binary-reader

binary-reader

Node.js project

Buffered binary reader with a fluent api

Version: 0.0.1

The BinaryReader is a wrapper around the fs.read() function. It has an internal buffer that maintains the last chunk of data read from disk, so it minimizes the number of i/o calls. If the requested data is already in the buffer it doesn't perform any i/o call and the data is copied from the buffer. It also implements a fluent interface for your ease.

Installation

npm install binary-reader

Documentation

• What are its uses?
• How it works?

Functions

• module.open(path[, options]) : Reader

Objects

• Reader

---

What are its uses?

Anything that reads binary files. These are the benefits you'll win:

• Read big binary files without caring about how to retrieve the data and without implementing your own internal cursor system.
• Avoid the callback nesting. It uses a very lightweight asynchronous control flow library: deferred-queue.
• Ease the error handling.
• It is lazy! Delays the open and read calls until they are necessary, ie. br.open(file).close() does nothing.

---

How it works?

To make the things easier there are 5 cases depending on the buffer position and the range of the bytes that you want to read. These cases only apply if the buffer size is smaller than the file size, otherwise the file is stored into memory, so only one i/o call is done.

Suppose a buffer size of 5 bytes (green background).
The pointer p is the cursor and it points to the first byte.
The pointer e is the end and it points to the last byte.
The x bytes are not into memory. They need to be read from disk.
The y bytes are already into memory. No need to read them again.

For simplicity, the x group of bytes will be less than a buffer size so they can be read with a single i/o call. The binary reader takes cares of this and makes all the necessary calls to read all the x bytes.

---

module.open(path[, options]) : Reader

Returns a new Reader. The reader is lazy so the file will be opened when with the first seek or read operation.

Options:

• highWaterMark - Number
  The buffer size. Default is 16KB.

---

Reader

The Reader uses a fluent interface. The way to go is to chain the operations synchronously and, after all, close the file. They will be executed in order and asynchronously. If any error occurs an error event is fired, the pending operations are cancelled and the file is closed automatically.

The read() and seek() functions receive a callback. This callback is executed after the current operation and before the next one. If you do any job inside this callback and it returns an error you should stop and close the reader because the next operations will be executed automatically. You cannot use close() because it is enqueued and awaits its turn. To stop the queue execution immediately you must use the cancel() function. The reader will be closed automatically. For example:

var r = br.open (file)
		.on ("error", function (error){
			console.error (error);
		})
		.on ("close", function (){
			//doSomething() has failed so it cancels the reader and closes the file
			//The second read is not executed
			//Proceed with other tasks
		})
		.read (5, function (bytesRead, buffer, cb){
			doSomething (function (error){
				if (error){
					console.error (error);
					r.cancel ();
					//Do NOT call to cb()
				}else{
					//Proceed with the next read
					cb ();
				}
			})
		})
		.read (10, function (){
			...
		})
		.close ();

Methods

• Reader#cancel() : undefined
• Reader#close() : Reader
• Reader#isEOF() : Boolean
• Reader#read(bytes, callback) : Reader
• Reader#seek(position[, whence][, callback]) : Reader
• Reader#size() : Number
• Reader#tell() : Number

Reader#cancel() : undefined

Stops the reader immediately, that is, this operation is not deferred, it executes and cancels all the pending operation. The file is closed automatically. Look at the example found in the Reader description.

Reader#close() : Reader

Closes the reader.

This operation is deferred, it's enqueued to the pending operation's list.

In the following example the close operation is executed after the read operation, so the reader first reads 1 byte and then closes.

br.open (file)
		.on ("error", function (error){
			console.error (error);
		})
		.on ("close", function (){
			...
		})
		.read (1, function (){ ... })
		.close ();

Reader#isEOF() : Boolean

Checks whether the internal cursor has reached the end of the file. Subsequent reads returns 0 bytes read. This operation is not deferred, it executes immediately.

In this example the cursor is moved to the last byte and reads it, so now the cursor is at the end of the file.

var r = br.open (file)
		.on ("error", function (error){
			console.error (error);
		})
		.on ("close", function (){
			...
		})
		.seek (0, { end: true })
		.read (1, function (){
			console.log (r.isEOF ()); //true
		})
		.close ();

Reader#read(bytes, callback) : Reader

Reads bytes and the cursor is automatically moved forward. The callback receives the number of bytes that has been read and the buffer with the raw data. The buffer is not a view, you can alter the content.

This operation is deferred, it's enqueued to the pending operation's list.

The callback receives a third parameter, a callback that must be called if you call to any asynchronous code between deferred operations.

For example:

var foo = function (cb){
	process.nextTick (cb);
};

br.open (file)
		.on ("error", function (error){
			console.error (error);
		})
		.on ("close", function (){
			...
		}))
		.read (1, function (bytesRead, buffer, cb){
			//foo is asynchronous, you must call to cb() when it finishes
			foo (cb);
		})
		.read (1, function (){ ... })
		.close ();

Reader#seek(position[, whence][, callback]) : Reader

Moves the cursor along the file.

The whence parameters is used to tell the reader from where it must move the cursor, it's the reference point. It has 3 options: start, current, end.

For example, to move the cursor from the start:

seek(0, { start: true });
seek(0);

By default the cursor it's referenced from the start of the file.

To move the cursor from the current position:

seek(5, { current: true })
seek(-5, { current: true })

The cursor can be moved with positive and negative values.

To move the cursor from the end:

seek(3, { end: true })

This will move the cursor to the fourth byte from the end of the file.

Reader#size() : Number

Returns the size of the file. This operation is not deferred, it executes immediately.

Reader#tell() : Number

Returns the position of the cursor. This operation is not deferred, it executes immediately.

var r = require("./lib").open (__filename)
		.on ("error", function (error){
			console.error (error);
		})
		.on ("close", function (){
			
		})
		.seek (0, { end: true }, function (){
			console.log (r.tell () === r.size () - 1); //true
		})
		.read (1, function (){
			console.log (r.tell () === r.size ()); //true
		})
		.close ();