tree-sync

What is tree-sync?

The tree-sync npm package is designed to synchronize directories, ensuring that the contents of one directory match another. It is particularly useful for build systems and deployment scripts where maintaining consistent directory structures is crucial.

What are tree-sync's main functionalities?

Synchronize Directories

This feature allows you to synchronize the contents of a source directory with a destination directory. The code sample demonstrates how to use TreeSync to ensure that the destination directory matches the source directory.

const TreeSync = require('tree-sync');
const sourceDir = 'path/to/source';
const destDir = 'path/to/destination';
const tree = new TreeSync(sourceDir, destDir);
tree.sync();

Custom Filter Function

This feature allows you to provide a custom filter function to exclude certain files or directories from being synchronized. The code sample shows how to exclude files with a .tmp extension from the synchronization process.

const TreeSync = require('tree-sync');
const sourceDir = 'path/to/source';
const destDir = 'path/to/destination';
const tree = new TreeSync(sourceDir, destDir);
tree.sync({ filter: (relativePath) => !relativePath.endsWith('.tmp') });

Dry Run Mode

This feature allows you to perform a dry run to see what changes would be made without actually applying them. The code sample demonstrates how to use the dry run mode to preview the synchronization changes.

const TreeSync = require('tree-sync');
const sourceDir = 'path/to/source';
const destDir = 'path/to/destination';
const tree = new TreeSync(sourceDir, destDir);
tree.sync({ dryRun: true });

Other packages similar to tree-sync

rsync

rsync is a widely-used utility for keeping directories in sync. It is highly efficient and supports a variety of options for file transfer and synchronization. Unlike tree-sync, rsync is a command-line tool and not a Node.js package, but it can be used in Node.js scripts via child processes.

fs-extra

fs-extra is a Node.js package that extends the native fs module with additional methods for file and directory manipulation. While it does not provide a direct synchronization feature like tree-sync, it offers methods like copy and move that can be used to achieve similar results.

chokidar

chokidar is a Node.js package for watching file and directory changes. It can be used to trigger synchronization actions when changes are detected. While it does not perform synchronization itself, it can be combined with other tools to achieve directory synchronization.

README

TreeSync

A module for repeated efficient synchronizing two directories.

// input/a/{a.js,b.js}
// output/

const tree = new TreeSync('input', 'output');
tree.sync();
// output is now contains copies of everything that is in input

fs.unlink('/input/a/b.js');

// input / output have diverged

tree.sync();

// difference is calculated and efficient patch to update `output` is created and applied

Under the hood, this library uses walk-sync to traverse files and folders. You may optionally pass in options to selectively include or ignore files and directories. These whitelisted properties (ignore and globs) will be passed to walk-sync.

// Assume the following folder structure...
// input/
//   foo/
//     foo.js
//     bar.js
//   bar/
//     foo-bar.js

const tree = new TreeSync('input', 'output', {
  ignore: ['**/b']
});
tree.sync();

// We now expect output to contain foo/, but not bar/.
// Any changes made to bar/ won't be synced to output, and the contents of bar/ won't be traversed.

// Assume the following folder structure...
// input/
//   foo/
//     foo.js
//     bar.js
//   bar/
//     foo-bar.js

const tree = new TreeSync('input', 'output', {
  globs: ['foo', 'foo/bar.js']
});
tree.sync();

// We now expect output to contain foo/bar.js, but nothing else.
// Be careful when using this property! You'll need to make sure that if you're including a file, it's parent
// path is also included, or you'll get an error when tree-sync tries to copy the file over.