Builder and bundler for the client part of a Meteor application. As a result it would generate simple index.html, so it can be hosted on any server or even loaded via the file:// protocol.
- Installation
- Important notes
- Bundler output
- Usage and examples
- Tips'n tricks
- HTTP Server/Proxy usage
- Get help:
npm install -g meteor-build-client- The Meteor/Atmosphere package
frozeman:build-clientis just a placeholder package, there's no need to install it; - Warning: the content of the output folder will be deleted before building the new output! So don't do things like
meteor-build-client /home! - Do not use dynamic imports! e.g.
import('/eager/file');; - By default this package link legacy ES5 bundle build; For ES6/Modern scripts build an app with
meteor build <path> --exclude-archs web.browser.legacy --directoryflag and pass it to--usebuild <path>, see docs
The content of the output folder could look as follows:
index.htmla28817fe16898311635fa73b959979157e830a31.cssaeca2a21c383327235a08d55994243a9f478ed57.js...(other files from project's/publicdirectory)
Things you need to know before exporting your project
meteor-build-client looks for the <meteor-bundled-css /> tag in your <head> section and the <meteor-bundled-js /> tag in the <body> section.
Example:
<head>
<!-- your header stuff... -->
<!-- then typically add the css link at the bottom of the head -->
<meteor-bundled-css />
</head>
<body>
<!-- typically want to load all the js code at the top -->
<meteor-bundled-js />
<!-- The rest of your body stuff... -->
</body>Note: this does not work for blaze projects. For blaze projects you can only set <meteor-bundled-css /> in your header. It is invalid to set <meteor-bundled-js /> in your body, simply leave it out and the right thing will happen.
List all available options and show docs:
meteor-build-client --helpUsage examples:
# cd to meteor app
cd /my/app
# run meteor-build-client
meteor-build-client ../output/directory
# build meteor app as usual
meteor build ../build-directory --directory
# bundle client-only assets with meteor-build-client
meteor-build-client ../build-directory-client --url https://example.com --usebuild ../build-directoryPass Meteor's settings.json settings file via --settings or -s option:
meteor-build-client ../output/directory -s ../settings.jsonNote: Only the public property of that JSON file will be add to the Meteor.settings property.
Set the ROOT_URL of the application via --url or -u option:
meteor-build-client ../output/directory -u https://myserver.comBy passing "default", application will try to connect to the server from where the application was served. If this option was not set, it will set the server to "" (empty string) and will add a Meteor.disconnect() after Meteor was loaded.
To serve application via file:// protocol (by opening the index.html) set --path or -p option to "" (empty string). This would generate relative paths for assets across the application:
meteor-build-client ../output/directory -p ""The default path value is "/".
Note: "path" value will replace paths in generated CSS file. Use it to link fonts and other assets correctly.
To use pre-build Meteor application, built using meteor build command manually, specify the --usebuild <path-to-build> flag and meteor-build-client will not run the meteor build command.
Tips'n tricks using client bundle
When building server-less standalone web application we recommend to replace meteor-base with meteor and webapp packages.
@@ .meteor/packages
- meteor-base
+ meteor
+ webappIn order to connect to a Meteor servers, create DDP connection by using DDP.connect(), as seen in the following example:
// This Should be in both server and client in a lib folder
DDPConnection = (Meteor.isClient) ? DDP.connect('http://localhost:3000/') : {};
// When creating a new collection on the client use:
if(Meteor.isClient) {
posts = new Mongo.Collection('posts', DDPConnection);
// set the new DDP connection to all internal packages, which require one
Meteor.connection = DDPConnection;
Accounts.connection = Meteor.connection;
Meteor.users = new Mongo.Collection('users');
Meteor.connection.subscribe('users');
// Subscribe like this:
DDPConnection.subscribe('mySubscription');
}To enforce JavaScript routing, all requests should point to index.html. See below "rewrite" instructions for various http/proxy servers.
Create .htaccess for Apache with mod_rewrite rules:
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
# Always pass through requests for files that exist
# Per http://stackoverflow.com/a/7090026/223225
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -f [OR]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -d
RewriteRule . - [L]
# Send all other requests to index.html where the JavaScript router can take over
# and render the requested route
RewriteRule ^.*$ index.html [L]
</IfModule>Use try_files and error_page to redirect all requests to non-existent files to index.html. Static files will be served by nginx itself.
server {
listen 80;
listen [::]:80;
server_name myapp.com;
index index.html;
root /var/www/myapp;
error_page 404 =200 /index.html;
location / {
try_files $uri $uri/ /index.html;
}
}