symlink-or-copy

What is symlink-or-copy?

The symlink-or-copy npm package provides a utility to create symbolic links or copy files and directories, depending on the platform and file system capabilities. It is particularly useful in environments where symbolic links are not supported, such as certain Windows configurations.

What are symlink-or-copy's main functionalities?

Create a symbolic link or copy a file

This feature allows you to create a symbolic link to a file or copy the file if symbolic links are not supported. The `sync` method is used to perform the operation synchronously.

const symlinkOrCopy = require('symlink-or-copy');

symlinkOrCopy.sync('source/file.txt', 'destination/file.txt');

Create a symbolic link or copy a directory

This feature allows you to create a symbolic link to a directory or copy the directory if symbolic links are not supported. The `sync` method is used to perform the operation synchronously.

const symlinkOrCopy = require('symlink-or-copy');

symlinkOrCopy.sync('source/directory', 'destination/directory');

Other packages similar to symlink-or-copy

fs-extra

The fs-extra package extends the native Node.js fs module with additional methods, including methods for copying files and directories. Unlike symlink-or-copy, fs-extra does not provide functionality to create symbolic links, but it offers a broader range of file system operations.

ncp

The ncp (Node Copy) package is focused on copying files and directories. It does not provide symbolic link creation functionality, but it is a robust solution for copying large directories with various options for error handling and concurrency.

cpy

The cpy package is a modern alternative for copying files and directories with support for glob patterns and advanced options. It does not handle symbolic links but is highly configurable and efficient for copying tasks.

README

node-symlink-or-copy

Symlink a file or directory to another place. Fall back to copying on Windows. Made for use with Broccoli plugins, for "do what I mean" behavior.

Installation

npm install --save symlink-or-copy

Example

const symlinkOrCopySync = require('symlink-or-copy').sync;

symlinkOrCopySync('src_dir/some_file.txt', 'dest_dir/some_file.txt');
symlinkOrCopySync('src_dir/some_dir', 'dest_dir/some_dir');

Description

symlinkOrCopySync(srcPath, destPath);

Create a symlink at destPath pointing to srcPath.

On Windows, we may fall back to copying srcPath to destPath, preserving last-modified times. However, do not rely on always getting a copy on Windows (see Notes below).

If you pass a relative srcPath, it will be resolved relative to process.cwd(), akin to a copy function. Note that this is unlike fs.symlinkSync, whose srcPath is relative to destPath.

If srcPath does not exist or is a broken symlink, we might throw an exception, or we might create a broken symlink.

When we fall back to copying, symlinks at or beneath srcPath will be dereferenced, and broken symlinks will cause exceptions.

We will throw an exception if destPath already exists. Thus in contrast to Unix cp or ln, the following will fail:

// dest_dir already exists, and we might expect dest_dir/some_dir to be
// created. This does not work; pass 'dest_dir/some_dir' instead.
symlinkOrCopySync('src_dir/some_dir', 'dest_dir');

It is an error if the parent directory of destPath does not already exist.

When we symlink, if the file at srcPath is a symlink as well, it will be dereferenced before symlinking, to avoid runaway symlink indirection.

Notes

• Symlinks technically work on Windows, but they require special rights. For users with those rights, symlinks are used, but when not available, a combination of junctions and copying is used to mimic the behavior somewhat performantly.

• There intentionally isn't an asynchronous version. It's not clear that we need or want one. Before sending a patch to add an async version, please share your use case on the issue tracker.

Changelog

1.3.1

• Ensure symlink support detection cannot fail when cleaning up