window.jQuery = window.$ = jQuery;
}
return jQuery;
}) );
}, {}]
The best method I found is to get things working in the node module system and then it will work every time after browserify-ing.
Just use jsdom to shim the window object so that the code is isomorphic. Then, just focus on getting it to work in node. Then, shim any traffic between the module and global space and finally browserify it and it will just work in the browser.

I was using wordpress. Hence, I was kind of forced to use the wordpress core's jQuery, available in window object.
It was generating slick() not defined error, when I tried to use slick() plugin from npm. Adding browserify-shim didn't help much.
I did some digging and found out that require('jquery') was not consistent always.
In my theme javascript file, it was calling the wordpress core's jquery.
But, in slick jquery plugin it was calling the latest jquery from node modules.
Finally, I was able to solve it. So, sharing the package.json and gulpfile configuration.
package.json:
"browserify": {
"transform": [
"browserify-shim"
]
},
"browserify-shim": {
"jquery": "global:jQuery"
},
gulpfile.babel.js:
browserify({entries: 'main.js', extensions: ['js'], debug: true})
.transform(babelify.configure({
presets: ["es2015"]
}))
.transform('browserify-shim', {global: true})
Doing transform 'browserify-shim' was crucial part, I was missing earlier. Without it browserify-shim was not consistent.

RequireJS Optimization

I`m using r.js to optimize my app,
as i saw in several samples, i used build.json configuration file to config my optimization options.
The problem is that when i set reference to the output javascript file after optimization I`m getting the following error in the browser:
Uncaught ReferenceError: define is not defined main-built.js:14735
Looks like, all my app modules are exists but RequireJs is missing.
This is my build.json configuration file:
{
"baseUrl": "../",
"name": "src/modules/main",
"include": ["src/modules/main", "src/modules/navbar/navbar", "src/modules/contact/contact", "src/modules/about/about"],
"exclude": [], "optimize": "none", "out": "main-built.js",
"insertRequire": ["src/modules/main"]
}
How do i add requirejs to the output js file? maybe i need to add something else to config? or maybe the problem is not the config?
Thanks,
Ori

Try:
<script src="scripts/require.js" data-main="scripts/main-built"></script>

If I understood correctly, this is how it should work.
What r.js does is that it compiles all RequireJS modules into a single file. However you still need to load that file with RequireJS script, for example:
<script data-main="scripts/main" src="scripts/require.js"></script>
So just add a minified version of require.js to your website and load the optimized module using that.

You have to include require.js if you have modularized your project using RequireJS:
<script data-main="scripts/main" src="scripts/require.js"></script>
This is because RequireJS handles the loading of modules and resolving dependencies. Without it, your browser does not know what define means. A way to get around this is to use UMD (Universal Module Definition). This makes it so that your module can be used with or without RequireJS. You can see many examples here. One that fits your use case is:
// Uses AMD or browser globals to create a module.
// If you want something that will also work in Node, see returnExports.js
// If you want to support other stricter CommonJS environments,
// or if you need to create a circular dependency, see commonJsStrict.js
// Defines a module "amdWeb" that depends another module called "b".
// Note that the name of the module is implied by the file name. It is best
// if the file name and the exported global have matching names.
// If the 'b' module also uses this type of boilerplate, then
// in the browser, it will create a global .b that is used below.
// If you do not want to support the browser global path, then you
// can remove the `root` use and the passing `this` as the first arg to
// the top function.
(function (root, factory) {
if (typeof define === 'function' && define.amd) {
// AMD. Register as an anonymous module.
define(['b'], factory);
} else {
// Browser globals
root.amdWeb = factory(root.b);
}
}(this, function (b) {
//use b in some fashion.
// Just return a value to define the module export.
// This example returns an object, but the module
// can return a function as the exported value.
return {};
}));

How to load ckeditor via requirejs

I'm having issues trying to load ckeditor via requirejs (I've tried converting the main ckeditor js file into individual modules but that has just caused all hell to break loose) and so I'm now checking to see if there is a very simple way to do this that I've missed.
I know requirejs allows you to load normal js scripts so maybe just loading the ckeditor.js file (un-edited, so it's still an IIFE/self-executing function) - would that work with requirejs or if you're using requirejs for loading modules, does the entire project then need to be module based?
Any help appreciated.
Kind regards,
Mark

Alternatively, you can create a RequireJS shim to load things in the correct order, and alias proper RequireJS module names to the CKEditor distribution files.
This means your module still declares it is dependant on CKEditor, which is a lot nicer than having it just show up by magic.
require.config({
shim: {
'ckeditor-jquery':{
deps:['jquery','ckeditor-core']
}
},
paths: {
"jquery": '/javascript/jquery-1.7.1/jquery.min',
'ckeditor-core':'/javascript/ckeditor-3.6.4/ckeditor',
'ckeditor-jquery':'/javascript/ckeditor-3.6.4/adapters/jquery'
}
});
then in a module you can depend on ckeditor-jquery (or ckeditor-core for that matter, if you don't need the jQuery integration) and know it'll be available:
require(
[
"jquery",
"ckeditor-jquery"
],
function( _jquery_ ) {
$('#editorContent2').ckeditor({
customConfig : '',
skin:'office2003'
});
}
}

Another way to do that:
var require = {
"shim": {
"path/foo/ckeditor/ckeditor": { "exports": "CKEDITOR" }
}
};
define(['moduleX', 'path/foo/ckeditor/ckeditor'], function (x, ckeditor) {
ckeditor.editor.prototype.fooFunc = function() {
};
});

OK, it seems I answered my own question here.
Instead of trying to break ckeditor down into modules I just used RequireJs to load the script in it's entirety.
require(['require', 'dependancy-A', 'dependancy-B', 'dependancy-C'], function(require, A, B, C){
// this = [object DOMWindow]
// CKEDITOR_BASEPATH is a global variable
this.CKEDITOR_BASEPATH = '/ckeditor/';
require(['/ckeditor/ckeditor'], function(){
// Code to create a new editor instance
});
});
```