A reusable library with a global dependency won't install

[vitaly-t]

I've spent many hours searching for an answer, but couldn't find anything usable to seemingly a simple question - how to publish a package with global dependencies.

Here I asked the question: A reusable library with typings from GitHub

this is the real code example that I have:

{
  "name": "pg-promise",
  "global": true,
  "files": [
    "typescript/pg-promise.d.ts",
    "typescript/ext-promise.d.ts",
    "typescript/pg-minify.d.ts",
    "typescript/pg-subset.d.ts"
  ],
  "globalDependencies": {
    "spex": "github:vitaly-t/spex"
  }
}

If I instruct users to issue this command:

typings install --save --global github:vitaly-t/pg-promise

it installs everything but the spex.

The only way I was able to make it work is by manually patching the client to include spex explicitely, which is very awkward.

What am I missing? How to make to work?

---

I am using the latest version of typings + Node.js 6.2.2

[unional]

Global dependency need to be install manually by the user

[vitaly-t]

Is it possible then to change my dependency to become non-global? I've tried to remove "global", or set it to false, but nothing worked:

{
  "name": "spex",
  "global": false,
  "files": [
    "typescript/spex.d.ts"
  ]
}

but if I try to install it like this

typings install github:vitaly-t/spex --save

it tells me that my dependency is global regardless?

I just want to be able to install the parent package without the user having to manually install dependencies on top of it.

[blakeembrey]

@vitaly-t Global dependencies are never automatically installed. You can write the dependencies in external module format. If you share a gist or link to your example, we'd be able to point out why it's a global module and not an external module. For simplicity, any definition without a top-level import or export is considered global by TypeScript.

[blakeembrey]

Actually, I found it: https://github.com/vitaly-t/spex/blob/master/typescript/spex.d.ts. Don't wrap it in declare module "..." - that makes it a global dependencies.

[blakeembrey]

Also, FWIW, you don't need Typings to type your library - if you type spex.d.ts as an external module, add a typings property to package.json, then type pg-promise in the same way - TypeScript will automatically pick it up.

[unional]

If it is a module, you can and you should. Change the typings to external module format and publish them to the registry

[vitaly-t]

I thought that declare module was required when implementing ambient declarations, because that's what that library is, it represents an interface for a JavaScript library.

How else should I declare an ambient module?

[blakeembrey]

No. You can read about writing TypeScript definitions for existing libraries: http://www.typescriptlang.org/docs/handbook/typings-for-npm-packages.html. For example, here's a definition for one of mine - see https://github.com/blakeembrey/change-case/blob/master/package.json#L6 and https://github.com/blakeembrey/change-case/blob/master/change-case.d.ts. Notice all the dependencies are also written in external module format. There is no reason you should have to write a module in global declaration format, it's a left-over and bad practice from before better tooling existed.