PHET_IO in molecule-polarity-config.js?

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As part of code review #30, @zepumph removed PHET_IO from molecule-polarity-config.js in 6e226e1. But I see that @samreid added it in f1205f4, and apparently did so for all {{REPO}}-config.js files, https://github.com/phetsims/phet-io/issues/453. And PHET_IO is still in {{REPO}}-config.js for other sims that are not instrumented (e.g. function-builder-config.js).

I'm not clear on why it was added by @samreid. @zepumph please investigate whether it needs to be restored.

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Btw... If it's no longer needed here, then that's a more general issue -- it should probably be removed from all {{REPO}}-config.js files where it's not needed.

[samreid]

I tried removing PHET_IO from the molarity config.js file and after doing so was unable to launch phet-io-wrappers/instance-proxies/instance-proxies.html?sim=molarity&ea

because this GET fails:

require-2.1.11.js:1895 GET http://localhost/molarity/js/PHET_IO/SimIFrameAPI.js?bust=1499897604691 

I suspect it is also necessary for PhET-iO builds. Does this seem reasonable?

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@samreid asked:

Does this seem reasonable?

I don't know. This sim isn't instrumented. Should we wait to add PhET-iO dependencies as part of the instrumentation process?

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... and what was the motivation for adding PhET-iO dependencies to config.js for all sims?

[zepumph]

I don't know. This sim isn't instrumented. Should we wait to add PhET-iO dependencies as part of the instrumentation process?

That seems reasonable to me. Isn't molarity instrumented though? I would expect it to fail in phet-io mode.

[samreid]

Should we wait to add PhET-iO dependencies as part of the instrumentation process?

We wanted to make it so that simulations could do PhET-iO record and playback without any instrumentation. However, it did require adding PHET_IO to the config.js files.

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Labeled for developer meeting, so we can get a consensus on when to add PHET_IO to config.js.

[zepumph]

We wanted to make it so that simulations could do PhET-iO record and playback without any instrumentation. However, it did require adding PHET_IO to the config.js files.

It seems like there is always a manual step before getting a sim ready for record and playback. This is because not all ui components are instrumented for the data stream, so we have to make sure that everything is being emitted that we want. It seems reasonable that we would just add the PHET_IO dependency during that step, instead of always having it with every sim.

I would even argue that having it on all sims could be confusing, because someone may take that as a sign that the sim is ready for record/playback when it isn't.

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My vote would be to add ifphetio and PHET_IO to config.js when PhET-iO features are needed. And indicate that in https://github.com/phetsims/phet-io/blob/master/doc/how-to-instrument-a-phet-simulation-for-phet-io.md.

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7/13/17 dev meeting:
• restore PHET_IO in molecule-polarity-config.js
• for config.js checklist item, indicate that all config.js files will have PHET_IO and ifphetio

@zepumph will handle.

[zepumph]

in 4196982 I reverted the dependency update. I also updated the checklist above. Closing.