cordova-import-npm

Import files from npm packages into your cordova www/ directory automatically, upon cordova prepare, cordova build or cordova run, and before anything else is processed.

Oftentimes we want to import the latest files available in npm packages into our www/ directory in cordova projects. With this module you can do it automatically without building your own scripts.

Install and setup

Just run in the root directory of your cordova project

npm install cordova-import-npm
npx setup-cordova-import-npm

It will add a hook into config.xml with the type before_prepare, such that npm files that you setup will be imported automatically upon cordova prepare, cordova build or cordova run. It will also create an empty file npmFilesToImport.json at the root of your project for you to setup.

Setting npmFilesToImport.json

You define the npm files you'd like to import by editing the file npmFilesToImport.json at the root of the project's directory. The syntax is the following:

{
  "npmPackageName": {
    "from": "path/to/file/relative/to/npmModule/directory",
    "to": "path/to/file/relative/to/cordovaWWW/directory"
  }
}

The paths may be strings or arrays, though arrays are recommended as then it works in either unix or windows file systems.

Use an array of objects {from:, to:} to copy more than one file for each package.

Example

Imagine you wanted the latest jquery and bootstrap files on your www/js/res/ and www/css/res/ directories. Just run:

npm install jquery bootstrap
npm install cordova-import-npm
npx setup-cordova-import-npm

And then edit your npmFilesToImport.json with this info:

{
  "jquery": {
    "from": ["dist", "jquery.min.js"],
    "to": ["js", "res", "jquery.min.js"]
  },
  "bootstrap": [
    {
      "from": ["dist", "js", "bootstrap.min.js"],
      "to": ["js", "res", "bootstrap.min.js"]
    },
    {
      "from": ["dist", "css", "bootstrap.min.css"],
      "to": ["css", "res", "bootstrap.min.css"]
    }
  ]
}

Then every time you run cordova prepare, cordova build or cordova run, the npm files will be copied before anything else is processed, from the respective package modules to the www/ directory:

jquery: node_modules/jquery/dist/jquery.min.js -> www/js/res/jquery.min.js
bootstrap: node_modules/bootstrap/dist/js/bootstrap.min.js -> www/js/res/bootstrap.min.js
bootstrap: node_modules/bootstrap/dist/css/bootstrap.min.css -> www/css/res/bootstrap.min.css