204 lines
7.6 KiB
Markdown
204 lines
7.6 KiB
Markdown
# node-watch [](https://travis-ci.org/yuanchuan/node-watch "See test builds")
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A wrapper and enhancements for [fs.watch](http://nodejs.org/api/fs.html#fs_fs_watch_filename_options_listener).
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[](https://nodei.co/npm/node-watch.png/)
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## Installation
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```bash
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npm install node-watch
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```
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## Example
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```js
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var watch = require('node-watch');
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watch('file_or_dir', { recursive: true }, function(evt, name) {
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console.log('%s changed.', name);
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});
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```
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Now it's fast to watch **deep** directories on macOS and Windows, since the `recursive` option is natively supported except on Linux.
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```js
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// watch the whole disk
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watch('/', { recursive: true }, console.log);
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```
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## Why?
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* Some editors will generate temporary files which will cause the callback function to be triggered multiple times.
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* The callback function will only be triggered once on watching a single file.
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* <del>Missing an option to watch a directory recursively.</del>
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* Recursive watch is not supported on Linux or in older versions of nodejs.
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* Keep it simple, stupid.
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## Options
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The usage and options of `node-watch` are compatible with [fs.watch](https://nodejs.org/dist/latest-v7.x/docs/api/fs.html#fs_fs_watch_filename_options_listener).
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* `persistent: Boolean` (default **true**)
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* `recursive: Boolean` (default **false**)
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* `encoding: String` (default **'utf8'**)
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**Extra options**
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* `filter: RegExp | Function`
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Return that matches the filter expression.
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```js
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// filter with regular expression
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watch('./', { filter: /\.json$/ });
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// filter with custom function
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watch('./', { filter: f => !/node_modules/.test(f) });
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```
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* `delay: Number` (in ms, default **200**)
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Delay time of the callback function.
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```js
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// log after 5 seconds
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watch('./', { delay: 5000 }, console.log);
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```
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## Events
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The events provided by the callback function is either `update` or `remove`, which is less confusing to `fs.watch`'s `rename` or `change`.
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```js
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watch('./', function(evt, name) {
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if (evt == 'update') {
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// on create or modify
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}
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if (evt == 'remove') {
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// on delete
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}
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});
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```
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## Watcher object
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The watch function returns a [fs.FSWatcher](https://nodejs.org/api/fs.html#fs_class_fs_fswatcher) like object as the same as `fs.watch` (>= v0.4.0).
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#### Watcher events
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```
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watcher.on('change', function(evt, name) {
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// callback
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});
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watcher.on('error', function(err) {
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// handle error
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});
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watcher.on('ready', function() {
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// the watcher is ready to respond to changes
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});
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```
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#### Close
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```
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// close
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watcher.close();
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// is closed?
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watcher.isClosed()
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```
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#### List of methods
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* `.on`
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* `.once`
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* `.emit`
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* `.close`
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* `.listeners`
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* `.setMaxListeners`
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* `.getMaxListeners`
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##### Extra methods
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* `.isClosed` detect if the watcher is closed
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## Known issues
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**Windows**
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* Will output its parent directory when a new file/directory is created in a deep directory.
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**Windows, node < v4.2.5**
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* Failed to detect `remove` event
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* Failed to get deleted filename or directory name
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**MacOS, node 0.10.x**
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* Will emit double event if the directory name is of one single character.
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## Misc
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#### 1. Watch multiple files or directories in one place
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```js
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watch(['file1', 'file2'], console.log);
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```
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#### 2. Customize watch command line tool
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```js
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#!/usr/bin/env node
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// https://github.com/nodejs/node-v0.x-archive/issues/3211
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require('epipebomb')();
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var watcher = require('node-watch')(
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process.argv[2] || './', { recursive: true }, console.log
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);
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process.on('SIGINT', watcher.close);
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```
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Monitoring chrome from disk:
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```bash
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$ watch / | grep -i chrome
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```
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#### 3. Got ENOSPC error?
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If you get ENOSPC error, but you actually have free disk space - it means that your OS watcher limit is too low and you probably want to recursively watch a big tree of files.
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Follow this description to increase the limit:
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[https://confluence.jetbrains.com/display/IDEADEV/Inotify+Watches+Limit](https://confluence.jetbrains.com/display/IDEADEV/Inotify+Watches+Limit)
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## Alternatives
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* [chokidar](https://github.com/paulmillr/chokidar)
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* [gaze](https://github.com/shama/gaze)
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* [mikeal/watch](https://github.com/mikeal/watch)
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## Contributors
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Thanks goes to these wonderful people ([emoji key](https://github.com/kentcdodds/all-contributors#emoji-key)):
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<!-- ALL-CONTRIBUTORS-LIST:START - Do not remove or modify this section -->
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<!-- prettier-ignore -->
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| [<img src="https://avatars1.githubusercontent.com/u/250426?v=4" width="100px;"/><br /><sub><b>Yuan Chuan</b></sub>](http://yuanchuan.name)<br />[💻](https://github.com/yuanchuan/node-watch/commits?author=yuanchuan "Code") [📖](https://github.com/yuanchuan/node-watch/commits?author=yuanchuan "Documentation") [⚠️](https://github.com/yuanchuan/node-watch/commits?author=yuanchuan "Tests") | [<img src="https://avatars2.githubusercontent.com/u/99367?v=4" width="100px;"/><br /><sub><b>Greg Thornton</b></sub>](http://xdissent.com)<br />[💻](https://github.com/yuanchuan/node-watch/commits?author=xdissent "Code") [🤔](#ideas-xdissent "Ideas, Planning, & Feedback") | [<img src="https://avatars1.githubusercontent.com/u/6019373?v=4" width="100px;"/><br /><sub><b>Amir Arad</b></sub>](https://github.com/amir-arad)<br />[💻](https://github.com/yuanchuan/node-watch/commits?author=amir-arad "Code") [📖](https://github.com/yuanchuan/node-watch/commits?author=amir-arad "Documentation") [⚠️](https://github.com/yuanchuan/node-watch/commits?author=amir-arad "Tests") | [<img src="https://avatars0.githubusercontent.com/u/693642?v=4" width="100px;"/><br /><sub><b>Gary Burgess</b></sub>](http://slipthrough.net)<br />[💻](https://github.com/yuanchuan/node-watch/commits?author=garyb "Code") | [<img src="https://avatars2.githubusercontent.com/u/557895?v=4" width="100px;"/><br /><sub><b>Peter deHaan</b></sub>](http://about.me/peterdehaan)<br />[💻](https://github.com/yuanchuan/node-watch/commits?author=pdehaan "Code") | [<img src="https://avatars2.githubusercontent.com/u/161968?v=4" width="100px;"/><br /><sub><b>kcliu</b></sub>](https://medium.com/@kcliu)<br />[💻](https://github.com/yuanchuan/node-watch/commits?author=kcliu "Code") | [<img src="https://avatars3.githubusercontent.com/u/309006?v=4" width="100px;"/><br /><sub><b>Hoovinator</b></sub>](https://github.com/crh3675)<br />[💬](#question-crh3675 "Answering Questions") |
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| :---: | :---: | :---: | :---: | :---: | :---: | :---: |
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| [<img src="https://avatars3.githubusercontent.com/u/142875?v=4" width="100px;"/><br /><sub><b>Steve Shreeve</b></sub>](https://github.com/shreeve)<br />[💻](https://github.com/yuanchuan/node-watch/commits?author=shreeve "Code") | [<img src="https://avatars2.githubusercontent.com/u/1456400?v=4" width="100px;"/><br /><sub><b>Blake Regalia</b></sub>](https://github.com/blake-regalia)<br />[💻](https://github.com/yuanchuan/node-watch/commits?author=blake-regalia "Code") | [<img src="https://avatars3.githubusercontent.com/u/1587937?v=4" width="100px;"/><br /><sub><b>Mike Collins</b></sub>](https://github.com/intervalia)<br />[💻](https://github.com/yuanchuan/node-watch/commits?author=intervalia "Code") | [<img src="https://avatars3.githubusercontent.com/u/156867?v=4" width="100px;"/><br /><sub><b>Timo Tijhof</b></sub>](https://timotijhof.net)<br />[💻](https://github.com/yuanchuan/node-watch/commits?author=Krinkle "Code") |
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<!-- ALL-CONTRIBUTORS-LIST:END -->
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This project follows the [all-contributors](https://github.com/kentcdodds/all-contributors) specification. Contributions of any kind welcome!
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## License
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MIT
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Copyright (c) 2012-2018 [yuanchuan](https://github.com/yuanchuan)
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