Tag: ionic

Injecting Custom Files into Ionic Build

This post is about including custom .html, .css and .js files in an Ionic 3.x+ project so that they get copied from /src to /www during the build process. Basically, we are talking about files that are handled separately from the webpack compiler process, but you want them to be swept into the test or production build when they get updated.

Step 1: Modify your projects main package.json file in the root directory to override the copying process in ionic:build and ionic:serve. In this example we are referencing a custom library called ionic-config-override.js that controls what we want to copy, and this library lives in the root directory, as well.

{
     . . .
     “scripts”: {
          . . .
          "ionic:build": "ionic-app-scripts build --copy ionic-config-override.js",
          “ionic:serve”: "ionic-app-scripts serve --copy ionic-config-override.js"
     }
     . . .
}

Step 2: Create a JavaScript file of the same name you referenced in package.json for example ionic-config-override.js. In this new JavaScript library use the node.js fs-extra file utility to copy the files you want when the build process is run. Here’s one example:

var fs = require(‘fs-extra’);
fs.copy(‘src/special.html’,’www/special.html’);

Step 3: To test locally instead of using ionic serve, run this new script using the command line command npm run ionic:serve. Or, if you are ready to test on a device run the script using npm run ionic:build android and then when that is completed successfully use ionic cordova run android.

References:
Ionic –copy command

The Copy command source code can be found in your project path @ionic/app-scripts/config/copy.config.js

Additional information can be found on the Ionic forums.

Do I need Ionic’s Geolocation Plugin?

Most likely not. As described in the Cordova documentation and Ionic documentation, the plugin is for devices that don’t already provide an implementation. The vast majority of modern smartphones natively support the WebView Geolocation API. Also, cellphone enabled tablets typically have a GPS. However, WiFi only tablets may be limited to using non-GPS, WiFi-based geolocation, but the Geolocation API will still work although it will be less accurate.

Skipping the plugin simplifies installation and implementation. You don’t have to install it and that eliminates any possible conflicts and provides a minor reduction in application size. You also don’t have to import the plugin into your application components and that simplifies your code. You can simply use navigator.geolocation like you would in any regular JavaScript app:


watchId = navigator.geolocation.watchPosition(success[, error[, options]])

Sample application: https://github.com/andygup/ionic2-esri-map