pkginfo

What is pkginfo?

The 'pkginfo' npm package allows you to retrieve information from a package.json file in a Node.js project. It is useful for accessing metadata such as the version, author, and dependencies of a package programmatically.

What are pkginfo's main functionalities?

Retrieve package information

This feature allows you to retrieve and log the package information from the package.json file. By requiring 'pkginfo' and passing 'module' to it, the package information is attached to the module.exports object.

const pkginfo = require('pkginfo')(module);
console.log(module.exports);

Retrieve specific fields

This feature allows you to retrieve specific fields from the package.json file. In this example, only the 'version' and 'author' fields are retrieved and logged.

const pkginfo = require('pkginfo')(module, 'version', 'author');
console.log(module.exports);

Other packages similar to pkginfo

read-pkg

The 'read-pkg' package reads the package.json file and returns its content as a JavaScript object. Unlike 'pkginfo', which attaches the information to the module.exports object, 'read-pkg' provides a more straightforward way to access the package.json content directly.

pkg-up

The 'pkg-up' package finds the closest package.json file by traversing up from the current directory. It is useful for locating the package.json file in a project, whereas 'pkginfo' focuses on retrieving information from a known package.json file.

normalize-package-data

The 'normalize-package-data' package normalizes package metadata, ensuring that the package.json data conforms to expected standards. While 'pkginfo' retrieves package information, 'normalize-package-data' focuses on validating and cleaning the data.

README

node-pkginfo

An easy way to expose properties on a module from a package.json

Installation

Installing npm (node package manager)

  curl http://npmjs.org/install.sh | sh

Installing pkginfo

  [sudo] npm install pkginfo

Motivation

How often when writing node.js modules have you written the following line(s) of code?

• Hard code your version string into your code

  exports.version = '0.1.0';

• Programmatically expose the version from the package.json

  exports.version = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync('/path/to/package.json', 'utf8')).version;

In other words, how often have you wanted to expose basic information from your package.json onto your module programmatically? WELL NOW YOU CAN!

Usage

Using pkginfo is idiot-proof, just require and invoke it.

  var pkginfo = require('pkginfo')(module);
  
  console.dir(module.exports);

By invoking the pkginfo module all of the properties in your package.json file will be automatically exposed on the callee module (i.e. the parent module of pkginfo).

Here's a sample of the output:

  { name: 'simple-app',
    description: 'A test fixture for pkginfo',
    version: '0.1.0',
    author: 'Charlie Robbins <[e-mail]>',
    keywords: [ 'test', 'fixture' ],
    main: './index.js',
    scripts: { test: 'vows test/*-test.js --spec' },
    engines: { node: '>= 0.4.0' } }

Expose specific properties

If you don't want to expose all properties on from your package.json on your module then simple pass those properties to the pkginfo function:

  var pkginfo = require('pkginfo')(module, 'version', 'author');
  
  console.dir(module.exports);

  { version: '0.1.0',
    author: 'Charlie Robbins <[e-mail]>' }

If you're looking for further usage see the examples included in this repository.

Run Tests

Tests are written in vows and give complete coverage of all APIs.

  vows test/*-test.js --spec

Author: Charlie Robbins