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Eight short screencasts presenting the NodeDev node package for custom node development inside Node-RED.
These screencasts describe the usage of NodeDev to create, test and develop custom nodes for Node-RED inside Node-RED - no external editor included!
Please note: These screencasts are not for folks new to Node-RED, if you are looking for an introduction to Node-RED, then check out my blog for a bunch of articles on learning Node-RED.
This episode presents the motivation behind NodeDev and also an introduction to the nodes provided by the package, including the Package Imported sidebar for importing existing packages.
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A short description of what the Package Importer does and how it can help in node development.
Not mentioned in the screencast was that the Package Importer will import any NPM package not just Node-RED node packages. So it becomes useful for viewing existing code and learning from others without having to go to GitHub repos.
Part of creating custom nodes is boilerplate HTML and Javascript code. This episode presents how this can be done automagically by the NodeFactory node. Also briefly touched on is using existing nodes in the flows for custom nodes.
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Presented is the workflow for installing custom node code into Node-RED. Also how to upgrade node code without deinstalling and reinstalling node code.
To update custom node code in Node-RED requires restarting Node-RED, this episode provides an automatic method for restarting Node-RED. Also this episode demonstrates how a second node can be added to the node package.
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Node-RED packages are hosted at NPMjs, this episode demonstrates how to publish packages to NPMjs.com from within Node-RED.
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Package code can be committed to GitHub - this episode presents how this can be done.
Not mentioned in the screencast:
GITHUB_TOKEN env variables has to be defined.Links:
FlowHub.org is my platform for hosting flows, this episode demonstrates how to push the final custom node flow to FlowHub.org and take all advantages of the Webiliser.
For more details on FlowHub.org and how to use it for your projects, view the intro screencasts.
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Bootstrapping is the process of creating something from nothing, the reverse of ephemeralization. This episode discusses the creation of the NodeDev node package in Node-RED, as a flow, without using the NodeDev node package.
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Another advantage of creating Node-RED nodes inside Node-RED is that nodes can be created on the fly, for a single specific purpose. This episode demonstrates that feature.
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This is my workflow for development custom nodes, I know others will have their own workflows. Using this workflow makes the assumption that Node-RED is not only as a configuration tool for a server but also an editor of code. This assumption may or may not jell with everyone.
Also there is no requirement to perform all the steps shown in the screencasts, they simply describe all features of the NodeDev node package. Simply importing existing packages using the Package Importer might be useful for some.
Hope It Helps!