125 lines
4.6 KiB
Markdown
125 lines
4.6 KiB
Markdown
# Bower {#sec-bower}
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[Bower](https://bower.io) is a package manager for web site front-end components. Bower packages (comprising of build artifacts and sometimes sources) are stored in `git` repositories, typically on Github. The package registry is run by the Bower team with package metadata coming from the `bower.json` file within each package.
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The end result of running Bower is a `bower_components` directory which can be included in the web app's build process.
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Bower can be run interactively, by installing `nodePackages.bower`. More interestingly, the Bower components can be declared in a Nix derivation, with the help of `nodePackages.bower2nix`.
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## bower2nix usage {#ssec-bower2nix-usage}
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Suppose you have a `bower.json` with the following contents:
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### Example bower.json {#ex-bowerJson}
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```json
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"name": "my-web-app",
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"dependencies": {
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"angular": "~1.5.0",
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"bootstrap": "~3.3.6"
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}
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```
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Running `bower2nix` will produce something like the following output:
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```nix
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{ fetchbower, buildEnv }:
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buildEnv { name = "bower-env"; ignoreCollisions = true; paths = [
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(fetchbower "angular" "1.5.3" "~1.5.0" "1749xb0firxdra4rzadm4q9x90v6pzkbd7xmcyjk6qfza09ykk9y")
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(fetchbower "bootstrap" "3.3.6" "~3.3.6" "1vvqlpbfcy0k5pncfjaiskj3y6scwifxygfqnw393sjfxiviwmbv")
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(fetchbower "jquery" "2.2.2" "1.9.1 - 2" "10sp5h98sqwk90y4k6hbdviwqzvzwqf47r3r51pakch5ii2y7js1")
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]; }
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```
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Using the `bower2nix` command line arguments, the output can be redirected to a file. A name like `bower-packages.nix` would be fine.
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The resulting derivation is a union of all the downloaded Bower packages (and their dependencies). To use it, they still need to be linked together by Bower, which is where `buildBowerComponents` is useful.
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## buildBowerComponents function {#ssec-build-bower-components}
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The function is implemented in [pkgs/development/bower-modules/generic/default.nix](https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/master/pkgs/development/bower-modules/generic/default.nix).
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### Example buildBowerComponents {#ex-buildBowerComponents}
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```nix
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{
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bowerComponents = buildBowerComponents {
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name = "my-web-app";
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generated = ./bower-packages.nix; # note 1
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src = myWebApp; # note 2
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};
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}
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```
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In ["buildBowerComponents" example](#ex-buildBowerComponents) the following arguments are of special significance to the function:
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1. `generated` specifies the file which was created by {command}`bower2nix`.
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2. `src` is your project's sources. It needs to contain a {file}`bower.json` file.
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`buildBowerComponents` will run Bower to link together the output of `bower2nix`, resulting in a `bower_components` directory which can be used.
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Here is an example of a web frontend build process using `gulp`. You might use `grunt`, or anything else.
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### Example build script (gulpfile.js) {#ex-bowerGulpFile}
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```javascript
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var gulp = require('gulp');
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gulp.task('default', [], function () {
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gulp.start('build');
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});
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gulp.task('build', [], function () {
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console.log("Just a dummy gulp build");
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gulp
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.src(["./bower_components/**/*"])
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.pipe(gulp.dest("./gulpdist/"));
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});
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```
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### Example Full example — default.nix {#ex-buildBowerComponentsDefaultNix}
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```nix
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{ myWebApp ? { outPath = ./.; name = "myWebApp"; }
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, pkgs ? import <nixpkgs> {}
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}:
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pkgs.stdenv.mkDerivation {
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name = "my-web-app-frontend";
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src = myWebApp;
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buildInputs = [ pkgs.nodePackages.gulp ];
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bowerComponents = pkgs.buildBowerComponents { # note 1
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name = "my-web-app";
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generated = ./bower-packages.nix;
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src = myWebApp;
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};
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buildPhase = ''
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cp --reflink=auto --no-preserve=mode -R $bowerComponents/bower_components . # note 2
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export HOME=$PWD # note 3
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${pkgs.nodePackages.gulp}/bin/gulp build # note 4
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'';
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installPhase = "mv gulpdist $out";
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}
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```
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A few notes about [Full example — `default.nix`](#ex-buildBowerComponentsDefaultNix):
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1. The result of `buildBowerComponents` is an input to the frontend build.
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2. Whether to symlink or copy the {file}`bower_components` directory depends on the build tool in use.
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In this case a copy is used to avoid {command}`gulp` silliness with permissions.
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3. {command}`gulp` requires `HOME` to refer to a writeable directory.
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4. The actual build command in this example is {command}`gulp`. Other tools could be used instead.
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## Troubleshooting {#ssec-bower2nix-troubleshooting}
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### ENOCACHE errors from buildBowerComponents {#enocache-errors-from-buildbowercomponents}
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This means that Bower was looking for a package version which doesn't exist in the generated `bower-packages.nix`.
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If `bower.json` has been updated, then run `bower2nix` again.
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It could also be a bug in `bower2nix` or `fetchbower`. If possible, try reformulating the version specification in `bower.json`.
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