I'm working on several NPM modules at a time - there is one main module that imports three others. I have used npm link to link the others to the main module, however I am writing all the modules using Babel to transpile the source. When I build one of the modules I run npm run build which runs the transpilation and compiles the files in the modules src directory to its lib directory. However, because each of the modules' package.json file specifies the main file location as lib/index.js this means that for a linked module to appear updated to my main module, I always need to build it.
Is there any way (when using npm link) to have it link to the src dir instead of the lib dir? Failing that, is there a better way to achieve what I want - to see updates to the linked modules code reflected instantly in the main module?
1) An easy way to resolve this is to temporarily change the entry point in your library module's package.json when developing:
/* library-module/package.json */
{
"main": "src/index.js",
...
}
Now wherever you npm link library-module, you should be loading the library module's src/index.js
2) Alternatively, you can setup a watch task to always build to lib after detecting changes in src. This way, your new changes will always be reflected in your consuming module.
Related
I am working on a VueJS web app. One of the modules it uses is a wrapper for a javascript library installed through npm and packaged to integrate into vuejs. It does not quite fit our needs, we need to add some functionality to it, so I want to fork it and edit it.
The repo has two folders: src and dist.
As far as I understand, src is the actual src code while dist is a minified version for distribution. Questions:
If I want to edit it, how do I deal with the contents of /dist ? Do I delete it?
Do components installed through npm use the /src/ version or the /dist/ one?
If I delete /dist, work on the /src code, how do I recreate /dist based on the modified /src files?
Thank you.
Based on your questions, I would suggest you get a bit more familiar into your stack and how to actually build your appication.
Generally speaking the /dist folder contains automatically generated files, which may be uploaded to a webserver of your choice. Since you are using VueJS, you should be able to generate these files by running npm run build.
If I want to edit it, how do I deal with the contents of /dist ? Do I delete it?
As I already mentioned, these files are automatically generated by running npm run build. Therefore everytime you run this command, everything in /dist, will be automatically updated.
Do components installed through npm use the /src/ version or the /dist/ one?
Your working directory is always /src. Dependencies can be used like in any other application (this example uses Axios, which is a http client):
import axios from 'axios';
const httpClient = axios.create({ baseURL: 'https://api.something.com' });
httpClient.get(/* ... */);
If you are a beginner and are not 100% sure about how to use depencencies, I highly encourage you to read this article: An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Using npm
If I delete /dist, work on the /src code, how do I recreate /dist based on the modified /src files?
You do not have to delete anything in /dist. Simply running npm run build automatically will add the latest changes.
Please keep in mind that running npm run build is only relevant for your production environment. For your development environment you always want to use a dev server, which can be started with npm run serve.
What i want is to have a library locally that when i change it those changes are reflected in the project that is using the library.
i have check out this library here in my local machine: https://github.com/manfredsteyer/angular-oauth2-oidc
So what i'm doing right now, is that i go to the library directory and then
npm link
And then get in my project directory and do
npm link angular-oauth2-oidc
The library folder appears inside my node_modules folder but i can't manage to use it, since when i start the app ng serve it says:
Cannot find module 'angular-oauth2-oidc'
I'm importing like this:
import { OAuthModule } from 'angular-oauth2-oidc';
I've tried to add the the path under the compilerOptions of the tsconfig.json file but haven't been sucessful.
Any ideas on what i'm missing here? I've tried several suggestions i've found on angular github issues but none solved my problem.
Thanks in advance
npm link in a package folder will create a symlink in the global folder {prefix}/lib/node_modules/ that links to the package where the npm link command was executed
Dont use npm link to add a library to your project, use npm install :
npm install angular-oauth2-oidc --save
You have to install it not just link it, so use this line to with flag --save to ensure that it will be saved in your package.json
npm install [package_name] --save
You can get the package name from the source website or from
https://www.npmjs.com/package/angular2
When you say:
So what i'm doing right now, is that i go to the library directory and
then npm link
Do you mean you are executing npm link in the folder you cloned the repository in? Because if so, that's likely your issue as that's the source directory and not what's actually published as a package. You must build the library, change directory into the distribution folder for the package, and then run npm link. Then when you run builds of that library, any Angular applications with that linked will automatically have the last version of your build in their node_modules.
Also, in your Angular applications where you are using the linked library you'll want to make sure you are setting preserveSymlinks to true in your angular.json.
While you can create multiple projects (e.g. an Angular app and an Angular library) under one Angular project to make this process a bit easier, I prefer to separating these two since I like one git repository to present one module.
First, you need to link your modules to your project's package.json file. Here's how to link files locally in general:
Local dependency in package.json
Linking a plain Typescript library is pretty straight forward as you just create an entry point (usually index.ts) file and export everything you want from there. This file needs to be in the same folder as the package.json file in your project.
An Angular library is a bit different as angular modules needs to be compiled before it can be properly exported. If you just import the module to your project without compiling you will get an error stating this: cannot read property 'ɵmod'. This happens at least at the time of writing this.
So we need to compile the library and then link it:
open two terminal windows
in the first terminal, go to your Angular library's root folder and run ng build --watch
check the output folder of the compiled module, usually something like dist/[library name]
change your Angular project's package.json to point to the output folder e.g. "my-angular-library": "file:../my-angular-library/dist/my-angular-library"
run npm install in the same folder
Add path to your Angular project's tsconfig.json e.g:
compilerOptions: {
"paths": {
"my-angular-library": ["./node_modules/my-angular-library"]
}
}
Otherwise you'll get errors like Error: Symbol MyComponent declared in /path/to/library/my.component.d.ts is not exported from my-angular-library
in the second terminal, go to your Angular project's root folder and run ng serve. Make sure you serve the project only after you have installed the local dependency.
You should now be able to use components, services etc. exported via your library module.
TL;DR
for the library ng build --watch
make the library dependency to point to the output folder e.g. "my-angular-library": "file:../my-angular-library/dist/my-angular-library"
npm i
Add path to your Angular project's tsconfig.json e.g:
compilerOptions: {
"paths": {
"my-angular-library": ["./node_modules/my-angular-library"]
}
}
ng serve
we are in the process of uplifting parts of a huge code base. We are bringing in a module which has been built with webpack. In order to avoid code duplication we have used webpacks externals option.
When we start to integrate our module into the main codebase which is currently using browserify, we have an issue where a shared dependency is included twice and causes issues.
Is there are a way to have webpack use the packaged version of the dependency? So in the final browserified bundle we just have the dependency included once?
It seems to me like this may not be possible, if so I will push for moving the rest of our codebase onto webpack (it is underway already).
The only solution I have come up with so far is to have the webpack module also export the shared dependency, and then have the main app use that export, but this is not ideal.
I have ensured that the dependency in both node_modules folders are at the same version and I still get 2 instances.
I need to be able to tell Browserify to only resolve my apps node_modules, or tell it to resolve from top to bottom, i.e. look in the top level node_modules first, is this possible?
I have tried setting the NODE_PATH option when using the cli to no affect.
** update **
So the issue is that when Browserify hits the require() statement in the webpack bundle it resolves from the local node_modules folder, so we end up with 2 instances of the dependency. I can fix this by using a relative path in either the apps require() or webpacks external option and ensuring they use the same file.
So it seems the issue was caused by the fact that I had symlinked (with npm link), the module as I was working on this also. It seems that when Browserify resolves the require in the symlinked module it resolves to its own node_modules, and we end up with 2 copies.
When I install the module normally it all works fine, so this is OK as other consumers of the module should have no issues. It is annoying that it behaves this way, but I just need to ensure that I point at the same dependency in my main app when developing alongside the module.
So my require statement in the main app (while symlinking) looks something like this:
require('./node_modules/my-module/node_modules/shared-dependency/index.js');
I can require as normal when not symlinking.
I'm struggling to get my head around how npm manages dependencies - in terms of how they are actually referenced in HTML.
Say I have a specific version of a plugin installed, which includes a version number in its path or file name - if npm is configured to update to a new minor release - the files referenced via script tags will no longer be present.
I've also read that exposing node_modules path is incorrect and should be avoided.
How then should these files be referenced so that they are loaded and so version updates do not break a site?
The idea is that you use these modules in your code. Let's say you have a main.js file which has your application, then you import modules using import $ from 'jquery'; (this could depend on your configuration, you could also use 'require'). Then use a tool like browserify which is going resolve all your dependencies for you and package it into a nice file which can then be loaded into your browser.
This is only one setup out of many so this could vary, for example if you use webpack this will be different but the idea is the same, you import what you need into your main.js.
npm uses package.json file as reference to build dependency map. And installs all dependencies in node_modules folder. When you publish an update to your module, you also publish a new version of package.json file which will include modifications to dependencies.
So short answer is - package.json file... I hope you can figure things out from this.
I am new to JavaScript development and could do with some advice regarding how best to work with multiple modules of my own creation.
Module1
--src
----a.js
----b.js
Module2
--src
----c.js
----d.js
Module3
--src
----e.js
----f.js
Module4
--src
----g.js
----h.js
Now each module is a collection of js files that use module.exports to export functions that they need to.
In this example Module1 and Module2 are library module. Module2 depends on Module1. Both of these modules are platform agnostic and can be ran inside a browser or nodejs.
Module3 is a project module which depends on both Module2 and Module1. It is designed for a browser and uses browserify to combine them all into a bundle.
Module4 is another project module which also depends on Module2 and Module1. This is designed to run under nodejs.
Each module has its own git repo.
Now the problem I am having is to do with relative paths inside the require. For example c.js currently does require("../../Module1/src/a.js"); Similarly h.js does require("../../Module2/src/c.js");
This causes foldering structure to be an absolute pain and each project has to be cloned from git in the correct setup.
The following is what I am trying to achieve.
To do away with relative paths so I simply do require ("ModuleX/src/foo.js"); This needs to work with both browserify and nodejs.
To clone a project module from git and have it get all of its dependent modules (perhaps git submodules?). Not caring about folder structure as this should be solved using the point mentioned above.
Once a project and it's dependent modules have been cloned to be able to edit each of these modules, make changes and push them to their individual git repo.
I imagine what I am trying to do is pretty standard. Creating my own modules and reusing them in different projects. Am I trying to go about solving it in the standard way? I've read that there are different ways to achieve this using NODE_PATH which is supported by both node and browserify but both discourage it. Browserify supports a paths option but doesn't work for node. Also read about putting the modules inside node_modules but not sure how that would help with relative paths.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated
Thanks
What you probably want to do is commit your reusable code to git (here GitHub) and then npm install <git remote url>:. An example would be npm install git+https://isaacs#github.com/npm/npm.git. On the other hand your repo needs a package.json and a index.js holding your code or pointing to it. Alternatively you could define the location of your main file in the package.json via main:"" key.
The dependencies between those projects would be defined in the respective package.jsons. Upon install npm does it's magic to avoid circular dependencies, caching etc.
Once you've done all that you would be able to just var x = require("ModuleX") to get ModuleX/src/foo.js if you so wish to.
Alternatively use npms private modules.