NPM missing source

[anton-shchyrov]

Documentation Is:

• Missing or needed
• Confusing
• Not Sure?

Please Explain in Detail...

In npm packet version 2.8.0-rc.1 and 2.8.0 missing source code. There is only a folder dist. Is this what was meant?

[simonbrunel]

Yes, because src/**/* should be considered private (see #6105). Instead, users should import 'chart.js' or require('chart.js') which will use the dist/Chart.js UMD build.

Also, we switched to rollup and now import CSS in our code via a rollup plugin. So even if the src folder would still be in the npm package, it would break projects accessing the source files directly.

[mojoaxel]

Sadly I'm a little late here but I just wanted to let you folks know, that I also was using the src folder.
I'm also using rollup.js to build my application and I only include the modules from chart.js that I actually use. Now with the src folder removed in v2.8.0 this is not possible anymore. I cannot just include the dist version because that would go beyond my size limits.

Now I would have to create a seperate custom chart.js library with only the modules I need and build my own custom release or include the chart.js sources in my project what i don't want to do. 😢

I'm sorry that I've missed the discussions in #6105 Is there a chance to bring back the src folder?

[simonbrunel]

@mojoaxel I understand your point and I'm sorry to read that we broke your integration.

I don't think it's a good idea to re-inject our sources in the npm package because you shouldn't rely on it for many reasons. We should be able to rename/move/delete whatever file under /src, change the way we import/organize modules, add more rollup tricky build steps that would be complicated to integrate into your workflow (e.g. injecting the CSS - #6048), etc. without to worry about breaking existing projects that would target /src/**/* files. We don't want to maintain backward compatibility on the /src files and that's why it should not be in the npm package.

I would rather try to find a way to generate an ESM build that supports tree-shaking (#5179) so you could import exactly what you need.

[simonbrunel]

Alternatively (but not ideal), you could install Chart.js from GitHub directly:

 npm install -S https://github.com/chartjs/Chart.js/tarball/v2.8.0

// package.json
{
  "dependencies": {
    "chart.js": "https://github.com/chartjs/Chart.js/tarball/v2.8.0"
  }
}

So you will get the '/src' folder and be able to use it at your own risk.

[mojoaxel]

@simonbrunel Thanks for your quick answer ❤️

We don't want to maintain backward compatibility on the /src files

That's a good point! Of course I never expected that, but others may do so.

I would rather try to find a way to generate an ESM build that supports tree-shaking

👍 That, of course would be the ideal solution. I'll try to monitor #5179 and adopt accordingly.