Feature request: Max for Live compatibility - make it possible to compile all js assets to the root directory (not lib/) for use in Max for Live

[codekiln]

Thanks for scaffolding out this ecosystem of repositories for using typescript with max!

tl;dr Requested Feature Description

• make it possible for an application to configure maxmsp.config.json so as to not have maxmsp compiled assets put in subdirectories or expect the lib/* structure, so that Max for Live users can utilize it without needing to manually update their Max search path.

Context

I'm trying to write an Ableton Max for Live plugin with your template over at https://github.com/codekiln/alits. It's the first time I've made a Max for Live plugin, so please forgive me in advance if I've misunderstood something about Max, Max for Live, etc.

Like most Ableton users, I don't have a standalone license to Max, and as a result, I can't create a Max Project file with the path references to the compiled artifacts in subdirectories.

For example, lib/${effectivePath}/${alias}_index.js will not be available to the users of my Max for Live device unless I provide instructions to them to edit their [[c74/max/File Browser]] and add a path for each folder individually, because while Max for Live is capable of opening Max Projects, it's not capable of saving or editing them.

I realize that Max's unique javascript model requires each js file to be uniquely named, and I think the aliasing functionality might be sufficient to meet that requirement without needing folders in the case of Max for Live.

Feature Request

If apps/kebricide/maxmsp.config.json has:

{
  "output_path": "",
  "dependencies": {
    "@my-username/my-library": {
      "alias": "myLibrary",
      "files": ["index.js"],
      "path": ""
    }
  }
}

and apps/kebricide/tsconfig.json has:

{
  "compileOnSave": true,
  "compilerOptions": {
    "module": "CommonJS",
    "target": "ES5",
    "ignoreDeprecations": "5.0",
    "strict": true,
    "noImplicitAny": true,
    "sourceMap": false,
    "outDir": "./Project",
    "baseUrl": "src",
    "types": ["maxmsp"],
    "lib": ["es5"]
  },
  "include": ["./src/**/*.ts"]
} 

then currently, pnpm dev -> maxmsp dev ends up calling postBuild() which results in:

apps/kebricide/Project/@my-username-my-library/myLibrary_index.js
apps/kebricide/Project/kebricide.js
apps/kebricide/Project/maxmsp-test.amxd

instead of:

apps/kebricide/Project/myLibrary_index.js
apps/kebricide/Project/index.js
apps/kebricide/Project/maxmsp-test.amxd

Also, of course, myLibrary_index.js would need to have its require statements updated so as to no longer expect the results to be located in a subdirectory.

I will likely implement the changes in a fork as they are necessary for my use case. I'd love to submit a PR if you are welcome to that. Please let me knokw if you have any advice or guidance in this matter.