Handlebars.noConflict() option?

[bradvogel]

It would be useful to have a noConflict() method to pull Handlebars out of the global namespace, similar to jQuery's http://api.jquery.com/jquery.noconflict/. It would be used like:

(function(){
    var hb = Handlebars.noConflict(); // Removes window.Handlebars from the global namespace.
})();

Use cases for this:

1. You're writing a gmail chrome extension that shares global namespace with gmail. You want to use Handlebars but don't want window.Handlebars.
2. You're using Handlebars inside of an environment that already declares it (such as Meteor does for backwards compatibility).

[bradvogel]

I can file a PR for this BTW. Just let me know if this proposal is OK.

[kpdecker]

1. Why not just use CJS or AMD? noConflict mode seems like a hack for the days prior to module systems.
2. Why are you loading multiple versions of handlebars?

[bradvogel]

#1. I can't use either because I don't want to pollute the global namespace with define or exports (in the case that I'm injecting this into gmail.com using a Chrome extension). However, I suppose I could do something really hacky like this:

<script>
  window.__origExports = window.exports;
  window.exports = {};
</script>
<script src="//cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/handlebars.js/1.0.0/handlebars.runtime.js"></script>
<script>
   var Handlebars = window.exports;
   window.exports = window.__origExports;

  // Use Handlebars...
</script>

#2. I'm not loading multiple versions of Handlebars. Meteor (for backwards compatibility reasons) defines Handlebars (https://github.com/meteor/meteor/blob/devel/packages/blaze/backcompat.js), so I'd like this noConflict implementation to restore the original Handlebars value (as JQuery does).

[kpdecker]

I'm still not a huge fan of the idea, but the implementations I've seen of this are generally pretty lightweight. Glad to take a look at such a PR.

[bernland]

I'm looking for the exact same feature because of use case no. 2. Since I'm not too familiar with GitHub, I was wondering what the Backlog milesotne refers to.

Thanks!

[bradvogel]

I looked at adding it but got lost in the complex build system. @kpdecker, any pointers? Is there a similar PR I could look at?

[bernland]

Looks like JsRender includes a noConflict() method, however, I can't seem to be able to get it to work: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/27088543/jsrender-noconflict

[kpdecker]

Released in 3.0.0

[bernland]

Can you please give an example?

var hb = Handlebars.noConflict();
hb.compile(...);

results in the following error: TypeError: hb is undefined.

[kpdecker]

It does not return the instance as currently implemented, so you would need to do something like

var hb = Handlebars;
Handlebars.noConflict();

Glad to accept a pull request for the return value though, it's minimal overhead.