Cordova CLI, using Git, and saving plugins/platforms

Question

I\'m trying to figure out how to reconcile some Cordova + git \"best practices\" with what I think is reality, and I\'m hoping someone can shed some light on this for me.

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Answer 1

Cordova 4.3.0 + allows you to save and restore platforms and plugins. Saved information is stored in config.xml file. See v5.0.0 release notes and the official Cordova docs.

You can save platforms and plugins using the --save option when you add them:

cordova platforms add PLATFORM --save
cordova plugins add PLUGIN --save

Or you can save platforms and plugins that are currently added:

cordova platforms save
cordova plugins save

By doing this there is no need to check in platforms or plugins into your code repository. They will be automatically restored based on your config.xml file when cordova prepare command is run.

Answer 2

I typically write a hook to capture the plugins I want to use in my project. You can see this in an article I wrote here: http://devgirl.org/2013/11/12/three-hooks-your-cordovaphonegap-project-needs/

With the new modular architecture of Cordova 3.x, every app needs plugins, even to use basic functionality such as logging or geolocation. Rather than document which plugins/features your project needs and ask each new developer to install them, download and install them automatically with a hook in the after_platform_add step. Using this plugin, every time a developer checks out the project and adds a platform, they automatically have the required plugins.

You also may be interested in following along with this bug, which suggests npm style --save functionality: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/CB-5775

Platforms are a little more difficult because they don't fit into the hook architecture, but you could write a shell script which you could execute to add your platforms.

#!/bin/sh
for plat in ios android; do
   cordova platform add $plat
done

You could do something similar with the version of cordova you have installed in node_modules (at least that is what I think you are installing in node_modules)--have shell script to get the correct version of cordova:

#!/bin/sh
VERSION=3.3.1-0.4.2
npm install cordova@$VERSION

PS Glad you liked the book!