Windowify

Allows regular JavaScript files to expose global variables and functions when bundled with Browserify.

We can find old code written this way:

• jquery.js:

  function jQuery(selector) {
    /* ... */
  }

• test.js:

  var $element = jQuery('#some-element');

When we bundle the file with the jQuery definition, we loose the global reference to jQuery because it is no longer declared in the top level scope:

browserify jquery.js -o jquery.bundled.js

• jquery.bundled.js:

  /* PREAMBLE */
  })({
    1: [
      function(require, module, exports) {
        // jQuery is not global now!
        function jQuery(selector) {
          /* ... */
        }
      }, {}
    ]
  }, {}, [1]);

This module transforms those files exposing those variables to window:

browserify jquery.js -t windowify -o jquery.bundled.js

• jquery.bundled.js:

  /* PREAMBLE */
  })({
    1: [
      function(require, module, exports) {
        (function(window) {
        function jQuery(selector) {
          /* ... */
        }
        // jQuery is global again!
        window.jQuery = exports.jQuery = jQuery;
        }).call(window, window);
      }, {}
    ]
  }, {}, [1]);

It also sets window as the context of the code (for code setting global variables to this).

Installation

npm install windowify --save-dev

Usage

Like any other browserify transform, you can use in 3 ways:

• Adding the configuration to the package.json:

{
  "browserify": {
    "transform": [
      ["windowify", {"files": "**/jquery.js", "debug": true}]
    ]
  }
}

• Command-line usage:

browserify entry-point.js -t [ windowify **/jquery.js --debug ] -o entry-point.bundle.js

• Programmatic usage:

var b = browserify('entry-point.js');
b.transform('windowify', {files: '**/jquery.js', debug: true}]);

Contribute

1. Fork it: git clone https://github.com/rubennorte/windowify.git
2. Create your feature branch: git checkout -b my-new-feature
3. Commit your changes: git commit -am 'Add some feature'
4. Check the build: npm run build
5. Push to the branch: git push origin my-new-feature
6. Submit a pull request :D