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How to optimize a subset of JavaScript files created as RequireJS modules

I have single-page web application that uses RequireJS to organize and structure JavaScript code. Inside the app, I have some JS files that I want to optimize using r.js because they belong to an API that will be consumed by my customers. So, I just want to optimize those files and keep the rest of the code as it is now.
This is my application structure:
app
main.js
many other files and folders
scripts
myAPI
app.js
many other files and folders
require.js
jquery.js
build.js
index.htm
All the JavaScript code is located under the app and scripts folders. As I mentioned before, all those files are defined as RequireJS modules. This is how the main.js looks now:
require.config({
baseUrl: 'scripts',
paths: {
base: 'myAPI/base',
proxy: 'myAPI/proxyObject',
localization: 'myAPI/localization',
app: '../app',
}
});
require(['myAPI/app'],
function (app) {
//app.init....
}
);
As you can see, in the paths configuration I'm defining some aliases that point to myAPI (the folder I want to optimize).
This is how I reference RequireJS from the index.htm file:
<script data-main="app/main" src="scripts/require.js"></script>
This is the build file I created for r.js (scripts/build.js):
({
baseUrl: '.',
out: 'build/myAPI.js',
name: 'myAPI/app',
include: ['some modules'],
excludeShallow: ['some modules defined in the app folder'],
mainConfigFile: '../app/main.js',
optimize: 'uglify2',
optimizeCss: 'none'
})
The optimized file is generated, but I have some challenges trying to use it:
How do I reference that file from the app?
The dependencies to myAPI modules are broken now. RequireJS doesn't find the modules defined in myAPI.
What can I do to keep the aliases defined in require.config.paths working?
Could you please help me with some suggestions or feedback for this situation?
Thanks!!

After doing research, I could solve my problem. I based my solution in this Github project created by James Burke: https://github.com/requirejs/example-libglobal.
First, I had to remove all the dependencies to myAPI individual modules, and create an object that centralizes the access to any internal dependency. Then, I created a r.js script to generate a single file for myAPI. That file is the one that will consumed by the other JS files. That single file can be referenced as a global object or as an AMD module, as James Burke shows in the Github project.
The aliases defined in require.config.paths were no longer necessary.

How to use same config file for serving modules with requirejs and using r.js on the server side to concatenate and minify?

I am working on a project that uses requirejs to dynamically load modules from a web browser. Some of the modules are vendor files, e.g. jQuery, which are all installed into a folder /project/root/lib/ via bower. This project's modules are located in a folder /project/root/components/. So I have a requirejs config, components/main.js, that looks something like this:
requirejs.config({
baseUrl: '/components',
paths: {
jquery: '/lib/jquery/jquery',
}
});
This way, when a vendor module is requested, require finds it by using the mappings defined in paths, while all other modules are located relative to components.
I also want to use r.js to perform concatenation and minification and reduce all javascript files to simply app.js for use in production. I was able to successfully perform this task with r.js -o build.js. Here is what build.js looks like:
({
baseUrl:'components',
out: 'js/app.js',
name: 'app',
paths: {
jquery: '../lib/jquery/jquery'
}
})
However, because there are dozens of vendor file paths defined in my require.js config (main.js), I don't want to have to replicate the configuration across two different files. I would rather use a single config file. The problem is that the paths defined in main.js are absolute (/lib/..., /components), because they're URL paths, but the paths in build.js need to be relative (../lib/..., ./components), because they're filesystem paths. Is there a way to reconcile these differences and define the paths only in main.js, which I then I load in using mainConfigFile in build.js? I tried using the require config called map in build.js, but this method required that I defined a new mapping for each module, which is just as bad as re-defining all of the paths. I want a blanket mapping, essentially.
Is there a method to consolidate my config files to avoid duplicate path definitions?

There is nothing that requires using absolute paths in the configuration passed to RequireJS. RequireJS interprets paths that are relative using baseUrl as the starting point so this should work:
requirejs.config({
baseUrl: '/components',
paths: {
jquery: '../lib/jquery/jquery',
}
});
RequireJS will perform the final path computation for jquery by merging /components with ../lib/jquery/jquery, which resolves to /lib/jquery/jquery, which is exactly the same as the absolute path that was there originally.

RequireJS Config mapping whole directories

Is it possible to map a whole directory the node_modules directory for example to src/lib/ in the require config?
Sample Project:
project/
project/node_modules
project/src/
project/src/lib/

In RequireJS you actually can configure paths that points to a folder. And, you can name your path whatever you want. For example, if you have a folder named node_modules and you have some libs in there including jquery, you can configure a path like
require.config({
paths: {
'lib' : '/path_to_node_module_folder'
}
});
and later in your module you can require jquery like
define(['lib/jquery'], function($){
....
});

RequireJS / r.js 'baseURL' Property Seemingly Ignored

I am trying to use the r.js optimizer to build all of my dependencies into a single file. Here is my file structure:
app
bin
src
css
main.css
js
libs
raphael-2.1.0
eve.js
raphael.amd.js
raphael.core.js
raphael.svg.js
raphael.vml.js
jquery-1.8.0.js
require-2.0.5.js
main.js
build.js
index.html
r.js
Here are the contents of build.js:
({
baseURL: 'js',
dir: '../bin',
paths: {
'jquery': 'libs/jquery-1.8.0',
'raphael': 'libs/raphael-2.1.0/raphael.amd'
},
name: 'main',
removeCombined: true
})
The 'libs/raphael-2.1.0/raphael.amd' dependency loads everything else in the raphael-2.1.0 directory. The app works as expected if I visit app.local/src, it loads the modules at runtime via require with a single script tag in my index.html file like this:
<script src="js/libs/require-2.0.5.js" data-main="js/main.js" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>
However, if I try to run the command node r.js -o src/build.js from app, I get an error like:
Error: ERROR: module path does not exist: /app/src/main.js for module named: main. Path is relative to: /app
at /app/r.js:14215:31
... and everything gets copied into bin "as is". If I add 'main': 'js/main' to the paths object, then r.js can't find jquery and raphael, if I ad js/ to the jquery and raphael paths then libs/raphael-2.1.0/rapheal.amd's dependency declarations are wrong. If I update those, then everything builds as expected, but now the app at app.local/src/index.html is broken. Also, I thought that was the point of having a baseURL property in the build file no? It looks to me like baseURL is being ignored. What am I doing wrong?

As most things in JavaScript, the baseUrl setting is case sensitive. Change URL to Url and see if it helps.

How to use RequireJS build profile + r.js in a multi-page project

I am currently learning RequireJS fundamentals and have some questions regarding a build profile, main files, and use of RequireJS with multi-page projects.
My project's directory structure is as follows:
httpdocs_siteroot/
app/
php files...
media/
css/
css files...
js/
libs/
jquery.js
require.js
mustache.js
mains/
main.page1.js
main.page2.js
main.page3.js
plugins/
jquery.plugin1.js
jquery.plugin2.js
jquery.plugin3.js
utils/
util1.js
util2.js
images/
Since this project is not a single-page app, I have a separate main file for each page (although some pages use the same main file).
My questions are:
Is RequireJS even practical for projects that are not single-page?
Without using the optimizer, each of my main files start with essentially the same config options:
requirejs.config({
paths: {
'jquery': 'http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.7.2/jquery.min'
},
baseUrl: '/media/js/',
// etc...
});
require(['deps'], function() { /* main code */ });
Is there a way to avoid this? Like having each main file include the same build profile without having to actually build it?
Should r.js go in httpdocs_siteroot's parent directory?
Is there something glaringly wrong with my app dir structure or my use of RequireJS?

First of all, this is not a question with a unique solution. I'll explain the way I use RequireJS that works for me, and may work for you :)
Second, English is not my mother language. Corrections and tips about the language will be very appreciated. Feel free, guys :)
1) Is require js even practical for projects that are not single-page?
It depends. If your project does not have shared code between pages for example, RequireJS help will be modest. The main idea of RequireJS is modularize the application into chunks of reusable code. If your application uses only page-specific code, then using RequireJS may not be a good idea.
2) Without using the optimizer, each of my main files start with essentially the same config options. Is there a way to avoid this? Like having each main file include the same build profile without having to actually build it?
The only way I see is making the configuration on the main file, or create a module that will configure RequireJS and then use that module as the first dependency on main.js. But this can be tricky. I do not use many main.js files in my applications; I use only one that acts as a loader (see below).
3) Should r.js go in httpdocs_siteroot's parent directory?
Not necessarily. You can put it inside the /media directory, since all your client stuff is there.
4) Is there something glaringly wrong with my app dir structure or my use of requirejs?
I would not say that. On the other hand, the structure is perhaps a bit too fragmented. For example, you can put all '3rd party stuff' inside a /vendor directory. But this is just sugar; your structure will work well and seems right. I think the major problem is the requirejs.config() call in multiple main files.
I had the same problems you are having now and I ended up with the following solution:
1) Do not wrap the non-AMD-compliant files with a define. Although it works, you can achieve the same results using the "shim" property in requirejs.config (see below).
2) In a multi-page application, the solution for me is not to require the page-specific modules from the optimized main.js file. Instead, I require all the shared code (3rd party and my own) from the main file, leaving the page-specific code to load on each page. The main file ends up only being a loader that starts the page-specific code after loading all shared/lib files.
This is the boilerplate I use to build a multi-page application with requirejs
Directory structure:
/src - I put all the client stuff inside a src directory, so I can run the optimizer inside this directory (this is your media directory).
/src/vendor - Here I place all 3rd party files and plugins, including require.js.
/src/lib - Here I place all my own code that is shared by the entire application or by some pages. In other words, modules that are not page-specific.
/src/page-module-xx - And then, I create one directory for each page that I have. This is not a strict rule.
/src/main.js: This is the only main file for the entire application. It will:
configure RequireJS, including shims
load shared libraries/modules
load the page-specific main module
This is an example of a requirejs.config call:
requirejs.config({
baseUrl: ".",
paths: {
// libraries path
"json": "vendor/json2",
"jquery": "vendor/jquery",
"somejqueryplugion": "vendor/jquery.somejqueryplufin",
"hogan": "vendor/hogan",
// require plugins
"templ": "vendor/require.hogan",
"text": "vendor/require.text"
},
// The shim section allows you to specify
// dependencies between non AMD compliant files.
// For example, "somejqueryplugin" must be loaded after "jquery".
// The 'exports' attribute tells RequireJS what global variable
// it must assign as the module value for each shim.
// For example: By using the configutation below for jquery,
// when you request the "jquery" module, RequireJS will
// give the value of global "$" (this value will be cached, so it is
// ok to modify/delete the global '$' after all plugins are loaded.
shim: {
"jquery": { exports: "$" },
"util": { exports: "_" },
"json": { exports: "JSON" },
"somejqueryplugin": { exports: "$", deps: ["jquery"] }
}
});
And then, after configuration we can make the first require() request
for all those libraries and after that do the request for our "page main" module.
//libs
require([
"templ", //require plugins
"text",
"json", //3rd libraries
"jquery",
"hogan",
"lib/util" // app lib modules
],
function () {
var $ = require("jquery"),
// the start module is defined on the same script tag of data-main.
// example: <script data-main="main.js" data-start="pagemodule/main" src="vendor/require.js"/>
startModuleName = $("script[data-main][data-start]").attr("data-start");
if (startModuleName) {
require([startModuleName], function (startModule) {
$(function(){
var fn = $.isFunction(startModule) ? startModule : startModule.init;
if (fn) { fn(); }
});
});
}
});
As you can see in the body of the require() above, we're expecting another attribute on the require.js script tag. The data-start attribute will hold the name of the module for the current page.
Thus, on the HTML page we must add this extra attribute:
<script data-main="main" data-start="pagemodule/main" src="vendor/require.js"></script>
By doing this, we will end up with an optimized main.js that contains all the files in "/vendor" and "/lib" directories (the shared resources), but not the page-specific scripts/modules, as they are not hard-coded in the main.js as dependencies. The page-specific modules will be loaded separately on each page of the application.
The "page main" module should return a function() that will be executed by the "app main" above.
define(function(require, exports, module) {
var util = require("lib/util");
return function() {
console.log("initializing page xyz module");
};
});
EDIT
Here is example of how you can use build profile to optimize the page-specific modules that have more than one file.
For example, let's say we have the following page module:
/page1/main.js
/page1/dep1.js
/page1/dep2.js
If we do not optimize this module, then the browser will make 3 requests, one for each script.
We can avoid this by instructing r.js to create a package and include these 3 files.
On the "modules" attribute of the build profile:
...
"modules": [
{
name: "main" // this is our main file
},
{
// create a module for page1/main and include in it
// all its dependencies (dep1, dep2...)
name: "page1/main",
// excluding any dependency that is already included on main module
// i.e. all our shared stuff, like jquery and plugins should not
// be included in this module again.
exclude: ["main"]
}
]
By doing this, we create another per-page main file with all its dependencies. But, since we already have a main file that will load all our shared stuff, we don't need to include them again in page1/main module.
The config is a little verbose since you have to do this for each page module where you have more than one script file.
I uploaded the code of the boilerplate in GitHub: https://github.com/mdezem/MultiPageAppBoilerplate.
It is a working boilerplate, just install node and r.js module for node and execute build.cmd (inside the /build directory, otherwise it will fail because it uses relative paths)
I hope I have been clear. Let me know if something sounds strange ;)
Regards!

<script data-main="js/main" src="js/lib/require.js"></script>
// file: js/main
require(['./global.config'], function(){
require(['./view/home'], function() {
// do something
});
});
This is what I used in my project.