Question

I am trying to build a simple jQuery plugin with node.js. I need to be able to access the global context, which in the browser is the window object, but haven’t figured out how yet.

Here’s the setup:

1. /spec/spec_runner.js

//fake browser window
var jsdom       = require('jsdom').jsdom,
    sys         = require('sys'),
    window      = jsdom().createWindow(),
    coffee      = require('coffee-script'),
    jasmine     = require('jasmine-node'),
    underscore  = require('underscore'),
    exec        = require('child_process').exec;
global.jQuery   = require("jquery");
global.$        = global.jQuery;
global._        = underscore;
global.window   = window;

var plugin = require("../lib/my-plugin.js");
global.Model = plugin.Model;

2. /lib/my-plugin.js

var Model = function() {
  console.log(window.document);
}

Model.prototype.doSomething = function() {
  console.log(window.document);
}

Problem is, that window attribute is not correct. I can get it to work if I do this:

Model.prototype.doSomething = function() {
  console.log(global.window.document);
}

…but that’s a problem for when I’m running this in the browser.

How do I get it so I can write the plugin and test it using node.js, but it has no (or at least a standardized) reference to global or exports?

Answer 1

It’s working fine for me in this simplified test case:

scope_test.js

var jsdom = require('jsdom').jsdom;
var window = jsdom().createWindow();
global.window = window;

var test = require('./plugin_test.js')
global.Model = new test.Model();
Model.doSomething();

plugin_test.js

exports.Model = Model;

function Model() {
  console.log(window.document);
}

Model.prototype.doSomething = function() {
  console.log(window.document);
}

Result:

$ node scope_test.js 
{ _childNodes: 
   [ { _attributes: [Object],
       _ownerDocument: [Circular],
       _childNodes: [Object],
       style: [Object],
       _childrenList: [Object],
       _childNodesList: [Object],
       _nodeName: 'html',
       _tagName: 'html',
       _created: true,

....


{ _childNodes: 
   [ { _attributes: [Object],
       _ownerDocument: [Circular],
       _childNodes: [Object],
       style: [Object],
       _childrenList: [Object],
       _childNodesList: [Object],
       _nodeName: 'html',
       _tagName: 'html',
       _created: true,