Rails 4 - how to reference a javascript source in vendor file

Question

I have just discovered that I need to amend my GMaps for Rails setup by inserting javascript files directly in my app. Rails 4 - Gmaps4Rails - map won't render

I have cloned both infobox and markerclusterer repos and am now stuck in trying to reference the relevant files in my app.

I have the folders of files that came with the clone in my vendor file.

I understand the javascript files that I need to use are: infobox.js and markerclusterer.js

These files are located in:

 vendor/js-marker-clusterer/src/makerclusterer.js
vendor/v3-utility-library/src/infobox.js

I want to use them in place of the code in this view:

<script src="//maps.google.com/maps/api/js?v=3.18&sensor=false&client=&key=&libraries=geometry&language=&hl=&region="></script> 
<script src="//google-maps-utility-library-v3.googlecode.com/svn/tags/markerclustererplus/2.0.14/src/markerclusterer_packed.js"></script>
<script src='//google-maps-utility-library-v3.googlecode.com/svn/tags/infobox/1.1.9/src/infobox_packed.js' type='text/javascript'></script> <!-- only if you need custom infoboxes -->

Do I need to reference the javascript files in app/application.js? If so, at what point in the path do I need to start (given these files are not inside the vendor/assets/javascripts folder)?

Also, I understand I need to incorporate the markerclusterer images somehow. Those have also come through in the cloned repo and are stored in vendor/js-markerclusterer/images folder. How do I reference these so that they work in the view?

Answer 1

The most logical thing to do would be to place folders js-marker-clusterer and v3-utility-library under vendor/assets/javascripts so you can reference the files you need in application.js as

//= js-marker-clusterer/src/makerclusterer
//= v3-utility-library/src/infobox

If, however, you cannot do that for some reason you can add a custom path into config.assets.paths so the autoloader can find them

// application.rb
config.assets.paths << Rails.root.join("vendor", "js-marker-clusterer")
config.assets.paths << Rails.root.join("vendor", "v3-utility-library")

And then reference them just as

//= src/makerclusterer
//= src/infobox