Build with AMD modules

Introduction

The ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript's AMD modules are recommended for doing local builds with Dojo 1 and RequireJS.

• The modules can be installed locally via npm using arcgis-js-api.
• For API versions 4.17 and earlier, you can build modules locally with webpack using @arcgis/webpack-plugin.
• The modules can be lazy loaded from CDN using the esri-loader helper library.

Lazy load CDN modules

esri-loader is a tiny library that lazy loads modules from the AMD CDN. The APIs modules are loaded at runtime and they are not bundled on-disk with your local build. It works in applications that are built with any loader/bundler, such as webpack, rollup.js, or ESBuild.

Installation

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npm install esri-loader

Usage

For more details on how to use the loadModules() method to lazy-load any version of the ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript in any framework see the esri-loader usage documentation.

Build locally with arcgis-js-api

You can npm install the AMD modules using arcgis-js-api. Samples and additional instructions are available in the jsapi-resources GitHub repository.

Get started

Install the modules into your project:

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npm install arcgis-js-api

Configure CSS

Choose a theme and then configure your code to use the ArcGIS CDN, for example:

index.html

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<link rel="stylesheet" href="./../node_modules/arcgis-js-api/assets/esri/themes/dark/main.css">

Or, if you are working with local assets see the Manage assets locally section.

Working with assets

For most local builds, the API's assets are pulled from the ArcGIS CDN at runtime and there is no need for additional configuration. One advantage of using the CDN is the APIs CSS styles will not need to be bundled on-disk with your local build. The assets include styles, images, fonts and localization files. This behavior is based on the default setting for config.assetsPath.

Managing assets locally

If you need to manage the assets locally, then you'll need to set esriConfig.assetsPaths to insure that the module paths are resolved correctly. Here is a RequireJS example:

config.js

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define(["esri/config"], function(esriConfig) {
    esriConfig.assetsPath = "../node_modules/arcgis-js-api/assets";
});

Configure AMD to load custom modules

When developing with AMD using the ArcGIS CDN, you will need to tell the AMD loader where to find your custom modules.

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<script>
   // Regex to get the absolute URL of the application
   const locationPath = location.pathname.replace(/\/[^\/]+$/, "");

   window.dojoConfig = {
     packages: [
       {
         // Assign a name for the package
         name: "custom",
         // The directory containing the custom modules
         location: locationPath + "/custom/"
       }
     ]
   };
</script>

Then you can add custom modules in your application using this pattern, /package/Module:

index.html

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require(["custom/MyWidget"], (MyWidget) => { ... });

More information is available in the dojoConfig documentation.

Build locally with webpack

For API versions 4.17 and earlier, building locally with webpack requires the use of @arcgis/webpack-plugin. Be sure to sync the version of the API with the version of the plugin. The plugin uses a lightweight AMD loader during the webpack build process to resolve module paths. The AMD loader is not used in the output application, it creates bundles with the ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript.

Installation

Install the plugin:

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npm install @arcgis/webpack-plugin

Then use import statements to load individual modules.

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import Map from "esri/Map";
import MapView from "esri/views/MapView";

Configure web server

The web server hosting configuration where you develop and host the ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript will need specific MIME/type registration.