requireFrom

Require from a directory relative to node_modules, flattening your require paths. Using requireFrom you won't have to manage complex relative paths between each component of your node app.

Code Example

Simple usage anywhere in your node app:

    var lib = require('requirefrom')('lib');
    var myModule = lib('myModule');

For more complex usage, let's assume this example directory structure:

node_modules/
lib/
  components/
    framework/
      veiws/
        login.js
        signup.js
      models/
        user/
          index.js
  utlity/
    normalize/
      user.js
package.json

Any file in this project could then include these files with the following code:

var
    requireFrom = require('requirefrom')
  , views = requireFrom('lib/components/framework/views/')
  , models = requireFrom('lib/components/framework/models/')
  , utility = requireFrom('lib/utility/')

  , loginForm = views('login.js')
  , signupForm = views('signup.js')

  , userModel = models('user')

  , normalizeUser = utility('normalize/user.js')

Without requireFrom, each file would need to maintain paths relative each other file, for example:

var
    loginForm = require('../../framework/views/login.js')
  , signupForm = require('../../framework/views/signup.js')

  , userModel = require('../../framework/models/user')

  , normalizeUser = require('../../../utlity/normalize/user.js')

Motivation

There hasn't been a conlusive method to prevent relative path complexity. You can read about them here. Each method either pollutes global, damages portablity of your app, or might confuse someone unfamiliar with your technique. I hadn't seen anyone considering requireFrom's method of using a dependency to find the relative path of your project.

Installation

Install using npm. Add "requirefrom" to your dependencies in package.json before running npm install, or do that automatically with npm install --save requirefrom.