utily

A set of useful functions for node.js

Installation

Use npm to install this module:

npm install --save utily

Now you can import it into your project:

var utily = require('utily');

API

Common methods

utily.delay(time, fn)

This is just setTimeout but with the arguments reverted (first the delay time, then the callback fn function).

utily.delay(1000, function()
{
  console.log('Hello after 1 second!!');
});

utily.each(items, fn)

Iterate over an array or an object.

• items: array or object you want to iterate.
• fn: function that will be called with each item of the items array or object with the following arguments:
  • key: the property name if items is an object, or the index if items is an array.
  • value: the property value if items is an object, or the value if items is an array.

//Iterate over an array 
utily.each([1, 2, 3], function(index, value)
{
  //Display in console 
  console.log(index + ' -> ' + value);
  
  //Continue with the next item in the array 
  return true;
});
// 0 -> 1
// 1 -> 2
// 2 -> 3
 
//Iterate over an object 
utily.each({ 'key1': 'value1', 'key2': 'value2' }, function(key, value)
{
  //Display in console 
  console.log(key + ' -> ' + value);
  
  //Continue with the next item in the array
  return true;
});
// key1 -> value1
// key2 -> value2

You can break the loop at a particular item if you return a false boolean in your iterator function.

utily.each([1, 2, 3, 4, 5], function(index, value)
{
  //Display in console 
  console.log(index + ' -> ' + value);
  
  //Check the value 
  if(value >= 3){ return false; } 
});
// 0 -> 1
// 1 -> 2
// 2 -> 3

utily.eachAsync(items, fn, callback)

Asynchronous version of utily.each. Iterate over an array or an object and execute the callback when the iteration is finished.

• The fn function will be called with the same arguments as the utily.each method and with a next function, that indicates that the iteration is done and can continue with the next item.
• The callback function will be called when the iteration is finished.

You can break the iteration by calling the next function with a value or an error object.

//List of files 
var files = ['./file1.txt', './file2.txt', './file3.txt'];
 
//Read all the files
utily.eachAsync(file, function(index, value, next)
{
  //Read the file content
  return fs.readFile(value, function(error, data)
  {
    //If something went wrong -> stop the iteration
    if(error){ return next(error); } 
    
    //Display the file content in console 
    console.log('Content of file ' + index);
    console.log(data);
    
    //Next file in the list 
    return next();
  });
}, function(error)
{
  //Check the error 
  if(error){ return console.log(error.message); } 
  
  //Display done 
  console.log('All files processed!');
});

Array functions

utily.array.clone(array)

Clone an array. Note that if objects exist in the array this method does not do perform a deep clone of the content.

var array_cloned = utily.array.clone([1, 2, 3, 4]);

utily.array.has(array, item)

Returns true if item exists in array, false if does not.

utily.array.has([1, 2, 3, 4], 2); // -> true
utily.array.has([1, 2, 3, 4], 5); // -> false

utily.array.max(array)

Returns the maximum value in array.

utily.array.max([1, 2, 3, 4, 5]); // -> 5

utily.array.min(array)

Returns the minimum value in array.

utily.array.min([1, 2, 3, 4, 5]); // -> 1

utily.array.range(start, end[, step])

Returns a new array with values starting in start to end (included). You can specify the distance between each number in the sequence by providing a step value. Default step value is 1.

utily.array.range(0, 5); // -> [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
utily.array.range(0, 4, 2); // -> [0, 2, 4] 

utily.array.remove(array, item)

Removes a specific item of the array array. This method also modifies the original array.

var list = [ 'bananas', 'oranges', 'apples' ]; 
 
//Remove an element 
utily.array.remove(list, 'oranges'); // -> list = [ 'bananas', 'apples' ];

File System functions

utily.fs.checksum(file[, options], cb)

Generate the checksum of file. options can be an object with the following options:

• algorithm: a string with the algorithm to generate the checksum. Default is md5.
• encoding: a string with the encoding. Default is hex.

If options is a non-object, it will be treated as the options.algorithm option.

//Generate the md5 of the file 
utily.fs.checksum('/path/to/file.txt', function(error, sum)
{
  //Check the error 
  if(error){ /* Something went wrong */ }
  
  console.log('Checksum --> ' + sum);
});

utily.fs.copy(source, destination, cb)

Copy a source file to destination.

utily.fs.copy('/my/source/file.txt', '/my/destination/file.txt', function(error)
{
  //Check the error 
  if(error){ /* Something went wrong */ } 
});

utily.fs.exists(path, cb)

Check if the provided path exists, and then the cb method will be executed with two arguments (error and a boolean exists that indicates if the path exists).

utily.fs.exists('/path/to/my/file.txt', function(error, exists)
{
  //Check the error 
  if(error)
  {
    //Something went wrong...
  }
  
  //Check if the file exists 
  if(exists === true)
  {
    //File exists 
  }
  else 
  {
    //File does not exists...
  }
});

utily.fs.isDir(path, cb)

Check if the provided path exists and is a directory or not.

utily.fs.isDir('/path/to/my/directory', function(error, is_dir)
{
  //Check the error 
  if(error){ /* Something went wrong */ }
  
  //Check if is a directory 
  if(is_dir === true)
  {
    //Path exists and is a directory    
  }
  else
  {
    //Path does not exists ot is not a directory
  }
});

utily.fs.isFile(path, cb)

Check if the provided path exists and is a file or not.

utily.fs.isDir('/path/to/my/file.txt', function(error, is_file)
{
  //Check the error 
  if(error){ /* Something went wrong */ }
  
  //Check if is a file
  if(is_file === true)
  {
    //Path exists and is a file
  }
  else
  {
    //Path does not exists or is not a file
  }
});

utily.fs.mkdir(path, cb)

Create a folder and all the parent folders of path.

//Create the folder and all the parent folders (if does not exists)
utily.fs.mkdir('/path/to/my/directory', function(error)
{
  //Check the error 
  if(error){ /* Something went wrong */ }
  
  console.log('Directory created!');
});

utily.fs.size(file, cb)

Returns the size of the file. The callback function will be executed with an error object and the size of the file.

//Get the size of the file 
utily.fs.size('/path/to/file.txt', function(error, size)
{
  //Check the error 
  if(error)
  {
    //Something went wrong...
  }
  
  console.log('The size of the file is: ' + size);
});

utily.fs.readdir(path, cb)

Reads the content of a directory. The callback method gets two arguments, error and files, where files is an array with the real path of each file in the provided directory.

//Content of directory /test/fake/directory: 
// - index.js
// - package.json
// - license.txt
 
//Read the content of a directory 
return utily.fs.readdit('/test/fake/directory', function(error, files)
{
  //Check the error 
  if(error){ /* display error */ }
  
  //Work with the list of files 
  console.log(files);
  // files = [
  // '/test/fake/directory/index.js', 
  // '/test/fake/directory/package.json', '
  // '/test/fake/directory/license.txt']
});

utily.fs.unlink(files, cb)

Remove a file or list of files. The files argument must be a string for a single file, or an array with the file paths to remove.

Note: this method does not throw an error if the path does not exists.

//Remove multiple files
utily.fs.unlink([ './file1.txt', './file2.txt' ], function(error)
{
  //Check if there is an error 
  if(error)
  {
    //Something went wrong...
  }
  
});
 
//Remove a single file 
utily.fs.unlink('./another-file.txt', function(error)
{
  //Check if there is an error 
  if(error)
  {
    //Something went wrong...
  }
  
});

Is functions

A set of functions to check the type of a given value.

utily.is.undefined(value)

Return true if value is undefined.

var a;
var b = 'Hello';
utily.is.undefined(a);  // -> true, `a` is not defined
utily.is.undefined(b);  // -> false, `b` is a string

utily.is.string(value)

Return true if value is a string.

utily.is.string('Hello world');   // -> true 
utily.is.string('');              // -> true
utily.is.string({ a: 'Hello' });  // -> false

utily.is.object(value)

Return true if value is an object.

utily.is.object({});    // -> true
utily.is.object(null);  // -> false 

utily.is.array(value)

Return true if value is an array.

utily.is.array([ 1, 2, 3 ]);  // -> true 
utily.is.array({ a: true });  // -> false

utily.is.stream(value)

Return true if value is a stream.

utily.is.stream(fs.createReadStream('file.txt'));  // -> true
utily.is.stream({ });                              // -> false

utily.is.null(value)

Return true if value is null.

utily.is.null(null);  // -> true
utily.is.null({ });   // -> false

utily.is.integer(value)

Return true if value is an integer number.

utily.is.integer(45);   // -> true
utily.is.integer(2.5);  // -> false

utily.is.number(value)

Return true if value is a number;

utily.is.number(1235.2);  // --> true
utily.is.number('1234');  // -> false

utily.is.boolean(value)

Return true if value is a boolean.

utily.is.boolean(true);  // -> true  
utily.is.boolean(0);     // -> false

utily.is.function(value)

Return true if value is a function.

utily.is.function(function(){ return 0; });  // -> true

utily.is.buffer(value)

Return true if value is a buffer.

utily.is.buffer(new Buffer(10));  // -> true

utily.is.regexp(value)

Return true if value is a regular expression.

utily.is.regexp(/\s/g);  // -> true

JSON functions

utily.json.read(file[, options], callback)

Read a JSON file and convert it's content to a JSON object using JSON.parse method.

The options object will be passed to fs.readFile.

//Read a JSON file 
utily.json.read('/my/file.json', 'utf8', function(error, data)
{
  //Check the error 
  if(error)
  {
    //Something went wrong
  }
  
  //Print the JSON object in console
  console.log(data);
});

utily.json.write(file, object[, opt], callback)

Converts a JSON object to string using the JSON.stringify and then it will be written to the provided file path.

The options object will be passed to fs.writeFile.

//Initialize my object 
var obj = { key1: 'value1', key2: 'value2' };
 
//Write to a file 
utily.json.write('/my/file.json', obj, 'utf8', function(error)
{
  //Check the error 
  if(error)
  {
    //Something went wrong
  }
});

Object functions

utily.object.each(obj, fn)

Execute fn with each pair key - value in obj.

var obj = { key1: 'value1', key2: 'value2', key3: 'value3' };
utily.object.each(obj, function(key, value)
{
  //Display in console
  console.log(key + ' -> ' + value);
});
 
//Output in console:
// key1 -> value1
// key2 -> value2
// key3 -> value3

utily.object.keys(obj)

This is just Object.keys.

var keys = utily.object.keys({ a: 1, b: 2, c: 'hello' }); // --> keys = [ 'a', 'b', 'c' ]

utily.object.sort(array, keys, order)

Sort an array with objects by the provided keys and with the provided order (default is ASC order).

var list = [];
list.push({ name: 'Susan', age: 35 });
list.push({ name: 'Boby', age: 28 });
list.push({ name: 'Andy', age: 24 });
list.push({ name: 'Sarah', age: 29 });
 
//Sort the list 
utily.object.sort(list, 'name', 'ASC');
 
//Print the array 
console.log(list);
// [ { name: 'Andy', age: 24 }, 
// { name: 'Boby', age: 28 }, 
// { name: 'Sarah', age: 29 }, 
// { name: 'Susan', age: 35 } ]
 

utily.object.values(obj)

Returns an array of a given object's own enumerable property values. It's a ponyfill of the Object.values method.

var values = utily.object.values({ a: 1, b: 2, c: 'hello' }); // -> values = [ 1, 2, 'hello' ]

String functions

utily.string.format(str, obj)

Replace all handlebars expressions from str with values of obj.

utily.string.format('My car is {{ color }}!', { color: 'blue' }); // --> "My car is blue!"

utily.string.is_empty(str)

Return true if str is an empty string.

utily.string.is_empty('');   // -> true
utily.string.is_empty(' ');  // -> false

utily.string.is_lowercase(str)

Return true if str is a string in lowercase format.

utily.string.is_lowercase('hello world');  // -> true
utily.string.is_lowercase('Hello World');  // -> false

utily.string.is_uppercase(str)

Return true if str is a string in uppercase format;

utily.string.is_uppercase('HELLO WORLD');  // -> true
utily.string.is_uppercase('Hello World');  // -> false

utily.string.camel_case(str)

Return the camel-case format of str.

utily.string.camel_case('hello world');  // -> 'helloWorld'

utily.string.capitalize(str)

Return the capitalized format of str.

utily.string.capitalize('hello world');  // -> 'Hello world'

utily.string.unique()

Generate a unique random string of 15 characters.

var str = utily.string.unique();  // -> str = 'wv1ufiqj5e6xd3k'

License

Under the MIT LICENSE.