Documenting (better) how to expose global variables - see #8071

weaverryan · weaverryan · commit a099bff51969 · 2017-06-25T18:31:06.000-04:00
diff --git a/frontend/encore/legacy-apps.rst b/frontend/encore/legacy-apps.rst
@@ -1,6 +1,21 @@
 jQuery and Legacy Applications
 ==============================
 
+Inside Webpack, when you require a module, it does *not* (usually) set a global variable.
+Instead, it just returns a value:
+
+.. code-block:: javascript
+
+    // this loads jquery, but does *not* set a global $ or jQuery variable
+    const $ = require('jquery');
+
+In practice, this will cause problems with some outside libraries that *rely* on
+jQuery to be global. It will be a problem if some of *your* JavaScript isn't being
+processed through Webpack (e.g. you have some JavaScript in your templates).
+
+Using Libraries that Expect jQuery to be Global
+-----------------------------------------------
+
 Some legacy JavaScript applications use programming practices that don't play
 well with the new practices promoted by Webpack. The most common of these
 problems is using code (e.g. jQuery plugins) that assume that jQuery is already
@@ -27,7 +42,7 @@ So, when working with legacy applications, you may need to add the following to
     +     .autoProvidejQuery()
     ;
 
-Internally, this ``autoProvidejQuery()`` method uses the ``autoProvideVariables()``
+Internally, this ``autoProvidejQuery()`` method calls the ``autoProvideVariables()``
 method from Encore. In practice, it's equivalent to doing:
 
 .. code-block:: javascript
@@ -38,16 +53,33 @@ method from Encore. In practice, it's equivalent to doing:
         .autoProvideVariables({
             $: 'jquery',
             jQuery: 'jquery'
+            'window.jQuery': 'jquery',
         })
         // ...
     ;
 
+Accessing jQuery from outside of Webpack JavaScript Files
+---------------------------------------------------------
+
 If you also need to provide access to ``$`` and ``jQuery`` variables outside of
-JavaScript files processed by Webpack, you must create the global variables
-yourself in some file loaded before the legacy JavaScript code. For example, you
-can define a ``common.js`` file processed by Webpack and loaded in every page
-with the following content:
+JavaScript files processed by Webpack (e.g. JavaScript that still lives in your
+templates), you need to manually set these as global variables in some JavaScript
+file that is loaded before your legacy code.
+
+For example, you could define a ``common.js`` file that's processed by Webpack and
+loaded on every page with the following content:
 
 .. code-block:: javascript
 
-    window.$ = window.jQuery = require('jquery');
+    // require jQuery normally
+    const $ = require('jquery');
+
+    // create global $ and jQuery variables
+    global.$ = global.jQuery = $;
+
+.. tip::
+
+    The ``global`` variable is a special way of setting things pn the ``window``
+    variable. In a web context, using ``global`` and ``window`` are equivalent,
+    except that ``window.jQuery`` won't work when using ``autoProvidejQuery()``.
+    In other words, use ``global``.
