Become require()-able by allowing to become a dependency

[EvanLovely]

It would be great to be able to use Pattern Lab Node as a dependency in another project (like a CMS theme build for a client - my use case). I would like my repo to contain the source code for the Pattern Lab Patterns, Data, Config, and Header/Footer template files, but not the compiled source – kinda like how we commit our *.scss but not our *.css. To do this we'd need to be able to do this at the top of a Gulp file:

var pl = require('patternlab-node')({
  "paths": {
    "source": {
      "root": "./source/",
      "patterns": "./source/_patterns/",
      "data": "./source/_data/"
    }
});

gulp.task('pl', function() {
  pl.build();
});

Basically pass in the config object (could just read a config.json in our repo and pass it in too) and then run the build command.

Is there any interest in the project moving in this direction? I could see the gulp and grunt "starter kits" you already provide getting ported to a yeoman generator for people who want all the stuff out of the box.

Thanks so much for your work and interest in the Pattern Lab world!! 🍻

[bmuenzenmeyer]

hey @EvanLovely

I love the idea and the example syntax. For what it's worth this PR just landed in dev and I have plans to get it into 1.1.0 along with some example uses.

You'll also see that @geoffp included an example usage. It's not ready, but it's coming!

[EvanLovely]

OK @bmuenzenmeyer - I've got the basics up in #223 !

[bmuenzenmeyer]

Did the last commit of #223 address this issue in its entirety?

[EvanLovely]

It's a huge step forward, but I think for this issue to be complete, we'd need it documented and any other steps ironed out. The PR #223 laid most of the groundwork (hence the "Basic" part of the title).

[bmuenzenmeyer]

I am freed up, and will start testing and documenting using #223 (comment) as a starting point.

[bmuenzenmeyer]

Documenting this has moved to https://github.com/pattern-lab/patternlab-node/wiki/Running-Pattern-Lab-Node-as-an-NPM-Dependency

Finishing #237 has helped simplify the styleguide steps quite a bit. When I pick this up again, I should be able to push through the remaining tasks and write up grunt docs too.

[bmuenzenmeyer]

I got grunt working tonight - sans all the styleguide hoops to jump through, and updated the grunt documentation accordingly.

I will go through gulp at earliest opportunity too.

I've also created reference repositories that can house the final product configuration, which might help people understand what to do... or perhaps they might directly fork? Hmm.. https://github.com/bmuenzenmeyer/patternlab-node-grunt-dependency-example

. 🎉 🎈 🍻 🍰

[geoffp]

Woohoo!
On Thu, Feb 4, 2016 at 12:48 AM Brian Muenzenmeyer notifications@github.com
wrote:

I got grunt working tonight - sans all the styleguide hoops to jump
through. [image: 🎉] [image: 🎈] [image: 🍻] [image:
🍰]

—
Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub
#221 (comment)
.

[bmuenzenmeyer]

Documentation complete!
Everything worked on the gulp side as you described.
https://github.com/pattern-lab/patternlab-node/wiki/Running-Pattern-Lab-Node-as-an-npm-Dependency

Also setup a reference repo for gulp here: https://github.com/bmuenzenmeyer/patternlab-node-gulp-dependency-example..

@EvanLovely @geoffp any objections to calling this guy resolved?!?

[geoffp]

This is awesome! I'll sign off. 👍

[tbouron]

Hi Guys.

Thanks for tackling this, that's a huge improvement! But I think it can go even further to trully become a dependency of any other project. The current implementation involves copying Gruntfile.js or gulpfile.js which is very likely to be modified by any user to include its own custom tasks. Upon updates, it can (and will) become hard to merge patternlab changes into those files.

Now, grunt or gulp can require other Gruntfile.js or gulpfile.js files and use their tasks. I did some testing of this solution by requireing ./node_modules/patternlab-node/gulpfile.js and redefining the task patternlab => Works great except for the tasks that use path() because it's not injected. So what would be great is to create a simple node module that contains all grunt/gulp tasks and inject our configuration.

WDYT?

[tbouron]

I actually have a working example with gulp :)

I'll do more tests with grunt and push a PR once I have something that works

[bmuenzenmeyer]

Hi @tbouron

I wasn't aware of the ability to require other grunt/gulp files. TIL. As with all contributions, I am eager to explore things that make consumption and developer workflow easier!

[geoffp]

Me neither, that's great news to me -- I have at least a couple projects for which I'd love that functionality.

[tbouron]

@bmuenzenmeyer, @geoffp gruntfile.jsand gulpfile.js files are essentially classic javascript files which can be required as any other files. But for some reason, it is something not many people consider to do even though it creates even more modular applications!

I'll try to put something together tomorrow :)

[tbouron]

@bmuenzenmeyer, @geoffp I couldn't wait until tomorrow, so here you go: #244 :)

[EvanLovely]

SO happy we got this in! I often use require() for grabbing other grunt/gulp files so I can split up my tasks. It's essentially just this:

In task.js:

var plugin = require('gulp-plugin');

module.exports = function (gulp, config) {

  gulp.task('task', function () {
    // cool stuff here
  });

};

In gulpfile.js:

var gulp = require('gulp');
var config = require('config.json');

require('./task.js')(gulp, config);

[bmuenzenmeyer]

I meant to have this close with 1.1.0.
Conversation has moved to #244