Is there any way to have webpack execute module in the global scope? Specifically, my use case is the following library:
https://github.com/AzureAD/azure-activedirectory-library-for-js/blob/master/lib/adal.js
where there is the following code:
var AuthenticationContext;
if (typeof module !== 'undefined' && module.exports) {
module.exports.inject = function (conf) {
return new AuthenticationContext(conf);
};
}
As you can see the module is exporting an injection function (not sure why they don't just export the class). I am able to construct a new AuthenticationContext object successfully using the using the injection function. However, some of the functionality in this library relies on a global AuthenticationContext class and it errors out when window.AuthenticationContext === undefined. I would like to bundle this module with webpack but somehow, I need to ensure that AuthenticationContext will be available in the global scope. Is there any way to do that?
I have read about the ProvidePlugin but, as I understand the ProvidePlugin just takes an exported value and attaches it to the global scope. In this case I need to ensure that a non-exported value will be available in the global scope.
The most obvious solution is just to execute this module in the global scope. However, I would like this module to be part of the bundle. How can I accomplish this?
Thanks in advance.
I think I solved this with the following code:
import {inject} from 'adal-angular/lib/adal.js';
import config from './auth-config';
export default class Authenticator {
constructor() {
this.authContext = inject(config);
window.AuthenticationContext = this.authContext.constructor;
}
}
basically, I am exposing the constructor manually.
I have a library - call it SomeLib - which is defined to support various module loaders:
(function(global, factory) {
if (typeof define === 'function' && define.amd) {
define([], factory);
} else if (typeof module !== 'undefined' && module.exports) {
module.exports = factory();
} else {
global.UriTemplate = factory();
}
})(this, function() {
...
// returns constructor function
});
I can easily load it with RequireJS like
require.config({
paths: {
'theLibrary: '../path/to/the/lib'
}
});
Then I have another 3rd-party library - call it AnotherLib - which internally uses SomeLib like
var the Lib = new SomeLib(...);
That means SomeLib has to be available globally.
AnotherLib is just a plain JavaScript module function
(function(){
// the code
})();
It is not compliant with particular module loaders.
When I include AnotherLib with RequireJS, I do something like
require.config({
paths: {
'theLibrary: '../path/to/the/lib',
'anotherLib: '../path/to/anotherLib'
},
shim: {
'anotherLib: [
'theLibrary'
]
}
});
The problem is that I get a undefined exception on the line within AnotherLib where it instantiates SomeLib (new SomeLib(...)).
This is because SomeLib is not defined on the global object but rather published as an AMD module which AnotherLib doesn't "require".
Can I solve this somehow, or does AnotherLib have to be AMD compliant and properly require SomeLib.
The best thing would be to get an AMD-compliant library or to make the library AMD compliant. The latter option would entail modifying the source manually or having a build step that turns the non-AMD-compliant code into a real AMD module. How to do this depends on how the library is designed.
An method that would work with any library is to deliberately leak the symbol that the library requires into the global space:
Make anotherLib be dependent on a new module, which you could call SomeLib-leak.
Create the new module. This definition does not have to be in a separate file. I usually place such "glue" modules before my call to require.config. The module would be like this:
define('SomeLib-leak', ['SomeLib'], function (SomeLib) {
window.SomeLib = SomeLib;
});
I do purposely have define set the module name here. Usually, you don't want to call have define set the module name but for "glue" modules that are placed like I indicated above, this is necessary.
By the time anotherLib is loaded, SomeLibrary will be in the global space.
Now I am sure the issue is because there is a d.ts file included which contains a module called "Shared", and a require statement which includes a variable of the same name if it is being used in a NodeJS environment.
// shared.d.ts
declare module Shared { ... }
// other_module.ts
/// <reference path="shared.d.ts"/>
if(require) { var Shared = require("shared"); }
export class Something {
public someVar = new Shared.SomethingElse("blah");
}
So when I compile other_module.ts (which is actually a lot of separate files), it tells me Shared is a duplicate identifier, which I can understand as TS thinks Shared is a module, but then is being told it is the return of require.
The problem here is that the output of modules need to be compatible with nodeJS's require system, so in this case when other_module is required it will be in its own scope and will not know about Shared.SomethingElse so the require is needed so the internal modules in other_module will be able to access the Shared library, but in the browser environment it would get Shared.SomethingElse via the global scope.
If I remove the reference then the file wont compile as it doesn't know about Shared, if I remove the require when the module is loaded into nodejs (var otherModule = require("other_module")) it will complain that it doesn't know about Shared. So is there a way to solve this?
First the error
Duplicate identifier because you have Shared in shared.d.ts + in other_module.ts.
FIX A, be all external
If you want to use amd / commonjs ie. external modules, you need to use import/require (not var/require like you are doing). Using an import creates a new variable declaration space and therefore you are no longer polluting the global namespace Shared from other_module.ts. In short :
// shared.d.ts
declare module Shared {
export function SomethingElse(arg:string):any;
}
declare module 'shared'{
export = Shared;
}
And a typesafe import:
// other_module.ts
/// <reference path="shared.d.ts"/>
import Shared = require("shared");
export class Something {
public someVar = new Shared.SomethingElse("blah");
}
FIX B, as you were, but you need to use a different name then
Inside other_module don't use the name Shared locally if local scope is global scope. I recommend you just use external everywhere and compile for node with commonjs and browser with amd as shown in fix A, but if you must here is a compile fixed other_module.ts.
// other_module.ts
/// <reference path="shared.d.ts"/>
var fooShared: typeof Shared;
if(require) { fooShared = require("shared"); }
else { fooShared = Shared; }
export class Something {
public someVar = new fooShared.SomethingElse("blah");
}
What is the purpose of Node.js module.exports and how do you use it?
I can't seem to find any information on this, but it appears to be a rather important part of Node.js as I often see it in source code.
According to the Node.js documentation:
module
A reference to the current
module. In particular module.exports
is the same as the exports object. See
src/node.js for more information.
But this doesn't really help.
What exactly does module.exports do, and what would a simple example be?
module.exports is the object that's actually returned as the result of a require call.
The exports variable is initially set to that same object (i.e. it's a shorthand "alias"), so in the module code you would usually write something like this:
let myFunc1 = function() { ... };
let myFunc2 = function() { ... };
exports.myFunc1 = myFunc1;
exports.myFunc2 = myFunc2;
to export (or "expose") the internally scoped functions myFunc1 and myFunc2.
And in the calling code you would use:
const m = require('./mymodule');
m.myFunc1();
where the last line shows how the result of require is (usually) just a plain object whose properties may be accessed.
NB: if you overwrite exports then it will no longer refer to module.exports. So if you wish to assign a new object (or a function reference) to exports then you should also assign that new object to module.exports
It's worth noting that the name added to the exports object does not have to be the same as the module's internally scoped name for the value that you're adding, so you could have:
let myVeryLongInternalName = function() { ... };
exports.shortName = myVeryLongInternalName;
// add other objects, functions, as required
followed by:
const m = require('./mymodule');
m.shortName(); // invokes module.myVeryLongInternalName
This has already been answered but I wanted to add some clarification...
You can use both exports and module.exports to import code into your application like this:
var mycode = require('./path/to/mycode');
The basic use case you'll see (e.g. in ExpressJS example code) is that you set properties on the exports object in a .js file that you then import using require()
So in a simple counting example, you could have:
(counter.js):
var count = 1;
exports.increment = function() {
count++;
};
exports.getCount = function() {
return count;
};
... then in your application (web.js, or really any other .js file):
var counting = require('./counter.js');
console.log(counting.getCount()); // 1
counting.increment();
console.log(counting.getCount()); // 2
In simple terms, you can think of required files as functions that return a single object, and you can add properties (strings, numbers, arrays, functions, anything) to the object that's returned by setting them on exports.
Sometimes you'll want the object returned from a require() call to be a function you can call, rather than just an object with properties. In that case you need to also set module.exports, like this:
(sayhello.js):
module.exports = exports = function() {
console.log("Hello World!");
};
(app.js):
var sayHello = require('./sayhello.js');
sayHello(); // "Hello World!"
The difference between exports and module.exports is explained better in this answer here.
Note that the NodeJS module mechanism is based on CommonJS modules which are supported in many other implementations like RequireJS, but also SproutCore, CouchDB, Wakanda, OrientDB, ArangoDB, RingoJS, TeaJS, SilkJS, curl.js, or even Adobe Photoshop (via PSLib).
You can find the full list of known implementations here.
Unless your module use node specific features or module, I highly encourage you then using exports instead of module.exports which is not part of the CommonJS standard, and then mostly not supported by other implementations.
Another NodeJS specific feature is when you assign a reference to a new object to exports instead of just adding properties and methods to it like in the last example provided by Jed Watson in this thread. I would personally discourage this practice as this breaks the circular reference support of the CommonJS modules mechanism. It is then not supported by all implementations and Jed example should then be written this way (or a similar one) to provide a more universal module:
(sayhello.js):
exports.run = function() {
console.log("Hello World!");
}
(app.js):
var sayHello = require('./sayhello');
sayHello.run(); // "Hello World!"
Or using ES6 features
(sayhello.js):
Object.assign(exports, {
// Put all your public API here
sayhello() {
console.log("Hello World!");
}
});
(app.js):
const { sayHello } = require('./sayhello');
sayHello(); // "Hello World!"
PS: It looks like Appcelerator also implements CommonJS modules, but without the circular reference support (see: Appcelerator and CommonJS modules (caching and circular references))
Some few things you must take care if you assign a reference to a new object to exports and /or modules.exports:
1. All properties/methods previously attached to the original exports or module.exports are of course lost because the exported object will now reference another new one
This one is obvious, but if you add an exported method at the beginning of an existing module, be sure the native exported object is not referencing another object at the end
exports.method1 = function () {}; // exposed to the original exported object
exports.method2 = function () {}; // exposed to the original exported object
module.exports.method3 = function () {}; // exposed with method1 & method2
var otherAPI = {
// some properties and/or methods
}
exports = otherAPI; // replace the original API (works also with module.exports)
2. In case one of exports or module.exports reference a new value, they don't reference to the same object any more
exports = function AConstructor() {}; // override the original exported object
exports.method2 = function () {}; // exposed to the new exported object
// method added to the original exports object which not exposed any more
module.exports.method3 = function () {};
3. Tricky consequence. If you change the reference to both exports and module.exports, hard to say which API is exposed (it looks like module.exports wins)
// override the original exported object
module.exports = function AConstructor() {};
// try to override the original exported object
// but module.exports will be exposed instead
exports = function AnotherConstructor() {};
the module.exports property or the exports object allows a module to select what should be shared with the application
I have a video on module_export available here
When dividing your program code over multiple files, module.exports is used to publish variables and functions to the consumer of a module. The require() call in your source file is replaced with corresponding module.exports loaded from the module.
Remember when writing modules
Module loads are cached, only initial call evaluates JavaScript.
It's possible to use local variables and functions inside a module, not everything needs to be exported.
The module.exports object is also available as exports shorthand. But when returning a sole function, always use module.exports.
According to: "Modules Part 2 - Writing modules".
the refer link is like this:
exports = module.exports = function(){
//....
}
the properties of exports or module.exports ,such as functions or variables , will be exposed outside
there is something you must pay more attention : don't override exports .
why ?
because exports just the reference of module.exports , you can add the properties onto the exports ,but if you override the exports , the reference link will be broken .
good example :
exports.name = 'william';
exports.getName = function(){
console.log(this.name);
}
bad example :
exports = 'william';
exports = function(){
//...
}
If you just want to exposed only one function or variable , like this:
// test.js
var name = 'william';
module.exports = function(){
console.log(name);
}
// index.js
var test = require('./test');
test();
this module only exposed one function and the property of name is private for the outside .
There are some default or existing modules in node.js when you download and install node.js like http, sys etc.
Since they are already in node.js, when we want to use these modules we basically do like import modules, but why? because they are already present in the node.js. Importing is like taking them from node.js and putting them into your program. And then using them.
Whereas Exports is exactly the opposite, you are creating the module you want, let's say the module addition.js and putting that module into the node.js, you do it by exporting it.
Before I write anything here, remember, module.exports.additionTwo is same as exports.additionTwo
Huh, so that's the reason, we do like
exports.additionTwo = function(x)
{return x+2;};
Be careful with the path
Lets say you have created an addition.js module,
exports.additionTwo = function(x){
return x + 2;
};
When you run this on your NODE.JS command prompt:
node
var run = require('addition.js');
This will error out saying
Error: Cannot find module addition.js
This is because the node.js process is unable the addition.js since we didn't mention the path. So, we have can set the path by using NODE_PATH
set NODE_PATH = path/to/your/additon.js
Now, this should run successfully without any errors!!
One more thing, you can also run the addition.js file by not setting the NODE_PATH, back to your nodejs command prompt:
node
var run = require('./addition.js');
Since we are providing the path here by saying it's in the current directory ./ this should also run successfully.
A module encapsulates related code into a single unit of code. When creating a module, this can be interpreted as moving all related functions into a file.
Suppose there is a file Hello.js which include two functions
sayHelloInEnglish = function() {
return "Hello";
};
sayHelloInSpanish = function() {
return "Hola";
};
We write a function only when utility of the code is more than one call.
Suppose we want to increase utility of the function to a different file say World.js,in this case exporting a file comes into picture which can be obtained by module.exports.
You can just export both the function by the code given below
var anyVariable={
sayHelloInEnglish = function() {
return "Hello";
};
sayHelloInSpanish = function() {
return "Hola";
};
}
module.export=anyVariable;
Now you just need to require the file name into World.js inorder to use those functions
var world= require("./hello.js");
The intent is:
Modular programming is a software design technique that emphasizes
separating the functionality of a program into independent,
interchangeable modules, such that each contains everything necessary
to execute only one aspect of the desired functionality.
Wikipedia
I imagine it becomes difficult to write a large programs without modular / reusable code. In nodejs we can create modular programs utilising module.exports defining what we expose and compose our program with require.
Try this example:
fileLog.js
function log(string) { require('fs').appendFileSync('log.txt',string); }
module.exports = log;
stdoutLog.js
function log(string) { console.log(string); }
module.exports = log;
program.js
const log = require('./stdoutLog.js')
log('hello world!');
execute
$ node program.js
hello world!
Now try swapping ./stdoutLog.js for ./fileLog.js.
What is the purpose of a module system?
It accomplishes the following things:
Keeps our files from bloating to really big sizes. Having files with e.g. 5000 lines of code in it are usually real hard to deal with during development.
Enforces separation of concerns. Having our code split up into multiple files allows us to have appropriate file names for every file. This way we can easily identify what every module does and where to find it (assuming we made a logical directory structure which is still your responsibility).
Having modules makes it easier to find certain parts of code which makes our code more maintainable.
How does it work?
NodejS uses the CommomJS module system which works in the following manner:
If a file wants to export something it has to declare it using module.export syntax
If a file wants to import something it has to declare it using require('file') syntax
Example:
test1.js
const test2 = require('./test2'); // returns the module.exports object of a file
test2.Func1(); // logs func1
test2.Func2(); // logs func2
test2.js
module.exports.Func1 = () => {console.log('func1')};
exports.Func2 = () => {console.log('func2')};
Other useful things to know:
Modules are getting cached. When you are loading the same module in 2 different files the module only has to be loaded once. The second time a require() is called on the same module the is pulled from the cache.
Modules are loaded in synchronous. This behavior is required, if it was asynchronous we couldn't access the object retrieved from require() right away.
ECMAScript modules - 2022
From Node 14.0 ECMAScript modules are no longer experimental and you can use them instead of classic Node's CommonJS modules.
ECMAScript modules are the official standard format to package JavaScript code for reuse. Modules are defined using a variety of import and export statements.
You can define an ES module that exports a function:
// my-fun.mjs
function myFun(num) {
// do something
}
export { myFun };
Then, you can import the exported function from my-fun.mjs:
// app.mjs
import { myFun } from './my-fun.mjs';
myFun();
.mjs is the default extension for Node.js ECMAScript modules.
But you can configure the default modules extension to lookup when resolving modules using the package.json "type" field, or the --input-type flag in the CLI.
Recent versions of Node.js fully supports both ECMAScript and CommonJS modules. Moreover, it provides interoperability between them.
module.exports
ECMAScript and CommonJS modules have many differences but the most relevant difference - to this question - is that there are no more requires, no more exports, no more module.exports
In most cases, the ES module import can be used to load CommonJS modules.
If needed, a require function can be constructed within an ES module using module.createRequire().
ECMAScript modules releases history
Release
Changes
v15.3.0, v14.17.0, v12.22.0
Stabilized modules implementation
v14.13.0, v12.20.0
Support for detection of CommonJS named exports
v14.0.0, v13.14.0, v12.20.0
Remove experimental modules warning
v13.2.0, v12.17.0
Loading ECMAScript modules no longer requires a command-line flag
v12.0.0
Add support for ES modules using .js file extension via package.json "type" field
v8.5.0
Added initial ES modules implementation
You can find all the changelogs in Node.js repository
let test = function() {
return "Hello world"
};
exports.test = test;
I'm trying to read the source code of Backbone.js. I am quite perplexed by the following code, which is supposed to declare the top-level namespace of Backbone. Anyone can help give some clue or explanations? Some useful links to enlighten this is also very welcome!
// The top-level namespace. All public Backbone classes and modules will
// be attached to this. Exported for both CommonJS and the browser.
var Backbone;
if (typeof exports !== 'undefined') {
Backbone = exports;
} else {
Backbone = root.Backbone = {};
}
exports is a CommonJS-pattern global (think require.js and node.js) that is used to provide code modularly. The top check is seeing if exports is available. If it is, the Backbone global is given the exports reference so it can be properly exported modularly.
If you are not loading Backbone through an AMD-style loader, it is defined by a standard object literal.
Further reading on the matter:
http://dailyjs.com/2010/10/18/modules/
What is the purpose of Node.js module.exports and how do you use it?
What is exports and prototype in Javascript?
Further exposition:
exports itself carries some added "beefiness" beyond a normal object literal. This "beefiness" is required for the CommonJS modular pattern. Note here in the Node.js source:
function Module(id, parent) {
this.id = id;
this.exports = {};
this.parent = parent;
if (parent && parent.children) {
parent.children.push(this);
}
this.filename = null;
this.loaded = false;
this.children = [];
}
module.exports = Module;
The Backbone global gets access to all of this tertiary depth necessary for the modular pattern. Otherwise, Backbone would simply start with a boring old empty object definition.