Modules

Ringo implements the CommonJS Modules 1.1 specification.

Anatomy of a Module

In Ringo, every JavaScript file is treated as a module. When a module is executed, Ringo provides it with the means to import functionality from and export functionality to other modules.

As an example, app.js loads module lib.js in the same directory. The contents of app.js:

var lib = require('./lib');
console.log('The square of 3 is', lib.square(3));

The contents of lib.js:

exports.square = function(n) {
    return n * n;
}

Module lib.js exports a function called square by adding it to the exports object. Module app.js imports lib.js's exports object by calling the require function with './lib' as argument.

Ringo also provides a module object to each module with the following properties:

• id - the canonical id of the module

• path - the file path of the module resource

• uri - the URL of the module resource

• exports - assigning to this property allows modules to replace the default exports object.

Modules are executed in their own private scope. Thus, everything defined in a module which is not explicitly exported is private to the module and invisible to other modules.

Module IDs

The string that identifies a module is called a module id.

The module id corresponds to the file name of the module with the .js extension omitted.

Module ids starting with './' or '../' are called relative ids. Relative ids are looked up relative to the location of the current module following common file system semantics.

A module id not starting with './' or '../' is called an absolute id and is resolved against the module path.

The Module Path

The module path is a list of standard locations in which Ringo will look for modules.

The module path can be set in the following ways:

• Setting the RINGO_MODULE_PATH environment variable.

• Setting the ringo.modulepath Java system property.

• Using the -m or --modules option to the bin/ringo command.

• Using the module-path servlet init parameter with JsgiServlet.

• Adding or removing elements to the require.paths Array-like property from within Ringo.

Ringo versions prior to 0.8 used to put the lib directory of each installed package on the module path.

Starting with version 0.8, the default module path consists of the modules and packages directories in the ringojs installation directory. Ringo 0.8 is also able to load modules from the Java classpath without further configuration.

Packages

Packages provide a means of bundling several modules and other resources into one unit.

Packages are directories that contain a package.json package descriptor file. The following package.json properties are recognized by Ringo's module loader:

{
    "main": "lib/main.js"
}

If a module id resolves directly to a package directory and package.json defines a main property, Ringo will try to load the specified resource. The value of the main property must be a path relative to the package root.

If a module id resolves to a directory that does not contain a package.json file, or package.json does not define a main property, Ringo will try to load file index.js in that directory.

{
    "directories": {
        "lib": "lib"
    }
}

If part of a module id resolves to a package directory, Ringo will try to resolve the remaining part of the id against the lib directory of that package. The location of the lib directory can be overridden using the directories.lib property in package.json.

Ringo also provides very basic package management support through the ringo-admin tool.

Caching and Reloading

Modules are cached after they are loaded for the first time. Ringo tries to resolve module ids to a canonical path in order to not load the same module twice, but it is possible under rare circumstances that this fails and a module is loaded twice.

By default, Ringo's module loader checks if the module or any module it depends on has changed each time it is required. If so, the module is loaded again.

To disable module reloading run ringo with the -p or --production option, or set the production servlet init parameter to true.