Apple News Compiler

Apple News format compiler for optimized JSON article

Inline

Replace all named component layouts, styles, and text styles by inlining object definitions within the article's components array.

Example:

const fs = require("fs");
const anf = require("apple-news-compiler");

const run = async () => {
  const article = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync("article.json"), 'utf8');

  anf.article.inline(article);

  console.log(JSON.stringify(article, null, 2));
};

run();

Original article.json:

{
  "role": "title",
  "text": "Title on Scrim",
  "layout": "titleLayout",
  "textStyle": "titleStyle"
}

Inline will replace named references of titleLayout and titleStyle with object definitions:

{
  "role": "title",
  "text": "Title on Scrim",
  "layout": {
    "columnStart": 0,
    "columnSpan": 7,
    "margin": {
      "top": 50,
      "bottom": 5
    }
  },
  "textStyle": {
    "textAlignment": "center",
    "fontName": "HelveticaNeue-Bold",
    "fontSize": 42,
    "lineHeight": 50,
    "textColor": "#EFEFEF"
  }
}

Remove Unused References

Purge any unused references to layouts, styles, or text styles not referenced by name within the components array.

This optimization removes lengthy templated style definitions that may be stubbed into an article boilerplate, leaving only definitions that are actually used. Note this does not purge empty object definitions - use removeEmptyDefinitions().

Example:

const fs = require("fs");
const anf = require("apple-news-compiler");

const run = async () => {
  const article = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync("article.json"), 'utf8');

  anf.article.removeUnusedReferences(article);

  console.log(JSON.stringify(article, null, 2));
};

run();

Remove Empty Definitions

Purge any empty definitions within layouts, styles, or text styles as well as their named reference within the components array.

This optimization removes lengthy templated style definitions that may be stubbed into an article boilerplate.

Example:

const fs = require("fs");
const anf = require("apple-news-compiler");

const run = async () => {
  const article = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync("article.json"), 'utf8');

  anf.article.removeEmptyDefinitions(article);

  console.log(JSON.stringify(article, null, 2));
};

run();

Original article.json

"components": [
  {
    "role": "title",
    "text": "Title on Scrim",
    "layout": "titleLayout",
    "textStyle": "titleStyle"
  }
],
"componentTextStyles": {
  "titleStyle": {
  }
}

In the example above, titleStyle is empty - no style was defined in the object. Therefore, the resulting optimization would remove the component's "textStyle": "titleStyle" as well as the empty titleStyle from componentTextStyles:

"components": [
  {
    "role": "title",
    "text": "Title on Scrim",
    "layout": "titleLayout"
  }
],
"componentTextStyles": {}

Remove Comments

Purge any comments from components, layouts, styles, or text styles that use either the following conventions:

{
  "//": "Comment example"
}

Or:

{
  "comment": "Comment example"
}