Is it possible to require files outside the Gemfile?
bundler, ruby, rubygems
Solution
You can add arbitrary load paths and then require gems from them. Check out the global variable `$:`
puts $:.inspect
# ["/var/myproject/releases/20200918191637/lib", "/var/myproject/releases/20200918191637/vendor", "/var/myproject/releases/20200918191637/app/assets", "/var/myproject/releases/20200918191637/app/controllers", "/var/myproject/releases/20200918191637/app/helpers", "/var/myproject/releases/20200918191637/app/mailers", "/var/myproject/releases/20200918191637/app/models", "/home/deploy/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.3.0/gems/bundler-2.0.2/lib", "/usr/local/rvm/rubies/ruby-2.3.0/lib/ruby/gems/2.3.0/gems/json-1.8.3/lib", "/home/deploy/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.3.0/gems/bundler-2.0.2/lib/gems/bundler-2.0.2/lib", "/usr/local/rvm/rubies/ruby-2.3.0/lib/ruby/site_ruby/2.3.0", "/usr/local/rvm/rubies/ruby-2.3.0/lib/ruby/site_ruby/2.3.0/x86_64-linux", "/usr/local/rvm/rubies/ruby-2.3.0/lib/ruby/site_ruby", "/usr/local/rvm/rubies/ruby-2.3.0/lib/ruby/vendor_ruby/2.3.0", "/usr/local/rvm/rubies/ruby-2.3.0/lib/ruby/vendor_ruby/2.3.0/x86_64-linux", "/usr/local/rvm/rubies/ruby-2.3.0/lib/ruby/vendor_ruby", "/usr/local/rvm/rubies/ruby-2.3.0/lib/ruby/2.3.0", "/usr/local/rvm/rubies/ruby-2.3.0/lib/ruby/2.3.0/x86_64-linux"]
Now let's append to `$:` and require a gem
require 'method_source'
# LoadError: cannot load such file -- method_source
$: << '/home/deploy/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.4@myset/gems/method_source-1.0.0/lib'
# ["/var/myproject/releases/20200918191637/lib", "/var/myproject/releases/20200918191637/vendor", "/var/myproject/releases/20200918191637/app/assets", "/var/myproject/releases/20200918191637/app/controllers", "/var/myproject/releases/20200918191637/app/helpers", "/var/myproject/releases/20200918191637/app/mailers", "/var/myproject/releases/20200918191637/app/models", "/home/deploy/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.3.0/gems/bundler-2.0.2/lib", "/usr/local/rvm/rubies/ruby-2.3.0/lib/ruby/gems/2.3.0/gems/json-1.8.3/lib", "/home/deploy/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.3.0/gems/bundler-2.0.2/lib/gems/bundler-2.0.2/lib", "/usr/local/rvm/rubies/ruby-2.3.0/lib/ruby/site_ruby/2.3.0", "/usr/local/rvm/rubies/ruby-2.3.0/lib/ruby/site_ruby/2.3.0/x86_64-linux", "/usr/local/rvm/rubies/ruby-2.3.0/lib/ruby/site_ruby", "/usr/local/rvm/rubies/ruby-2.3.0/lib/ruby/vendor_ruby/2.3.0", "/usr/local/rvm/rubies/ruby-2.3.0/lib/ruby/vendor_ruby/2.3.0/x86_64-linux", "/usr/local/rvm/rubies/ruby-2.3.0/lib/ruby/vendor_ruby", "/usr/local/rvm/rubies/ruby-2.3.0/lib/ruby/2.3.0", "/usr/local/rvm/rubies/ruby-2.3.0/lib/ruby/2.3.0/x86_64-linux", "/home/deploy/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.4@myset/gems/method_source-1.0.0/lib"]
require 'method_source'
# true
That can be tedious if you have a lot of dependencies, though, so you might try this:
Dir['/home/deploy/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.4@myset/gems/*'].each do |gem_path|
$: << File.join(gem_path, 'lib')
end
Problem
For example, I'm developing a gem, and while I'm developing, I use `pry` instead of IRB, and `debugger` for debugging. However, I don't want possible contributors to have to install them (because they may not need them). My first idea was to put them in a Bundler group: ``` source :rubygems gemspec group :extras do gem "pry" gem "debugger" end ``` And then people could use: ``` $ bundle install --without extras ``` But I want it to be a default that they're not installed. What would be perfect is that they're not in my `Gemfile`, but that I can still require them (if they exist on the computer). This solution would be ok because I don't care at which version they're locked. Can it be done?