urls.static_plugins() method, closes #1033

Also documented how to package static assets and templates in plugins, closes #575

datasette/app.py

@@ -1281,6 +1281,9 @@ def instance(self):
     def static(self, path):
         return self.path("-/static/{}".format(path))
 
+    def static_plugins(self, plugin, path):
+        return self.path("-/static-plugins/{}/{}".format(plugin, path))
+
     def logout(self):
         return self.path("-/logout")
 

docs/internals.rst

@@ -387,6 +387,14 @@ The ``datasette.urls`` object contains methods for building URLs to pages within
 ``datasette.urls.logout()``
     Returns the URL to the logout page, usually ``"/-/logout"``.
 
+``datasette.urls.static(path)``
+    Returns the URL of one of Datasette's default static assets, for example ``"/-/static/app.css"``.
+
+``datasette.urls.static_plugins(plugin_name, path)``
+    Returns the URL of one of the static assets belonging to a plugin.
+
+    ``datasette.url.static_plugins("datasette_cluster_map", "datasette-cluster-map.js")`` would return ``"/-/static-plugins/datasette_cluster_map/datasette-cluster-map.js"``.
+
 ``datasette.urls.database(database_name)``
     Returns the URL to a database page, for example ``"/fixtures"``
 

docs/writing_plugins.rst

@@ -115,7 +115,21 @@ If your plugin has a ``static/`` directory, Datasette will automatically configu
 
     /-/static-plugins/NAME_OF_PLUGIN_PACKAGE/yourfile.js
 
-See `the datasette-plugin-demos repository <https://github.com/simonw/datasette-plugin-demos/tree/0ccf9e6189e923046047acd7878d1d19a2cccbb1>`_ for an example of how to create a package that includes a static folder.
+Use the ``datasette.urls.static_plugins(plugin_name, path)`` method to generate URLs to that asset that take the ``base_url`` setting into account, see :ref:`internals_datasette_urls`.
+
+To bundle the static assets for a plugin in the package that you publish to PyPI, add the following to the plugin's ``setup.py``:
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+        package_data={
+            'datasette_plugin_name': [
+                'static/plugin.js',
+            ],
+        },
+
+Where ``datasette_plugin_name`` is the name of the plugin package (note that it uses underscores, not hyphens) and ``static/plugin.js`` is the path within that package to the static file.
+
+`datasette-cluster-map <https://github.com/simonw/datasette-cluster-map>`__ is a useful example of a plugin that includes packaged static assets in this way.
 
 .. _writing_plugins_custom_templates:
 
@@ -132,6 +146,18 @@ The priority order for template loading is:
 
 See :ref:`customization` for more details on how to write custom templates, including which filenames to use to customize which parts of the Datasette UI.
 
+Templates should be bundled for distribution using the same ``package_data`` mechanism in ``setup.py`` described for static assets above, for example:
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+        package_data={
+            'datasette_plugin_name': [
+                'templates/my_template.html',
+            ],
+        },
+
+You can also use wildcards here such as ``templates/*.html``. See `datasette-edit-schema <https://github.com/simonw/datasette-edit-schema>`__ for an example of this pattern.
+
 .. _writing_plugins_configuration:
 
 Writing plugins that accept configuration

tests/test_internals_urls.py

@@ -47,6 +47,28 @@ def test_static(ds, base_url, file, expected):
     assert ds.urls.static(file) == expected
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "base_url,plugin,file,expected",
+    [
+        (
+            "/",
+            "datasette_cluster_map",
+            "datasette-cluster-map.js",
+            "/-/static-plugins/datasette_cluster_map/datasette-cluster-map.js",
+        ),
+        (
+            "/prefix/",
+            "datasette_cluster_map",
+            "datasette-cluster-map.js",
+            "/prefix/-/static-plugins/datasette_cluster_map/datasette-cluster-map.js",
+        ),
+    ],
+)
+def test_static_plugins(ds, base_url, plugin, file, expected):
+    ds._config["base_url"] = base_url
+    assert ds.urls.static_plugins(plugin, file) == expected
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     "base_url,expected",
     [
@@ -59,10 +81,13 @@ def test_logout(ds, base_url, expected):
     assert ds.urls.logout() == expected
 
 
-@pytest.mark.parametrize("base_url,expected", [
-    ("/", "/:memory:"),
-    ("/prefix/", "/prefix/:memory:"),
-])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "base_url,expected",
+    [
+        ("/", "/:memory:"),
+        ("/prefix/", "/prefix/:memory:"),
+    ],
+)
 def test_database(ds, base_url, expected):
     ds._config["base_url"] = base_url
     assert ds.urls.database(":memory:") == expected