file-tree-object

Overview

This is a node package that can be used to create an object with a tree structure that represents the local file system. It uses an asynchronous pattern to create the tree structure to ensure fast and efficient performance.

Guide

To install this package execute the following command in the console from within your project.

npm install --save file-tree-object

Once the package is installed you can start using it in your code. There are three different patterns you can use to create a tree object which are illustrated below.

Create tree using asynchronous pattern

var fto = require('file-tree-object');
 
fto.createTree('MyFolder', function (err, tree) {
  if (err) {
    console.log('An error occured: ' + err);
  } else {
    tree.forEach(function (file) {
      console.log(file.path + '(' + (file.isFile ? 'file' : 'directory') + ')');
    });
  }
});

Create tree using promise pattern

var fto = require('file-tree-object');
 
fto.createTree('MyFolder')
  .then(function (tree) {
    tree.forEach(function (file) {
      console.log(file.path + '(' + (file.isFile ? 'file' : 'directory') + ')');
    });
  })
  .catch(function (err) {
    console.log('An error occured: ' + err);
  });

Create tree using synchronous pattern

var fto = require('file-tree-object');
 
try {
  var tree = fto.createTreeSync('MyFolder');
  tree.forEach(function (file) {
    console.log(file.path + '(' + (file.isFile ? 'file' : 'directory') + ')');
  });
} catch (err) {
  console.log('An error occured: ' + err);
}

Filtering

There are also a number of options to filter out certain files or directories when a tree is created. Below is an example of how to create a tree that will only be populated with files that have a .js extension.

var fto = require('file-tree-object');
 
fto.createTree('MyFolder', { filePattern: /\.js$/ })
  .then(function (tree) {
    tree.forEachFile(function (file) {
      console.log(file.path + '(' + (file.isFile ? 'file' : 'directory') + ')');
    });
  })
  .catch(function (err) {
    console.log('An error occured: ' + err);
  });

See the API section for a list of possible options for filtering.

API

file-tree-object.createTree(dir, options, cb)

Type: Function

This function will create a new tree object that represents the given directory and its contents. A Promise object will be returned from this function or you can specify a callback function in the cb parameter to be executed when the function completes.

The results of a successful call to this function will be a TreeNode object.

dir

Type: String

The path to the directory to create a tree object for. This can be an absolute path or a relative path. When a relative path is used it will be interpreted as relative to the current working directory (process.cwd()).

options

Type: Object

This is an object that allows you to specify a number of differnt filters to be applied to the tree object that is created.

options.pattern

Type: RegExp

A regular expression that will be matched against both directories and files. If the RegExp doesn't match a given directory or file it will be excluded from the resulting tree.

options.filePattern

Type: RegExp

A regular expression that will be matched against files only. If the RegExp doesn't match a given file it will be excluded from the resulting tree.

options.directoryPattern

Type: RegExp

A regular expression that will be matched against directories only. If the RegExp doesn't match a given directory it will be excluded from the resulting tree.

options.excludeEmptyDirectories

Type: Boolean

When this is set to true, any empty directories will be excluded from the resulting tree.

cb

Type: Function

When provided, this function will be executed when the function has completed. The function should have the standard signature of function (err, result).

file-tree-object.createTreeSync(dir, options)

Type: Function

This is the same as the createTree function except that it has a synchronous format. Any errors that occur will be thrown and the resulting tree is returned when the function call succeeds. If ignoreError is set to true in the options parameter then any errors that may occur will be ignored and null will be returned by this function.

TreeNode

Type: Class

The result of a call to createTree or createTreeSync is a single instance of this object which will have zero to many child nodes of the same type.

TreeNode.path

Type: String

The absolute path to the given file that this node represents. The value is normalized and directories never have a trailing slash at the end.

TreeNode.isDirectory

Type: Boolean

This property will be true when the node represents a directory.

TreeNode.isFile

Type: Boolean

This property will be true when the node represents a file.

TreeNode.children

Type: Array

This property is an array of TreeNode objects that are children to this node. It will never be null. If there are no children then this property will be an empty array.

TreeNode.directories

Type: Array

This property is an array of TreeNode objects that are children of this node and are directories (isDirectory == true). It will never be null. If there are no child directories then this property will be an empty array.

TreeNode.files

Type: Array

This property is an array of TreeNode objects that are children of this node and are files (isFile == true). It will never be null. If there are no child files then this property will be an empty array.

TreeNode.getChildByPath(filePath)

Type: Function

Get an immediate child of this node that has the given file path.

filePath

Type: String

The path to lookup. The lookup is case insensitive and can be either the basename or the full path value.

TreeNode.getByPath(filePath)

Type: Function

Get a descendant of this node that has the given file path.

filePath

Type: String

The path to lookup. The lookup is case insensitive and can be either the full path value or the path relative to this node.

TreeNode.forEach(cb, options)

Type: Function

This function will iterate through this node and optionally all descendants of this node.

cb

Type: Function

The function that is executed for this node and each node in the collection of children. It takes a single parameter which is the node that is current in the iteration.

options.recurse

Type: Boolean Default: false

When set to true all descendants of this node will be iterated through.

TreeNode.forEachDirectory(cb, options)

Type: Function

This function will iterate through this node and all directory children (isDirectory == true) of this node. Only directories will be iterated over.

cb

Type: Function

The function that is executed for this node and each node in the collection of directory children. It takes a single parameter which is the node that is current in the iteration.

options.recurse

Type: Boolean Default: false

When set to true all descendants of this node will be iterated through.

TreeNode.forEachFile(cb)

Type: Function

This function will iterate through all file children (isFile == true) of this node. Only files will be iterated over.

cb

Type: Function

The function that is executed for each node in the collection of file children. It takes a single parameter which is the node that is current in the iteration.

options.recurse

Type: Boolean Default: false

When set to true all descendants of this node will be iterated through.

TreeNode.getChildrenByPattern(pattern, options)

Type: Function

This function will return all children of this node whose path matches the given pattern.

pattern

Type: RegExp

The regular expression to test against the paths properties.

options.negate

Type: Boolean

When set to true the function will return all children of this node whose path doesn't match the given pattern.

options.recurse

Type: Boolean Default: false

When set to true all descendants of this node will be searched through.

TreeNode.getFilesByPattern(pattern, options)

Type: Function

This function will return all child files of this node whose path matches the given pattern.

pattern

Type: RegExp

The regular expression to test against the paths properties.

options.negate

Type: Boolean

When set to true the function will return all children of this node whose path doesn't match the given pattern.

options.recurse

Type: Boolean Default: false

When set to true all descendants of this node will be iterated through.

TreeNode.getDirectoriesByPattern(pattern, negate)

Type: Function

This function will return child directories of this node whose path matches the given pattern.

pattern

Type: RegExp

The regular expression to test against the paths properties.

options.negate

Type: Boolean

When set to true the function will return all children of this node whose path doesn't match the given pattern.

options.recurse

Type: Boolean Default: false

When set to true all descendants of this node will be iterated through.

TreeNode.getRoot()

Type: Function

Get the node that is the root in the tree.

TreeNode.getPathFromRoot()

Type: Function

Get the path starting from the root. For example, if the root of the tree has a path of /my/example/of/some/folders and there is a node in the tree with a path of /my/example/of/some/folders/and/some/more then the result from getPathFromRoot on that node will return and/some/more.

TreeNode.getPathBasename()

Type: Function

Get the basename for the path. For example if the path is /my/example/file1.txt then this function will return file1.txt