Exporting a function with RequireJS in Node returns an empty object

Question

How do you export a function from a RequireJS module in Node? With the code I have, I get an empty object rather than the Backbone model I'm expecting.

first.js contains:

'use strict';
var define=require('amd-define');
define(function (require) {

var Backbone = require('backbone');

// Our basic **Todo** model has `title`, `order`, and `completed` attributes.
var Todo = Backbone.Model.extend({
    // Customizations of my model...
});

return Todo;
})

My test file test.js contains:

'use strict';
var chai =require("chai");
var assert=chai.assert;
var expect=chai.expect;
var Todo=require("first");

describe('Tests for Todo model', function () {
    it('should create global variables for Todo', function () {
        expect(Todo).to.be.exist;
        console.log(typeof (Todo))
    });

    it('should be created with default values for its attributes',               function() {
        var todo = new Todo();
        expect(todo.get('title')).to.equal('');
    });

    it('should fire a custom event when state change', function() {
        var todo = new Todo();
        todo.set({completed: true, order: 1});
        todo.set('title', 'my title');
    });
});

It gives the error that Todo is not a function. The console.log statement prints object.

Answer 1

The package amd-define is either buggy or does not support the CommonJS sugar. (The latter is probably the case. I do not see any code in it that takes care of doing the dependency transformation necessary for supporting the CommonJS sugar.)

I recommend dumping amd-define and using amd-loader instead. I've used it for years, it works.

For your code:

1. Remove var define=require('amd-define'); from first.js.

2. Add require('amd-loader') (after installing it) in your test file before you load any AMD module.

I was able to get an export from first.js doing this.