How to turn multiple vue components into one single npm package? - vue.js

I was told by the project manager at the company I work for to take all the global components of a vue project we're working on and turning them into a single npm package that anyone working on the project can import and start using. essentially I have to take the global components and turn them into a component library like vuetify which is installed using npm and than imported from node modules directory.
I was wondering if you guys could point me in the right direction on how to achieve this. thanks in advance.

So, regardless of the implementation, the main thing you need is following this guide on how to create an npm package
https://docs.npmjs.com/creating-and-publishing-private-packages
Then
You create an src folder.
In the src, you will create a folder named "components" with all your -duh- components.
In the src folder, you will also create an index.js file, from there you will export your components.
export { default as VDataTable } from './components/VDataTable.vue'
// ...etc
Option1
If you use a bundler for your projects, and you know by a fact that all your codebases will use a bundler, you can simply create a folder with a package.json.
In your package.json then you will
"module": "src/index.js",
"main": "src/index.js"
In this scenario, you are letting your main project bundler (which is using the package) transpile all the packages for you, (babel, single file components)
Option 2
In case you have absolutely no clue of the nature of the projects which can use your library you will need a bundler for your components.
An example can be Rollup.
I suggest these 2 guides.
https://rollupjs.org/
https://rollup-plugin-vue.vuejs.org/
Long story short, Rollup will transpile for you the files you requested (js and css), and you will have to make them available from your package.json
"module": "src/dist/library.esm.js",
"main": "src/library.common.js"
And then you can release your package. Possibly privately or you might get fired :P

Related

How to handle project assets with NPM together with SonataAdminBundle?

Since version 4.x of SonataAdminBundle all assets are handled using NPM and WebPack.
In my project I also have some assets and JS libraries and I'm also using NPM and WebPack.
What should I do in this case? For example, SonataAdminBundle uses libraries such as jQuery, Bootstrap, but I also use them (in my package.json).
One of the ideas that came to my mind is to import the main "app.js" file (vendor/sonata-project/admin-bundle/assets/js/app.js) from SonataAdminBundle which contains all the required components to run to my main "app.js" file and then import my other additional libraries and assets. Next, I would then copy all the dependencies from the SonataAdminBundle package.json file (vendor/sonata-project/admin-bundle/package.json) and paste it into my package.json file.
I am not sure if this approach is correct.
The downside of this solution would be to compare the package.json files after each update of the SonataAdminBundle library and apply any changes.
Do you have other ideas to solve this problem?

Creating a single Vue component inside a larger project

I have a PHP project that uses Kirby CMS. I also use Gulp for building my assets. Now, I need to add a calculator on the homepage that is complex enough to justify the usage of Vue. How would I incorporate Vue in my project without introducing a ton of new tooling? All I want is a simple Single File Component basically. I have:
<div id="calculator"></div>
and I want the component to be rendered there. Nothing more.
After some consideration, I came up with the following options but found issues with each of them:
Use the Vue CLI for instant prototyping. That's the closest solution for my use case, but I can't easily develop the component. If I use vue serve, I get to see the component isolated in a new page. The issue lies in the fact the component isn't a part of my project's page. It's not affected by its stylesheets, layout, and other scripts. I can't know if it'll work properly once I build it and view it in my project. Running vue build on each change would be pretty painful and time consuming. Sadly, vue watch isn't a thing, which leads me to:
Creating a project and using Vue CLI Service. If I create a project, I'd be able to run vue-cli-service build --watch and have my component automatically refresh on each change of its source file. While developing the component, I simply make a change, wait for it to compile, and refresh my project in the browser to see the modified component in action. While that would work, it introduces a bunch of node_modules inside my project, along with a package.json. I feel that's too much for just a single component. It would pollute the project more than I'd like:
assets/
js/
build/
calculator/
dist/
node_modules/ # modules here
public/ # I don't need that
package.json # package here
package-lock.json
App.vue
scripts/
main.js
content/
site/
node_modules/ # modules here as well
panel/
package.json # package here as well
package-lock.json
index.php
I would basically have a project within a project.
Use vueify to compile the component with Browserify and Gulp (which I already use). While this appears OK, vueify is deprecated and not supported. Besides, I'd have to add a bunch of stuff to my gulpfile.js in order to use Babel + ESLint for the component.
How do I set up Vue in such a way that I'm able to develop a very simple component as a part of a larger project with as little friction as possible?
If anyone has dealt with a similar problem, how did they solve it?
I ended up using the second approach I mentioned in my question with one small twist - I initialized the Vue project in my main project. I merged them.
I opened the parent folder of my project in a terminal.
I ran vue create my-project where my-project was the actual folder name of my project. The CLI asked if it should overwrite the project or merge it. I chose merge.
After the project was created, my old package.json was overwritten and only had the Vue dependencies listed in it.
I reverted my old package.json and installed these packages: #vue/cli-plugin-babel, #vue/cli-service, vue-template-compiler, and vue.
I added the following npm script in my package.json:
"scripts": {
"calculator": "vue-cli-service build assets/js/calculator/main.js --watch --dest assets/js/calculator/build"
}
Result
My project's folder structure remained the same, except for a few new packages in node_modules. I put my component files in assets/js/calculator/. There, I have main.js which is the main component script, and build which is a folder containing the processed component.
I have:
<div id="calculator"></div>
in my page, and:
<script src="/assets/js/calculator/build/app.js"></script>
in the footer. When I open the page, the component is rendered correctly.
To modify the component, I simply run npm run calculator in a terminal, which spins up the CLI service. It monitors the main.js file and builds the component on each change. Once the build is complete (which happens in under a second), I refresh the page and the updated component is there.
Conclusion
I believe that's the smoothest way to handle this use case. It didn't bloat the project, all dependencies were listed, and the development experience is great. The part where my package.json got overwritten was a bit concerning, but other than that - it worked perfectly. If there's a better way to do this, please leave an answer!
This is probably not the answer you're looking for but if I were you I'd look into inline templates and x-templates as they seem well suited to your use case.
Also have a look at this blog post. It offers a nice write up about the different template authoring methods in Vue and their pros/cons.

Using vuex store with npm-link in vue-cli 3 project loses $store

I think this is a config issue related to keeping store in an npm-linked folder.
I made a vue-cli 3 project and got the “counter” example running (from https://github.com/vuejs/vuex/tree/dev/examples/counter)
Works: When I move the store.js to an installed node_modules package (and update its import url) it continues to work.
Breaks: When I move the store.js to an npm linked node_modules package it compiles and dev tools finds the store, but I get a blank screen and console error: Property or method “$store” is not defined on the instance but referenced during render
It also works properly with a linked package if I build the minimized js (npm run build). Is there a config setting I'm missing?
The problem turned out to be that the linked packages had its own node_modules folder. I think that may have resulted in webpack creating 2 instances of Vue and attaching the linked package to the 2nd instance.
Deleting the depended upon package's node modules and letting webpack / vue-cli run at the root level resolved my problem.
I realize this question is ridiculously old, but I ran into this exact issue. As deleting node_modules isn't a valid solution, here's what actually worked.
In the library you're importing into your main app, edit your package.json file.
You want to move Vue to be a peer dependency.
"dependencies": {
"vue": "^3.0.0" // move this
},
Move "vue" here.
"peerDependents": {
"vue": "^3.0.0"
},
This will cause your library to use the instance of Vue utilized by your main vue app. As the accepted answer states, this issue is indeed caused by each package loading its own Vue instance. The issue happens because reactivity is bound to the Vue instance. As each library gets its own instance, this creates a situation where reactivity isn't properly tracked between the instances.
I found the solution to this in the Vuejs git repo at https://github.com/vuejs/vue-cli/issues/4271

How to publish a vue js plugin that modifies an existing plugin

I am trying to create a plugin that utilizes components from another Vuejs plugin (Vuetify). Basically, I have some common components I want to share across multiple applications with our company.
I thought it would just be a matter of:
Create a github repo for the shared components
Author the plugin
Reference the repo in consuming apps via npm install
Here is the gist of the plugin:
// src/index.js <-- package.json/main is set to "src"
import MyComponent from "./MyComponent.vue";
import * as api from "./api";
export default function install(Vue) {
Vue.component("myComponent", MyComponent );
Vue.prototype.$myApi = api;
}
At the moment, the behavior I'm seeing is:
GOOD
plugin install function is being executed
functions from api attached to Vue.prototype are available in app components
my-component is available in the app and renders markup
BAD
$myApi and Vuetify components are not available in an application instance of of my-component
If I copy the same files into the app and change my import, all works as expected. So, I now wonder if I'm missing something regarding sharing code via external modules.
I've tried these alternatives with the same issue:
use npm link to link the plugin module to the app
manually, use mklink (Windows sym link) to link plugin module to node_modules in the app folder
use a long relative path reference to the plugin module: import MyPlugin from "../../../my-plugin"
I've put this issue off for a while, but for anyone wondering, the issue is with using Single File Components and webpack not compiling those in external modules.
The 2 options I have are:
Don't use Single File Components. I.e.: Just use .js instead of .vue. I've seen some libs like Vuetify.js take this approach
Compile the .vue files in the library module and include them in the source such as ./dist folder.

Why I have too many packages inside my node_modules?

I am new, and when i first created my app based on the documentation using npm create-react-app i found it there were a lot of package included inside folder node_module when i code and i only use react and react DOM and etc from the basic.
node_modules
acorn
timer
ansi
and many more
I wonder if anyone can help my how to understand each use inside the node_module or where can i find the documentation for each use?
or how can i just reduce to what i want to use only to decrease the app size?
The answers are 2:
because you're using an automated scaffolding tool, which essentially does everything for you, and, you have just to code, it is supposed to locally deploy all the packages it needs to work (for example webpack is needed to bundle your code, babel to transpile it, ...
under node_modules you will find all the packages of the whole app. That's means you will find both your dependencies and the dependencies of your dependencies (this rule has some exceptions and you can find them in the npm documentation.
example:
// your code depends on A
var dependency = require('A');
// but then, inside your A dependency you can also find something similar to:
var b = require('B');
how can i just reduce to what i want to use only to decrease the app size?
You basically can't do it. They are all needed.
Most of the libraries that we pull from npm have dependencies. You may use only react and react-dom but there are react-scripts that require lots of stuff. I don't think that you have to worry about the size of the node_modules. That's not what you are suppose to ship in production.
If you want to see what are these all modules about you may open their folder and fine README.md file.