Upgrading from 0.1.14 -> 0.2.4, global should be defined

[GCheung55]

Upgrading from 0.1.14 -> 0.2.4, global should be defined but an JS error is being thrown that "global is not defined".

[GCheung55]

I think it's related to the change in https://github.com/requirejs/cajon/blob/master/tools/c.js#L41. Using global.eval vs eval.

When eval is used, global is provided via the scope chain, but global.eval doesn't.

[jrburke]

If you have an example or test case that shows what kind of module loading breaks, that would help figure out a solution.

[GCheung55]

Here's a CommonJS module to test global.

https://gist.github.com/GCheung55/5116931959a24afc1b2a

I just tried cajon@0.2.5 and the issue is reproducible.

[jrburke]

Looking more at this, while the behavior changed in #8, it was for correctness -- best not to leak the private variables inside the loader to the evaluated text, and to provide a consistent eval environment. So I would expect the behavior as typeof global being undefined.

Is this more about compatibility with modules from node? If so, that is a trickier issue. Node has other implied available variables, like process, but I was not planning on simulating a node environment with cajon, just providing an "unwrapped" modules in the style of CommonJS/Node. But just on the style of module APIs, not on their execution environment.

If this was needed, for a particular project, it can be provided outside the loader:

<script src="cajon.js"></script>
<script>
var global = this;
require(['app']);
</script>

Does that meet the goals?

[GCheung55]

True, I could add var global = this;. I don't expect a complete simulation of a node environment. process doesn't make sense to simulate, especially since there isn't an equivalent in a browser environment. But I think a global equivalent in a browser environment would be window.

How do you feel about exposing global as an argument to the module's callback?

define(function(require, module, exports, global){})

I ask because this would be a tiny bit more performant than looking up the scope chain in order to find global set as a global variable.

[GCheung55]

Also, there are node modules that are written for both browser and server environments. The one I'm currently using is https://github.com/kamicane/prime/blob/master/defer.js which makes use of checking global for properties/methods. It's treating global as window.