Typescript cannot find name of own class when importing Node.js

Question

I'm attempting to use a node.js class (net in this instance) in a class I have defined.

Connection.ts:

import net = require('net');
class Connection  {

}

Then I reference my class in another file,

ConnectionContext.ts:

interface IConnectionContext {
    connection: Connection;
}

When I have this code, I see an underlined "Connection" in ConnectionContext that says "IConnectionContext.ts(3,17): error TS2304: Cannot find name 'Connection'"

if I remove the import * as net from part, the compile error goes away.

I'm a bit confused, when I look at the resulting JavaScript, all my classes look identical in their creation. I'm not certain why typescript is saying the class doesn't exist.

Here's my tsconfig:

{
    "compileOnSave": true,
    "compilerOptions": {
        "module": "commonjs",
        "outDir": "bin/",
        "noImplicitAny": true,
        "removeComments": true,
        "preserveConstEnums": true,
        "sourceMap": true,
        "moduleResolution": "node",
        "target": "es5"
    },
    "exclude": [
        "node_modules"
    ]
}

Based on this, what do I need to do to get my interface to see my class that uses node.js modules?

Not very familiar with typescript, but if it's using the es2015 module spec then it appears you're mixing the node-style modules with the new module syntax: import net = require('net');. Have you tried import net from 'net';? — Seth
– Seth, Commented Jun 9, 2016 at 4:36

basarat · Accepted Answer · 2016-06-09 04:35:19Z

5

if I remove the import * as net from part, the compile error goes away.

In the absense of an import or export statement the file is considered global. As soon as you import / export it becomes a module and hence must be imported.

This is covered here : https://basarat.gitbooks.io/typescript/content/docs/project/modules.html 🌹

answered Jun 9, 2016 at 4:35

basarat

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3 Comments

dab Over a year ago

That's a bit annoying, having to import every external class I use.. I mean, not much different than how I did it with node.js originally, which makes sense. Still a bit annoying lol.

basarat Over a year ago

If you have a path typo you now get a compiler error. In js + node you probably ended up with a runtime error

dab Over a year ago

Right, in order to get it to work in its current form, I have to do import {Connection} from './Connection.ts'; which is kind of annoying but it makes sense from a pure node.js aspect.

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