gaze 
A globbing fs.watch wrapper built from the best parts of other fine watch libs.
Compatible with Node.js 0.10/0.8, Windows, OSX and Linux.
Usage
Install the module with: npm install gaze or place into your package.json
and run npm install.
var gaze = require('gaze');
// Watch all .js files/dirs in process.cwd()
gaze('**/*.js', function(err, watcher) {
// Files have all started watching
// watcher === this
// Get all watched files
console.log(this.watched());
// On file changed
this.on('changed', function(filepath) {
console.log(filepath + ' was changed');
});
// On file added
this.on('added', function(filepath) {
console.log(filepath + ' was added');
});
// On file deleted
this.on('deleted', function(filepath) {
console.log(filepath + ' was deleted');
});
// On changed/added/deleted
this.on('all', function(event, filepath) {
console.log(filepath + ' was ' + event);
});
// Get watched files with relative paths
console.log(this.relative());
});
// Also accepts an array of patterns
gaze(['stylesheets/*.css', 'images/**/*.png'], function() {
// Add more patterns later to be watched
this.add(['js/*.js']);
});
Alternate Interface
var Gaze = require('gaze').Gaze;
var gaze = new Gaze('**/*');
// Files have all started watching
gaze.on('ready', function(watcher) { });
// A file has been added/changed/deleted has occurred
gaze.on('all', function(event, filepath) { });
Errors
gaze('**/*', function() {
this.on('error', function(err) {
// Handle error here
});
});
Minimatch / Glob
See isaacs's minimatch for more information on glob patterns.
Documentation
gaze(patterns, [options], callback)
patterns{String|Array} File patterns to be matchedoptions{Object}callback{Function}err{Error | null}watcher{Object} Instance of the Gaze watcher
Class: gaze.Gaze
Create a Gaze object by instanting the gaze.Gaze class.
var Gaze = require('gaze').Gaze;
var gaze = new Gaze(pattern, options, callback);
Properties
optionsThe options object passed in.interval{integer} Interval to pass to fs.watchFiledebounceDelay{integer} Delay for events called in succession for the same file/event
Events
ready(watcher)When files have been globbed and watching has begun.all(event, filepath)When anadded,changedordeletedevent occurs.added(filepath)When a file has been added to a watch directory.changed(filepath)When a file has been changed.deleted(filepath)When a file has been deleted.renamed(newPath, oldPath)When a file has been renamed.end()When the watcher is closed and watches have been removed.error(err)When an error occurs.nomatchWhen no files have been matched.
Methods
emit(event, [...])Wrapper for the EventEmitter.emit.added|changed|deletedevents will also trigger theallevent.close()Unwatch all files and reset the watch instance.add(patterns, callback)Adds file(s) patterns to be watched.remove(filepath)removes a file or directory from being watched. Does not recurse directories.watched()Returns the currently watched files.relative([dir, unixify])Returns the currently watched files with relative paths.dir{string} Only return relative files for this directory.unixify{boolean} Return paths with/instead of\\if on Windows.
FAQs
Why Another fs.watch Wrapper?
I liked parts of other fs.watch wrappers but none had all the features I
needed. This lib combines the features I needed from other fine watch libs:
Speedy data behavior from
paulmillr's chokidar, API interface
from mikeal's watch and file globbing using
isaacs's glob which is also used by
cowboy's Grunt.
How do I fix the error EMFILE: Too many opened files.?
This is because of your system's max opened file limit. For OSX the default is
very low (256). Increase your limit temporarily with ulimit -n 10480, the
number being the new max limit.
Contributing
In lieu of a formal styleguide, take care to maintain the existing coding style. Add unit tests for any new or changed functionality. Lint and test your code using grunt.
Release History
- 0.5.2 - Fix for ENOENT error with non-existent symlinks.
- 0.5.1 - Use setImmediate (process.nextTick for node v0.8) to defer ready/nomatch events (@amasad).
- 0.5.0 - Process is now kept alive while watching files. Emits a nomatch event when no files are matching.
- 0.4.3 - Track file additions in newly created folders (@brett-shwom).
- 0.4.2 - Fix .remove() method to remove a single file in a directory (@kaelzhang). Fixing Cannot call method 'call' of undefined (@krasimir). Track new file additions within folders (@brett-shwom).
- 0.4.1 - Fix watchDir not respecting close in race condition (@chrisirhc).
- 0.4.0 - Drop support for node v0.6. Use globule for file matching. Avoid node v0.10 path.resolve/join errors. Register new files when added to non-existent folder. Multiple instances can now poll the same files (@jpommerening).
- 0.3.4 - Code clean up. Fix path must be strings errors (@groner). Fix incorrect added events (@groner).
- 0.3.3 - Fix for multiple patterns with negate.
- 0.3.2 - Emit
endbefore removeAllListeners. - 0.3.1 - Fix added events within subfolder patterns.
- 0.3.0 - Handle safewrite events,
forceWatchMethodoption removed, bug fixes and watch optimizations (@rgaskill). - 0.2.2 - Fix issue where subsequent add calls dont get watched (@samcday). removeAllListeners on close.
- 0.2.1 - Fix issue with invalid
addedevents in current working dir. - 0.2.0 - Support and mark folders with
path.sep. AddforceWatchMethodoption. Supportrenamedevents. - 0.1.6 - Recognize the
cwdoption properly - 0.1.5 - Catch too many open file errors
- 0.1.4 - Really fix the race condition with 2 watches
- 0.1.3 - Fix race condition with 2 watches
- 0.1.2 - Read triggering changed event fix
- 0.1.1 - Minor fixes
- 0.1.0 - Initial release
License
Copyright (c) 2013 Kyle Robinson Young
Licensed under the MIT license.
