I am just starting with node/npm and I have a lot of trouble with
the path to install the package
loading the package in node
I would like to have a package folder (no matter its path) with only the packages needed for my current project (I don't use a package.json just the normal npm install...). So instead of installing the package in the folder given by npm root, I thought I would install all the packages in a local folder with npm install --prefix ./node_modules pck_name.
If I install the packages globally, I am able to load the packages in Node with require('pck-nam'), but when I install in the local folder, I am unable to load the package in Node even by adding the folder path to node_path or with the full path of the packages in require:
const pck = require('C:/Users/Me/myproject/my_modules/node_modules/pck-name');
The error is Cannot find module 'pck-name'
Because I was stuck on this for a long time without finding a solution, I though of renaming the folder given by npm root and then doing a global install : because the folder is will be recreated from scratch, then I will just have the packages for my project. But after the install, I did npm list, and all my previous package are listed, including the one for current project.
I have read many questions/answers and many tuto but I am still unable to use npm/node the way I would like (I am used to python and I regularly use import for global/local modules so I may be thinking too much in a python way).
I can at least partially answer my question as I understand know why the previous package where still there after I renamed the folder. Although I didn't install from a package.json, npm install do create a package.json, or in my case a package-lock.json. And apparently when running a npm install package-name it will check package-lock.json re-install all the missing packages.
So it's not enough to rename the folder indicated by npm root, I also add to rename the package-lock.json. Now I am clear. I still think that I haven't found the best way to go but at least I have what I need.
Related
There's a public tool (csso-cli) that can be installed with npm install -g csso-cli to be available globally. Now I need to make a modification to it and change one of its dependencies (csso) to a newer version to use the latest features. So I cloned the repository and installed that with npm install -g ./. It did copy that local code directory to my global npm installation location, but none of the required dependencies were added. There simply isn't a node_modules subdirectory in the install location.
How can I properly install an npm package from a local directory, including all external dependencies, as if it were installed from a public repository? Maybe I need to create some sort of package file first and install that? I don't know much about npm. I searched the web but couldn't find anything. (All instructions are missing the dependencies.) I've read the npm documentation but am still no wiser. That topic isn't covered here, still only incomplete installations without dependencies seem possible. Who needs that?
Looks like I needed the npm pack command. It creates an archive of the package from the local directory. When installing that file with npm install -g my-package-1.0.0.tgz all dependencies are properly installed as well. Plus, the package file doesn't contain the git files.
I am a total Javascript newbie aiming to configure my Mac nicely for development.
NPM is installed.
I notice that folder node_modules exists in my Users/MyName directory.
I think this is a result of having either installed Node/NPM or specifically run npm install airtable the other day, which I did at the time in Users/MyName.
When I npm uninstall airtable, it removes airtable and its dependency folders from nodule_modules, leaving the following: #types and package-lock.json (hidden).
If I cd to new project-specific directory Users/MyName/Projects/Code/myusername/airtable-test and run npm install airtable from there, I expected the packages may get installed in that folder. However, again, they get installed up at Users/MyName/node_modules.
In both cases, .package-lock.json (non-hidden) and package.json are in Users/MyName, which seems messy to me. (I haven't done anything non-standard in install).
Is this the way things should be?
Attempts to solve:
I seem to read, including from questions on Stackoverflow, that storing modules at Users/MyName/node_modules is effectively storing them globally, accessible to any app, and such that projects don't have to get committed to server with all dependencies in tow - the idea being that, after you deploy your app, you then run npm install whilst in its folder, prompting it to install all dependencies.
Is this right? Should I be looking at storing all dependency modules in a project folder, or above and outside of it?
(If the answer to this question is opinion-based, I wasn't aware of that).
Here is what I believe is happening. You have your package.json in folder Users/MyName and you are running npm install in Users/MyName/Projects/Code/myusername/airtable-test. But the problem is you do not have package.json file in the folder Users/MyName/Projects/Code/myusername/airtable-test. So npm goes up in the directory to find the package.json and it found it in Users/MyName so it is installing the package there.
This is happening because the way npm identifies a project is by looking for package.json. If it does not find it in current directory than it assumes that you must be inside some sub directory of the project and start searching upwards in the folder hierarchy to find the package.json.
solution
Do npm init in the folder Users/MyName/Projects/Code/myusername/airtable-test. This will initialize the folder as a npm package (by creating package.json).
I'm getting closer to npm to manage the javascript of my project.
Looking at stackoverflow I saw this documentation: https://docs.npmjs.com/using-npm-packages-in-your-projects
but honestly I understood little and nothing...
I would like to install this package: npm install lightgallery lg-thumbnail lg-autoplay lg-video lg-fullscreen lg-pager lg-zoom lg-hash lg-share
running it he will put the package in node_modules.
always looking at the documentation I found: npm install <folder>, so I tried an told path to the directory at the end of npm install, but the install it inside the node_modules folder...
I'm using Laravel, and if I want to install something from npm to public/inc/plugins, which is the correct procedure? is it possible to indicate this in the packages.json file? If it is recommended to use the installation in the main node, how can I then use the js? with a reconstruction with webpack mix?
You shouldn't do that, because this is standard, and other developers may feel uncomfortable if you change this behavior.
In documentation, you can find:
Install the package in the directory as a symlink in the current project. Its dependencies will be installed before it’s linked. If folder sits inside the root of your project, its dependencies may be hoisted to the toplevel node_modules as they would for other types of dependencies.
Here you can find an answer on StackOverflow
Node.js newbie here, Windows 10. I npm install-ed some packages (without -g) while inside a directory that didn't have package.json. npm placed the packages in C:\Users\{MyName}\node_modules\.
Now I'm seeing some weird behavior:
When I'm in my project directory (has package.json but no node_modules/ yet), npm list and npm list -g both show an empty list
When I'm in a non-project directory (no package.json)...
npm list -g still shows an empty list
However, npm list shows everything in C:\Users\{MyName}\node_modules\
Question 1. What is going on here? Apparently, npm's default global path should be C:\Users\{MyName}\AppData\Roaming\npm\. If so, why is it using C:\Users\{MyName}\node_modules\?
Question 2. How do I get out of this mess? Node.js has no problem importing packages from C:\Users\{MyName}\node_modules\, but I want npm to list them properly. How can I delete the semi-global packages, reinstall them correctly, and ensure that this doesn't happen again?
Welp, turns out I've been mistakenly npm install-ing packages without package.json. The first time I did this, I was in my home directory(C:\Users\{MyName}\). This caused npm to create node_modules/ and package-lock.json in the home directory. Further (mistaken) attempts to install packages in my projects--which were still missing package.json--caused npm to traverse upwards, until it found the initial node_modules/ dir, and install everything there. Because my home directory is among the places Node.js looks for modules, I didn't notice my mistake until now. :P
Not sure why it’s doing it, but the way to avoid it is to initialize your project directory using:
npm init
or if you don’t want to answer the questions:
npm init -y
That will setup the directory with the package.json and node_modules will be put there.
Ok, a couple of tips then...
when you install a package that you are going to use in production then add --save, e.g.
npm install --save some-package
this will automatically add the dependency to your package.json. If you are installing a package for use purely in development, e.g. chai, then use--save-devand it will add it to the development dependencies.
Also, git is your friend, even if you are only messing :)
Happy noding :)
For me the solution here was:
Go to c:\users[me]\AppData\Roaming\npm and delete the node_modules folder completely
Make sure I had the package.json file for the project
Delete the project package-lock.json file
Run npm init
Run npm install
Project then worked, not sure why the node_modules got to be in the folder above, ain't got time to find out.
Background
We're having issues with a Windows build system hitting the file path too long error when the node modules folder has items within it that have paths which are over 260 characters.
We've discovered adding a deeply nested dependency to the top of the devDependencies section fixes this issue. The assumption is that when npm sees a nested dependency C.1 require package A, which is already declared and available in devDependencies, npm will not add dependency A to dependency C.1's node_modules directory.
Issue
The problem I'm seeing on my local machine is that running npm install <package> --save-dev reorders the packages in devDependencies alphabetically, but the order npm process packages and their dependencies matters. If I check this in, then the build system will hit the same file path too long error.
ie If package A comes after package C and dependency C.1 requires package A, then npm will add package A to the node_modules folder of dependency C.1.
I'm not sure if this reordering is only on my machine since I haven't seen npm reorder dependencies on my home machine before.
Has anyone seen this before or know how to stop this behavior?
Versions
Node: v0.10.32
NPM: v1.4.28
Side note: I've read that npm 2.0 or future versions will analyze the dependency hierarchy, find duplicated packages, and only reference them once on the file system, but the upgrade to npm 2.0 is not in the picture at this time.
The only way I see this working is to have some sort of preinstall script which [hopefully] will run after the dependencies file has been updated but before the package is installed. From the npm site:
In the current version of node, the standard way to do this is using a
.gyp file. If you have a file with a .gyp extension in the root of
your package, then npm will run the appropriate node-gyp commands
automatically at install time
If that doesn't work, you will need to use MakeFile and rewrite the package.json file. This is not too out of the ordinary as some projects require some sort of pre-compilation - you would just instruct your team to run a separate command for installing npm packages.