genversion-plus

So you want yourmodule.version+ to follow the version in package.json but are tired of updating it manually every time the version changes? On server side, you could just require('package.json').version but on client side and/or build deployments from typescript however, that would expose the versions of your dependencies and possibly other sensitive data too, so it is usually a naughty thing to do! How to import only the version+? Genversion-plus to the rescue!

Try it out

Usage is simple:

$ cd yourmodule
$ npm install -g @korabo/genversion-plus
$ genversion-plus lib/version.js

Voilà! The new lib/version.js:

exports.version = '0.9.1'
exports.buildTime = '2021-02-08T11:43:32.651Z'
exports.comment = ''
exports.author = 'TAKEUCHI Shinichi'

Use flags to match your coding style. $ genversion-plus --gen es6 --semi lib/version.ts creates:

export const version = '0.9.1';
export const buildTime = '2021-02-08T11:43:32.651Z';
export const comment = '';
export const author = 'TAKEUCHI Shinichi';

By default, genversion-plus reads the version from the package.json nearest to the target version.js. In case your project contains multiple package.json files along the target path you can specify the one with --source <path> parameter. An custom template can be used to generate version.js or version.ts

Integrate to your build

First install via NPM repository.

$ npm install @korabo/genversion-plus --save-dev

Genversion-plus works by first reading the current version from package.json and then generating a simple CommonJS module file that exports the version string. For safety, the version file begins with a signature that tells genversion-plus that the file can be overwritten.

// generated by genversion-plus
exports.version = '1.2.3'

Now, your job is to 1) choose a path for the version file, 2) require() the new file into your module, and 3) add genversion-plus as a part of your build or release pipeline. For example, let us choose the path 'lib/version.js' and require it in yourmodule/index.js:

...
var myversion = require('./lib/version')
exports.version = myversion.version
...

If you use --es6 flag:

...
import { version } from './lib/version'
export const version
...

Then, let us integrate genversion-plus into your build task.

"scripts": {
  "build": "genversion-plus lib/version.js && other build stuff"
}

The target path is given as the first argument. If the file already exists and has been previously created by genversion-plus, it is replaced with the new one.

Finished! Now your module has a version property that matches with package.json and is updated every time you build the project.

> var yourmodule = require('yourmodule')
> yourmodule.version
'1.2.3'

Great! Having a version property in your module is very convenient for debugging. More than once we have needed to painstakingly debug a module, just to find out that it was a cached old version that caused the error. An inspectable version property would have helped a big time.

Command line API

Directly from $ genversion-plus --help:

Usage: genversion-plus [options] <target>

Generates a version module at the target filepath.

Options:
  -V, --version              output the version number
  -v, --verbose              output the new version
  -s, --semi                 use semicolons in generated code
  -g, --gen <cjs|es6>        use cjs or es6 ,,, syntax in generating code
  -p, --source <path>        search for package.json along a custom path
  -t, --template <filepath>  use given file as generation template
  -m, --message <comment>    build comment to be generated
  -a, --author <author>      author name to be generated
  -h, --help                 output usage information

Node API

You can also use genversion-plus within your code:

var gv = require('genversion-plus');

The available properties and functions are listed below.

genversion-plus.check(targetPath, callback)

Check if it is possible to generate the version module into targetPath.

Parameters:

• targetPath: string. An absolute or relative file path. Relative to process.cwd().
• callback: function (err, doesExist, isByGenversion). Parameter doesExist is a boolean that is true if a file at targetPath already exists. Parameter isByGenversion is a boolean that is true if the existing file seems like it has been generated by genversion-plus.

Example:

gv.check('lib/version.js', function (err, doesExist, isByGenversion) {
  if (err) {
    throw err;
  }

  if (isByGenversion) {
    gv.generate(...)
  }
  ...
});

genversion-plus.generate(targetPath, opts, callback)

Read the version property from the nearest package.json along the targetPath and then generate a version module file at targetPath. A custom path to package.json can be specified with opts.source.

Parameters:

• targetPath: string. An absolute or relative file path. Relative to process.cwd().
• opts: optional options. Available keys are:
  • source: optional string. An absolute or relative path to a file or directory. Defaults to the value of targetPath.
  • useSemicolon: optional boolean. Defaults to false.
  • genSyntax: optional string <cjs|es6>. Defaults to cjs.
  • template: optional string. An absolute or relative path to a template-file. Defaults to the value of module-source:lib/template.txt.
• callback: function (err, version). Parameter version is the version string read from package.json. Parameter err is non-null if package.json cannot be found, its version is not a string, or writing the module fails.

Examples:

gv.generate('lib/version.js', function (err, version) {
  if (err) {
    throw err;
  }
  console.log('Sliding into', version, 'like a sledge.');
});

gv.generate('src/v.js', { useSemicolon: true }, function (err) {
  if (err) { throw err }
  console.log('Generated version file with a semicolon.')
})

genversion-plus.version

The version string of genversion-plus module in semantic versioning format. Generated with genversion-plus itself, of course.

Projects using genversion-plus

• genversion-plus

Do you use genversion-plus in your project? We are happy to mention it in the list. Just hit us with an issue or a pull request.

Related projects

• genversion
• versiony for version increments
• package-json-versionify for browserify builds

For developers

Run test suite:

$ pnpm run test

To make release, bump the version in package.json and run:

$ pnpm run release && npm public-publish

License

MIT