Trouble using external javascript libraries in rails 6.0.0

Question

<script>
import '@interactjs/auto-start'
import '@interactjs/actions/drag'
import '@interactjs/actions/resize'
import '@interactjs/modifiers'
import '@interactjs/dev-tools'
import interact from '@interactjs/interact'

    // Step 1
const slider = interact('.slider')    // target elements with the "slider" class

slider
  // Step 2
  .draggable({                        // make the element fire drag events
    origin: 'self',                   // (0, 0) will be the element's top-left
    inertia: true,                    // start inertial movement if thrown
    modifiers: [
      interact.modifiers.restrict({
        restriction: 'self'           // keep the drag coords within the element
      })
    ],
    // Step 3
    listeners: {
      move (event) {                  // call this listener on every dragmove
        const sliderWidth = interact.getElementRect(event.target).width
        const value = event.pageX / sliderWidth

        event.target.style.paddingLeft = (value * 100) + '%'
        event.target.setAttribute('data-value', value.toFixed(2))
      }
    }
  })
</script>
<style>
.sliders {
  padding: 1.5em
}
/* the slider bar */
.slider {
  position: relative;
  width: 100%;
  height: 1em;
  margin: 1.5em auto;
  background-color: #29e;
  border-radius: 0.5em;
  box-sizing: border-box;

  font-size: 1em;

  -ms-touch-action: none;
     touch-action: none;
}

/* the slider handle */
.slider:before {
  content: "";
  display: block;
  position: relative;
  top: -0.5em;

  width: 2em;
  height: 2em;
  margin-left: -1em;
  border: solid 0.25em #fff;
  border-radius: 1em;
  background-color: inherit;

  box-sizing: border-box;
}

/* display the value */
.slider:after {
  content: attr(data-value);
  position: absolute;
  top: -1.5em;
  width: 2em;
  line-height:1em;
  margin-left: -1em;
  text-align: center;
}</style>
<div class="sliders">
  <div class="slider"></div>
  <div class="slider"></div>
  <div class="slider"></div>
</div>

I'm trying to use interact.js in rails 6, but I cannot get it to work. I am a newbie so this may be a common question, but how do I properly import an external library like interact.js. I've tried everything I've found online so I imagine I'm looking for the wrong thing. Any help will be appreciated, Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

this syntax:

import '@interactjs/auto-start'
import '@interactjs/actions/drag'
import '@interactjs/actions/resize'
import '@interactjs/modifiers'
import '@interactjs/dev-tools'
import interact from '@interactjs/interact'

is used for npm modules import. You can't do that in the browser without preprocessing your code. You can import the library like this, preferably in a separate script tag. But if you plan to import only one library you can set it

<script src="CDN url"></script>

Put it above your other script tag. Find an appropriate CDN host for your library. Example: https://cdnjs.com/libraries/interact.js/1.0.2

You can't use those import statements like this. If you import the library from CDN, you can use it like in the documentation. Look at https://interactjs.io/docs/installation CDN pre-bundled usage. I presume interact is globally exposed and you don't have to import anything.

If you want to go the proper way about this, you would be setting up a separate project/folder for your frontend application. That application has to be then built, and you attach the built distribution files in your Rails HTML. It depends on your purposes.