browser-libs

Find and fine-tune your client-side library dependencies

This helper utility aims to provide some interoperability between a wholly node-and-npm-based build and less-than-fully-nodified client-side libraries.

This is (hopefully) a stop-gap on the road to better native support for client-side libraries in npm.

Install

npm install --save-dev browser-libs

Basic usage

// package.json
{
  "dependencies": {
    "angular": "1.3.0"
  }
}

var blibs = require('browser-libs');
var libs = blibs();
console.log(libs);
// [ '/example/project/node_modules/angular/angular.js' ]

API

var libs = blibs([ opts ])

Resolve all client-side libraries and return a sorted array of fully-qualified paths to main files.

Options:

• env: Resolve overrides for a named environment. See details below.

var styles = blibs.style([ opts ])

Resolve all client-side libraries and return a sorted array of fully-qualified paths to style files. This method requires that libraries utilize the style field in their package.json, or you will have to manually specify the stylesheet in browser-overrides.

Options:

• env: Resolve overrides for a named environment. See details below.

Features

Recursive dependency resolution

All dependencies for your libraries will be flattened in the returned array and sorted in the correct load order.

Note: If two libraries depend on different versions of the same library, the version mismatch will be ignored and one will be arbitrarily selected.

Browser field support

If a library's package.json makes use of the browser field (as used by tools like Browserify), the resolved path will honor its configuration.

// package.json
{
  "dependencies": {
    "some-lib": "1.0.0"
  }
}

// node_modules/some-lib/package.json
{
  "browser": "dist/js/some-lib.js"
}

var blibs = require('browser-libs');
var libs = blibs();
console.log(libs);
// [ '/example/project/node_modules/some-lib/dist/js/some-lib.js' ]

Bower dependency support

If a library has a bower.json file, its dependencies will be read in order to ensure files are returned in correct load order.

// package.json
{
  "dependencies": {
    "depends-on-some-lib": "1.0.0",
    "some-lib": "1.0.0"
  }
}

// node_modules/depends-on-some-lib/bower.json
{
  "dependencies": {
    "some-lib": "1.0.0"
  }
}

var blibs = require('browser-libs');
var libs = blibs();
console.log(libs);
// [ '/example/project/node_modules/some-lib/index.js',
//   '/example/project/node_modules/depends-on-some-lib/index.js' ]

Note:

• Versions in bower.json are ignored. (This isn't a dependency management module.)
• The library's bower and npm package names must match, and all dependencies must be installed via npm.

Overrides

The file to include for a library may be overridden by adding abrowser-override section to your package.json. This section is proprietary, but inspired by the browser field and main-bower-files' overrides.

// package.json
{
  "dependencies": {
    "some-lib": "1.0.0"
  },
  "browser-overrides": {
    "some-lib": "./node_modules/some-lib/overridden.js"
    // Or verbose notation:
    // "some-lib": {
    //   "main": "./node_modules/some-lib/overridden.js"
    // }
  }
}

var blibs = require('browser-libs');
var libs = blibs();
console.log(libs);
// [ '/example/project/node_modules/some-lib/overridden.js' ]

Excludes

Using the browser-overrides section, you may exclude a library entirely by specifying a false value.

// package.json
{
  "dependencies": {
    "some-lib": "1.0.0"
  },
  "browser-overrides": {
    "some-lib": false
    // Or verbose notation:
    // "some-lib": {
    //   "main": false
    // }
  }
}

var blibs = require('browser-libs');
var libs = blibs();
console.log(libs);
// []

Environment support

Environment-specific overrides may be declared in browser-overrides using the env property. Use it to supply a map of environments to main file overrides.

Activate an environment by passing the env option to bdeps.

If no match for the passed environment is found in the env map, the main property will be used if defined, or the library module's default otherwise. A false value will exclude a library for only that environment.

// package.json
{
  "dependencies": {
    "some-lib": "1.0.0"
  },
  "browser-overrides": {
    "some-lib": {
      "env": {
        "prod": "./node_modules/some-lib/some-lib.min.js"
      }
    }
  }
}

var blibs = require('browser-libs');
var libs = blibs({env: 'prod'});
console.log(libs);
// [ '/example/project/node_modules/some-lib/some-lib.min.js' ]

Manual dependency declarations

You may manually specify dependencies for libraries that don't declare their own in bower.json.

// package.json
{
  "dependencies": {
    "depends-on-some-lib": "1.0.0",
    "some-lib": "1.0.0"
  },
  "browser-overrides": {
    "depends-on-some-lib": {
      "deps": ["some-lib"]
    }
  }
}

var blibs = require('browser-libs');
var libs = blibs();
console.log(libs);
// [ '/example/project/node_modules/some-lib/index.js',
//   '/example/project/node_modules/depends-on-some-lib/index.js' ]

Note: Dependencies declared in this fashion will override any dependencies in the package's bower.json. They will not be merged together.

browser-overrides spec

browser-overrides: object

The browser-overrides key in package.json is an object with module names as keys. Its presence is optional.

browser-overrides.MODULE_NAME: object | string | false

If a string, overrides the path to the module's main file. If false, excludes the module (and its dependencies) from the returned array of libraries.

browser-overrides.MODULE_NAME.main: string | false

If a string, overrides the path to the module's main file. If false, excludes just the module's main file (without affecting style).

browser-overrides.MODULE_NAME.style: string | false

If a string, overrides the path to the module's style file. If false, excludes just the module's style file (without affecting main).

browser-overrides.MODULE_NAME.env: object

A map of environment names to environment-specific override configuration.

If an environment is activated, and a key for that environment is present in this object, any configuration within it will be used.

browser-overrides.MODULE_NAME.env.ENV_NAME: object | string | false

If a string, overrides the path to the module's main file. If false, excludes the module (and its dependencies) from the returned array of libraries.

browser-overrides.MODULE_NAME.env.ENV_NAME.main: string | false

If a string, overrides the path to the module's main file. If false, excludes just the module's main file (without affecting style).

browser-overrides.MODULE_NAME.env.ENV_NAME.style: string | false

If a string, overrides the path to the module's style file. If false, excludes just the module's style file (without affecting main).

Limitations

This was built primarily to solve my own use case, so there are many things it won't do. Please create an issue for any desired functionality. Pull requests are welcome.