wrench

wrench.js - Recursive file operations in Node.js

While I love Node.js, I've found myself missing some functions. Things like recursively deleting/chmodding a directory (or even deep copying a directory), or even a basic line reader, shouldn't need to be re-invented time and time again.

That said, here's my attempt at a re-usable solution, at least until something more formalized gets integrated into Node.js (hint hint). wrench.js is fairly simple to use - check out the documentation/examples below:

Installation

npm install wrench

Usage

var wrench = require('wrench'),
	util = require('util');

Synchronous operations

// Recursively create directories, sub-trees and all.
wrench.mkdirSyncRecursive(dir, 0777);

// Recursively delete the entire sub-tree of a directory, then kill the directory
wrench.rmdirSyncRecursive('my_directory_name', failSilently);

// Recursively read directories contents.
wrench.readdirSyncRecursive('my_directory_name');

// Recursively chmod the entire sub-tree of a directory
wrench.chmodSyncRecursive('my_directory_name', 0755);

// Recursively chown the entire sub-tree of a directory
wrench.chownSyncRecursive("directory", uid, gid);

// Deep-copy an existing directory
wrench.copyDirSyncRecursive('directory_to_copy', 'location_where_copy_should_end_up', {
    forceDelete: bool, // Whether to overwrite existing directory or not
    excludeHiddenUnix: bool, // Whether to copy hidden Unix files or not (preceding .)
    preserveFiles: bool, // If we're overwriting something and the file already exists, keep the existing
    inflateSymlinks: bool, // Whether to follow symlinks or not when copying files
    filter: regexp, // A filter to match files against; if matches, do nothing (exclude).
    whitelist: bool, // if true every file or directory which doesn't match filter will be ignored
});

// Read lines in from a file until you hit the end
var f = new wrench.LineReader('x.txt');
while(f.hasNextLine()) {
	util.puts(f.getNextLine());
}

// Note: You will need to close that above line reader at some point, otherwise
// you will run into a "too many open files" error. f.close() or fs.closeSync(f.fd) are
// your friends, as only you know when it is safe to close.

Asynchronous operations

// Recursively read directories contents
var files = [];
wrench.readdirRecursive('my_directory_name', function(error, curFiles) {
    // curFiles is what you want
});

// If you're feeling somewhat masochistic
wrench.copyDirRecursive(srcDir, newDir, {forceDelete: bool /* See sync version */}, callbackfn);

Questions, comments? Hit me up. (ryan [at] venodesigns.net | http://twitter.com/ryanmcgrath)