Load External Scripts With Requirejs Without Access To Config

I'm trying to load the datatables javascript library in a plugin that I'm writing. The issue is that I get a conflict when I load the external resource, because datatables is confl

Solution 1:

The method used in the question does not work because DataTables is AMD-aware. If it detects that there's an AMD-style loader (which RequireJS is), then it defines itself as a module. However, it is invalid for AMD modules to be loaded with <script>, hence the error message.

The module in forum/admin/footer should be defined so as to require DataTables:

define([..., 
        '//cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/datatables/1.9.4/jquery.dataTables.min.js'], 
        function (...) {
});

(There's no need for a parameter corresponding to the DataTables module since it is a jQuery plugin.)

A few additional notes regarding the wider issue of integrating this plugin in a site that has already configured RequireJS:

1. require.config could be called multiple times to add configuration. However this may be deemed unacceptable if no coordination is expected between the plugin and the main code.

2. RequireJS has a notion of context. The documentation talks about it for loading multiple versions but maybe it can be fruitfully adapted to allow a plugin-specific configuration.

Solution 2:

Have you just tried a simple:

require(['//cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/datatables/1.9.4/jquery.dataTables.min.js']);

It works for local files without a doubt.