Hey hey!
I just did some reeeeally cool find-out that I am really happy about - and
since, I want to share that too! :3
Caution: Make sure you have your toolchai (Xcode, gcc, MSYS, …) ready to use
and a copy of the latest nodejs source code. I myself am using v0.10.24.
Okay, let’s go.
1. Your module or addon needs preparation.
Usual JS modules will work nicely, but…you need to make sure that you dont use
too many modules. The ultra-basic require you will be having does not have all
the functions you may expect. The in-binary require function seems to only look
up actual filenames. In example, using require(„myFile“) will result in an
internal lookup for myFile.js . Therefore, make sure your JS module is not
using path-wise lookups - and especially, no subfolders. Subfolders simply dont
exist in memory ;)
If you have a native addon, then you need to change your entry-code’s
NODE_MODULE declaration. If it looked like this before:
NODE_MODULE(ph7, InitAll)
Then you now need to make it look like this:
NODE_MODULE(node_ph7, InitAll)
You’re best off by creating a copy of your module entirely, so you aren’t
modifying your working copies.
2. Telling GYP about the new files
Open node.gyp in a text editor, and locate the section named library_files.
This is a long JSON array, and at the bottom, add your module files. I
recommend creating a new folder called extra/ and placing your stuff inside
there. And very importantly, you need to add a very special file to the list:
'lib/_third_party_main.js',
This file will be called instead of nodejs’ main() function. As it does not
exist, you may comment out this entry for now - but we’ll need it later. I have
NOT tested this without this file - for now, I am just assuming you want your
script to run always when the binary is launched, and want to pull the several
moduels form within the binary itself.
After you filled this array, it’s time you fill up the native addon array -
that is, if you have one. In my case, I do. So, to do so, locate sources, and
add your sources at the bottom. If your souces need a custom include path, then
you also need to edit include_dirs.
3. Telling the node-code to use your native addon (Not required if you dont use
one)
If you use a native addon, you must edit just one single file:
src/node_extensions.h . The way it needs to be done should be ultra-obvious.
But maybe I should explain anyway: This file contains a list of all the
„internal extensions“. You may recognize, that all of them are prefixed with
node_. That is a prefix to mark it as internal - and which is why I told you to
change your native addon’s NODE_MODULE call too. So in that list, add your
addon just like any other - save, exit.
4. Building.
Now, after you added your sources, library_files, include_dirs and the like,
you should have a nice GYP file. So, return to the nodejs source tree’s root,
and run ./configure
Now you can use whatever you want to. In my case, i used —ninja, and then
typed: ninja -C out/Release
Once you finished building, locate the new binary. If building and running
seems okay, then it’s time to do some really cool things!
5. Implentation time!
Before, I was telling you about _third_party_main.js. Now, this doesnt really
exist so far. So what we now do, is create it. You may have commented it out
previously (by putting a hashtag infront of it, like all the cool twitter kids
do :p), but you may now uncomment it in node.gyp. Then, type: touch
lib/_third_party_main.js
Now you can open that file - and edit it.
Note: Please consider the following:
- require() only looks up the filenames inside the binary - but no
folders, or subfolders, or the like. This is a semi-low-level JS you are doing
here. You can still interact with files and everything else like normal, but
require acts a bit different than usual.
- To link against your native addon, use process.binding(). I,e,: var
ph7 = process.binding(„ph7“);
The name you have to give in, is the same as the one in NODE_MODULE,
just without the node_ prefix.
Once you are done, rebuild and test.
DONE :D
Again, this is more an experiment and soemthing i JUST learned. But I saw
projects such as nexe - and i just felt like sharing what I figured out - it
could be useful to them. If we can programaticaly edit node.gyp and
node_extensions.h, then we actually can patch a source tree in order to allow
„native modules“. I am still testing this thing myself, but it surely is
something quite interesting. I also haven’t seen process.binding within the API
docs or the like. I had to read it off lib/os.js :p
Have fun with that lil thing! :D
Kind regards, Ingwie.
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