module-alias
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Create aliases of directories and register custom module paths in NodeJS like a boss!
No more shit-coding paths in Node like so:
require('../../../../some/very/deep/module')
Enough of this madness!
Just create an alias and do it the right way:
var module = require('@deep/module')
import module from '@deep/module'
Install
npm i --save module-alias
Usage
Add these lines to your package.json
(in your application's root)
"_moduleAliases": {
"@root" : ".",
"@client" : "src/client",
"@deep" : "src/some/very/deep/directory",
"@my_module" : "src/some-file.js",
"something" : "src/foo",
}
"_moduleDirectories": ["node_modules_custom"],
Then add these line at the very main file of your app, before any code
require('module-alias/register')
And you're all set! Now you can do stuff like:
require('something')
const module = require('@root/some-module')
const veryDeepModule = require('@deep/my-module')
const customModule = require('my_custom_module')
import 'something'
import module from '@root/some-module'
import veryDeepModule from '@deep/my-module'
import customModule from 'my_custom_module'
Advanced usage
If you don't want to modify your package.json
or you just prefer to set it all up programmatically, then the following methods are available for you:
addAlias('alias', 'target_path')
- register a single aliasaddAliases({ 'alias': 'target_path', ... })
- register multiple aliasesaddPath(path)
- Register custom modules directory (like node_modules, but with your own modules)
Examples:
const moduleAlias = require('module-alias')
moduleAlias.addAlias('@client', __dirname + '/src/client')
moduleAlias.addAliases({
'@root' : __dirname,
'@client': __dirname + '/src/client',
...
})
moduleAlias.addPath(__dirname + '/node_modules_custom')
moduleAlias.addPath(__dirname + '/src')
moduleAlias(__dirname + '/package.json')
moduleAlias()
Usage with WebPack
Luckily, WebPack has a built in support for aliases and custom modules directories so it's easy to make it work on the client side as well!
const npm_package = require('./package.json')
module.exports = {
entry: { ... },
resolve: {
root: __dirname,
alias: npm_package._moduleAliases || {},
extensions: ['', '.js', '.jsx'],
modulesDirectories: npm_package._moduleDirectories || []
}
}
How it works?
In order to register an alias it modifies the internal Module._resolveFilename
method so that when you use require
or import
it first checks whether the given string starts with one of the registered aliases, if so, it replaces the alias in the string with the target path of the alias.
In order to register a custom modules path (addPath
) it modifies the internal Module._nodeModulePaths
method so that the given directory then acts like it's the node_modules
directory.