bob

Bob

Convention-based build tool for Node.js projects.

Installation

npm install -g bob

Project Convention

Mandatory:

• package.json - project descriptor file
• lib/ - directory containing JavaScript library files
• test/ - directory containing JavaScript test files

Optional (only relevant when project is an app):

• {name}.js - main app file, must support node {name}.js start|stop|restart|status
• run/ - directory containing any runtime information like pid or log files

Reserved and generated by Bob:

• build/ - directory containing build reports and artifacts

Usage

Bob can be run from the project root directory (same level as package.json file).

Install project dependencies (per Node.js project):

bob dep

Run Bob from project directory:

bob target1 target2 target3 ...

Run Bob with specific environment: (if unspecified, NODE_ENV defaults to 'development')

NODE_ENV=production bob start

Run Bob in robot mode and generate XML reports: (if unspecified, BOB_MODE defaults to 'human')

BOB_MODE=robot bob lint test

Targets

dep	Install all dependencies specified in package.json file by executing npm install . .
tools	Install all Bob CLI dependencies in global scope.
clean	Delete build/ and run/ directories, along with any nohup.* and *.log files.
lint	Run jshint/node-jshint or tav/nodelint against all .js files in lib/ and test/ directories.
style	Run nomiddlename/jscheckstyle against all .js files in lib/ directory.
test	Run cloudhead/vows against all .js files in test/ directory. If {scripts.test} is available, then npm test will be executed instead.
coverage (experimental)	Run visionmedia/node-jscoverage via cloudhead/vows against all .js files in test/ and lib/ directories.
doc	Run nodeca/ndoc against all .js files in lib/ directory.
versionup	Upgrade patch version number in package.json file.
versionup-minor	Upgrade minor version number in package.json file.
versionup-major	Upgrade major version number in package.json file.
template (experimental)	Populate variables in template files with values from package.json file.
stop	Stop the app by executing node {name}.js stop . If {scripts.stop} is configured, then npm stop will be executed instead.
start	Start the app by executing node {name}.js start . If {scripts.start} is configured, then npm start will be executed instead.
restart	Restart the app by executing node {name}.js restart . If {scripts.restart} is configured, then npm restart will be executed instead.
status	Display app status by executing node {name}.js status .
nuke	Kill all processes with command containing the word 'node' .
package	Create a .tar.gz package file at build/artifact/ directory, along with md5 and sha1 checksums of the package file.
package-meta (experimental)	Create a meta file to build/artifact, along with md5 and sha1 checksums of the meta file.
deploy (experimental)	Upload the .tar.gz package file to a remote location, either via SCP or FTP.
ssh-unpack (experimental)	(SSH only) Deploy, then remotely unpack the .tar.gz package file.
ssh-restart (experimental)	(SSH only) Deploy, unpack, then remotely execute node {name.js} restart .
ssh-mkdir (experimental)	(SSH only) Remotely create the directory to deploy the package file to.

Config

Even though it's recommended to follow the project convention further above, it is possible to customise Bob's build target parameters.

Create a .bob.json file on the project's root directory (same level as package.json), containing a JSON object with this format:

{
  "x": {
    "y": "z"
  }
}

x.y properties will be used as BOB_X_Y in Bob's Makefile.

Check out the Makefile for a full list of parameters. NOTE: only the parameters prefixed with BOB_ are customisable.

Continuous Integration

###Travis CI

Configure the project's .travis.yml file:

before_install: "npm install -g bob"
script: "bob clean lint test coverage"

###Jenkins CI

Install Bob on the server, then configure a job with shell script build step:

bob clean lint test coverage;

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