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https://github.com/janl/shelljs

Portable Unix shell commands for Node.js
https://github.com/janl/shelljs

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Portable Unix shell commands for Node.js

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# ShellJS - Unix shell commands for Node.js [![Build Status](https://secure.travis-ci.org/arturadib/shelljs.png)](http://travis-ci.org/arturadib/shelljs)



ShellJS is a portable (**Windows included**) implementation of Unix shell commands on top of the Node.js API. You can use it to eliminate your shell script's dependency on Unix while still keeping its familiar and powerful commands. You can also install it globally so you can run it from outside Node projects - say goodbye to those gnarly Bash scripts!



The project is [unit-tested](http://travis-ci.org/arturadib/shelljs) and is being used at Mozilla's [PDF.js](http://github.com/mozilla/pdf.js), [Butter.js](http://github.com/mozilla/butter) and [others](http://search.npmjs.org/#/shelljs).



## Installing



Via npm:



```bash

$ npm install [-g] shelljs

```



If the global option `-g` is specified, the binary `shjs` will be installed. This makes it possible to

run ShellJS scripts much like any shell script from the command line, i.e. without requiring a `node_modules` folder:



```bash

$ shjs my_script

```



You can also just copy `shell.js` into your project's directory, and `require()` accordingly.



## Examples



### JavaScript



```javascript

require('shelljs/global');



if (!which('git')) {

  echo('Sorry, this script requires git');

  exit(1);

}



// Copy files to release dir

mkdir('-p', 'out/Release');

cp('-R', 'stuff/*', 'out/Release');



// Replace macros in each .js file

cd('lib');

ls('*.js').forEach(function(file) {

  sed('-i', 'BUILD_VERSION', 'v0.1.2', file);

  sed('-i', /.*REMOVE_THIS_LINE.*\n/, '', file);

  sed('-i', /.*REPLACE_LINE_WITH_MACRO.*\n/, cat('macro.js'), file);

});

cd('..');



// Run external tool synchronously

if (exec('git commit -am "Auto-commit"').code !== 0) {

  echo('Error: Git commit failed');

  exit(1);

}

```



### CoffeeScript



```coffeescript

require 'shelljs/global'



if not which 'git'

  echo 'Sorry, this script requires git'

  exit 1



# Copy files to release dir

mkdir '-p', 'out/Release'

cp '-R', 'stuff/*', 'out/Release'



# Replace macros in each .js file

cd 'lib'

for file in ls '*.js'

  sed '-i', 'BUILD_VERSION', 'v0.1.2', file

  sed '-i', /.*REMOVE_THIS_LINE.*\n/, '', file

  sed '-i', /.*REPLACE_LINE_WITH_MACRO.*\n/, cat 'macro.js', file

cd '..'



# Run external tool synchronously

if (exec 'git commit -am "Auto-commit"').code != 0

  echo 'Error: Git commit failed'

  exit 1

```



## Global vs. Local



The example above uses the convenience script `shelljs/global` to reduce verbosity. If polluting your global namespace is not desirable, simply require `shelljs`.



Example:



```javascript

var shell = require('shelljs');

shell.echo('hello world');

```



## Make tool



A convenience script `shelljs/make` is also provided to mimic the behavior of a Unix Makefile. In this case all shell objects are global, and command line arguments will cause the script to execute only the corresponding function in the global `target` object. To avoid redundant calls, target functions are executed only once per script.



Example (CoffeeScript):



```coffeescript

require 'shelljs/make'



target.all = ->

  target.bundle()

  target.docs()



target.bundle = ->

  cd __dirname

  mkdir 'build'

  cd 'lib'

  (cat '*.js').to '../build/output.js'



target.docs = ->

  cd __dirname

  mkdir 'docs'

  cd 'lib'

  for file in ls '*.js'

    text = grep '//@', file     # extract special comments

    text.replace '//@', ''      # remove comment tags

    text.to 'docs/my_docs.md'

```



To run the target `all`, call the above script without arguments: `$ node make`. To run the target `docs`: `$ node make docs`, and so on.



## Command reference



All commands run synchronously, unless otherwise stated.



### cd('dir')

Changes to directory `dir` for the duration of the script



### pwd()

Returns the current directory.



### ls([options ,] path [,path ...])

### ls([options ,] path_array)

Available options:



+ `-R`: recursive

+ `-A`: all files (include files beginning with `.`, except for `.` and `..`)



Examples:



```javascript

ls('projs/*.js');

ls('-R', '/users/me', '/tmp');

ls('-R', ['/users/me', '/tmp']); // same as above

```



Returns array of files in the given path, or in current directory if no path provided.



### find(path [,path ...])

### find(path_array)

Examples:



```javascript

find('src', 'lib');

find(['src', 'lib']); // same as above

find('.').filter(function(file) { return file.match(/\.js$/); });

```



Returns array of all files (however deep) in the given paths.



The main difference from `ls('-R', path)` is that the resulting file names 

include the base directories, e.g. `lib/resources/file1` instead of just `file1`.



### cp([options ,] source [,source ...], dest)

### cp([options ,] source_array, dest)

Available options:



+ `-f`: force

+ `-r, -R`: recursive



Examples:



```javascript

cp('file1', 'dir1');

cp('-Rf', '/tmp/*', '/usr/local/*', '/home/tmp');

cp('-Rf', ['/tmp/*', '/usr/local/*'], '/home/tmp'); // same as above

```



Copies files. The wildcard `*` is accepted.



### rm([options ,] file [, file ...])

### rm([options ,] file_array)

Available options:



+ `-f`: force

+ `-r, -R`: recursive



Examples:



```javascript

rm('-rf', '/tmp/*');

rm('some_file.txt', 'another_file.txt');

rm(['some_file.txt', 'another_file.txt']); // same as above

```



Removes files. The wildcard `*` is accepted. 



### mv(source [, source ...], dest')

### mv(source_array, dest')

Available options:



+ `f`: force



Examples:



```javascript

mv('-f', 'file', 'dir/');

mv('file1', 'file2', 'dir/');

mv(['file1', 'file2'], 'dir/'); // same as above

```



Moves files. The wildcard `*` is accepted.



### mkdir([options ,] dir [, dir ...])

### mkdir([options ,] dir_array)

Available options:



+ `p`: full path (will create intermediate dirs if necessary)



Examples:



```javascript

mkdir('-p', '/tmp/a/b/c/d', '/tmp/e/f/g');

mkdir('-p', ['/tmp/a/b/c/d', '/tmp/e/f/g']); // same as above

```



Creates directories.



### test(expression)

Available expression primaries:



+ `'-b', 'path'`: true if path is a block device

+ `'-c', 'path'`: true if path is a character device

+ `'-d', 'path'`: true if path is a directory

+ `'-e', 'path'`: true if path exists

+ `'-f', 'path'`: true if path is a regular file

+ `'-L', 'path'`: true if path is a symboilc link

+ `'-p', 'path'`: true if path is a pipe (FIFO)

+ `'-S', 'path'`: true if path is a socket



Examples:



```javascript

if (test('-d', path)) { /* do something with dir */ };

if (!test('-f', path)) continue; // skip if it's a regular file

```



Evaluates expression using the available primaries and returns corresponding value.



### cat(file [, file ...])

### cat(file_array)



Examples:



```javascript

var str = cat('file*.txt');

var str = cat('file1', 'file2');

var str = cat(['file1', 'file2']); // same as above

```



Returns a string containing the given file, or a concatenated string

containing the files if more than one file is given (a new line character is

introduced between each file). Wildcard `*` accepted.



### 'string'.to(file)



Examples:



```javascript

cat('input.txt').to('output.txt');

```



Analogous to the redirection operator `>` in Unix, but works with JavaScript strings (such as

those returned by `cat`, `grep`, etc). _Like Unix redirections, `to()` will overwrite any existing file!_



### sed([options ,] search_regex, replace_str, file)

Available options:



+ `-i`: Replace contents of 'file' in-place. _Note that no backups will be created!_



Examples:



```javascript

sed('-i', 'PROGRAM_VERSION', 'v0.1.3', 'source.js');

sed(/.*DELETE_THIS_LINE.*\n/, '', 'source.js');

```



Reads an input string from `file` and performs a JavaScript `replace()` on the input

using the given search regex and replacement string. Returns the new string after replacement.



### grep([options ,] regex_filter, file [, file ...])

### grep([options ,] regex_filter, file_array)

Available options:



+ `-v`: Inverse the sense of the regex and print the lines not matching the criteria.



Examples:



```javascript

grep('-v', 'GLOBAL_VARIABLE', '*.js');

grep('GLOBAL_VARIABLE', '*.js');

```



Reads input string from given files and returns a string containing all lines of the 

file that match the given `regex_filter`. Wildcard `*` accepted.



### which(command)



Examples:



```javascript

var nodeExec = which('node');

```



Searches for `command` in the system's PATH. On Windows looks for `.exe`, `.cmd`, and `.bat` extensions.

Returns string containing the absolute path to the command.



### echo(string [,string ...])



Examples:



```javascript

echo('hello world');

var str = echo('hello world');

```



Prints string to stdout, and returns string with additional utility methods

like `.to()`.



### exit(code)

Exits the current process with the given exit code.



### env['VAR_NAME']

Object containing environment variables (both getter and setter). Shortcut to process.env.



### exec(command [, options] [, callback])

Available options (all `false` by default):



+ `async`: Asynchronous execution. Defaults to true if a callback is provided.

+ `silent`: Do not echo program output to console.



Examples:



```javascript

var version = exec('node --version', {silent:true}).output;



var child = exec('some_long_running_process', {async:true});

child.stdout.on('data', function(data) { 

  /* ... do something with data ... */ 

});



exec('some_long_running_process', function(code, output) {

  console.log('Exit code:', code);

  console.log('Program output:', output);

});

```



Executes the given `command` _synchronously_, unless otherwise specified. 

When in synchronous mode returns the object `{ code:..., output:... }`, containing the program's 

`output` (stdout + stderr)  and its exit `code`. Otherwise returns the child process object, and

the `callback` gets the arguments `(code, output)`.



**Note:** For long-lived processes, it's best to run `exec()` asynchronously as

the current synchronous implementation uses a lot of CPU. This should be getting

fixed soon.



## Non-Unix commands



### tempdir()

Searches and returns string containing a writeable, platform-dependent temporary directory.

Follows Python's [tempfile algorithm](http://docs.python.org/library/tempfile.html#tempfile.tempdir).



### error()

Tests if error occurred in the last command. Returns `null` if no error occurred,

otherwise returns string explaining the error



### silent([state])

Example:



```javascript

var silentState = silent();

silent(true);

/* ... */

silent(silentState); // restore old silent state

```



Suppresses all command output if `state = true`, except for `echo()` calls. 

Returns state if no arguments given.



## Deprecated



### exists(path [, path ...])

### exists(path_array)



_This function is being deprecated. Use `test()` instead._



Returns true if all the given paths exist.



### verbose()



_This function is being deprecated. Use `silent(false) instead.`_



Enables all output (default)