npm install support

[ankush-dcoder]

Can I use npm install in the app itself to install dependecies in the project folder?

[warren-bank]

The only purpose for having a package.json.. and the only reason for using node and npm in this project.. is to include a dev dependency that is run by the npm script: translate

npm run translate

which:

• is called from the directory containing package.json
• was used to generate string resource translations using the IBM Watson Language Translator service
• shouldn't be necessary to run again, unless additional strings are added that require translation
  • which is not an incremental operation
  • and when this is required, I'll:
    • run this script in a temp directory against an input xml file that only includes the new strings
    • manually merge the translations into the existing/corresponding xml files..
      • to preserve any tweaks that have been made by users via PRs
      • to significantly reduce the work done by the translation service

[warren-bank]

I suppose that might sound a little confusing, when given that the purpose for the Android app is to use node and even npm on Android..

but since this is only a dev dependency that is used to add/update files to the Android Studio project before it is built into an APK, which is then installed on Android..

there's really no use-case for the Android APK to "eat its own dog food", wrt the project's own package.json

[warren-bank]

..or did I completely misunderstand your original question :)

..were you referring to:

• my project folder in this repo for the Android app, or
• your project folder that is on an Android device that is running an APK release for my project

[warren-bank]

I'll assume that you were referring to your own project.. that makes more sense!

In that case, you should absolutely refer to the branch: recipes

This recipe pushes npm (and all of its dependencies) to the Android device.
Once available locally, it can be used by the Android app:

[warren-bank]

more screenshots..

notes:

• during this test, I went offline and used the local npm cache to install the package dependencies
• stdout includes a warning to indicate that this was the case
  • it was intentional

[ankush-dcoder]

Hi,

Thanks for revert, this is exactly what i was looking for. I'll let you know if i face any issue when i try.