Typescript - Further Exploration into "require" and paths - requirejs

Question

I had resigned myself to the fact that every require statement in Typescript had to be relative to the file you were typing in, but I recently discovered an application that does this differently and it confuses me. I was hoping someone with enough skill could explain how this is working to me.
The application in question is the new Raven DB HTML5 Studio, which uses typescript, you can find the whole application here:
RavenDB HTML5 Studio
When browsing its source code, I came across something interesting... if you go and look at many of the files; In specific the one I am looking at... app/viewmodels/deleteItems.ts, it has a reference at the top that reads..
import document = require("models/document");
but models/document isn't a path relative to deleteItems.ts, but this works. Can someone explain how this is happening? I'm linking you RIGHT to the exact files I'm talking about. This kind of behavior is littered all over this application.
app/viewmodels/deleteItem.ts
app/models/document.ts
This is exactly the kind of behavior I really wanted to try and emulate in my own code, since trying to keep all of the paths relative to the file I'm working in is a headache, but this program seems to be completely free of that requirement.
This doesn't necessarily involve RavenDB, but I am tagging it anyway, because perhaps someone who has read over the Raven repository will understand it and be able to answer.
Update
I am trying to mimic this behavior in my own code, and not finding any success. I am sorry if I seem outright stupid, but this is all really confusing me. Here is what my structure looks like; My repository is private, so I cannot really just link to it.
app_content
scripts
home
controls
models
editors
utils
UserControls.ts
UserMapping.ts
UserElements.ts
ui
lib
jquery
jquery.js
jquery.validate.js
jquery.ui.js
kendo
kendo.all.js
kendo.aspnetmvc.js
// other libraries
Alright, that's a general feel for my folder layout. All typescript files are under the /home folder so that I can prevent github from saving their compiled javascript and locking that.
So then, in the file UserControls.ts, it looks like this right now...
import userElements = require('./UserElements');
import userMapping = require('./UserMapping');
export class UserControls {
// code
}
No matter what combinations I have tried, this is the only format/syntax that doesn't throw errors in Visual Studio. But from what I see in the RavenDB project, I should very much be able to declare it like ...
import userElements = require('utils/UserElements');
import userMapping = require('utils/UserMapping');
export class UserControls {
// some code
}

Answer 1

No matter what combinations I have tried, this is the only format/syntax that doesn't throw errors in Visual Studio. But from what I see in the RavenDB project, I should very much be able to declare it like ...
That is because they are using a drandalJS configuration to tell it how to resolve the file path. (see https://github.com/ayende/ravendb/blob/New3/Raven.Studio.Html5/App/main.js)
There isn't a similar configuration (basePath) for TypeScript at the moment. Your best option is to use relative paths as you've already noticed.
PS: an old but still relevant video that shows you how requirejs config works and relevance when using TypeScript https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AGQpv0MKsA&hd=1

Answer 2

The TypeScript compiler's module resolution algorithm is essentially undocumented, unfortunately. It tries to "split the difference" between AMD and CommonJS's module resolution rules, so it's somewhat hard to reason about.
What you're seeing here is an attempt to mimic CommonJS's "walk up the tree" resolution rule. When in the path C:\a\b\c\d resolving x, first C:\a\b\c\d\x is tried, then C:\a\b\c\x, then C:\a\b\x, and so on until it hits the root folder and gives up.