Error while installing legacy package versions

General
1

Hi,

I've installed some packages using uibuilder frontend library manager.
The problem is some of them dont work with each other, so I removed them and used a console to install legacy packages using @3.5.3.
The packages installed ok but uibuilder doesn't see them, not does the fronend open them although I've listed them neatly in the code.

What to do?

2

If you are using uibuilder v4, you will need to manually edit <uibRoot>/.config/packageList.json (uibRoot is generally ~/.node-red/uibuilder/).

You will see that it looks something like this:

[
  "socket.io",
  "vue",
  "bootstrap-vue",
  "bootstrap",
  "jquery"
]

Simply add the package names that you've installed to the list.

If you are trying out vNext, this is automatic.

3

Super, thanks.

Just for the sake of discussion, is it possible to install legacy versions using uibuilder v4?

Whats the expected ETA on uibuilder v5?

4

Absolutely, if you are doing it by hand :slight_smile: v5/vNext lets you do that from the Editor.

A very good question that I ask myself most days - usually when I've been distracted by something else!

The good news is that it all mostly works so if you are happy to install from GitHub (cd ~/.node-red/ && npm install totallyinformation/node-red-contrib-uibuilder#vNext) then you can start using it.

As always with big updates though. Sensible to back up your userDir folder (minus the node_modules file if you want).

The not so good news is that it does have a number of breaking changes. The one that will most affect you is that the package installs have moved. So you will need to reinstall your packages after the upgrade (you can then remove the packages from ~/.node-red/ if you like). You will also need to open each uibuilder node instance, press Done then redeploy. That updates the various settings that have changed or been added.

The vNext version has a LOT of bugfixes as well as all of the new features. It should be even more reliable and performant. It also opens up a lot of new possibilities!

I've been using it for a while now with no issues but I don't know how many other people have tried it. I know some have so I'm pretty hopeful that there are not big issues.

My current sidetrack is starting to look at dynamic, data-driven UI's using Svelte. The idea being to work towards some addons that will allow you to create UI's by pushing some simple data and utilising a mix of Svelte and web components.

Svelte does require a build step though it is the best of all of the frameworks that I've tried and its watch mode actually works seamlessly with uibuilder. However, if I can work through the complexities, we will end up with something where users/flow authors only need to write a JSON spec to generate a UI dynamically. And they would be able to push UI changes dynamically as well.

I can already dynamically add Svelte and custom web tags along with native tags to the UI. So I need to work up some additional components and then a framework that will start to operate somewhat like Dashboard but much lighter in weight.

1 Like
5

Great. You are doing a fine work.

Thanks for the tips, I'll switchover to it shortly

6

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