Import / bundle static files (like json or txt) at build time

Developers
1

Is it possible in Motoko with dfx to import a static file and include its content in the wasm output bundle?

For example, I would like to have a .json or .txt file next to my Motoko code, use it and bundle it at build time.

Side note: at build time because I am looking to use these static data in actor canister that are generated on the fly upon calls from my web app

2

Not at the moment. You’re best bet is to include it as a Text or Blob constant, or write a preprocessor that takes the .txt/.json file and turns it into a Motoko declaration. Something like:

foo.txt:

hello
world

becomes:

Resources.mo

module {
  public let foo = "hello\n world";
}
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3

Thanks for the quick feedback. I’ll probably follow the preprocessor way then.

4

I wrote a NodeJS script regarding this subject which I ultimately might not use but, if it can be useful to someone one day, here you go → Gist

Note: it generates the variable as a Blob / Nat8 array to avoid text conflicts, like double quotes within double quotes

2 Likes