fs-extra contains methods that aren't included in the vanilla Node.js fs package. Such as mkdir -p, cp -r, and rm -rf.
The fs-extra package is a file system module for Node.js that extends the built-in 'fs' module. It provides additional methods and simplifies certain file operations, such as copying, moving, deleting files and directories, and more. It also adds promise support to the fs methods.
Copying files and directories
This feature allows you to copy files and directories from one location to another. The method returns a promise that resolves when the operation is complete.
const fs = require('fs-extra');
fs.copy('/path/to/source', '/path/to/dest')
.then(() => console.log('Copy successful!'))
.catch(err => console.error(err));Moving files and directories
This feature enables you to move files and directories to a new location. Like copy, it returns a promise and provides a simple API for a task that would otherwise require multiple steps.
const fs = require('fs-extra');
fs.move('/path/to/source', '/path/to/dest')
.then(() => console.log('Move successful!'))
.catch(err => console.error(err));Removing files and directories
This feature is used to delete files and directories. It is a safer and more powerful alternative to the standard 'fs.unlink' and 'fs.rmdir' methods, as it can remove non-empty directories.
const fs = require('fs-extra');
fs.remove('/path/to/dir')
.then(() => console.log('Removal successful!'))
.catch(err => console.error(err));Reading and writing JSON files
This feature simplifies the process of reading and writing JSON files. It automatically handles stringifying objects when writing and parsing JSON data when reading.
const fs = require('fs-extra');
const myData = { name: 'fs-extra' };
fs.writeJson('/path/to/file.json', myData)
.then(() => console.log('Write successful!'))
.catch(err => console.error(err));Ensuring a file or directory exists
This feature checks if a file or directory exists, and if it does not, it is created. This is useful for making sure that a given file or directory is present before performing operations on it.
const fs = require('fs-extra');
fs.ensureFile('/path/to/file.txt')
.then(() => console.log('File exists!'))
.catch(err => console.error(err));Rimraf is a Node.js package that provides a simple way to delete files and directories with a UNIX command 'rm -rf' like functionality. It is less feature-rich compared to fs-extra, which provides a broader set of file system operations.
Mkdirp is a package that allows you to create a new directory and its parent directories if they do not exist (similar to the 'mkdir -p' command in UNIX). It is more focused than fs-extra, which includes this functionality as part of a larger suite of file system tools.
Graceful-fs is a drop-in replacement for the fs module that makes file system operations more robust by queuing them and retrying on certain types of errors. It does not add new methods like fs-extra but improves the reliability of existing ones.
Node-fs-extra is a fork of fs-extra that aims to provide the same functionality. However, fs-extra is more commonly used and actively maintained, making it the preferred choice for most developers.
fs-extra adds file system methods that aren't included in the native fs module. It is a drop in replacement for fs.
NOTE (2016-01-13): Node v0.10 will be unsupported AFTER Ubuntu LTS releases their next version AND Amazon Lambda upgrades its Node.js runtime from v0.10. I anticipate this will happen around late spring / summer 2016. Please prepare accordingly. After this, we'll make a strong push for a 1.0.0 release.
I got tired of including mkdirp, rimraf, and cp -r in most of my projects.
npm install --save fs-extra
fs-extra is a drop in replacement for native fs. All methods in fs are unmodified and attached to fs-extra.
You don't ever need to include the original fs module again:
var fs = require('fs') // this is no longer necessary
you can now do this:
var fs = require('fs-extra')
or if you prefer to make it clear that you're using fs-extra and not fs, you may want
to name your fs variable fse like so:
var fse = require('fs-extra')
you can also keep both, but it's redundant:
var fs = require('fs')
var fse = require('fs-extra')
Most methods are async by default (they take a callback with an Error as first argument).
Sync methods on the other hand will throw if an error occurs.
Example:
var fs = require('fs-extra')
fs.copy('/tmp/myfile', '/tmp/mynewfile', function (err) {
if (err) return console.error(err)
console.log("success!")
});
try {
fs.copySync('/tmp/myfile', '/tmp/mynewfile')
console.log("success!")
} catch (err) {
console.error(err)
}
NOTE: You can still use the native Node.js methods. They are copied over to fs-extra.
copy(src, dest, [options], callback)
Copy a file or directory. The directory can have contents. Like cp -r.
Options:
false.filter is filter.test.Sync: copySync()
Example:
var fs = require('fs-extra')
fs.copy('/tmp/myfile', '/tmp/mynewfile', function (err) {
if (err) return console.error(err)
console.log("success!")
}) // copies file
fs.copy('/tmp/mydir', '/tmp/mynewdir', function (err) {
if (err) return console.error(err)
console.log('success!')
}) // copies directory, even if it has subdirectories or files
Exactly like createWriteStream, but if the directory does not exist, it's created.
Examples:
var fs = require('fs-extra')
// if /tmp/some does not exist, it is created
var ws = fs.createOutputStream('/tmp/some/file.txt')
ws.write('hello\n')
Note on naming: you'll notice that fs-extra has some methods like fs.outputJson, fs.outputFile, etc that use the
word output to denote that if the containing directory does not exist, it should be created. If you can think of a
better succinct nomenclature for these methods, please open an issue for discussion. Thanks.
Ensures that a directory is empty. Deletes directory contents if the directory is not empty. If the directory does not exist, it is created. The directory itself is not deleted.
Alias: emptydir()
Sync: emptyDirSync(), emptydirSync()
Example:
var fs = require('fs-extra')
// assume this directory has a lot of files and folders
fs.emptyDir('/tmp/some/dir', function (err) {
if (!err) console.log('success!')
})
Ensures that the file exists. If the file that is requested to be created is in directories that do not exist, these directories are created. If the file already exists, it is NOT MODIFIED.
Alias: createFile()
Sync: createFileSync(),ensureFileSync()
Example:
var fs = require('fs-extra')
var file = '/tmp/this/path/does/not/exist/file.txt'
fs.ensureFile(file, function (err) {
console.log(err) // => null
// file has now been created, including the directory it is to be placed in
})
Ensures that the directory exists. If the directory structure does not exist, it is created.
Sync: ensureDirSync()
Example:
var fs = require('fs-extra')
var dir = '/tmp/this/path/does/not/exist'
fs.ensureDir(dir, function (err) {
console.log(err) // => null
// dir has now been created, including the directory it is to be placed in
})
Ensures that the link exists. If the directory structure does not exist, it is created.
Sync: ensureLinkSync()
Example:
var fs = require('fs-extra')
var srcpath = '/tmp/file.txt'
var dstpath = '/tmp/this/path/does/not/exist/file.txt'
fs.ensureLink(srcpath, dstpath, function (err) {
console.log(err) // => null
// link has now been created, including the directory it is to be placed in
})
Ensures that the symlink exists. If the directory structure does not exist, it is created.
Sync: ensureSymlinkSync()
Example:
var fs = require('fs-extra')
var srcpath = '/tmp/file.txt'
var dstpath = '/tmp/this/path/does/not/exist/file.txt'
fs.ensureSymlink(srcpath, dstpath, function (err) {
console.log(err) // => null
// symlink has now been created, including the directory it is to be placed in
})
Creates a directory. If the parent hierarchy doesn't exist, it's created. Like mkdir -p.
Alias: mkdirp()
Sync: mkdirsSync() / mkdirpSync()
Examples:
var fs = require('fs-extra')
fs.mkdirs('/tmp/some/long/path/that/prob/doesnt/exist', function (err) {
if (err) return console.error(err)
console.log("success!")
})
fs.mkdirsSync('/tmp/another/path')
Moves a file or directory, even across devices.
Options:
Example:
var fs = require('fs-extra')
fs.move('/tmp/somefile', '/tmp/does/not/exist/yet/somefile', function (err) {
if (err) return console.error(err)
console.log("success!")
})
Almost the same as writeFile (i.e. it overwrites), except that if the parent directory does not exist, it's created. options are what you'd pass to fs.writeFile().
Sync: outputFileSync()
Example:
var fs = require('fs-extra')
var file = '/tmp/this/path/does/not/exist/file.txt'
fs.outputFile(file, 'hello!', function (err) {
console.log(err) // => null
fs.readFile(file, 'utf8', function (err, data) {
console.log(data) // => hello!
})
})
Almost the same as writeJson, except that if the directory does not exist, it's created.
options are what you'd pass to jsonFile.writeFile().
Alias: outputJSON()
Sync: outputJsonSync(), outputJSONSync()
Example:
var fs = require('fs-extra')
var file = '/tmp/this/path/does/not/exist/file.txt'
fs.outputJson(file, {name: 'JP'}, function (err) {
console.log(err) // => null
fs.readJson(file, function(err, data) {
console.log(data.name) // => JP
})
})
Reads a JSON file and then parses it into an object. options are the same
that you'd pass to jsonFile.readFile.
Alias: readJSON()
Sync: readJsonSync(), readJSONSync()
Example:
var fs = require('fs-extra')
fs.readJson('./package.json', function (err, packageObj) {
console.log(packageObj.version) // => 0.1.3
})
readJsonSync() can take a throws option set to false and it won't throw if the JSON is invalid. Example:
var fs = require('fs-extra')
var file = path.join('/tmp/some-invalid.json')
var data = '{not valid JSON'
fs.writeFileSync(file, data)
var obj = fs.readJsonSync(file, {throws: false})
console.log(obj) // => null
Removes a file or directory. The directory can have contents. Like rm -rf.
Sync: removeSync()
Examples:
var fs = require('fs-extra')
fs.remove('/tmp/myfile', function (err) {
if (err) return console.error(err)
console.log('success!')
})
fs.removeSync('/home/jprichardson') //I just deleted my entire HOME directory.
walk(dir, [streamOptions])
The function walk() from the module klaw.
Returns a Readable stream that iterates
through every file and directory starting with dir as the root. Every read() or data event
returns an object with two properties: path and stats. path is the full path of the file and
stats is an instance of fs.Stats.
Streams 1 (push) example:
var items = [] // files, directories, symlinks, etc
fse.walk(TEST_DIR)
.on('data', function (item) {
items.push(item.path)
})
.on('end', function () {
console.dir(items) // => [ ... array of files]
})
Streams 2 & 3 (pull) example:
var items = [] // files, directories, symlinks, etc
fse.walk(TEST_DIR)
.on('readable', function () {
var item
while ((item = this.read())) {
items.push(item.path)
}
})
.on('end', function () {
console.dir(items) // => [ ... array of files]
})
If you're not sure of the differences on Node.js streams 1, 2, 3 then I'd recommend this resource as a good starting point: https://strongloop.com/strongblog/whats-new-io-js-beta-streams3/.
See klaw documentation for more detailed usage.
Writes an object to a JSON file. options are the same that
you'd pass to jsonFile.writeFile().
Alias: writeJSON()
Sync: writeJsonSync(), writeJSONSync()
Example:
var fs = require('fs-extra')
fs.writeJson('./package.json', {name: 'fs-extra'}, function (err) {
console.log(err)
})
Use Bluebird. See https://github.com/petkaantonov/bluebird/blob/master/API.md#promisification. fs-extra is
explicitly listed as supported.
var Promise = require('bluebird')
var fs = Promise.promisifyAll(require('fs-extra'))
Or you can use the package fs-extra-promise that marries the two together.
If you like TypeScript, you can use fs-extra with it: https://github.com/borisyankov/DefinitelyTyped/tree/master/fs-extra
If you want to watch for changes to files or directories, then you should use chokidar.
Wanna hack on fs-extra? Great! Your help is needed! fs-extra is one of the most depended upon Node.js packages. This project
uses JavaScript Standard Style - if the name or style choices bother you,
you're gonna have to get over it :) If standard is good enough for npm, it's good enough for fs-extra.
What's needed?
fs-extra.copy, remove, or mkdirs should be built on top of it.Note: If you make any big changes, you should definitely post an issue for discussion first.
I put a lot of thought into the naming of these functions. Inspired by @coolaj86's request. So he deserves much of the credit for raising the issue. See discussion(s) here:
First, I believe that in as many cases as possible, the Node.js naming schemes should be chosen. However, there are problems with the Node.js own naming schemes.
For example, fs.readFile() and fs.readdir(): the F is capitalized in File and the d is not capitalized in dir. Perhaps a bit pedantic, but they should still be consistent. Also, Node.js has chosen a lot of POSIX naming schemes, which I believe is great. See: fs.mkdir(), fs.rmdir(), fs.chown(), etc.
We have a dilemma though. How do you consistently name methods that perform the following POSIX commands: cp, cp -r, mkdir -p, and rm -rf?
My perspective: when in doubt, err on the side of simplicity. A directory is just a hierarchical grouping of directories and files. Consider that for a moment. So when you want to copy it or remove it, in most cases you'll want to copy or remove all of its contents. When you want to create a directory, if the directory that it's suppose to be contained in does not exist, then in most cases you'll want to create that too.
So, if you want to remove a file or a directory regardless of whether it has contents, just call fs.remove(path). If you want to copy a file or a directory whether it has contents, just call fs.copy(source, destination). If you want to create a directory regardless of whether its parent directories exist, just call fs.mkdirs(path) or fs.mkdirp(path).
fs-extra wouldn't be possible without using the modules from the following authors:
Licensed under MIT
Copyright (c) 2011-2016 JP Richardson
FAQs
fs-extra contains methods that aren't included in the vanilla Node.js fs package. Such as recursive mkdir, copy, and remove.
The npm package fs-extra receives a total of 93,176,120 weekly downloads. As such, fs-extra popularity was classified as popular.
We found that fs-extra demonstrated a not healthy version release cadence and project activity because the last version was released a year ago. It has 3 open source maintainers collaborating on the project.
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