It seems like the main focus here is on "defining a module with dependencies", which is a fundamental aspect of requirejs. The "Definition Function with Dependencies" section in the requirejs api documentation provides more information on this topic.
Here's an example taken from the documentation:
//my/shirt.js now has some dependencies, a cart and inventory
//module in the same directory as shirt.js
define(["./cart", "./inventory"], function(cart, inventory) {
//return an object to define the "my/shirt" module.
return {
color: "blue",
size: "large",
addToCart: function() {
inventory.decrement(this);
cart.add(this);
}
}
}
);
You can apply the same concept to your knockout handlers by passing the knockout dependency to the function. Within the define statement of each module where you need knockout, you can add knockout-handlers as part of the dependencies. If you only require knockout for DOM manipulation, you can simply list knockout-handlers at the end of the dependency list without additional arguments like this:
define(["knockout", "knockout-handlers"], function(knockout) {
//your module using knockout,
//knockout-handlers will be available for DOM manipulation
});
Rethinking the issue, it appears that circular dependency can be managed effectively using a shim configuration for the "automatic dependency":
//within your config
requirejs.config({
shim: {
'knockout': {
deps: ['knockout-handlers']
}
}
});
//definition of your knockout handlers module
define(["knockout"], function(knockout) {
return {
//Your knockout-handler module
}
});
This setup ensures that knockout-handlers are loaded whenever knockout is required.