argv-formatter

argv-formatter

Bizarro minimist: transform an options object into into a process.argv-like array. Helpful for using child_process and passing complex arguments more easily.

Setup

$ npm install --save argv-formatter

API

formatter.format(object) -> Array

Accepts an object of containing options and arguments and returns an array of arguments.

• options with a value of true will be included with a flag only ({R: true} -> ['-R'])
• options that are falsey will be removed
• all values will be stringified, ({D: new Date(0)} -> ['-D', 'Thurs Jan 1 1970...'])
• arguments can be passed under the _ key as a value or array of values

Examples

To generate arguments to a git log command for printing the short hashes of commits that have changed our test files:

var args = formatter.format({
  _: './test/*',
  format: '%h'
});
console.log(args.join(' ')); // --format=%h ./test/*

git-log-parser uses this to spawn a git process:

var spawn     = require('child_process').spawn;
var formatter = require('argv-formatter');
var args      = formatter.format(options);
var child     = spawn('git', ['log'].concat(args));