Develop Reference

How to edit an object within a very simple JS file using Node.js

Whilst this question is related to Workbox and Webpack, it does not require any prior knowledge of either library.
Background (skip if not familiar with Workbox)
I am currently utilising the InjectManifest plugin from Workbox 4.3.1 (workbox-webpack-plugin). This version of the library offers an option called manifestTransforms, but unfortunately, the transformations are not applied to assets within the webpack compilation (this is a known issue).
Whilst this has been fixed in Workbox v5+, I am unable to upgrade due to another library in my build process requiring webpack v3 (Dynamic Importing in Laravel Mix)
The reason I mention the above is because unforunately the solution is not to upgrade to workbox v5+.
The Problem
I have an auto-generated file that looks like this:
self.__precacheManifest = (self.__precacheManifest || []).concat([
{
"revision": "68cd3870a6400d76a16c",
"url": "//css/app.css"
},
// etc...
]);
I need to somehow extract the the contents of the object stored within self.__precacheManifest, apply my own transformations, and then save it back to the file.
What I have Tried...
This is as far as I have got:
// As the precached filename is hashed, we need to read the
// directory in order to find the filename. Assuming there
// are no other files called `precache-manifest`, we can assume
// it is the first value in the filtered array. There is no
// need to test if [0] has a value because if it doesn't
// this needs to throw an error
let manifest = fs
.readdirSync(path.normalize(`${__dirname}/dist/js`))
.filter(filename => filename.startsWith('precache-manifest'))[0];
require('./dist/js/' + manifest);
// This does not fire because of thrown error...
console.log(self.__precacheManifest);
This throws the following error:
self is not defined
I understand why it is throwing the error, but I have no idea how I am going to get around this because I need to somehow read the contents of the file in order to extract the object. Can anyone advise me here?
Bear in mind that once I have applied the transformations to the object, I then need to save the updated object to the file...

Since self refers to window and window does not exist in node.js a way around is needed.
One thing that should work is to define the variable self in Node's global scope and let the require statement populate the content of the variable, like this:
global['self'] = {};
require('./dist/js/' + manifest);
console.log(self.__precacheManifest);
To save the modified contents back to the file
const newPrecacheManifest = JSON.stringify(updatedArray);
fs.writeFileSync('./dist/js/' + manifest, `self.__precacheManifest = (self.__precacheManifest || []).concat(${newPrecachedManifes});`, 'utf8');

Moving created files with JXA

I'm new to JXA scripting, but I'm attempting to troubleshoot some older scripts currently in place here at work. They loop through an InDesign document and create several PDFs based on it. Previously, they would be stored in a folder called "~/PDFExports". However, this doesn't work with 10.10.
If I change the code to just place the PDFs in "~/", it works fine. From there, I'd like to move the files to "~/PDFExports", but I can't seem to find an answer on how to do that. I've seen things about making calls to ObjC, or to call Application('Finder'), but neither work - they both return undefined.
Am I just missing something basic here, or is it really this hard to simply move a file with JXA?
EDIT: Some syntax for how I'm creating the folder in question and how I'm attempting to work with Finder.
//This is called in the Main function of the script, on first run.
var exportFolder = new Folder(exportPath);
if(!exportFolder.exists) {
exportFolder.create();
}
//This is called right after the PDF is created. file is a reference to the
actual PDF file, and destination is a file path string.
function MoveFile(file,destination){
var Finder = Application("Finder");
Application('Finder').move(sourceFile, { to: destinationFolder });
alert("File moved");
}

Adobe apps have long included their own embedded JS interpreter, JS API, and .jsx filename extension. It has nothing to do with JXA, and is not compatible with it.
InDesign's JSX documentation:
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/indesign/documentation.html#idscripting
(BTW, I'd also strongly advise against using JXA for Adobe app automation as it has a lot of missing/broken features and application compatibility problems, and really isn't fit for production work.)
Here's the link to Adobe's InDesign Scripting forum, which is the best place to get help with JSX:
https://forums.adobe.com/community/indesign/indesign_scripting

You could use Cocoa to create the folder
var exportFolder = $.NSHomeDirectory().stringByAppendingPathComponent("PDFExports")
var fileManager = $.NSFileManager.defaultManager
var folderExists = fileManager.fileExistsAtPath(exportFolder)
if (!folderExists) {
fileManager.createDirectoryAtPathWithIntermediateDirectoriesAttributesError(exportFolder, false, $(), $())
}
and to move a file
var success = fileManager.moveItemAtPathToPathError(sourceFile, destinationLocation, $());
if (success) alert("File moved");
Consider that destinationLocation must be the full path including the file name
and both sourceFile and destinationLocation must be NSString objects like exportFolder

Could it be that the folder is missing ? Could be your reference to the folder object not valid ? Any syntax to show ?

I will share some of what I learned about JXA move and duplicate methods. I am not a professional programmer just an attorney that is passionate about automation. My comments come from much trial and error, reading whatever I could find online, and A LOT of struggle. The move method does not work well with Finder. Use the System Events move method instead. The duplicate method in Finder works just fine. The duplicate method does not work well in system events. This is a modified snippet from a script I wrote showing move() using System Events.
(() => {
const strPathTargetFile = '/Users/bretfarve/Documents/MyFolderA/myFile.txt';
const strPathFolder = '/Users/bretfarve/Documents/MyFolderB/';
/* System Events Objects */
const SysEvents = Application('System Events');
const objPathFolder = SysEvents.aliases[strPathFolder];
SysEvents.move(SysEvents.aliases.byName(strPathTargetFile), {to: objPathFolder});
})();

How to Add Global/Public Variables to grunt-contrib-uglify Output

Okay, so I am way new to Grunt and Node.js. I am building a site, and decided that the 'main.js' file was getting way too big. So, I split it up, and I am now trying to use Grunt to piece all of these JS files back together.
The issue that I have is that I need to make some global variables available to all of the various functions in all of these JS files. To be more specific, every page on our site is identified via an id in the body tag:
<body id="home">
Many of these JS files contain if statements that ensure certain functions only run if the appropriate page is loaded. For example:
if (page == 'home') {
var title = "Home Page"
$('.page-title').text(title);
}
Notice the page variable? That guy is the one that I need to make available to all of these files (after grunt-contrib-uglify merges them together). So, I figured I'd assign a new "unique" variable name, and make it global.
I noticed that grunt-contrib-uglify has a 'wrap' option listed in its documentation. However, no examples are given as to how to use it.
Can anyone tell me:
- How to use the 'wrap' option in 'grunt-contrib-uglify'
- If this is the right grunt plugin for what I am trying to do?
One idea I had (as a last resort) is to create a before.js and after.js and put the beginning and end (respectively) of what I wish to wrap around the other files in each. But, I think the 'wrap' option is what I need, yes?
UPDATE: Here is a link to my "merged" JS file:
main.js
And a link to my Gruntfile:
Gruntfile.js

I have been having the same problem an searching for a solution. But I think I found an answer.
Use this in your gruntfile:
uglify: {
options: {
wrap: true
}
}
The documentation for the wrap property indicates that the variables will be made available in a global variable, and looking at the generated code that does seem to to be the case. Passing a string value to the parameter does seem to create a global variable with that name.
However, wrap: true seems to make all objects and properties available in the global scope. So instead of globals.page.title (which I can't get to work, anyway), you can just use page.title. Much, much easier and simpler.
If this suits your purposes, I'd recommend doing this instead.

Ok this one is tricky, I have been stucked for a while...
Way you do this with grunt-contrib-uglify for frontend JS
create multiple files like
SomeClass.js
OtherClass.js
main.js
and use some module (grunt-file-dependencies or grunt-contrib-concat) and setup it to concat your files. Then setup uglify in your Gruntfile.js like
...
uglify: {
options: {
wrap: "myPublicObject",
...
},
In file (main.js for example) exports variable has to be assigned, the entire file might look like this:
var otherClassInst = new OtherClass();
var someClassInst = new SomeClass();
exports = otherClassInst;
Now what it exactly does
Uglify will pick superior context (this) and define property on it named myPublicObject. Then it wrap your sourcecode with function and create exports variable here (DO NOT DECLARE var exports anywhere). At the end it will assign what you exported to that property. If you dont assign anything (you dont use exports =) inital value is {}, so the property with void object exists anyway.
To make this super-clear,
if you put your code into page like <script src="myminifiedfile.min.js"></script>, then superior context is window =>
window.myPublicObject is instance of OtherClass while window.someClassInst, window.SomeClass and window.OtherClass are undefined.
this is unlikely, but if you just copy content of minified result and wrap it with different function, object you exported will be visible only via this["myPublicObject"] => uglify wrap doesn't make things globaly accessible, it makes them accessible in superior context.

Gulp.js get filename from .src()

I'm trying to use gulp-proceesshtml (https://github.com/julien/gulp-processhtml) to remove some unwanted code in my build version, the problem is that the task requires a filename to be given.
gulp.src('test.html').pipe(processhtml('test.html'));
But I can't figure out how this would work when I'm processing all HTML files in a folder
gulp.src('*.html).pipe(processhtml('filename here'));

Personally, it sounds like that's the wrong plugin for what you are trying to accomplish. See below.
However, because it's not clear what you are using it for, you can be able to use node-glob to process each file one-by-one:
var glob = require('glob')
// you also need event-stream for merging the streams
es = require('event-stream');
gulp.task('myTask', function() {
var files = glob.sync('*.html'),
streams;
streams = files.map(function(file) {
// add the *base* option if your files are stored in
// multiple subdirectories
return gulp.src(file, {base: 'relative/base/path'})
// may need require('path').filename(file)
.pipe(processhtml(file));
});
return es.merge.apply(es, streams);
});
This will create a single asynchronous stream out of every file that matches your initial pattern.
For simply removing some text from your files, you can use gulp-replace, like so:
var replace = require('gulp-replace');
gulp.src('*.html')
// replaces all text between
// <!-- remove-this --> and <!-- /remove-this -->
.pipe(replace(/<!--\s*remove-this\s*-->[\s\S]*?<!--\s*\/remove-this\s*-->/g, ''));

I know this question is old, but for a shorter solution you can use gulp-tap, something like this:
.pipe(tap(function(file, t) {
console.log(file.path);
}))
if you need to use the filename in other step of the pipe you can store it in a variable and use it for next step.

Javascript file's parent folder

every time I need to get the name of a folder a file targetFile is located in, I always have to write out this tedious:
var parentFolder = targetFile.path.toString().substring(targetFile.path.toString().lastIndexOf('/'), targetFile.path.toString().length)
am I missing something horribly easy to get this?

Is this something that you need to do dynamically? Why not just store it as a constant?
Alternatively, just create a function that executes the code you pasted...