touch

What is touch?

The 'touch' npm package is used to create and update the access and modification times of files, similar to the Unix touch command.

What are touch's main functionalities?

Create a new file

This feature allows you to create a new file named 'newfile.txt'. If the file already exists, it updates the access and modification times.

const touch = require('touch');
touch('newfile.txt', function(err) {
  if (err) throw err;
  console.log('File created');
});

Update access and modification times

This feature updates the access and modification times of an existing file named 'existingfile.txt' to the current date and time.

const touch = require('touch');
touch('existingfile.txt', { time: new Date() }, function(err) {
  if (err) throw err;
  console.log('Timestamps updated');
});

Force create a file

This feature forces the creation of a file named 'forcefile.txt' even if the parent directory does not exist.

const touch = require('touch');
touch('forcefile.txt', { force: true }, function(err) {
  if (err) throw err;
  console.log('File created or updated with force');
});

Other packages similar to touch

fs-extra

The 'fs-extra' package provides additional file system methods that aren't included in the native 'fs' module. It includes methods for creating and updating files, similar to 'touch', but also offers a wider range of file system operations like copying, moving, and removing files and directories.

node-fs

The 'node-fs' package extends the native 'fs' module with additional file system methods. It includes functionality for creating and updating files, similar to 'touch', but also provides methods for recursive directory creation and symbolic link management.

file-system

The 'file-system' package is a simple wrapper around the native 'fs' module that provides additional convenience methods for file operations. It includes methods for creating and updating files, similar to 'touch', but also offers methods for reading and writing JSON files and working with directories.

README

node-touch

For all your node touching needs.

Installing

npm install touch

CLI Usage:

See man touch

API Usage:

var touch = require("touch")

Gives you the following functions:

• touch(filename, options, cb)
• touch.sync(filename, options)
• touch.ftouch(fd, options, cb)
• touch.ftouchSync(fd, options)

Options

• force like touch -f Boolean
• time like touch -t <date> Can be a Date object, or any parseable Date string, or epoch ms number.
• atime like touch -a Can be either a Boolean, or a Date.
• mtime like touch -m Can be either a Boolean, or a Date.
• ref like touch -r <file> Must be path to a file.
• nocreate like touch -c Boolean

If neither atime nor mtime are set, then both values are set. If one of them is set, then the other is not.