npm package for 6.8.1 no longer has dist directory.

[jrburke]

protobuf.js version: 6.8.1

The npm package for version 6.8.0 would get installed on disk with a dist/ directory in it that had the browser builds of protobuf.js. However, 6.8.1 no longer has the dist/ directory.

Is this by design or is it an npm publish error?

[dcodeIO]

This is due to fixing #781 in a8376b5 including just the relevant files for npm usage. Do you need the dist files in there?

[jrburke]

I can appreciate wanting to remove extra files from the npm package, like tests. For the dist/ files, that gets into what you want to support for the npm package in relation to front end/browser usage.

It is becoming more common for front end projects to use npm to manage their dependencies, and we were definitely using it that way for an ember project. I can see two pathways if you wanted to support npm packaging for front end protobufjs files:

1. Keep the dist/ directory in the main protobufjs npm package.
2. A separate npm package that only has the dists/ files in it for front end use.

I vote for 1) to keep it easy on publishing, but I am happy to use either.

Alternatively, if you do not think there should be an npm package for the built, front end protobufjs files, suggestions on how I might get versioned files I can download into my project is appreciated. Referencing it at runtime on the CDN is not an option for me because it is bundled with other modules for deployment.

[dcodeIO]

Ok, 6.8.2 has the dist files again.

[jrburke]

Thank you very much! Confirmed that it works for my use case.