wait-for-build

wait-for-build is a set of connect/express middleware for ensuring assets are up to date before serving them.

Install

npm install wait-for-build

Example

var app = require("express")(),
    staticFiles = require("serve-static")(__dirname + "/build");
 
var run = require("wait-for-build/run"),
    gulp = require("wait-for-build/gulp"),
    watch = require("wait-for-build/watch");
 
// wait-for-build doesn't directly depend on browserify or watchify, so
// they have to be provided if you want to use them.
var watchify = require("wait-for-build/watchify")(
  require("browserify"),
  require("watchify")
);
 
 
// Run an external command to build the home page.
app.get("/",run("make","templates"));
 
 
// Run a gulp task to build the main stylesheet, but only when one of
// the watched files changes.
var watchStylus = watch("stylesheets/**/*.styl"),
    buildCSS = watchStylus(gulp("css"));
 
app.get("/app.css",buildCSS);
 
 
// Use watchify to build a JS bundle.
var buildJS = watchify(function(browserify) {
  return browserify("./my-module");
});
 
app.get("/app.js",buildJS);
 
 
/* 
 * run and gulp just execute tasks. You need a static file server to
 * serve requested files once the tasks are complete.
 *
 * Due to the way watchify works, the watchify middleware sends the JS
 * itself, so requests to /app.js won't reach here.
 */
app.use(staticFiles);
 
 
process.stdin.on("data",function() {
  console.log("All assets will be rebuilt.");
 
  /*
   * You can request a rebuild manually whenever you want. This ensures
   * that any subsequent requests will be processed after a future
   * build.
   */
  buildCSS.rebuild();
  buildJS.rebuild();
});
 
 
app.listen(8080);

API

Each wait-for-build middleware is a wrapper around a Builder. Builders ensure that builds are started at the right time, and that requests are served current assets. Each middleware assigns the methods from its Builder to itself, so each middleware is also a builder.

Builder

var Builder = require("wait-for-build/Builder"),
    b = new Builder(myTask);
 
function myTask(callback) {
  // Do some possibly-asynchronous thing
  doSomethingAsync(callback);
 
  // Optional
  return function cancel(cancelCallback) {
    // Cancel task (possibly asynchronously)
    cancelCallback();
  };
}

A Builder executes a task. A task is a function that takes one argument, a node-style callback. When executed, the task must perform a build. When finished, the task must call the callback with the result (or error).

Optionally, executing a task can return a cancel function. This function will again accept a single callback argument, and will be called in the event that wait-for-build determines that a build in progress has become stale and needs to be restarted. When executed, this function should attempt to cancel the build in progress, and must call the provided callback when finished.

Builders never run more than one build at a time. Separate Builders can run builds concurrently.

builder.wait(callback)

Calling wait on a Builder will cause callback to be called as soon as the Builder has completed a sufficiently fresh build. The Builder considers a build sufficiently fresh if it was started prior to the most recent call to rebuild.

callback is called with whatever result was passed to the callback of the most recently finished build. This depends on the task provided to the Builder.

builder.rebuild(eager)

Calling rebuild on a Builder will ensure that all subsequent calls to wait will not call their callbacks until a new build has finished.

If eager is truthy, this build will be started as soon as possible. Otherwise, it won't be triggered until the next call to wait.

run

var run = require("wait-for-build/run"),
    middleware = run(command, [arguments...]);

Runs an external process to perform a build. If the process exits with a zero status code, the request proceeds. Otherwise, an error is sent.

Since this middleware has no way of knowing whether its asset has changed, it calls rebuild on each request.

gulp

var gulp = require("wait-for-build/gulp"),
    middleware = gulp([tasks...]);

Runs Gulp tasks in a separate process. Works just like the run middleware.

watch

var watch = require("wait-for-build/watch"),
    watchFiles = watch(patterns...),
    middleware = watchFiles(builder, [options]);

Returns a middleware factory function. This function can be called with a builder in order to produce a middleware that will only require a rebuild when the files glob matched by patterns change.

The middleware factory function may also be provided an options object. If options.eager is true, then a build is started whenever a file changes (similar to most build tools with watch functionality). Normally a build occurs on the next request.

watchify

var watchify = require("wait-for-build/watchify")(browserify,watchify),
    middleware = watchify(makeBundle, [options]);
 
function makeBundle(browserify) {
  return browserify("./my-module");
}

Uses watchify to build a Browserify bundle. wait-for-build doesn't directly depend on these tools, so they must be provided.

The browserify function passed to makeBundle is a proxy for the browserify you passed in, so you can use the full Browserify API.

If an options object is provided, and options.eager is true, then a new build will be started whenever the bundle changes. Normally a build occurs on the next request.