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https://github.com/pmuellr/wr

watch files and run a command when they change
https://github.com/pmuellr/wr

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watch files and run a command when they change

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README 

        



NAME

----



`wr` -- watch files and run a command when they change



SYNOPSIS

--------



    wr [-cvV] command [file ...]



DESCRIPTION

-----------



`wr` will watch the set of files and directories specified on the

command line, and run the specified command when any of the files

changes.  For each file operand which is a directory, all the files

in the directory (recursively)  will be watched.



If no files are specified, it's as if you passed "." as the file parameter.



The following options are available:



`-c --chime minutes`



> Write a diagnostic message after `minutes` have elapsed since last running

> a command, to remind you `wr` is running.  The default is 5 minutes.

> Use the value 0 to disable the chime.



`-v --verbose`



> Generate additional diagnostic information.



`--exec`



> Use exec instead of spawn to run the command.



`-p --poll seconds`



> Use a polling file watcher.  The default is to use a non-polling file watcher.

> The non-polling file watcher

> may have a relatively small maximum number of files it can watch (200),

> but the polling file watcher has no maximum.

> The polling file

> watcher may incur delays between a file changing and the command running,

> compared to the non-polling file watcher.



`-V`



> Display the version number and exit.



`-? -h`



> Display help.



EXAMPLES

--------



The following is how to run make when any file in the current directory

changes:



        wr make



More likely you can whittle the list of source files checked a bit.  The

following will run make any file in the `src`, `doc` or `test` directories

changes:



        wr make src doc test



To run a command with arguments, quote the command you want to run.  The

following will run the command "`echo a file changed`" when any file in the

current directory changes:



        wr "echo a file changed"



DIAGNOSTICS

-----------



wr will not normally exit.   Use ctrl-c or equivalent to kill the process

from the command-line.



Diagnostic information from `wr` will be written to stderr.



ENVIRONMENT

-----------



If the current directory has a `.wr` file in it, that file is assumed

to have the contents of a `wr` invocation in it.  Options, option/value

pairs, the command to run, and each file to be watched should be

specified on separate lines.

The file may contain blank lines or lines starting with the `#` character,

which are considered comments.



The stdout and stderr from the command being run are passed directory to

`wr`'s stdout and stderr.  stdin for the command will not be available

for the command.



The command will be run in either spawn or exec mode, as determined by

command-line options.  Here are the differences:



exec:



* the command will not be parsed, as will be run as given

* should handle i/o redirection shell operators

* stdout and stderr output will be buffered until the command is complete



spawn:



* the command will be parsed into space separated tokens, probably

misinterpreting any quotes you have in your command

* will not handle i/o redirection shell operators

* stdout and stderr output will not be buffered



HISTORY

-------



`wr` is a port of Patrick Mueller's [run-when-changed.py](https://gist.github.com/240922)

script to node.



**2012-05-03: version 1.2.0**



* [commit d684efb7](https://github.com/pmuellr/wr/commit/d684efb7182bd866c875be2bb459a692a5661599) - replaced charm w/colors



**2012-05-03: version 1.2.0**



* [issue 8](https://github.com/pmuellr/wr/issues/8) - add elapsed time to success and failure messages

* fixed bug where wr fired off it's command when the access time changed on a file



**2012-01-11: version 1.1.0**



* [issue 1](https://github.com/pmuellr/wr/issues/1) - chime should print the time

* [issue 2](https://github.com/pmuellr/wr/issues/2) - chime should default to 5 minutes

* [issue 3](https://github.com/pmuellr/wr/issues/3) - .wr file parser should accept option/value on a single line

* [issue 5](https://github.com/pmuellr/wr/issues/5) - provide option to use stat-based polling

* [issue 6](https://github.com/pmuellr/wr/issues/6) - use spawn instead of exec to run commands

* [issue 7](https://github.com/pmuellr/wr/issues/7) - colorize stdout and stderr



**2012-01-10: version 1.0.1**



* fixed some stupid bugs



**2012-01-09: version 1.0.0**



* initial release