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https://github.com/wix/wml
An alternative to symlinks that actually copies changed files from source to destination folders
https://github.com/wix/wml
Last synced: 3 months ago
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An alternative to symlinks that actually copies changed files from source to destination folders
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/wix/wml
- Owner: wix-incubator
- License: mit
- Created: 2016-06-11T21:58:38.000Z (over 8 years ago)
- Default Branch: master
- Last Pushed: 2023-02-22T10:29:36.000Z (over 1 year ago)
- Last Synced: 2024-04-09T16:17:57.245Z (7 months ago)
- Language: JavaScript
- Homepage:
- Size: 42 KB
- Stars: 775
- Watchers: 273
- Forks: 48
- Open Issues: 37
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: readme.md
- Contributing: CONTRIBUTING.md
- License: LICENSE
Awesome Lists containing this project
README
# 
> Tangible symlinks
Wml listens to changes in some folder (using [Watchman](https://facebook.github.io/watchman/)) and copies changed files into another folder.
## Why?
Let's face it, sometimes symbolic links just aren't enough. Github has more than [10K issues](https://github.com/search?utf8=✓&q=support+for+symlinks&type=Issues) with the words "support for symlinks" in them.
Two examples I've encountered so far were: React Native's packager [lack of support for them](https://github.com/facebook/react-native/issues/637) and Webpack's [inability to find linked modules dependencies](http://webpack.github.io/docs/troubleshooting.html#npm-linked-modules-doesn-t-find-their-dependencies) (working around this has issues of its own). A lot of people resolve to working directly from the node_modules folder in these cases, but *a.* if your package is required by two projects on which you are working simultaneously, you're screwed, and *b.* it just feels wrong.
Wml makes use of Facebook's ultra-fast Watchman to watch for changes in your source folder and copy them (and only them) into your destination folder.
Wml is a CLI tool that works pretty much like `ln -s`. You first set up your links by using the `wml add` command and then run the wml service (`wml start`) to start listening. That's it!
Note that since Wml is based on Watchman it **does not support symlinks**. lol.
## Install
```sh
npm install -g wml
```
## Usage
```sh
# add the link to wml using `wml add `
wml add ~/my-package ~/main-project/node_modules/my-package
# start watching all links added
wml start
```
## Commands
#### add
`wml add ` (or `wml a`)
Adds a link.
wml will not start listening to changes until you start it by running `wml start`.
Each link is given an unique id, you can see all links and their ids by running `wml list`.
Links are saved to `src/links.json` in your `wml` install directory, meaning that
your configuration is specific to that `wml` install.
#### rm
`wml rm `
Removes a link. Passing `all` as linkId removes all links.
#### start
`wml start` (or `wml s`)
Starts wml.
It first copies all watched files from source to destination folder and then waits for new changes to happen.
#### list
`wml list` (or `wml ls`)
Lists all links.
Shows each link's id, state and source/destination folders.
#### enable
`wml enable [linkId]` (or `wml en`)
Enables a link. Passing `all` as linkId enables all links.
If you don't specify a linkId wml will open in interactive mode.
#### disable
`wml disable [linkId]` (or `wml d`)
Disables a link. Passing `all` as linkId disabled all links.
If you don't specify a linkId wml will open in interactive mode.
Great for re-using old links without having to type them over and over again.
## Miscellaneous
#### Ignored folders
When adding a new link Wml will try to detect if your source folder is a git repository or an npm package, it will then offer to ignore the ".git" and "node_modules" folders for you.
If you want to add more folders to your ignored folders first create a file named `.watchmanconfig` in your source folder, this file should contain Watchman's configuration for this folder. See example below to learn how populate it or check out the [Watchman docs](https://facebook.github.io/watchman/docs/config.html) to learn more about Watchman configurations.
In the following example we are ignoring the ".git" and "node_modules" folders:
```json
{
"ignore_dirs": [
".git",
"node_modules"
]
}
```
## Contributing
See the [Contributing page](CONTRIBUTING.md).
## License
Copyright (c) 2016 Wix. Licensed under the MIT license.