to-vfile

What is to-vfile?

The 'to-vfile' npm package is a utility for working with virtual files in Node.js. It allows you to create, read, write, and manipulate file objects in memory, which can be particularly useful for processing files in a pipeline without needing to interact with the filesystem directly.

What are to-vfile's main functionalities?

Creating a virtual file

This feature allows you to create a virtual file object with specified path and contents. The file object can then be manipulated in memory.

const vfile = require('to-vfile');
const file = vfile({ path: 'example.txt', contents: 'Hello, world!' });
console.log(file);

Reading a file from the filesystem

This feature allows you to read a file from the filesystem into a virtual file object. The contents of the file are loaded into memory, and you can manipulate the file object as needed.

const vfile = require('to-vfile');
vfile.read('example.txt', 'utf8', (err, file) => {
  if (err) throw err;
  console.log(file);
});

Writing a virtual file to the filesystem

This feature allows you to write a virtual file object to the filesystem. The contents of the virtual file are saved to the specified path.

const vfile = require('to-vfile');
const file = vfile({ path: 'example.txt', contents: 'Hello, world!' });
vfile.write(file, err => {
  if (err) throw err;
  console.log('File written!');
});

Other packages similar to to-vfile

vinyl

Vinyl is a similar package that provides a virtual file format. It is commonly used in the Gulp ecosystem for handling file transformations in memory. Compared to 'to-vfile', Vinyl is more focused on stream-based workflows and integrates tightly with Gulp.

memfs

Memfs is a package that provides an in-memory filesystem. It allows you to perform filesystem operations in memory, which can be useful for testing and mocking. While 'to-vfile' focuses on individual file objects, Memfs provides a broader filesystem abstraction.

README

to-vfile

Create a vfile from a file-path.

Installation

npm:

npm install to-vfile

to-vfile is also available for bower, component, and duo, and as an AMD, CommonJS, and globals module, uncompressed and compressed.

Note: browser-builds do not include read and readSync.

Usage

var toVFile = require('to-vfile');

var file = toVFile('./readme.md');
/*
 * { contents: '',
 *   filename: 'readme',
 *   directory: '.',
 *   extension: 'md',
 *   messages: [],
 *   __proto__: [VFile] }
 */

toVFile.read('.git/HEAD', function (err, file) {
    if (err) throw err;

    console.log(file);
    /*
     * { contents: 'ref: refs/heads/master\n',
     *   filename: 'HEAD',
     *   directory: '.git',
     *   extension: '',
     *   messages: [],
     *   __proto__: [VFile] }
     */
});

var file = toVFile.readSync('.gitignore')
/*
 * { contents: '.DS_Store\n*.log\nbower_components/\nbuild/\ncomponents/\nnode_modules/\ncoverage/\nbuild.js\n',
 *   filename: '.gitignore',
 *   directory: '.',
 *   extension: '',
 *   messages: [],
 *   __proto__: [VFile] }
 */

API

toVFile(filePath)

Create a virtual file from filePath.

Signatures

• file = toVFile(filePath).

Parameters

• filePath (string) — Path to a (possibly non-existent) file;

Returns

vfile — Instance.

toVFile.read(filePath, done)

Create a virtual file from filePath and fill it with the actual contents at filePath.

Signatures

• toVFile.read(filePath, callback).

Parameters

• filePath (string) — Path to a (possibly non-existent) file;
• callback — See function done(err, vfile).

Returns

vfile — Instance.

function done(err, vfile)

Callback.

Signatures

• function done(Error, null);
• function done(null, VFile).

Parameters

• err (Error) — Error from reading filePath;
• vfile (VFile) — Virtual file.

toVFile.readSync(filePath)

Create a virtual file from filePath and fill it with the actual contents at filePath (synchroneously).

Signatures

• toVFile.read(filePath, callback).

Parameters

• filePath (string) — Path to a (possibly non-existent) file;

Returns

vfile — Instance.

Throw

Error — When reading filePath fails.

License

MIT © Titus Wormer