Windows Watcher

Warning: Pre-release. Not suited for production.

A Windows file system watcher utilizing the native FileSystemWatcher api for file events.

Installation

npm install windows-watcher

Usage Example

Watching Directories and files

WindowsWatcher = require("windows-watcher");
watcher = new WindowsWatcher();
callback = function(event){
  switch (data[0]) {
    case 'Changed':
      console.log("File Changed: " + data[1]);
      break;
    case 'Created':
      console.log("File Created: " + data[1]);
      break;
    case 'Deleted':
      console.log("File Deleted: " + data[1]);
      break;
    case 'Rename':
      console.log("File Rename from: " + data[1] + " to " + data[2]);
  }
}
watcher.watch("C:/", callback);
watcher.watch("A:/", callback);
watcher.watch("B:/", callback);
watcher.watch("D:/", callback);
watcher.watch("E:/", callback);
watcher.watch("F:/", callback);
watcher.watch("G:/", callback);
watcher.watch("H:/", callback);
watcher.watch("Z:/path/to/file.extension", callback);
//Ohh yeah! Performance is not an issue.
 
//....
watcher.unwatch("C:/");
watcher.unwatch("H:/");
 

Watching in Electron, and the like

Windows Watcher uses edge.js to run native code. Because edge.js needs special compilation in certain contexts, such as in Electron, you can provide your own electron instance. Windows Watcher will fallback to the standard edge.js package if nothing is provided.

WindowsWatcher = require("windows-watcher");
edge = require("electron-edge2");
watcher = new WindowsWatcher(edge);
watcher.watch("C:/", callback);
//....
watcher.unwatch("C:/");

Advanced Watching Setup

Disable Recursive Listening:

It is possible to make the watcher not care about sub-folders. The following script will yield resulst for files residing within C:/ only. Changes to files like C:/Users/whatever.txt will not give a callback.

WindowsWatcher = require("windows-watcher");
watcher = new WindowsWatcher();
watcher.watch("C:/",callback, false);
 

Filters

It is possible to provide filters to to filter out only certain file types. This filter is exactly the same as the native .NET FileSystemWatcher filter. This means that it is not possible to list more than one file type. If you want only *.png and *.jpg, then you have to call watch twice with both arguments. You can of course do the filtering yourself within the callback which might be an easier affair than dealing with the filter.

//Given the above text, here is how to use the filter.
WindowsWatcher = require("windows-watcher");
watcher = new WindowsWatcher();
recursive = true; //or false. Whatever tickles your fancy.
watcher.watch("C:/",callback, recursive, "*.ogg");

To do your own filtering in JavaScript.

WindowsWatcher = require("windows-watcher");
watcher = new WindowsWatcher();
callback = new function(data){
  if(data[1].match(/.*\.png|.*\.jpg|.*\.jpeg|.q\.tiff|.*\.gif/)){
    console.log("I care about you image! " + data[1] + ". You were " + data[0]);
  }
  else{
    console.log("I am ignoring you weird file " + data[1])
  }
}
recursive = true; //or false. Whatever tickles your fancy.
watcher.watch("C:/",callback);

License

The MIT License (MIT)

Copyright 2015 Stephan Nordnes Eriksen

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

Thanks to

• Cray-Cray Design for logo.