flask-script has been deprecated by the internal flask.cli module, but
making this carries a few changes with it
* you should add FLASK_APP=application.py and FLASK_DEBUG=1 to your
environment.sh.
* instead of using `python app.py runserver`, now you must run
`flask run -p 6012`. The -p command is important - the port must be
set before the config is loaded, so that it can live reload nicely.
(https://github.com/pallets/flask/issues/2113#issuecomment-268014481)
* find available commands by just running `flask`.
* run them using flask. eg `flask list_routes`
* define new tasks by giving them the decorator
`@app.cli.command('task-name')`. Task name isn't needed if it's just
the same as the function name. Alternatively, if app isn't available
in the current scope, you can invoke the decorator directly, as seen
in app/commands.py
- no config overrides - now all set in environment
- use different files for staging and live too allow for differently named env variables
- updates to run_app and run_tests scripts to set correct environment (test/development) so correct config picked up
- use environment file on deployed environments to pick correct config
…or how to move a bunch of things from a bunch of different places into
`app/static`.
There are three main reasons not to use Flask Assets:
- It had some strange behaviour like only
- It was based on Ruby SASS, which is slower to get new features than libsass,
and meant depending on Ruby, and having the SASS Gem globally installed—so
you’re already out of being a ‘pure’ Python app
- Martyn and I have experience of doing it this way on Marketplace, and we’ve
ironed out the initial rough patches
The specific technologies this introduces, all of which are Node-based:
- Gulp – like a Makefile written in Javascript
- NPM – package management, used for managing Gulp and its related dependencies
- Bower – also package management, and the only way I can think to have
GOV.UK template as a proper dependency
…speaking of which, GOV.UK template is now a dependency. This means it can’t be
modified at all (eg to add a global `#content` wrapper), so every page now
inherits from a template that has this wrapper. But it also means that we have a
clean upgrade path when the template is modified.
Everything else (toolkit, elements) I’ve kept as submodules but moved them to a
more logical place (`app/assets` not `app/assets/stylesheets`, because they
contain more than just SASS/CSS).
