require-tree

A require()-like method for directories, returning an object that mirrors the file tree.

npm install require-tree

Usage

Considering this file structure:

• models
  • user.js
  • page.js
  • item.js

Requiring the models directory will return an object containing each exported module:

var require_tree = require('require-tree')
require_tree('./models')
/* {
    user: [object Object],
    page: [object Object],
    item: [object Object]
} */

Directories can be deeply nested, andindex.js files are merged into their parent by default:

// api/user.js:
module.exports = {
    profile: function(){},
    posts: function(){}
}
 
// api/pages/index.js:
module.exports = {
    list: function(){}
}
 
// api/pages/edit.js:
module.exports = {
    getPermissions: function(){},
    remove: function(){}
}
 
var api = require_tree('./api')

This will yield

• api.user.profile
• api.user.posts
• api.pages.list
• api.pages.edit.getPermissions
• api.pages.edit.remove

Options

require_tree(path, { options })

{ name: string | function (exports) }

Use a property of the exports object as it's key (instead of the filename) in the final object.

// models/user-model.js
module.exports = {
    id: 'user',
    attrs: {}
}
 
require_tree('./models', { name: 'id' })
require_tree('./models', { name: function (obj) { return obj.id } })
// => { user: { id: 'user', attrs: {} } }

{ filter: string | regexp | function }

Filter the required files. Strings can use a wildcard '*' and are expanded into regular expressions. You can also provide your own RegExp, or a function that receives the filename as an argument, and returns true or false.

require_tree('./path', { filter: '*-model' })
require_tree('./path', { filter: /^model/ })
require_tree('./path', { filter: function (filename) { return filename.indexOf('model') === 0 } })

{ keys: string | array | regexp | function }

Use to return only certain keys from exported objects.

require_tree('./models', { keys: 'at*' })
require_tree('./models', { keys: ['attrs'] })
require_tree('./models', { keys: function (key){ return key.indexOf('attrs') >= 0 } })
// => { user: { attrs: {} } }

{ each: function }

Callback to run after each file is required. Doesn't modify the exported object.

require_tree('./items', { each: function (obj) { items.insert(obj) } })

{ transform: function }

Same as each, but can modify the exports object.

require_tree('./models', { transform: function (obj) { return new Model(obj) } })

{ index: 'merge', 'ignore', 'preserve' }

• merge (default): merges the index.js exports at the root of it's parent
• ignore: causes index.js files to not be loaded at all
• preserve: puts the index.js export object under the .index property

For backwards compatibility, a value of true is equal to preserve, while false is equal to ignore.

• controllers
  • index.js
  • users.js
  • ...

// controllers/index.js:
module.exports = {
    init: function () { ... }
}
 
var controllers = require_tree('./controllers', { index: 'preserve' })
controllers.index.init()
 
var controllers = require_tree('./controllers', { index: 'ignore' })
controllers.index // undefined
 
var controllers = require_tree('./controllers', { index: 'merge' })
controllers.init()

Limitations

require-tree must always be required in the local scope, never shared between modules or as a global. Paths are resolved relative to the parent module, like require itself, so it's behaviour depends on module.parent being set correctly. If necessary, you can use absolute paths (__dirname + '/path') or set the NODE_PATH environment variable.