Reference files from dynamic object

Question

I am working on a Gruntfile, and am having difficulty getting a copy task to work the way I want.

I have an Uglify task defined using a dynamic file object like:

uglify: {
  files: {
    expand: true,
    cwd: 'src',
    src: [
      'some/path/file1.js',
      'another/path/file2.js'
    ],
    dest: 'dst',
    ext: '.min.js'
  }
}

This task works great, and I get my files written out as 'dst/some/path/file1.min.js' and 'dst/another/path/file2.min.js'.

I am working on a copy task, where I would like to copy the files I just built somewhere else. Rather than redefining the rule, I would like to reference the file set with a template.

If I use

copy: {
  deploy: {
    src: '<%= uglify.files %>',
    dest: 'deploy/'
  }
}

then I get the

Warning: Object # has no method 'indexOf'

error.

For various reasons beyond the scope of this question, globbing tricks won't work for the deploy.

So, in a copy task, how can I reference the set of files that another task just created?

Answer 1

You have files: {} as an object. It should be an array files: [].

uglify: {
  files: [{
    expand: true,
    cwd: 'src',
    src: [
      'some/path/file1.js',
      'another/path/file2.js'
    ],
    dest: 'dst',
    ext: '.min.js'
  }]
}

Answer 2

The src on copy config expected to be string or array, but you set an object on it, and when grunt tries to apply indexof method on the src of copy task, error will be the result. you can avoid this by setting uglify.files as array of objects, like this:

uglify: {
    files: [{
        expand: true,
        cwd: 'src',
        src: [
            'some/path/file1.js',
            'another/path/file2.js'
        ],
        dest: 'dst',
        ext: '.min.js'
   }]
}

Then, it will pass the error but you goal won't meet. you need to select dest of uglify as src for copy. the solution is the grunt method, TEMP FILES, you should set uglify dest in a temp path and then select what you need from there as src of copy task. something like this:

copy:{
    deploy:{
        files: [{
            expand: true,
            cwd: 'dst'
            src: '**/*.min.js'
            dest: 'deploy'
        }]
    }    
}