ast-query

AST Query

Tentative to a simple JavaScript AST modification library.

If you've ever worked with AST trying to edit source code, you've probably had a hard time as the syntax is somehow terse and you need to loop and use conditionnals a lot. AST Query try to hide this complexity behind a declarative façade.

Making this choice, AST Query does not try to cover a full AST API, but instead answer common needs.

Getting Started

Install: npm install --save ast-query

First, you always need to create a Tree which you'll edit

var Tree = require("ast-query");
var tree = new Tree("var a = 'foo'");

To get the source code back after modifying the AST, call the toString method on the tree.

// ...
tree.var("a").value("'bar'");

console.log( tree.toString() );
// LOG: var a = 'bar';

Reminder you're editing source code. As so, you'll need to add extra quotes when outputting strings (e.g.: "'foo'").

Also, note that AST Query isn't checking you output valid code; neither does it check for whitespace consistency. You may want to pass each transformed sources in a beautifier if this is important.

API

Tree

new Tree( sourceCode )

• sourceCode
• type: String
• The source code to edit.

tree.var( name )

• name
• type: String
• The variable name
• Returns: A variable token. See object methods

tree.object()

• Returns: An object literal token. See object methods

Variable token

.value( value )

• value
• type: String|function
• A string containing the new variable value or a function taking the current value as a parameter and returning the new variable value

.rename( name )

• name
• type: String
• Change the variable name

.replaceWith( value )

• value
• type: String
• Replace the current variable declaration string with a new one. Note this method only replace the string between the var declarations tokens, e.g. var <value goes here>;

.insertAfter( value )

• value
• type: String
• Insert a string after the variable declaration code blocks. If there's multiple declaration inside the code block, the string will be inserted after everyone.

.insertBefore( value )

• value
• type: String
• Insert a string before the var keyword

.delete()

• Delete the variable declaration. If the declaration block contain a single variable, it'll delete it all, otherwise, it'll only delete the relevant section

Object literal token

.assignedTo( name )

• name
• type: String
• Only select object assigned to a var.

.passedTo( name )

• name
• type: String
• Only select object passed as argument to a function or a method
• Known issue: Currently only work with objects nested two levels down. (PR welcomed)

Example:

var tree = new Tree("grunt.init({ key: 'value' })");
tree.object().passedTo("grunt.init").key("key").value("'foo'");
console.log( tree.toString() );

.key( name )

• name
• type: String
• A key name to select
• Returns: A Property token. See object methods

Property token

.value( value )

• value
• type: String|function
• A string containing the new property value or a function taking the current value as a parameter and returning the new property value

.rename( name )

• name
• type: String
• Change the variable property key

.delete()

• Delete the property from the object.

Contributing

Style Guide: Please base yourself on Idiomatic.js style guide with two space indent
Unit test: Unit test are wrote in Mocha. Please add a unit test for every new feature or bug fix. npm test to run the test suite.
Documentation: Add documentation for every API change. Feel free to send corrections or better docs!
Pull Requests: Send fixes PR on the master branch. Any new features should be send on the wipbranch.

License

Copyright (c) 2012 Simon Boudrias (twitter: @vaxilart)
Licensed under the MIT license.