How can I reference typescript files without absolute paths?

Question

Since typescript doesn't seem to support absolute path references, I can't see how to keep my references tidy. I've got ts files at many different locations in my folder structure, and having to be really careful about whether I mean ..\Scripts\typings\jquery\jquery.d.ts or ..\..\Scripts\typings\jquery\jquery.d.ts seems really kludgy.

Is there any way to specify a root references folder, so that I don't have to specify all paths relative to the current file path, which is different for every folder?

Answer 1

There is not currently a way to specify a root folder to use within references.

Absolute file paths do work, but maintenance of the paths generally speaking with multiple developers makes this likely a non-starter for many TypeScript development projects.

There have been discussions on CodePlex for example that expressed a similar request (but without a resolution). As TypeScript files are stand-alone, some have been concerned about introducing a "project" like scheme to the compiler.

Some developers will put the most commonly needed references in a single file (called for example, _references.d.ts) and list references to the definition files there. Then, that file will be referenced from other TypeScript files. It simplifies, but does not completely eliminate the problem (as you still will need to use relative file references with N levels of directory popping potentially):

/// <references path="../../../_references.d.ts." />

Depending on how many files you have and the size of the definitions though, you may find that as files are individually compiled that the compile process will take longer (as it pulls in potentially unused definitions from the _references.d.ts file). (If you have for example, "compile on save" activated within an IDE).

Answer 2

In order to keep your relative path references tidy, specify path alias(es) in your tsconfig.json

First of all install tspath an npm tool for resolving ts paths NOTE: tspath requires a very recent versison of node!

npm install -g tspath

Next, add path aliases to tsconfig.json

"baseUrl": "./",
  "paths": {
    "@Scripts/*": ["./Scripts/typings/jquery/*"],
    "@Plugins/*": ["./MyPlugins/V2/*"]
  }

Now use your alias when referencing your scripts

@Scripts/jquery
@Plugins/myPlugin

After you have run the TypeScript compiler, from your project directory, run:

tspath

or

tspath -f

to skip the prompt!

Read more at: https://www.npmjs.com/package/tspath

Hope this is what you asked for!