Toggle the debug flag when running the grunt/requirejs build process

Question

Toggle the debug flag when running the grunt/requirejs build process

I am new to using both requirejs and gruntjs. In my application, I have a debug flag set as follows:

var debugEnabled = true;

Is there a way for this flag to be automatically changed to false during the requirejs optimization process within a grunt build?

EDIT: Just to clarify, I have a single default task that executes the requirejs optimizer. The variable debugEnabled is located inside one of the modules in my application, such as AppLogger, which is a dependency of main.

Is there a method for the requirejs build process to update this variable to false, so that the minified version of AppLogger doesn't execute console.log statements, etc.

javascript debugging build requirejs gruntjs

Answer 1

Answer №1

@asgoth's solution seems effective, however, I've discovered a few additional techniques to manipulate code during the building process.

As outlined in the sample build.js file, we can utilize build pragmas to add/remove code segments when building.

//Specify build pragmas...
//The comments starting with //>> serve as build pragmas...
//Pragmas evaluate the value to include/exclude code snippets...
pragmas: {
    fooExclude: true
},

//Similar to "pragmas", but applied once during file saving phase...
pragmasOnSave: {
    excludeCoffeeScript: true
},

This approach is demonstrated in the jquery.mobile source code, offering insights into AMD and requirejs.

Here's how I implemented it:

AppLogger.js:

/* global console: false */
define(function () {

  var debugEnabled = false;
//>>excludeStart('appBuildExclude', pragmas.appBuildExclude);
  debugEnabled = true;
//>>excludeEnd('appBuildExclude');
  return {
    log:function (message) {
      if (debugEnabled && console) {
        console.log('APP DEBUG: ' + message);
      }
    }
  };

});

Gruntfile.js:

requirejs:{
  compile:{
    options:{
      baseUrl:"js/",
      mainConfigFile:"js/main.js",
      name:'main',
      out:'js/main.min.js',
      pragmas:{ appBuildExclude:true }
    }
  }
}

By configuring the requirejs in my Gruntfile with pragma sections like excludeStart and excludeEnd, specific code blocks were removed from the compiled output.

While still exploring requirejs, this method worked effectively for my requirements without claiming to be the definitive best practice.

Answer 2

@asgoth's solution seems effective, however, I've discovered a few additional techniques to manipulate code during the building process.

As outlined in the sample build.js file, we can utilize build pragmas to add/remove code segments when building.

//Specify build pragmas...
//The comments starting with //>> serve as build pragmas...
//Pragmas evaluate the value to include/exclude code snippets...
pragmas: {
    fooExclude: true
},

//Similar to "pragmas", but applied once during file saving phase...
pragmasOnSave: {
    excludeCoffeeScript: true
},

This approach is demonstrated in the jquery.mobile source code, offering insights into AMD and requirejs.

Here's how I implemented it:

AppLogger.js:

/* global console: false */
define(function () {

  var debugEnabled = false;
//>>excludeStart('appBuildExclude', pragmas.appBuildExclude);
  debugEnabled = true;
//>>excludeEnd('appBuildExclude');
  return {
    log:function (message) {
      if (debugEnabled && console) {
        console.log('APP DEBUG: ' + message);
      }
    }
  };

});

Gruntfile.js:

requirejs:{
  compile:{
    options:{
      baseUrl:"js/",
      mainConfigFile:"js/main.js",
      name:'main',
      out:'js/main.min.js',
      pragmas:{ appBuildExclude:true }
    }
  }
}

By configuring the requirejs in my Gruntfile with pragma sections like excludeStart and excludeEnd, specific code blocks were removed from the compiled output.

While still exploring requirejs, this method worked effectively for my requirements without claiming to be the definitive best practice.

Answer 3

Answer №2

Imagine having two tasks to handle:

development
production

development takes care of tasks specific to development, such as jshint and coffeescript compilation. production handles requirejs optimization and css minification.

To streamline this process, you can create a build task that checks the debug flag:

    grunt.registerTask('build', 'run build', function () {
        var task = debugEnabled ? 'development' : 'production';

        // execute the chosen task
        grunt.task.run(task);
    });

By running grunt build in the command line, it will be executed accordingly.

Alternatively, you have the option to use the option parameter in grunt:

    grunt.registerTask('build', 'run build', function () {
        // default to starting with development build
        var target = grunt.option('target') || 'development';

        // execute the chosen task
        grunt.task.run(target);
    });

Executing grunt build --target=production on the command line will run the specified task.

Edit:

If you want to separate your debug flag into a distinct module:

path/to/debug.js

define(function() {
   return true;
});

Create a production version near your grunt tasks:

path/to/grunt/tasks/debug.js

define(function() {
   return false;
});

In your requirejs task, specify that version:

requirejs: {
   options: {
      paths: {
         debug: 'path/to/grunt/tasks/debug.js'
      }
   }
}

Answer 4

Imagine having two tasks to handle:

development
production

development takes care of tasks specific to development, such as jshint and coffeescript compilation. production handles requirejs optimization and css minification.

To streamline this process, you can create a build task that checks the debug flag:

    grunt.registerTask('build', 'run build', function () {
        var task = debugEnabled ? 'development' : 'production';

        // execute the chosen task
        grunt.task.run(task);
    });

By running grunt build in the command line, it will be executed accordingly.

Alternatively, you have the option to use the option parameter in grunt:

    grunt.registerTask('build', 'run build', function () {
        // default to starting with development build
        var target = grunt.option('target') || 'development';

        // execute the chosen task
        grunt.task.run(target);
    });

Executing grunt build --target=production on the command line will run the specified task.

Edit:

If you want to separate your debug flag into a distinct module:

path/to/debug.js

define(function() {
   return true;
});

Create a production version near your grunt tasks:

path/to/grunt/tasks/debug.js

define(function() {
   return false;
});

In your requirejs task, specify that version:

requirejs: {
   options: {
      paths: {
         debug: 'path/to/grunt/tasks/debug.js'
      }
   }
}

Toggle the debug flag when running the grunt/requirejs build process

Answer №1

Answer №2

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