Include all javascript files in a directory to a html file in angularjs? with grunt?

Question

In my AngularJS app, I've many controllers js files.

These controllers (one.ctrl.js,two.ctrl.js,...) needs to be included in my index.html file.

Directory Structure:

app/    js/       controllers/          one.ctrl.js          two.ctrl.js 

Currently, above js files are included in index.html file as follows.

index.html:

<!--   other html components   -->  <script src="js/controllers/one.ctrl.js"/> <script src="js/controllers/two.ctrl.js"/> </body> </html> 

There are gonna be more *.ctrl.js files which are required to be included in index.html.

I need a way to automatically include all the *.ctrl.js files in controllers directory to index.html.

Findings:

From some SO questions,

Load JavaScript and CSS files in folders in AngularJS

How can I include all JavaScript files in a directory via JavaScript file?

I found that it cannot be done automatically and needs some server side scripting or build tools.

My Question:

Currently, I'm using yeoman which include grunt for build tool. So, my question is, How can those javascript files in a directory be automatically included in a html file?

Answer 1

You could use the grunt-include-source plugin

Using it you can define templates like these :

html: {     js: '<script src="{filePath}"></script>',     css: '<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="{filePath}" />',   } 

in your html file which will be expanded to include all your source js and css files present in your source location which can be configured in the grunt task

Answer 2

Answering the general question of adding source files to index.html on demand and automatically and elaborating on the use of grunt-include-source.

This is for the following folder structure:

MyProject | +-- index.js +-- Gruntfile.js +-- package.json +-- //other files | +--+ app    +-- //app files (.html,.js,.css,.*) 

1. Install with npm i -D grunt-include-source grunt-contrib-watch.

2. In your Gruntfile.js, add grunt.loadNpmTasks('grunt-include-source');

3. Then you have to add a bunch of tasks to your Gruntfile.js, after which it should look like this:

   module.exports = function (grunt) {     grunt.initConfig({         pkg: grunt.file.readJSON('package.json'),         //...         watch: {             //...             includeSource: {                 // Watch for added and deleted scripts to update index.html                 files: ['app/**/*.js','app/**/*.css'],                 tasks: ['includeSource'],                 options: {                     event: ['added', 'deleted']                 }             }         },         includeSource: {             options: {                 //This is the directory inside which grunt-include-source will be looking for files                 basePath: 'app'             },             app: {                 files: {                     //Overwriting index.html                     'app/index.html': 'app/index.html'                 }             }         }     });      //...     grunt.loadNpmTasks('grunt-contrib-watch');     grunt.loadNpmTasks('grunt-include-source');      //...     //Include sources, run the server, open the browser, and watch.     grunt.registerTask('default', ['includeSource', 'watch']); }; 

4. In your index.html, add this (the file path here looks inside the base path set in Gruntfile.js):

   <!-- include: "type": "css", "files": "**/*.css" --> <!-- /include --> <!-- include: "type": "js", "files": "**/*.js" --> <!-- /include --> 

5. Finally, on the command line:

   grunt 

This should start off all tasks in sequence, and your index.html should be updated accordingly when a JS or CSS is added or removed.

This is how your index.html might look like with a small number of files:

<!-- include: "type": "css", "files": "**/*.css" --> <link href="styles.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"> <!-- /include --> <!-- include: "type": "js", "files": "**/*.js" --> <script src="_routes/routes.js"></script> <script src="scripts/app.js"></script> <!-- /include --> 

Links:

• https://www.npmjs.com/package/grunt-include-source
• https://ajsblackbelt.wordpress.com/2014/07/07/free-from-include/
• https://jhipster.github.io/tips/002_tip_include_js_grunt.html