node-named-pipe

Linux named pipes in NodeJS (mkfifo)

npm install named-pipe

This library creates Linux pipes without the use of a C++ binding and through shell execution.

Dependencies

None! your shell needs to support mkfifo though. Try mkfifo --help in a shell and see if you have access to it.

Cool! what can I do with pipes (a.k.a example code)?

You can use Linux pipes for a very simple RPC. note that Linux pipes by default will BLOCK if no other process is reading from the other end!.

In your Node process:

const path = '/tmp/test';
await mkfifoPromise(path);
setInterval(
  appendFileSync.bind(null, path,
    `${new Date().toISOString()}: hello fron Node!\n`
  ),
  1000
);

And in a separate shell:

$ tail -f /tmp/test
2018-03-11T05:37:16.328Z: hello fron Node!
2018-03-11T05:37:16.328Z: hello fron Node!
...

Full source code of this example is located in example.js.

API

This library provides three variants of mkfifo in NodeJS.

sync

Signature:

const mkfifoSync: (path: string, permission?: number = 644);

Usage:

const { mkfifoSync } = require('named-pipe');
mkfifoSync('/tmp/fifo');

promise

const mkfifoPromise: (path: string, permission?: number = 644);

Usage:

const { mkfifoPromise } = require('named-pipe');
await mkfifoPromise('/tmp/fifo').catch(console.error);

async

const mkfifo: (path: string, permission?: number = 644, callback: Function);

Usage:

const { mkfifo } = require('named-pipe');
mkfifo('/tmp/fifo', 644, (error) => {
  // 'error' will be non-null if unable to create the pipe
});