gulp-task

Basic Info

Preface

This was written as a wrapper for gulp.task in order to get promise-based dependency management.

The documentation and source is written in coffeescript but it should work with vanilla gulp just the same.

Installation

npm install --save gulp-task

task = require 'gulp-task'

Optionally, you can configure it to automatically register gulp tasks:

task.configure gulp

API

This module has 4 functions. Here is the order that you'll most likely use them:

• task.configure
• task
• task.run
• task.watch
• task.getTaskNames

task.configure(gulp)

This makes it so that when you run task(name, cb), you also register the same task with gulp, enabling command line execution.

task(name, cb)

This registers a new task to later be run via task.run. Dependencies are taken care of via promises.

task.run(name|cb)

This accepts either the name of a previously registered task or an anonymous function.

task.getTaskNames()

This simply returns a sorted list the names of registered tasks.

Notes

A Note About Not Running task.configure

This module was written as a replacement for gulp.task. You're still free to use gulp.task directly but those tasks registered via gulp.task will not be visible via task.run. A usage where you don't run task.configure gulp might looks something like:

gulp.task 'build', ->
    task.run 'compile'
    .then -> task.run 'copy'
task 'compile', -> #compile code
task 'copy', -> #copy code

In this case, you'd be able to run coffeegulp build from command-line but not coffeegulp compile or coffeegulp copy.
This "private task" effect is why configuring was made optional.

A Note About Tasks

task.run returns a Promise. How that promise is resolved depends on the return value of the function being run.

Regardless of if you're running an anonymous function or calling a registered one by name, the nature of the returned promise falls into three cases.

Case 1: Task Returns a Promise

This is simple enough. task.run simply returns the promise.

Case 2: Task Returns a Stream

task.run returns a promise that resolves via .pipe gulpCallback -> resolve stream

Case 3: Task Returns Something Else

In this event, task.run simply returns a resolved promise after running the task.

A Note About .then -> gulp.src

Let's say that you're defining a task that does some stuff via task.run and then calls .then on the promise and provides a callback which returns a Stream.

This would be an issue. The resolve chain would not wait for the gulp.src stream to end before continuing.
This might result in unexpected concurrency and reporting issues.

It's important to wrap streams in a task.run -> when being called from within a .then ->.

Acceptable

task 'copy', ->
    gulp.src('src')
    .pipe gulp.dest 'dest'

task 'build', ->
    task.run 'compile'
    .then -> task.run 'copy'

task 'build', ->
    task.run 'compile'
    .then -> task.run ->
        gulp.src('src')
        .pipe gulp.dest 'dest'

task 'build', ->
    task.run 'compile'
    .then ->
        somethingSynchronous()

task 'watch', ->
  task.run 'compile'
  .then -># Warning: This is over-simplified and potentially problematic. 
          # See "Watch Example" below for more info. 
    gulp.watch ['src/**/*.coffee'], -> task.run 'compile'

Not Acceptable

task 'build', ->
    task.run 'compile'
    .then ->
        gulp.src('src')
        .pipe gulp.dest 'dest'

Examples

---

Semi-Realistic Stream Example

gulpfile.coffee

task = require 'gulp-task'
gulp = require 'gulp'
coffee = require 'gulp-coffee'
jade = require 'gulp-jade'
rimraf = require 'gulp-rimraf'
Promise = require 'bluebird'
task.configure gulp
 
task 'refresh', ->
    task.run 'clean'
    .then -> task.run 'compile'
 
task 'clean', ->
    gulp.src 'bin', read: false
    .pipe rimraf()
 
task 'compile', ->
    Promise.all([
        task.run 'compile:coffee'
        task.run 'compile:jade'
    ])
 
task 'compile:coffee', ->
  gulp.src "src/**/*.coffee"
  .pipe coffee()
  .pipe gulp.dest 'bin'
 
task 'compile:jade', ->
  gulp.src "src/**/*.jade"
  .pipe jade()
  .pipe gulp.dest 'bin'
 

Output

$ coffeegulp rebuild
[gulp] Using gulpfile ~/Documents/GitProjects/gulp-task/gulpfile.coffee
[gulp] Starting 'rebuild'...
[task] Running 'rebuild'
[task] Running 'clean'
[task] Finished 'clean' in 11.546 ms
[task] Running 'compile'
[task] Running 'compile:coffee'
[task] Running 'compile:jade'
[task] Finished 'compile:coffee' in 56.239 ms
[task] Finished 'compile:jade' in 53.605 ms
[task] Finished 'compile' in 56.998 ms
[task] Finished 'rebuild' in 69.254 ms
[gulp] Finished 'rebuild' after 69 ms

---

Hello World

gulpfile.coffee

task = require 'gulp-task'
gulp = require 'gulp'
task.configure gulp
 
task 'default', ->
    task.run 'hello'
 
task 'hello', ->
    console.log 'Hello World!'

Output

$ coffeegulp
[gulp] Using gulpfile ~/Documents/GitProjects/gulp-task/gulpfile.coffee
[gulp] Starting 'default'...
[task] Running 'default'
[task] Running 'hello'
Hello World!
[task] Finished 'hello' in 1.244 ms
[task] Finished 'default' in 1.728 ms
[gulp] Finished 'default' after 1.91 ms

---

Basic Stream

gulpfile.coffee

task = require 'gulp-task'
gulp = require 'gulp'
coffee = require 'gulp-coffee'
gulp = require 'gulp'
task.configure gulp
 
task 'compile', ->
  gulp.src "src/**/*.coffee"
  .pipe coffee()
  .pipe gulp.dest 'bin'

Output

$ coffeegulp compile
[gulp] Using gulpfile ~/Documents/GitProjects/gulp-task/gulpfile.coffee
[gulp] Starting 'compile'...
[task] Running 'compile'
[task] Finished 'compile' in 22.872 ms
[gulp] Finished 'compile' after 23 ms

---

Basic task.watch

gulpfile.coffee

task = require 'gulp-task'
gulp = require 'gulp'
coffee = require 'gulp-coffee'
gulp = require 'gulp'
task.configure gulp
 
task 'compile', ->
  gulp.src "src/**/*.coffee"
  .pipe coffee()
  .pipe gulp.dest 'bin'
 
task 'watch', ->
  task.run 'compile'
  .then ->
    task.watch ['src/**/*.coffee'], -> task.run 'compile'

Output

$ coffeegulp watch
[gulp] Using gulpfile ~/Documents/GitProjects/gulp-task/gulpfile.coffee
[gulp] Starting 'watch'...
[task] Running 'watch'
[task] Running 'compile'
[task] Finished 'compile' in 14.42 ms
[task] Finished 'watch' in 20.66 ms
[gulp] Finished 'watch' after 21 ms
<MADE CHANGE>
[task] Running 'compile'
[task] Finished 'compile' in 3.800 ms

---

Running Tasks in Series / Using Promises

gulpfile.coffee

task = require 'gulp-task'
gulp = require 'gulp'
task.configure gulp
Promise = require 'bluebird'
 
task 'series', ->
    task.run 'a'
    .then -> task.run 'b'
    .then ->
        console.log 'We Are Done'
 
task 'a', -> new Promise (resolve, reject)->
    setTimeout ->
        console.log 'Task A!'
        resolve()
    , 1500
 
task 'b', -> new Promise (resolve, reject)->
    setTimeout ->
        console.log 'Task B!'
        resolve()
    , 2000

Output

$ coffeegulp series
[gulp] Using gulpfile ~/Documents/GitProjects/gulp-task/gulpfile.coffee
[gulp] Starting 'series'...
[task] Running 'series'
[task] Running 'a'
Task A!
[task] Finished 'a' in 1.502 s
[task] Running 'b'
Task B!
[task] Finished 'b' in 2.001 s
We Are Done
[task] Finished 'series' in 3.504 s
[gulp] Finished 'series' after 3.5 s

Running Tasks in Parallel / Using Promises

gulpfile.coffee

task = require 'gulp-task'
gulp = require 'gulp'
task.configure gulp
Promise = require 'bluebird'
 
task 'parallel', ->
    Promise.all([
        task.run 'a'
        task.run 'b'
    ]).then ->
        console.log 'We Are Done'
 
task 'a', -> new Promise (resolve, reject)->
    setTimeout ->
        console.log 'Task A!'
        resolve()
    , 1500
 
task 'b', -> new Promise (resolve, reject)->
    setTimeout ->
        console.log 'Task B!'
        resolve()
    , 2000

Output

$ coffeegulp parallel
[gulp] Using gulpfile ~/Documents/GitProjects/gulp-task/gulpfile.coffee
[gulp] Starting 'parallel'...
[task] Running 'parallel'
[task] Running 'a'
[task] Running 'b'
Task A!
[task] Finished 'a' in 1.502 s
Task B!
[task] Finished 'b' in 2.002 s
We Are Done
[task] Finished 'parallel' in 2.003 s
[gulp] Finished 'parallel' after 2 s