Develop Reference

requirejs dependencies grouping

I am trying to integrate requirejs framework to my app.
Is possible to create a virtual module (which doesn't exists as a physically file), where i could group all the jquery-validation plugins together?
For example, i need to load 4 dependencies everytime i want to use jquery-validate.
Instead of requesting them, each time, i create a jquery-val "virtual module", which should request all the dependencies automatically.
However, trying to load "jquery-val" actually tries to load the file from disk (which i don't have).
What should be the best practice in solving this issue?
// config
requirejs.config({
baseUrl: '/Content',
paths: {
'jquery': 'frameworks/jquery-3.1.1.min',
"jquery-validate": "frameworks/jquery.validate.min",
"jquery-validate-unobtrusive": "frameworks/jquery.validate.unobtrusive.min",
"jquery-unobtrusive-ajax": "frameworks/jquery.unobtrusive-ajax.min"
},
shim: {
"jquery-val": ["jquery", "jquery-validate", "jquery-validate-unobtrusive", "jquery-unobtrusive-ajax"]
}
});
// Solution 1: working, but ugly
define(["jquery", "jquery-validate-unobtrusive", "jquery-unobtrusive-ajax"], function ($) {
// My Module
});
// Solution 2: not working
define(["jquery-val"], function () {
// My Module
});
// Solution 3: create jquery-val.js file, which loads the dependencies automatically
// jquery-val.js
(function (global) {
define(["jquery", "jquery-validate-unobtrusive", "jquery-unobtrusive-ajax"], function ($) {
});
}(this));

take some time and read:
http://requirejs.org/docs/api.html#modulenotes
One module per file.: Only one module should be defined per JavaScript file, given the nature of the module name-to-file-path lookup algorithm. You shoud only use the optimization tool to group multiple modules into optimized files.
Optimization Tool
To answer your question:
It is good practice to define one module per file, so you don't need to define explicit a name for the module AND do the need for inserting it somewhere to be available before the other modules are loaded.
So you could require just the file: require("../services/myGroupModule") and this file would hold your module and requireJS would take care of the loading dependencies (and later the optimizations for concatenating into one file!). Here the module name is the file name.
You could nevertheless do the following and loading it as a file module or like you tried to define it beforehand and give the module a name:
//Explicitly defines the "foo/title" module:
define("myGroupModule",
["dependency1", "dependency2"],
function(dependency1, dependency2) {
return function myGroupModule {
return {
doSomething: function () { console.log("hey"); }
}
}
}
);
Maybe you should also give a look at some new module loaders:
WebPack 2: https://webpack.js.org/
SystemJS: https://github.com/systemjs/systemjs

Packaging-up Browser/Server CommonJS modules with dependancies

Lets say I'm writing a module in JavaScript which can be used on both the browser and the server (with Node). Lets call it Module. And lets say that that Module would benefit from methods in another module called Dependancy. Both of these modules have been written to be used by both the browser and the server, à la CommonJS style:
module.js
if (typeof module !== 'undefined' && module.exports)
module.exports = Module; /* server */
else
this.Module = Module; /* browser */
dependancy.js
if (typeof module !== 'undefined' && module.exports)
module.exports = Dependancy; /* server */
else
this.Dependancy = Dependancy; /* browser */
Obviously, Dependancy can be used straight-out-of-the-box in a browser. But if Module contains a var dependancy = require('dependency'); directive in it, it becomes more of a hassle to 'maintain' the module.
I know that I could perform a global check for Dependancy within Module, like this:
var dependancy = this.Dependancy || require('dependancy');
But that means my Module has two added requirements for browser installation:
the user must include the dependency.js file as a <script> in their document
and the user must make sure this script is loaded before module.js
Adding those two requirements throws the idea of an easy-going modular framework like CommonJS.
The other option for me is that I include a second, compiled script in my Module package with the dependency.js bundled using browserify. I then instruct users who are using the script in the browser to include this script, while server-side users use the un-bundled entry script outlined in the package.json. This is preferable to the first way, but it requires a pre-compilation process which I would have to run every time I changed the library (for example, before uploading to GitHub).
Is there any other way of doing this that I haven't thought of?

The two answers currently given are both very useful, and have helped me to arrive at my current solution. But, as per my comments, they don't quite satisfy my particular requirements of both portability vs ease-of-use (both for the client and the module maintainer).
What I found, in the end, was a particular flag in the browserify command line interface that can bundle the modules and expose them as global variables AND be used within RequireJS (if needed). Browserify (and others) call this Universal Module Definition (UMD). Some more about that here.
By passing the --standalone flag in a browserify command, I can set my module up for UMD easily.
So...
Here's the package.js for Module:
{
"name": "module",
"version": "0.0.1",
"description": "My module that requires another module (dependancy)",
"main": "index.js",
"scripts": {
"bundle": "browserify --standalone module index.js > module.js"
},
"author": "shennan",
"devDependencies": {
"dependancy": "*",
"browserify": "*"
}
}
So, when at the root of my module, I can run this in the command line:
$ npm run-script bundle
Which bundles up the dependancies into one file, and exposes them as per the UMD methodology. This means I can bootstrap the module in three different ways:
NodeJS
var Module = require('module');
/* use Module */
Browser Vanilla
<script src="module.js"></script>
<script>
var Module = module;
/* use Module */
</script>
Browser with RequireJS
<script src="require.js"></script>
<script>
requirejs(['module.js'], function (Module) {
/* use Module */
});
</script>
Thanks again for everybody's input. All of the answers are valid and I encourage everyone to try them all as different use-cases will require different solutions.

Of course you could use the same module with dependency on both sides. You just need to specify it better. This is the way I use:
(function (name, definition){
if (typeof define === 'function'){ // AMD
define(definition);
} else if (typeof module !== 'undefined' && module.exports) { // Node.js
module.exports = definition();
} else { // Browser
var theModule = definition(), global = this, old = global[name];
theModule.noConflict = function () {
global[name] = old;
return theModule;
};
global[name] = theModule;
}
})('Dependency', function () {
// return the module's API
return {
'key': 'value'
};
});
This is just a very basic sample - you can return function, instantiate function or do whatever you like. In my case I'm returning an object.
Now let's say this is the Dependency class. Your Module class should look pretty much the same, but it should have a dependency to Dependency like:
function (require, exports, module) {
var dependency = require('Dependency');
}
In RequireJS this is called Simplified CommonJS Wrapper: http://requirejs.org/docs/api.html#cjsmodule
Because there is a require statement at the beginning of your code, it will be matched as a dependency and therefore it will either be lazy loaded or if you optimize it - marked as a dependency early on (it will convert define(definition) to define(['Dependency'], definition) automatically).
The only problem here is to keep the same path to the files. Keep in mind that nested requires (if-else) won't work in Require (read the docs), so I had to do something like:
var dependency;
try {
dependency = require('./Dependency'); // node module in the same folder
} catch(err) { // it's not node
try {
dependency = require('Dependency'); // requirejs
} catch(err) { }
}
This worked perfectly for me. It's a bit tricky with all those paths, but at the end of the day, you get your two separate modules in different files which can be used on both ends without any kind of checks or hacks - they have all their dependencies are work like a charm :)

Take a look at webpack bundler.
You can write module and export it via module exports. Then You can in server use that where you have module.export and for browser build with webpack. Configuration file usage would be the best option
module.exports = {
entry: "./myModule",
output: {
path: "dist",
filename: "myModule.js",
library: "myModule",
libraryTarget: "var"
}
};
This will take myModule and export it to myModule.js file. Inside module will be assigned to var (libraryTarget flag) named myModule (library flag).
It can be exported as commonJS module, war, this, function
Since bundling is node script, this flag values can be grammatically set.
Take a look at externals flag. It is used if you want to have special behavior for some dependencies. For example you are creating react component and in your module you want to require it but not when you are bundling for web because it already is there.
Hope it is what you are looking for.

How can I use a local file during Require.js optimisation, but a CDN-hosted version at runtime?

My page includes several components that exist as separate AMD modules. Each of these components is turned into a single file by the Require.js optimiser. Because several of these components share dependencies (e.g. jQuery and d3), the optimiser paths config uses CDN URLs for those dependencies, rather than bundling them into the optimised file.
Here's where it gets tricky. I've written a module loader plugin for Ractive.js called rvc.js, which allows me to include Ractive components that are defined in HTML files. (Yes, I'm asking for help on how to use my own library.)
This works fine - code like this gets optimised as you'd expect:
define( function ( require ) {
var ChartView = require( 'rvc!views/Chart' );
var view = new ChartView({ el: 'chart' });
});
Because Ractive is used by several of the components, it should be served from a CDN like jQuery and d3. But it's used by rvc.js during the optimisation process, which means that the Ractive entry for the optimiser's paths config can't point to a CDN - it has to point to a local file.
Is there a way to tell Require.js 'use the local file during optimisation, but load from CDN at runtime'?

So here's the solution I eventually settled on. It feels somewhat kludgy, but it works:
Stub out the loaders and the library you don't want bundled
Add an onBuildWrite function that rewrites modules depending on the library, so that they think they're requiring something else entirely - in this case Ractive_RUNTIME
Add an entry to your runtime AMD config's paths object, so that Ractive_RUNTIME points to the CDN
My optimiser config now looks like this:
{
baseUrl: 'path/to/js/',
out: 'build/js/app.js',
name: 'app',
optimize: 'none',
paths: {
'amd-loader': 'loaders/amd-loader',
'rvc': 'loaders/rvc',
'Ractive': 'lib/Ractive'
},
stubModules: [ 'amd-loader', 'rvc', 'Ractive' ],
onBuildWrite: function ( name, path, contents ) {
if ( contents === "define('Ractive',{});" ) {
// this is the stub module, we can kill it
return '';
}
// otherwise all references to `Ractive` need replacing
return contents.replace( /['"]Ractive['"]/g, '"Ractive_RUNTIME"' );
}
}
Meanwhile, the script that loads the app.js file created by the optimiser has a config entry that points to the CDN:
require.config({
context: uniqueContext,
baseUrl: baseUrl,
paths: {
'amd-loader': 'loaders/amd-loader',
'rvc': 'loaders/rvc',
'Ractive': 'lib/Ractive',
'Ractive_RUNTIME': 'http://cdn.ractivejs.org/releases/0.3.9/Ractive.min'
}
});

requirejs - combine several files to single js file that not dependent on requirejs

I am writing jQuery plugin that contains a lot of code. Therefore I decided to separate the code and make it more modular for me (the developer). For this I use require.js.
Now I have 6 js files:
utils.js
base-row.jas
a-row.js
b-row.js
my-table.js
main.js
Files 1 to 5 defines JavaScript "classes" and they have dependecies between themselves. The "primary" class that operates all the concert is my-table.js. main.js has dependency only to my-table.js and creates a plugin from it:
require([
'my-table'
], function(MyTable) {
jQuery.fn.myTable = function(options) {
var table = new MyTable(this, options);
this.data('myTable', table);
return this;
};
});
Now I want to create from those files one big js file that contains all the 6 files without any dependency (except jQuery that the user should put reference to it). For this I used r.js (http://requirejs.org/docs/optimization.html) and as a result I got one big js file that depend on require.js (and contains calls to define and require). I followed this: http://requirejs.org/docs/faq-optimization.html#wrap and used almond.js in order to combined all my files for usage that is not dependent on require.js. This works fine.
The problem is why do I need all the define and require method calls and almond.js? Why couldn't the optimizer concatenate only the function results (as describe in this question: Why do concatenated RequireJS AMD modules need a loader?) like this:
(function() {
var utils = «function() {
....
return Utils;
}»();
var baseRow = «function(A) {
....
return BaseRow;
}»(utils);
....
....
var myTable = .....
//<--This is require call and therefore doesn't return a thing
(function(MyTable) {
jQuery.fn.myTable = function(options) {
var table = new MyTable(this, options);
this.data('myTable', table);
return this;
};
})(myTable);
})();
As a result of this process, I decided to check things out and combined manually all the files to one minified file. I end up with a file smaller by 3k then the almond version!
I don't find the logic behind the r.js optimizer creating require.js dependent result. In my case, no one will need to use any of the files, my primary js file is the only consumer. What do you think?

The default value for the findNestedDependencies option in the optimizer is "false", meaning that even after the scripts are optimized, there could still be a nested require or define call that would require a module loader. A loader is also needed for external dependencies.
I agree, however, that if findNestedDependencies is set to "true" and no external dependencies are part of the project, the optimizer should be able to remove its need for a loader.

You can just include the files needed in the file. You can do that with a getScript call.
$.getScript("my_lovely_script.js", function(){
//whatever you want here.
});

requireJS an entire folder

Is it possible to "require" an entire folder using requireJS.
For example, I have a behaviors folder with a ton of behavior js files. I'd really like to be able to simply use require(['behaviors/*'], function() {...}); to load everything in that folder rather than having to keep that list up to date. Once compressed and optimized I'd have all those files lump together, but for development it's easier to work with them individually.

javascript in browser has no filesystem access and so it can't scan a directory for files. If you are building your app in a scripting language like php or ruby you could write a script that scans the directory and adds the file names to the require() call.

I don't know if I can recommend this approach anymore. I think the more explicit way to do this is by manually "requiring"/"exporting" the functionality you need. The exception I think is if you have a "namespace" of files that you want exported see below "Babel and ES6 Module Import Declarations (export-namespace-from) or see below "Babel and ES6 Module Import Declarations.
These solutions also assume that you have a meaningful file structure - where file names become part of that "require" * definition.
However, if you still need to do this there are a few existing tools and methods that might provide the behavior that you're looking for.
Possible Solutions
Babel and ES6 Module Import Declarations (plugin-export-namespace-from)
Have a setup that is ES6 compliant.
You need to update your .babelrc file to include babel-plugin-proposal-export-namespace-from.
Use export namespace plugin by writing syntax like the following:
common/index.js
export * from './common/a'; // export const a = false;
export * from './common/b'; // export const b = true;
main.js
import { a, b } from './common';
console.log(a); // false
console.log(b); // true
Babel and ES6 Module Import Declarations (plugin-wildcard)
Have a setup that is ES6 compliant.
You need to update your .babelrc file to include babel-plugin-wildcard.
Use wildcard namespace plugin by writing syntax like the following:
main.js
import { a, b } from './common/*'; // imports './common/a.js' and './common/b.js'
console.log(a); // false
console.log(b); // true
RequireJS (Now Outdated)
Download and install require-wild npm install require-wild
Configure the declaration as follows
grunt.initConfig({
requireWild: {
app: {
// Input files to look for wildcards (require|define)
src: ["./**/*.js"],
// Output file contains generated namespace modules
dest: "./namespaces.js",
// Load your require config file used to find baseUrl - optional
options: { requireConfigFile: "./main.js" }
}
}
});
grunt.loadNpmTasks("require-wild");
grunt.registerTask('default', ['requireWild']);
Then run the grunt task. Your file will be generated. Modify your setup to load namespaces.js
require(['namespaces'], function () { ... });
This now allows modules under src to use dependencies glob pattern matching.
require(['behaviors/**/*'], function (behaviors) { }

I know this is old, but I'd like to share my solution:
For this solution you need JQuery
1) Create a bash script that will list all the js files in
"MyDirectory/", and save it to "directoryContents.txt":
#!/bin/bash
#Find all the files in that directory...
for file in $( find MyDirectory/ -type f -name "*.js" )
do
fileClean=${file%.js} #Must remove .js from the end!
echo -n "$fileClean " >> MyDirectory/directoryContents.txt
done
File will look like this:
MyDirectory/FirstJavascriptFile MyDirectory/SecondJavascriptFile
MyDirectory/ThirdJavascriptFile
Problem with my script! Puts an extra " " at the end, that messes things up! Make sure to remove the excess space at the end of directoryContents.txt
2) Then in your Client side JS code:
do a "GET" request to retrieve the text file
For each entry (split by the space), 'require' that file:
.
$.get( "MyDirectory/directoryContents.txt", {}, function( data ) {
var allJsFilesInFolder = data.split(" ");
for(var a=0; a<allJsFilesInFolder.length; a++)
{
require([allJsFilesInFolder[a]], function(jsConfig)
{
//Done loading this one file
});
}
}, "text");
I was having a problem with this code not finishing before my other code, so Here's my extended answer:
define([''], function() {
return {
createTestMenu: function()
{
this.loadAllJSFiles(function(){
//Here ALL those files you need are loaded!
});
},
loadAllJSFiles: function(callback)
{
$.get( "MyDirectory/directoryContents.txt", {}, function( data ) {
var allJsFilesInFolder = data.split(" ");
var currentFileNum = 0;
for(var a=0; a<allJsFilesInFolder.length; a++)
{
require([allJsFilesInFolder[a]], function(jsConfig)
{
currentFileNum++;
//If it's the last file that needs to be loaded, run the callback.
if (currentFileNum==allJsFilesInFolder.length)
{
console.log("Done loading all configuration files.");
if (typeof callback != "undefined"){callback();}
}
});
}
}, "text");
}
}
});
What I ended up doing was everytime my Node server boots, it will run the bash script, populating directoryContents.txt. Then My client side just reads directoryContents.txt for the list of files, and requires each in that list.
Hope this helps!

There isn't really a way to do this conceptually on the fly (that I know of).
There's a few work arounds though:
Use grunt and concat and then just require that behemoth...I know, kinda sucky.
What I think is a better solution... use a require hierarchy like so:
require('/js/controllers/init', function(ctrls){
ctrls(app, globals);
});
// /js/controllers/init.js
define('js/controllers/index', 'js/controllers/posts', function(index, posts){
return function protagonist(app, globals){
var indexModule = index(app, globals);
var indexModule = posts(app, globals);
return app || someModule;
};
});
// /js/controllers/index.js
define('js/controllers/index', 'js/controllers/posts', function(index, posts){
return function protagonist(app, globals){
function method1(){}
function method2(){}
return {
m1: method1,
m2: method2
};
};
});
Note that "protagonist" function. That allows you to initialize modules before their use, so now you can pass in a 'sandbox' -- in this case app and globals.
Realistically, you wouldn't have /js/controllers/index.js... It should probably be something like /js/controllers/index/main.js or /js/controllers/index/init.js so that there is a directory adjacent to (sibling of) /js/controllers/init.js called "index". This will make your modules scalable to a given interface -- you can simply swap modules out and keep your interface the same.
Hope this helps! Happy coding!

I wrote a library to solve this problem. Eventually someone else came along and improved my library, here it is:
https://github.com/smartprocure/directory-metagen
You can use my lib with Gulp or whatever - it generates metadata for your project and RequireJS can use that metadata to require the desired files from the filesystem.
Using this lib will produce a RequireJS module that looks something like this:
define(
[
"text!app/templates/dashboardTemplate.ejs",
"text!app/templates/fluxCartTemplate.ejs",
"text!app/templates/footerTemplate.ejs",
"text!app/templates/getAllTemplate.ejs",
"text!app/templates/headerTemplate.ejs",
"text!app/templates/homeTemplate.ejs",
"text!app/templates/indexTemplate.ejs",
"text!app/templates/jobsTemplate.ejs",
"text!app/templates/loginTemplate.ejs",
"text!app/templates/overviewTemplate.ejs",
"text!app/templates/pictureTemplate.ejs",
"text!app/templates/portalTemplate.ejs",
"text!app/templates/registeredUsersTemplate.ejs",
"text!app/templates/userProfileTemplate.ejs"
],
function(){
return {
"templates/dashboardTemplate.ejs": arguments[0],
"templates/fluxCartTemplate.ejs": arguments[1],
"templates/footerTemplate.ejs": arguments[2],
"templates/getAllTemplate.ejs": arguments[3],
"templates/headerTemplate.ejs": arguments[4],
"templates/homeTemplate.ejs": arguments[5],
"templates/indexTemplate.ejs": arguments[6],
"templates/jobsTemplate.ejs": arguments[7],
"templates/loginTemplate.ejs": arguments[8],
"templates/overviewTemplate.ejs": arguments[9],
"templates/pictureTemplate.ejs": arguments[10],
"templates/portalTemplate.ejs": arguments[11],
"templates/registeredUsersTemplate.ejs": arguments[12],
"templates/userProfileTemplate.ejs": arguments[13]
}
});
You can then require modules in your front-end like so:
var footerView = require("app/js/jsx/standardViews/footerView");
however, as you can see this is too verbose, so the magic way is like so:
name the dependency above as allViews!
now you can do:
var allViews = require('allViews');
var footerView = allViews['standardViews/footerView'];
There are two advantages to requiring directories whole:
(1) in production, with the r.js optimizer, you can point to one dependency (module A) and it can then easily trace all of A's dependencies that represent a entire directory
(2) in development, you can require whole directories up front and then use synchronous syntax to require dependencies because you know they have already been loaded
enjoy "RequireJS-Metagen"
https://github.com/smartprocure/directory-metagen
https://www.npmjs.com/package/requirejs-metagen
https://github.com/ORESoftware/requirejs-metagen