The 'sane' npm package is a file watcher that provides a simple and efficient way to monitor file changes in a directory. It is particularly useful for development workflows where you need to automatically trigger actions when files are modified, added, or deleted.
Basic File Watching
This feature allows you to watch a directory for changes to specific file types. The code sample demonstrates how to set up a watcher for JavaScript and CSS files, and how to handle events for file changes, additions, and deletions.
const sane = require('sane');
const watcher = sane('./path/to/dir', {glob: ['**/*.js', '**/*.css']});
watcher.on('ready', () => { console.log('Ready to watch files'); });
watcher.on('change', (filepath, root, stat) => { console.log('File changed:', filepath); });
watcher.on('add', (filepath, root, stat) => { console.log('File added:', filepath); });
watcher.on('delete', (filepath, root) => { console.log('File deleted:', filepath); });Custom Watcher Options
This feature allows you to customize the behavior of the file watcher. The code sample shows how to enable polling with a specific interval, which can be useful in environments where native file watching is not reliable.
const sane = require('sane');
const watcher = sane('./path/to/dir', {
glob: ['**/*.js'],
poll: true,
interval: 1000
});
watcher.on('ready', () => { console.log('Ready to watch files with custom options'); });
watcher.on('change', (filepath, root, stat) => { console.log('File changed:', filepath); });Ignoring Files and Directories
This feature allows you to ignore specific files or directories from being watched. The code sample demonstrates how to ignore the 'node_modules' directory and any JavaScript test files.
const sane = require('sane');
const watcher = sane('./path/to/dir', {
ignored: ['node_modules', '**/*.test.js']
});
watcher.on('ready', () => { console.log('Ready to watch files, ignoring specified patterns'); });
watcher.on('change', (filepath, root, stat) => { console.log('File changed:', filepath); });Chokidar is a popular and highly performant file watcher for Node.js. It provides a rich set of features, including support for recursive watching, custom ignore patterns, and the ability to watch individual files. Compared to 'sane', Chokidar is known for its robustness and extensive configuration options.
The 'watch' package is a simple and lightweight file watcher for Node.js. It provides basic functionality for watching files and directories, with a focus on simplicity and ease of use. While it may not offer as many features as 'sane' or 'chokidar', it is a good choice for straightforward use cases.
Gaze is another file watcher for Node.js that offers a balance between simplicity and functionality. It supports glob patterns, custom ignore patterns, and event handling for file changes, additions, and deletions. Gaze is similar to 'sane' in terms of features but may have different performance characteristics depending on the use case.
I've been driven to insanity by node filesystem watcher wrappers. Sane aims to be fast, small, and reliable file system watcher. It does that by:
fs.watch by default and sensibly works around the various issuesfs.watch is not reliable you have the choice of using the following alternatives:
$ npm install sane
Don't worry too much about choosing the correct mode upfront because sane maintains the same API across all modes and will be easy to switch.
watchman would be the most reliable modewatchmanWatches a directory and all its descendant directories for changes, deletions, and additions on files and directories.
var watcher = sane('path/to/dir', {glob: ['**/*.js', '**/*.css']});
watcher.on('ready', function () { console.log('ready') });
watcher.on('change', function (filepath, root, stat) { console.log('file changed', filepath); });
watcher.on('add', function (filepath, root, stat) { console.log('file added', filepath); });
watcher.on('delete', function (filepath, root) { console.log('file deleted', filepath); });
// close
watcher.close();
options:
glob: a single string glob pattern or an array of them.poll: puts the watcher in polling mode. Under the hood that means fs.watchFile.watchman: makes the watcher use watchman.watchmanPath: sets a custom path for watchman binary.watchexec: makes the watcher use watchexec.dot: enables watching files/directories that start with a dot.ignored: a glob, regex, function, or array of any combination.For the glob pattern documentation, see micromatch.
If you choose to use watchman you'll have to install watchman yourself).
If you choose to use watchexec you'll have to install watchexec yourself).
For the ignored options, see anymatch.
The default watcher class. Uses fs.watch under the hood, and takes the same options as sane(dir, options).
The watchman watcher class. Takes the same options as sane(dir, options).
The watchexec watcher class. Takes the same options as sane(dir, options).
The polling watcher class. Takes the same options as sane(dir, options) with the addition of:
Stops watching.
Emits the following events:
All events are passed the file/dir path relative to the root directory
ready when the program is ready to detect events in the directorychange when a file changesadd when a file or directory has been addeddelete when a file or directory has been deletedThis module includes a simple command line interface, which you can install with npm install sane -g.
Usage: sane <command> [...directory] [--glob=<filePattern>] [--poll] [--watchman] [--watchman-path=<watchmanBinaryPath>] [--dot] [--wait=<seconds>]
OPTIONS:
--glob=<filePattern>
A single string glob pattern or an array of them.
--ignored=<filePattern>
A glob, regex, function, or array of any combination.
--poll, -p
Use polling mode.
--watchman, -w
Use watchman (if available).
--watchman-path=<watchmanBinaryPath>
Sets a custom path for watchman binary (if using this mode).
--dot, -d
Enables watching files/directories that start with a dot.
--wait=<seconds>
Duration, in seconds, that watching will be disabled
after running <command>. Setting this option will
throttle calls to <command> for the specified duration.
--quiet, -q
Disables sane's console output
--changes-only, -o
Runs <command> only when a change occur. Skips running <command> at startup
It will watch the given directory and run the given every time a file changes.
sane 'echo "A command ran"'sane 'echo "A command ran"' --glob='**/*.css'sane 'echo "A command ran"' site/assets/css --glob='**/*.css'sane 'echo "A command ran"' --glob='**/*.css' --ignored='**/ignore.css'sane 'echo "A command ran"' --wait=3sane 'echo "A command ran"' -pMIT
The CLI was originally based on the watch CLI. Watch is licensed under the Apache License Version 2.0.
FAQs
Sane aims to be fast, small, and reliable file system watcher.
We found that sane 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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