What is require-directory?
The require-directory npm package allows you to recursively iterate over all the files in a directory and require them. This is useful for automatically loading scripts, such as routes, models, or configurations, without having to manually require each file.
What are require-directory's main functionalities?
Recursively requiring modules in a directory
This feature allows you to require all modules in a directory and its subdirectories. The 'module' variable refers to the current module, and 'require-directory' will load all modules relative to it.
const requireDirectory = require('require-directory');
const modules = requireDirectory(module);
Whitelisting files to require
This feature allows you to specify a regular expression to filter the files to be required. In this example, only files with a '.js' extension will be required.
const requireDirectory = require('require-directory');
const modules = requireDirectory(module, {
include: /\.js$/
});
Excluding files from being required
This feature allows you to specify a regular expression to exclude certain files from being required. In this example, files ending with '.test.js' will be ignored.
const requireDirectory = require('require-directory');
const modules = requireDirectory(module, {
exclude: /\.test\.js$/
});
Custom handler for each required module
This feature allows you to provide a custom handler function that is called for each module that is required. In this example, if the exported module is a function, it is invoked.
const requireDirectory = require('require-directory');
const modules = requireDirectory(module, {
visit: function (obj) {
if (obj instanceof Function) obj();
}
});
Other packages similar to require-directory
require-all
The 'require-all' package is similar to 'require-directory' in that it can also load all files within a directory. It provides options to filter files by a regular expression and to map the names of the keys in the returned object. It differs in its API and additional options for directory traversal and naming.
import-fresh
While 'import-fresh' is not used for bulk requiring modules, it allows you to require a module afresh, ensuring that it is not returned from the cache. This is useful for testing or when you need to reload a module's state.
glob
The 'glob' package provides pattern matching for file paths and can be used to find files in a directory that match a given pattern. It does not require the files but can be used in conjunction with 'require' to dynamically load modules that match a pattern.
require-directory
Recursively iterates over specified directory, requiring each file, and returning a nested hash structure containing those libraries.
How To Use
Installation
$ npm install require-directory
Usage
Given a directory structure like so:
- app.js
- routes/home.js
- routes/auth/login.js
- routes/auth/logout.js
- routes/auth/register.js
var requireDirectory = require('require-directory');
var routes = requireDirectory(module, './routes/');
app.get '/', routes.home;
app.get '/register', routes.auth.register;
app.get '/login', routes.auth.login;
app.get '/logout', routes.auth.logout;
License
MIT License
Author
Troy Goode (troygoode@gmail.com)