How to run a node script by CLI custom command? - javascript

Currently, I'm working on a personal project and I'd like to create an alias for some commands that I have to run... Similar to:
jest ...
node ...
tsc ...
I think that for my project would be so helpful and cool to have something like
foo ...
I'm working with Node, Typescript, and JS.
I took a look on the internet and read saw some people teaching how to create some alias I tried and it works :)
I already have the alias working on my local machine cause I added the alias on the .bashrc file.
alias foo = command...
However, I also tried to put it on my package.json scripts section, like:
"scripts": {
"runFoo": "foo",
But when I run npm run runFoo it says that "foo" is not recognized... Are any way to do that? How the tools like jest do that?
I would be thankful for any direction about what to study for that.
Extra:
There is any way to run all the .js from a folder by using any node command without knowing the name of the files?
Like:
node *.js
It can help while I don't figure out how to do the alias...
Edit:
What I want to do is:
https://developer.okta.com/blog/2019/06/18/command-line-app-with-nodejs
The answer helped me to find this post, and following it, it worked here.

it says that "foo" is not recognized
That is because shell aliases do not work in npm scripts (they are only valid when directly called in said shell), see e.g. How can I pipe to a bash alias from an npm script?
Aliases are meant to reduce typing, and are not automatically shared across environments, on the contrary of npm scripts which are committed with package.json. Hence if you try running that script in another environment, the latter may not know that alias (or worse, use it for something else!).
How the tools like jest do that?
They do not... Their command is not an alias, but an actual executable binary or script.
When installed as dependencies, you will find links to their executable in node_modules/.bin/ folder, see What is the purpose of .bin folder in node_modules?
You can easily create such executable scripts, even written in JavaScript to be executed by a Node.js engine, see e.g. Appropriate hashbang for Node.js scripts

Related

Issues running auth0 with (npm) in a Chrome extension (javascript) [duplicate]

I tried so but I have a 'require is not defined' error. I can't find information about that, can someone enlighten the noob in me please?
It's possible, but you have to be careful. Trying to require() a package means that node will try to locate its files in your file system. A chrome extension only has access to the files you declare in the manifest, not your filesystem.
To get around this, use a module bundler like Webpack, which will generate a single javascript file containing all code for all packages included through require(). You will have to generate a separate module for each component of your chrome extension (e.g. one for the background page, one for content scripts, one for the popup) and declare each generated module in your manifest.
To avoid trying to setup your build system to make using require() possible, I suggest starting with a boilerplate project. You can check out my extension to see how I do it.
An updated answer for 2022
Short answer: yes, you can require/import packages. Rather than going through the tedious work of setting up & configuring a bundler like Webpack on your own (especially if you have no experience with them), there are now build tools you can use to create the boilerplate "scaffolding" for a Chrome extension:
Extension CLI -- this one is well-documented and you can also reference the source code of some Chrome extensions that have used this tool (READ: learn how others have set up their code).
Chrome Extension CLI
Benefits of using them:
New projects are initiated with a default project file structure. Super helpful.
They support modern Javascript (ES6, ES2021), so modules work fine.
They already have bundlers integrated and pre-configured (Webpack in both above cases I think). You therefore don't need to install and configure any on your own.
You can use npm as normal to install any packages/dependencies you need.
Then of course, let the official documentation for Chrome Extensions guide you through the rest.
It's not possible to require node modules directly within a chrome extension. However, it is possible to bundle node applications and packages into the browser for use with your extensions. See here for more: Is it possible to develop Google Chrome extensions using node.js?
Yes, It is possible with esm npm packages.
require is commonjs module loader.
Browser doesn't support commonjs modules system
so that this error showed.
Method 1:
Run npm init -y and add "type" :"module" in your package.json.
create path.js file
add this line in path.js
const fullPath = await import.meta.resolve("npm-pkg-name");
const path = fullPath?.match(/(/node_modules.*)/)[0];
console.log(path);
add this line inside package.json
"path": "node --experimental-import-meta-resolve path.js",
Copy console output text. Replace package name with this copied path.
Method 2:
Install other npm package to find and replace
npm packages' virtual path to real path so that chrome browser will find it.
Install Path-fixxer
Add this line in path.js
import setAllPkgPath from "path-fixxer";
setAllPkgPath();
then run command : npm run path.
Now open browser to test it.

Quick way to write JavaScript that requires babel and run it?

I want to write a JavaScript example and run it to see how something works.
The sample code might require a browser but not always. I'm open to two solutions, one that works with NodeJS, and one that is used for browser based code. In browser, I'm using React with class and other ES6 syntax including import/export which is not (yet) supported directly by node or node --harmony.
In Python, Java/Groovy, C/C++, C#, others, I could just run a command to compile the file and then run the executable (or just interpret the code), so I'm looking for something similar for JavaScript.
Conceptually, I would like to say:
dotranspile --out bundle.js main.js
node bundle.js (or firefox index.html, which loads bundle.js)
The key is that I don't want to have to create a webpack configuration file in every directory. I thought I found a command like this when searching one day, but can't find it now.
How do other people run javascript sample programs when babel/transpiling is required? I would also like to be able to save them for future reference (in some cases).
Currently, each time I want to write a test I create a directory with a webpack.config file, package.json, and use npm install, and npm run to run the code or start a NodeJS express server to serve index.html.
This seems to be a lot of overhead for a quick test, and it results in dozens of node_module directories with tons of files in them.
Maybe is not answer that you want, but you can always use jsfiddle with babel + jsx. I think that jsfiddle is very good tool for quick run simple app in babel/jsx or other libs, transpilers etc.

NPM modules in Grunt based projects

Node has a simple module loading system which uses require() method call to load modules from different locations in the root folder.
E.g.
var qr = require('qr-image');
I am trying to do something similar in grunt but i am unsuccessful with that.
I had added this module to package.json file in the following fashion and then ran npm install at root directory of the project.
"devDependencies": {
.
.
.
"qr-image": "^2.0.0"
},
Now whenever I use require I get the following error on console and my code breaks.
ReferenceError: require is not defined
Please suggest as how to use the npm module in Grunt based project, Thanks.
The require function isn't available in web browsers. Instead it's part of nodejs, which is a server-side language (e.g., something you might run directly from your computer terminal, not in a browser) and used to load dependencies in that language.
In a web browser, I usually just include my dependencies as additional scripts on the page, e.g.,:
<script src="path/to/my/dependency.js"></script>
<script src="path/to/my/code.js"></script>
Some other options are RequireJS or what's listed in this question or as more of a general purpose dependency manager for front-end code: Bower.
Looking closer at your question, it's likely that the "qr-image" npm dependency won't work in client-side code for you (since it was built to run via node in server-side code).
A quick search for QR code client-side code brought up this SO post, which points to the QRCode.js project for client-side QR code generation—I haven't used it, but it looks like a step in the right direction for what you're working on.

JSDoc setting up?

I am not that good at computers but am trying to use JSDoc for one of my projects,
The tutorial to get it up and running is here
http://usejsdoc.org/about-jsdoc3.html
I have downloaded the program from github, but now do not understand what I have to do. I have a bunch of files in a folder and dont know how to get it actually running for my project.
Could someone please give me a step by step instruction on how to actually get JSDoc working, how do I set it up, how do I use it etc.
I know this may be mundane to some of you, but hey we all gotta start somewhere right?
Well, are you using windows or GNU/Linux?
First, you have to follow the default tags to markup your source code, identifying your classes, methods, parameters, etc...
After that, you download the file here: https://github.com/jsdoc3/jsdoc
Extract it and then go to folder jsdoc-master.
Inside it, you have a script called jsdoc (with no extension). Only you have to do is execute it pointing the whole path to your .js file you want to create a documentation like this: ./jsdoc your_class.js
Then, in a couple minutes you'll have the output inside the 'out' folder. Open the .html file and bang! You have your documentation working pretty good.
Right here you can find some common tags to use in your code (as comments): http://usejsdoc.org/
This solution is for Unix based system. But, there is another one using nodejs (that you can run with windows, Linux, mac, etc...). First, download the nodejs here: http://nodejs.org/
Then go to this website to take a look at the package jsdoc: https://npmjs.org/
Then, go back to your terminal (in any operating system after installed node) and type: npm install -g jsdoc
The option -g means globally, so you have inside the main folder of your node packages and they are available for whatever project you have and you don't need to install it again and again...
Finally, you can just use this command: jsdoc path/to/your/file.js
And that's it! I hope it helps you.
Once you've extracted the file you downloaded off of github, navigate within the folder and run in a terminal:
./jsdoc
with the options you want.
If you want to display the help menu
./jsdoc --help
If you want to install the program on your system, assuming a mac or linux machine, use root user or sudo:
npm install --save -g [~/Downloads/jsdoc-3.2.2 or your path to the downloaded extracted files]

Use "coffee" instead of "node" command in production

I have an app.js that is running express.js.
I wanna convert the code to coffeescript and thought about to create a app.coffee that I compile to app.js so I can run it with "node app.js".
But then it hit me that I could just write that file in app.coffee and run it with "coffee app.coffee".
Is this a better way? Can I run the server with "coffee" in production?
Yes you can use coffee command in production. I use it.
I can see two reasons why you would want to use app.js wrapper.
You want to use local installation of CoffeeScript. (different versions between apps)
You want to use the default npm start to launch your server :) See npm help scripts
Oh, and you don't need compile it. You can use a wrapper like this which compiles the coffee file transparently:
server.js:
require('coffee-script').register();
require("./yourcoffeeapp.coffee");
This wrapper technique is especially useful if you want to use CoffeeScript in some hosted environments that does not directly support the CoffeeScript command. Such as Cloud 9 IDE. No need to fiddle with compiled js-files.
I upvoted Epeli's answer, which is clear and excellent—using a .js "wrapper" rather than the coffee command saves you from potential path headaches—but since this is a subjective question, let me throw in a contrary opinion.
Many CoffeeScripters, myself included, recommend compiling non-trivial Node apps to JS before deployment. It's not hard—look at Sam Stephenson's node-coffee-project template, which includes a Cakefile that makes compiling and testing a breeze.
One major reason for doing this is that Node stack traces give line numbers that refer to the compiled JavaScript, not the original CoffeeScript. So when errors are recorded in your server logs, it's nice to be able to look at the corresponding code right on the server.
Another advantage to compiling to JS is that it lets you work with more tools on the server—many Node debuggers, testing frameworks, and amazing goodies like cluster like to operate directly on .js files.
Getting a good compilation setup for your project takes some work, but I think you'll find it worthwhile.
I prefer to create main.js like this:
require("coffee-script");
require('./yourcoffeeapp');
And yourcoffeeapp.coffee like this:
http = require 'http'
on_request = (req, res) =>
res.writeHead 200, {'Content-Type': 'text/plain'}
res.end "Hello World\n"
server = http.createServer on_request
server.listen 1337, "127.0.0.1"

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