Divide Config.js into modules

stuartiannaylor

Maybe hopefully this can be done, but I am having a lousy time breaking config.js from time to time.

Is it possible to have something like includes where you can have separate config.js for each module in its module directory?

robiv8

Very interesting,
its a good question.

sdetweil

Well, there is one problem.

Once u put the info in each module folder, you will lose the ability to order the modules differently

stuartiannaylor

@sdetweil said in Divide Config.js into modules:

Well, there is one problem.

Once u put the info in each module folder, you will lose the ability to order the modules differently

Nope the modules are declared in /config/config.js not that I have much experience but my new noob experience of MM is that with complexity it starts to get a bit cumbersome.

As an example would you really want to add compliments to your main config.js.
I am just wondering if it could be split and presented slightly more cleanly and simpler for the likes of me.

module: "calendar",
			header: "Calendar",
			position: "top_left",

Would still be the same place and it would in essence just be the same but the bloat of

config: {

Would be elsewhere.

Also if it was loaded serially as different objects declared by config.js then each module config could have some form of isolation and error checking?
Gson gson = new Gson();
JsonObject jsonObj = gson.fromJson (jsonStr, JsonElement.class).getAsJsonObject();
jsonObj.add(“criterias”, “Location”);

Dunno as really know naff about NodeJS but thinking you could even make it more robust with feedback to which module config error?

sdetweil

So, you end up with two places to config …

stuartiannaylor

Yes and actually multiple places as to which modules you installed as that is the whole point of dividing the config.js into smaller module based configs.
I am presuming it could also pre-parse and raise errors to which module the error is located.

Only starts getting relevant with complex setups as the base is extremely simple but rather than linux having a single file in /etc/… the config is divided to make working easier.

artieikon

I also agree with this approach as it will allow us to script configuration/deployment easier. It would be similar to configurations done in other applications ie Nginx. For loadbalancing you just have a folder you can add all endpoints, ports, what have you and the system itself will read everything in there and make a master behind the scenes.

I’ve tried to do something similar and stitch them together by hand but it seems that if i place any ‘require’ statement in the config.js file MM does not properly load my configs. I can monitor the logs and everything gets parsed and output properly, just when i go to the actual UI it just shows the standard “Please create a config file.” screen. I could not find any logs anywhere that show any additional errors of why this is not wanting to start.

sdetweil

@artieikon require is not allowed in module.js, but you could use the getScripts function to load them

Also

Start mm in developers mode

npm start dev

Then select the console tab to see what’s going on in the modules
Node_helpers display info in the terminal window

A Former User

I always want Conditional Loading or Lazy Loading. I want programmable Pre-processor for which module should be loaded or not by just mention it.
And if configuration for each module be separated, PPL would make less mistakes on configuration step and at least, It could be easier to find which configuration wrong.

ejay-ibm

I can only agree 1 config file per module in the config folder and you can get rid of a lot of mistake

sdetweil

@sean thats all cool, but will take significant rewrite of the core services…

artieikon

@sdetweil said in Divide Config.js into modules:

@artieikon require is not allowed in module.js, but you could use the getScripts function to load them

Also

Start mm in developers mode
npm start dev
Then select the console tab to see what’s going on in the modules
Node_helpers display info in the terminal window

You are amazing! thank you so much for this

artieikon

@Sean
Lazy loading is always a quality thing to have. Anything that takes away from startup times and pre-processing generally helps user experience greatly.

I think it’s been overlooked because of the “hide modules using an orchestrater” so its not like functionality is being lost. But the benefit of it would still be there

sdetweil

@artieikon also, please create a config file is because of a syntax error in the config file…

from the MM folder do

npm config:check

fix errors from the top down

sdetweil

@artieikon yeh, but generally people startup once and it runs for months…

artieikon

@sdetweil

npm run config:check

but that actually came back valid since there are no syntax errors it just blew up on me runtime. The dev mode properly shows what is the issue though

BKeyport

I do two things myself to make it sane.

1st, I use geany to edit. It’s a dream to work with, and keeps all my { with my } …

2nd, I’ve reorganized my config file as follows (Config options and modules removed to protect secure data).

/* Magic Mirror
 * Live Config
 * By Brendan Keyport
 */

var config = {
	modules: [
// top_bar 
// top_left
// top_center 
// top_right 
// upper_third 
// middle_center 
// lower_third 
// bottom_left 
// bottom_center 
// bottom_right
// bottom_bar 
// fullscreen_above 
// fullscreen_below 
// Hidden & Background
// End modules before this line, do not edit below
]
};
if (typeof module !== "undefined") {module.exports = config;}

artieikon

Stumbling though the process to get this working the way i want. Just felt like i should share.

From what i surmise config.js is used both client side and server side. This is why “require” doesnt work and the browser complains. That is a server side construct and cannot be used client side.

Cool whatever, we have other ways to do things. Next i started trying to use XMLHttpRequest.
This blew up on me because electron does not support hitting the filesystem from the browser unless you set webSecurity to false. Cool this seems doable as we can pass in that value in the electronOptions in the config.js

Here’s where the fun happens. This doesnt work because that is done server side and it also uses the same config.js. Server side it cant resolve XMLHttpRequest because you need a “requires” statement to get it but then that blows up client side.

I can hack it in by specifying the webSecurity setting in the js/electron.js file as a default but that seems far too darn hacky. Im still stuck with the client showing the modules properly but the server not loading them… next try will be to run server only and client only with slightly different configs :vomit:

artieikon

Got it working. Here is some simple code for anyone curious. There is probably a better way to get the same outcome, but this seems to work for now so I’m happy with it. Obviously this is rather useless currently, but I’m planning on iterating over a directory to pull out configs and parse them into modules, but i wanted to share the simple version first.

config.js

if (typeof window === 'undefined') {
// Server side add requires here
        var XMLHttpRequest = require("xmlhttprequest").XMLHttpRequest;
} else {
// client side only code here
}

var Http = new XMLHttpRequest();
var url = "file:///location/of/file/abc.txt";
Http.open("GET", url, false);
Http.send();

var mods = [
        {
                module: Http.responseText.trim(),
                position: "top_left"
        },
];


var config = {
        address: "0.0.0.0",
        port: 8080,
        ipWhitelist: [],
        language: "en",
        timeFormat: 12,
        units: "imperial",
        modules: mods,
        electronOptions: { webPreferences: { webSecurity: false } }
};

/*************** DO NOT EDIT THE LINE BELOW ***************/
if (typeof module !== "undefined") {module.exports = config;}

abc.txt

clock

Notes:

Without specifying webSecurity: false Electron will not allow you to access a file that is not served up by the application. This is a security risk so use at your own discretion.
typeof window === 'undefined' is how I am figuring out if this code is executing server side or client side. Server side I had to add the require to be able to use XMLHttpRequest.

stuartiannaylor

@lavolp3 said in MMM-Compliments doesn't load:

@stuartiannaylor yes that’s all you need in the config part.

The module entry looks like this for me:
    },
        {
        //disabled: true,
        module: "compliments",
        position: "lower_third",
        config: {
            classes: 'small',
            remoteFile: 'xxxxxxx.json',
            updateInterval: 12*60*60*1000,
        }
    },
As that is a top tip and ‘small’ ?
Dont know what you mean with that. I think you don’t need to give it a class but with this class you can determine the size of the text.

remoteFile is a file, not a folder. But it can be anywhere, however if it’s not in the module directory you ned to give the absolute path “/home/pi/…”