Telerik platform Managing npm packages - npm

Question

hi i am building video streaming app through telerik platform. My app structure looks like :
my-project
app
- package.json
- app.js
node_modules
package.json
server.js
I have added firebase and bitmovin player plugin to my node_modules. Now the Telerik platform documentation says : to add require references to package.json file.
I do not get which package.json file needs to be opened . There are two files. The first one in the Project root which looks like:
{
"dependencies": {
"tns-core-modules": "2.5.1",
"bitmovin-player": "7.2.0-rc6",
"firebase": "4.1.2"
},
"devDependencies": {
"nativescript-dev-android-snapshot": "0.0.6",
"#types/firebase": "2.4.31"
}
}
The other package.json file is in the app folder looks like :
{
"name": "tns-template-blank",
"main": "app.js",
"version": "2.5.0",
"author": "Telerik <support#telerik.com>",
"description": "Nativescript blank project template",
"license": "Apache-2.0",
"keywords": [
"telerik",
"mobile",
"nativescript",
"{N}",
"tns",
"appbuilder",
"template"
],
"repository": {
"url": "https://github.com/NativeScript/NativeScript/commit/30aca890749e9e3fb9bd0f5ddc9de5b6995859bc"
}
}
and the app.js file looks like :
var application = require('application'),
mainModule = 'navigation/navigation';
application.start({
moduleName: mainModule
});
I do not get in which package.json file needs to be configured and where to enter the require reference for the module (like bitmovin player & firebase ) as mentioned in the telerik platform documentation which is shown in the picture above step no. 8.
please guide.

Answer 1

The first package.json (i.e. root package.json) is where any plugins go. If using the CLI, you can do tns plugin add nativescript-dom and it would then modify the package for you to be:
{
"dependencies": {
"tns-core-modules": "2.5.1",
"bitmovin-player": "7.2.0-rc6",
"firebase": "4.1.2",
"nativescript-dom": "2.0.0"
},
"devDependencies": {
"nativescript-dev-android-snapshot": "0.0.6",
"#types/firebase": "2.4.31"
}
}
The dependencies section is what needs to be changed; it needs the plugin name and the version you will be using. It that your package.json file is already correct for what you installed. You can also use http://plugins.nativescript.rocks for a list of plugins and their current versions.
A couple notes; based on you saying you needed bitmovin-player and firebase but using NativeScript; this won't work. The firebase and bitmovin-player you have referenced are not NativeScript plugins, so they won't work. To my knowledge bitmovin does not have NativeScript version (but my NativeScript-ExoPlayer plugin might be a good replacement) and then the NativeScript-Firebase I believe is the plugin you want for Firebase support in NativeScript.
I also see that you are using tns-core-modules 2.5.x; this means you want to get plugins that are 2.x compatible; the 3.x plugins will NOT work with TNS 2.x (and a large number of 2.x plugins won't work in 3.x).
When using a plugin (for example using my nativescript-dom) you do a var dom = require('nativescript-dom'); (or you can use const dom = ... as NativeScript can use ES6 grammer). You do not have to point to the actual js file inside the plugin. If the plugin is built correctly; it will automatically use the correct js file inside the plugin.
Finally in NativeScript the DevDependancies are for anything that is not being put into the application. In this case the android-snapshot plugin runs some build code during the build phase of the application.