Config Error

[lavolp3]

@PHAGE-GOV I guess you have that part in the alert module.

It needs to be like @sdetweil said. on the left side a single word, here welcome_message. You need to take care of underlines and the upper-/lowercase.
Then there is a : and then the value which can be a string or false.

welcome_message: 'Any string you like'

OR

welcome_message: false

[sdetweil]

@lavolp3 but his error was

Unexpected token Welcome_message

so, one at least more this is wrong

[lavolp3]

@sdetweil Looking at above post, there’s looots of errors in the config.

@PHAGE-GOV we can’t lead you through all of these.
You need to understand how config.js needs to look. Only one comma set false or forgotten breaks the whole file and the mirror.

[lavolp3]

@lavolp3 The alert part needs to look like this:

		{
			module: "alert",
			position: "right",
			welcome_message: "a string"
		},

[PHAGE.GOV]

@sdetweil okay so ive been combing through the code, and since i didnt know how to properly edit .json files, i had alot of cleanup to do, im still not done, but getting there. what is a trailing space though? i dont know what to remove

[PHAGE.GOV]

@lavolp3

{
			module: "compliments",
			position: "lower_third",
			compliments: {	
				"anytime" : [
					"Hey there sexy!"
				],
				"morning" : [

so 64 is the compliments line and it says it has trailing spaces. Im actually learning so much about json files rn so thank you @sdetweil and @lavolp3

[sdetweil]

@PHAGE-GOV ignore the trailing space error. It’s stupid

[PHAGE.GOV]

@sdetweil indeed it is, i found it tho, and i fixed everything else too! thank you so much! and i learned so much from this also, i feel much more confident poking around and i defs learned much more about proper coding

[sdetweil]

@PHAGE-GOV and finding your way on the next error. After 3 years I still make them

[PHAGE.GOV]

@sdetweil yeah, but npm run config:check was such a life saver

[BKeyport]

one of the biggest tips I can give you is to throw out everything you know about capitalization…
Welcome_message is different from welcome_message

Most of the time, with RARE exception, the initial letter is lowercase. javacriptIsWeird

[sdetweil]

@BKeyport no… it is entirely up to the author of the module what case is used.
there are no rules…

only thing is javascript is case sensitive

var foo
is different than
var fOo
etc…

the config code doesn’t care, it takes all the settings and makes an object
the module then looks for specific items… almost NEVER checking for case mismatch

config.foo
will NOT find
config.fOo

it is NOT an error to config if fOo is not present.

filenames on linux are also case sensitive

[BKeyport]

@sdetweil That’s effectively what I said… I’m working from within the naming conventions typically used by module authors, including myself, and trying to stress that case is important, because if you come from a world where it’s not (DOS/Windows, perhaps?) it takes some getting used to.

bottom line, Welcome_message is not the same as welcome_message

[sdetweil]

@BKeyport said in Config Error:

I’m working from within the naming conventions typically used by module authors

i didn’t know there were any conventions! least I don’t follow anything written anywhere

[evroom]

@sdetweil said in Config Error:

i didn’t know there were any conventions! least I don’t follow anything written anywhere

Naming conventions are not must, but it is used to make code more readable and understandable.
A quick google came up with this useful page:

https://github.com/ktaranov/naming-convention/blob/master/JavaScript Name and Coding Conventions.md

[sdetweil]

@evroom i have been coding for 45 years… i know what they are and know what good ones produce…

however, specific casing has always been a useless conversation…

make names meaningful, use case where appropriate…
i don’t follow camelcase, or any other std.

[evroom]

@sdetweil said in Config Error:

i know what they are and know what good ones produce…

Cannot tell from your reply, if you were offended by my post, but please don’t be.
First of all you are the most appreciated and by far the most active member on the Forum and if it weren’t for you, less people would succeed with their installs and less people would be using MM.
But you did say “i didn’t know there were any conventions!”, hence my reply, a bit naïve perhaps.
Probably you meant so say it within the context of programming MM modules.
I had better addressed the link to @BKeyport so that he could take notice, but in principle it was meant for those interested (and do not know that in MM “Welcome_message is not the same as welcome_message”).

Have a nice day,

@evroom

[BKeyport]

@evroom “convention” isn’t the right word here, perhaps. I’m almost leaning to “peer pressure” perhaps? Doing it because it seems everyone else is? 🤣🤣🤣

[evroom]

@BKeyport said in Config Error:

@evroom “convention” isn’t the right word here, perhaps. I’m almost leaning to “peer pressure” perhaps? Doing it because it seems everyone else is?

I had to read the beginning of the thread first before starting ‘name-calling’ :-) And perhaps had to address it to the thread starter @PHAGE-GOV, for learning purposes
Some people treat the config.js file as code and think that they are actually coding. In principle a JS file is a text file containing JavaScript code, so it is a bit misleading, although it contains “var config =”, which suggests it being a part of some code.
IMHO it would be better to use the json extension, so config.json, as it is based on JSON and stores data structures and objects in this format.

One should’t care less how coders use variables in their programs (as Sam said: “make names meaningful, use case where appropriate”, especially if you want to keep it maintainable or want to hand it over to someone else), but in case of config.js one should make at least a bit of an effort to keep it simple and understandable. Again: IMHO.

In my book this is for example a no-go:

{
location: "New York",
locationID: "", 
appid: "YOUR_OPENWEATHER_API_KEY"
}

This is just waiting for an accident to happen.
What is wrong using locationName, locationId and apiId ?
Or location, location_id and api_id ?
Probably nitpicking from my side, but it hurts my eyes :-)

I would say “make names meaningful, use case where appropriate and keep it consistent”.

I also know it it all voluntary work and it does not cost a dime (unless you donate something to the author, like I did) and therefore one is not really allowed to complain :-) I hope some constructive criticism is allowed though. Do not want to offend anyone.

That being said, just enjoy your MagicMirror. :-)