Help with (or alternative to) php-server

[spookiyu]

Hi, I just installed Pulsar on a new Mac and can't get php-server working. I've installed PHP (8.2.9) as required by the package, but it's throwing an error "Cannot use import statement outside a module" when I try to start a server up.

I'm a very humble mostly-front-end web designer, so simple answers are appreciated. 😅 I'll understand if I need to find an alternative as php-server is deprecated, but it's really valuable to me how easy it is to use and doesn't have a billion functions I don't need.

Error report:

Versions

**Pulsar**: 1.107.2023081002 x64
**Electron**: 12.2.3
**OS**: macOS 13.4.1
**Thrown From**: [php-server](https://github.com/leijou/php-server) package 0.8.0

Stack Trace

Failed to activate the php-server package

At Cannot use import statement outside a module

/Users/USER/.pulsar/packages/php-server/node_modules/open/index.js:1
(function (exports, require, module, __filename, __dirname, process, global, Buffer) { return function (exports, require, module, __filename, __dirname) { import process from 'node:process';
                                                                                                                                                           ^^^^^^

SyntaxError: Cannot use import statement outside a module
    at new Script (vm.js:101:7)
    at NativeCompileCache.runInThisContext (/app.asar/src/native-compile-cache.js:41:20)
    at Module._compile (/app.asar/src/native-compile-cache.js:99:36)
    at /app.asar/src/compile-cache.js:252:23)
    at Module.load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:935:32)
    at Module._load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:776:14)
    at Function.f._load (electron/js2c/asar_bundle.js:5:12913)
    at Function.o._load (electron/js2c/renderer_init.js:33:379)
    at Module.require (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:959:19)
    at require (/app.asar/src/native-compile-cache.js:67:27)
    at /packages/php-server/lib/php-server.coffee:3:8)
    at /packages/php-server/lib/php-server.coffee:1:1)
    at /packages/php-server/lib/php-server.coffee:1:1)
    at Module._compile (/app.asar/src/native-compile-cache.js:120:30)
    at /app.asar/src/compile-cache.js:252:23)
    at Module.load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:935:32)
    at Module._load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:776:14)
    at Function.f._load (electron/js2c/asar_bundle.js:5:12913)
    at Function.o._load (electron/js2c/renderer_init.js:33:379)
    at Module.require (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:959:19)
    at require (/app.asar/src/native-compile-cache.js:67:27)
    at requireModule (/app.asar/src/module-utils.js:3:17)
    at Package.requireMainModule (/app.asar/src/package.js:912:27)
    at Package.activateNow (/app.asar/src/package.js:232:34)
    at /app.asar/src/package.js:1028:24
    at Function.simpleDispatch (/app.asar/node_modules/event-kit/dist/emitter.js:64:14)
    at Emitter.emit (/app.asar/node_modules/event-kit/dist/emitter.js:257:28)
    at CommandRegistry.handleCommandEvent (/app.asar/src/command-registry.js:379:18)
    at CommandRegistry.dispatch (/app.asar/src/command-registry.js:292:17)
    at AtomEnvironment.dispatchContextMenuCommand (/app.asar/src/atom-environment.js:1620:19)

Non-Core Packages

atom-wrap-in-tag 0.6.0 
autoclose-html 0.23.0 
php-server 0.8.0 
replacing-pattern-collection 0.8.0 
sass-autocompile 0.13.5 

[savetheclocktower]

Was it working on a previous version of Pulsar, or is this the first time you've tried since Atom?

[savetheclocktower]

OK, here's another thing you can try: uninstall and reinstall the package. Then see if you can copy your node_modules folder over from one of your working installations, replacing the folder that's present after you reinstall.

If nothing else works, I'll see about forking this package and making the changes I've described. Then you'd be able to install a version from my repo. But this might be a quicker fix.

[confused-Techie]

Alternatively, it sounds like you might not have npm installed, which you could install then try the above command again, which may be a fast solution to this issue.

Otherwise, what @savetheclocktower suggested sounds best

[spookiyu]

Somehow I'm now getting a new error (copied below) when installing php-server, and unlike the first one, it's preventing the package from installing altogether. The installation hangs and causes my other packages to disappear like I described above. I uninstalled and reinstalled Pulsar entirely, twice, and this keeps happening now. I also tried letting it install as much as it would and then copying node_modules anyway and it broke things even more...

Thank you so much for all your help. And apologies for making it complicated even after you figured out the cause of the problem!

Versions

Pulsar: 1.108.2023082300 x64
Electron: 12.2.3
OS: macOS 13.4.1
Thrown From: php-server package 0.8.0

Stack Trace

Uncaught SyntaxError: Cannot use import statement outside a module

At /Applications/Pulsar.app/Contents/Resources/app.asar/src/native-compile-cache.js:102

/Users/USER/.pulsar/packages/php-server/node_modules/open/index.js:1
(function (exports, require, module, __filename, __dirname, process, global, Buffer) { return function (exports, require, module, __filename, __dirname) { import process from 'node:process';
                                                                                                                                                           ^^^^^^

SyntaxError: Cannot use import statement outside a module
    at new Script (vm.js:101:7)
    at NativeCompileCache.runInThisContext (/app.asar/src/native-compile-cache.js:41:20)
    at Module._compile (/app.asar/src/native-compile-cache.js:99:36)
    at /app.asar/src/compile-cache.js:252:23)
    at Module.load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:935:32)
    at Module._load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:776:14)
    at Function.f._load (electron/js2c/asar_bundle.js:5:12913)
    at Function.o._load (electron/js2c/renderer_init.js:33:379)
    at Module.require (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:959:19)
    at require (/app.asar/src/native-compile-cache.js:67:27)
    at /packages/php-server/lib/php-server.coffee:3:8)
    at /packages/php-server/lib/php-server.coffee:1:1)
    at /packages/php-server/lib/php-server.coffee:1:1)
    at Module._compile (/app.asar/src/native-compile-cache.js:120:30)
    at /app.asar/src/compile-cache.js:252:23)
    at Module.load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:935:32)
    at Module._load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:776:14)
    at Function.f._load (electron/js2c/asar_bundle.js:5:12913)
    at Function.o._load (electron/js2c/renderer_init.js:33:379)
    at Module.require (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:959:19)
    at require (/app.asar/src/native-compile-cache.js:67:27)
    at requireModule (/app.asar/src/module-utils.js:3:17)
    at Package.requireMainModule (/app.asar/src/package.js:912:27)
    at Package.activateConfig (/app.asar/src/package.js:292:10)
    at PackageManager.packageHasSettings (/app.asar/node_modules/settings-view/lib/package-manager.js:45:79)
    at PackageCard.hasSettings (package-card.js:547:32)
    at PackageCard.updateSettingsState (package-card.js:322:14)
    at PackageCard.updateInterfaceState (package-card.js:316:10)
    at package-card.js:501:12
    at package-card.js:558:9

Commands

Non-Core Packages

atom-wrap-in-tag 0.6.0 
autoclose-html 0.23.0 
php-server 0.8.0 
replacing-pattern-collection 0.8.0 
sass-autocompile 0.13.5 

[savetheclocktower]

You won't need to uninstall/reinstall Pulsar to fix this problem.

Try this:

• Go into /Users/USER/.pulsar/packages and remove the entire php-server folder.
• Find the same folder on one of the machines where this package is working.
• Copy the entire folder over to your new machine. (Dropbox, thumb drive, whatever)
• Relaunch Pulsar.

[spookiyu]

Thank you thank you thank you so much!!! That seems to have fixed everything!

[savetheclocktower]

I'm glad! If it breaks again in the future, let us know. The proper answer is for us to fork the package and fix the problem so that other people can still install it and have it work.