Error when running plugin

[mtoko]

Thank you for all the work on this plug in
I have installed as instructed in the standard Node Red directory (~/.node-red) and the plugin can be seen in the node_modules directory in a folder @ralphwetzel.
When starting Node Red the following error appears in the console and the plug in is not displayed in the Node Red Editor

TypeError [ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE]: The "path" argument must be of type string. Received undefined at new NodeError (node:internal/errors:372:5) at validateString (node:internal/validators:120:11) at Object.join (node:path:1172:7) at module.exports (/home/darryl/.node-red/node_modules/@ralphwetzel/node-red-mcu-plugin/mcu_plugin.js:349:34) at loadPlugin (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/node-red/node_modules/@node-red/registry/lib/loader.js:419:27) at /usr/local/lib/node_modules/node-red/node_modules/@node-red/registry/lib/loader.js:458:31 at Array.forEach (<anonymous>) at loadNodeSetList (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/node-red/node_modules/@node-red/registry/lib/loader.js:455:11) at /usr/local/lib/node_modules/node-red/node_modules/@node-red/registry/lib/loader.js:143:16 { code: 'ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE'

[ralphwetzel]

Thank you for testing this plugin!
Please install the Moddable SDK according to the Getting Started Guide.
Please ensure especially, that you define the MODDABLE environment variable as described in this chapter.

The error you hit is due to the fact that MODDABLE currently is not defined on your system. Thank you for catching this! I will add a guard to compensate for this situation.

[mtoko]

Thank you for the advice
I have had the Moddable SDK installed and working with the hello world example and have used the node-red-mcu to run flows on esp 32. The MODDABLE environment variable appears to be correct. When I input cd $MODDABLE the directory is ~/Projects/moddable.
This is the extract from the PATH
/home/darryl/Projects/moddable/build/bin/lin/release:
/home/darryl/Projects/iot-product-dev-book:
/home/darryl/Projects/node-red-mcu:
/home/darryl/Projects/moddable/module

[ralphwetzel]

@mtoko
Thank you for these insights.
Could you please pull the latest update (w/ the guard in place) & check, if it returns an error?

[mtoko]

I have pulled the latest update and the error is not returned but a message
14 Aug 09:21:28 - [error] *** node-red-mcu-plugin:
14 Aug 09:21:28 - [error] Environment variable $MODDABLE is not defined or stating a non-existing path.
14 Aug 09:21:28 - [error] Please install the Moddable SDK according to its Getting Started Guide:
14 Aug 09:21:28 - [error] https://github.com/Moddable-OpenSource/moddable/blob/public/documentation/Moddable%20SDK%20-%20Getting%20Started.md

I have tested the Moddable installation and can copy a flow from the editor and paste into flows.js and this works. Does this indicate that the Moddable setup is correct?

[ralphwetzel]

I'm sure your Moddable setup is correct as you've already worked with it successfully.
On the other hand, there might be an issue with the definition of the environment your node-red is running in.

To sort this out, I would like to ask you to add a logging statement @ line 30 of your installed mcu_plugin.js:

Original code:

node-red-mcu-plugin/mcu_plugin.js

Lines 28 to 33 in da30448

	// *****
	// Ensure that MODDABLE is defined
	const MODDABLE = process.env.MODDABLE;
	if (!MODDABLE || !fs.existsSync(MODDABLE)) {

With modification:

  // ***** 
  // Ensure that MODDABLE is defined 
  console.log(process.env);
  const MODDABLE = process.env.MODDABLE;

After restart of node-red, you'll find the environment variables it knows about printed out to your console (prior to the error message you already know). Does this comprise MODDABLE ?

[mtoko]

I have added the console.log and this is the output
{ LANGUAGE: 'en_GB:en', USER: 'darryl', HOME: '/home/darryl', OLDPWD: '/usr/local/lib/node_modules/node-red/bin', NODE_OPTIONS: '--max_old_space_size=2048', LOGNAME: 'darryl', JOURNAL_STREAM: '8:51772', PATH: '/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/snap/bin', INVOCATION_ID: '4c7c10959695415e813341f8222bcd8f', LANG: 'en_GB.UTF-8', SHELL: '/bin/bash', PWD: '/home/darryl', XDG_DATA_DIRS: '/var/lib/flatpak/exports/share:/usr/local/share/:/usr/share/', NODE_RED_HOME: '/usr/local/lib/node_modules/node-red' } 14 Aug 17:38:17 - [error] *** node-red-mcu-plugin: 14 Aug 17:38:17 - [error] Environment variable $MODDABLE is not defined or stating a non-existing path. 14 Aug 17:38:17 - [error] Please install the Moddable SDK according to its Getting Started Guide: 14 Aug 17:38:17 - [error] https://github.com/Moddable-OpenSource/moddable/blob/public/documentation/Moddable%20SDK%20-%20Getting%20Started.md

[ralphwetzel]

Thank you for providing this data. As I anticipated, this extract shows that your Node-RED doesn't know the $MODDABLE environment variable.
There's a chapter in the Node-RED documentation [ that I just got aware of] that matches this situation. In short:

When Node-RED is running as a service having been installed using the provided script, it will not have access to environment variables that are defined only in the calling process.

The solution is stated as well:

In this instance, environment variables can be defined in the settings file by adding process.env.FOO='World';
placed outside the module.exports section. Alternatively, variables can be defined as part of the systemd service by placing statements of the form ENV_VAR='foobar' in a file named environment within the Node-RED user directory, ~/.node-red.

If you confirm this proposal solves the issue, I'll add a dedicated comment to the error message.

[mtoko]

I have added the environment variable to the settings.js at the top of the file before the module.exports

process.env.MODDABLE='$MODDABLE',
module.exports = {

/*****************************************************************************>

• Flow File and User Directory Settings
• • flowFile

When starting Node Red the error message is displayed but the console.log indicates MODDABLE

{
LANGUAGE: 'en_GB:en',
USER: 'darryl',
HOME: '/home/darryl',
OLDPWD: '/usr/local/lib/node_modules/node-red/bin',
NODE_OPTIONS: '--max_old_space_size=2048',
LOGNAME: 'darryl',
JOURNAL_STREAM: '8:103239',
PATH: '/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/snap/bin',
INVOCATION_ID: '296c77db59f048ce8628bbde557ea29b',
LANG: 'en_GB.UTF-8',
SHELL: '/bin/bash',
PWD: '/home/darryl',
XDG_DATA_DIRS: '/var/lib/flatpak/exports/share:/usr/local/share/:/usr/share/',
NODE_RED_HOME: '/usr/local/lib/node_modules/node-red',
MODDABLE: '$MODDABLE'
}
15 Aug 08:16:25 - [error] *** node-red-mcu-plugin:
15 Aug 08:16:25 - [error] Environment variable $MODDABLE is not defined or stating a non-existing path.
15 Aug 08:16:25 - [error] Please install the Moddable SDK according to its Getting Started Guide:
15 Aug 08:16:25 - [error] https://github.com/Moddable-OpenSource/moddable/blob/public/documentation/Moddable%20SDK%20-%20Getting%20Started.md

The MCU sidebar is available and a new build configuration can be added. I have used esp32 but the @ box is empty and there is no result when the Build button is selected

[ralphwetzel]

I'm pretty sure, you have to provide the full path to the moddable directory rather than a reference to another env.variable. That said, I propose you add the following line to your settings.js:

process.env.MODDABLE = "/home/darryl/Projects/moddable"

The MCU sidebar is available [...].

After you hit that error, the code should have bailed out. I'll verify that once again.
Thank you for giving this plugin a try!

[mtoko]

Thank you for the information, I am making progress. I have added the environment variable as proposed and mcu loads without errors. I have added a build configuration for the usb port that is connected to an esp32 nodemcu. When I attempt the build mcconfig is not found. See the screenshots below

[ralphwetzel]

That's looks like another issue with the env.
Your
PATH: '/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/snap/bin',
doesn't include the path to the MODDABLE tools directory, as demand according to the documentation @ Installing, ch 7:
export PATH=$PATH:$MODDABLE/build/bin/lin/release.

I've pushed another change that checks now if it is defined & adds it to the runtime's environment if not.

[mtoko]

Thank you
I have checked the documentation and my ~/.bashrc file and the export PATH=$PATH:$MODDABLE/build/bin/lin/release entry is included.
The new change has been installed and now mcconfig is found, but there is a new error

cd /tmp/node-red-mcu-plugin2IvF05
mcconfig -d -x localhost:5004 -m -p esp32/nodemcu

Error: '/home/darryl/Projects/moddable/modules/base/structuredClone/manifest.json': manifest not found!

I have then done a git pull of the latest Moddable and the manifest error has gone. The error is now

cd /tmp/node-red-mcu-pluginxVumbk
mcconfig -d -x localhost:5004 -m -p esp32/nodemcu
fatal: not a git repository (or any of the parent directories): .git
/home/darryl/Projects/moddable/build/tmp/esp32/nodemcu/debug/node-red-mcu-pluginxVumbk/makefile:407: Could not detect ESP-IDF version.
Not enough parameters
Expected ESP IDF v4.4.2, found
make: *** [/home/darryl/Projects/moddable/build/tmp/esp32/nodemcu/debug/node-red-mcu-pluginxVumbk/makefile:825: idfVersionCheck] Error 1

[ralphwetzel]

I have checked the documentation and my ~/.bashrc file and the export PATH=$PATH:$MODDABLE/build/bin/lin/release entry is included.

It is ... but Node-RED doesn't have access to it - as explained before.

Your latest error seems to be related to ESP-IDF. There's a commit that bumped the required version to 4.4.2. Have you updated this as well?