cliff

CLI output formatting tools: "Your CLI Formatting Friend".

Installation

Installing npm (node package manager)

  curl http://npmjs.org/install.sh | sh

Installing cliff

  [sudo] npm install cliff

Usage

There are a number of methods available in Cliff for common logging tasks in command-line tools. If you're looking for more usage, checkout the examples in this repository:

1. Logging rows of data
2. Inspecting Objects

Logging rows of data

cliff.stringifyRows(rows[, colors])

Takes a set of Arrays and row headers and returns properly formatted and padded rows. Here's a sample:

  var cliff = require('../lib/cliff');

  var rows = [
    ['Name',  'Flavor',    'Dessert'],
    ['Alice', 'cherry',    'yogurt'],
    ['Bob',   'carmel',    'apples'],
    ['Joe',   'chocolate', 'cake'],
    ['Nick',  'vanilla',   'ice cream']
  ];

  console.log(cliff.stringifyRows(rows, ['red', 'blue', 'green']));

cliff.putRows(level, rows[, colors])

The putRows method is a simple helper that takes a set of Arrays and row headers and logs properly formatted and padded rows (logs stringifyRows to winston). Here's a quick sample:

  var cliff = require('../lib/cliff');

  var rows = [
    ['Name',  'Flavor',    'Dessert'],
    ['Alice', 'cherry',    'yogurt'],
    ['Bob',   'carmel',    'apples'],
    ['Joe',   'chocolate', 'cake'],
    ['Nick',  'vanilla',   'ice cream']
  ];

  cliff.putRows('data', rows, ['red', 'blue', 'green']);

The resulting output on the command-line would be:

cliff.stringifyObjectRows(objs, properties[, colors]) used to be: cliff.rowifyObjects(objs, properties, colors)

Takes a set of Objects and the properties to extract from them and returns properly formatted and padded rows. Here's a sample:

  var cliff = require('../lib/cliff');

  var objs = [], obj = {
    name: "bazz",
    address: "1234 Nowhere Dr.",
  };

  for (var i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
    objs.push({
      name: obj.name,
      address: obj.address,
      id: Math.random().toString()
    });
  }

  console.log(cliff.stringifyObjectRows(objs, ['id', 'name', 'address'], ['red', 'blue', 'green']));

cliff.putObjectRows(level, objs, properties[, colors])

Takes a set of Objects and the properties to extract from them and it will log to the console. (it prints stringifyObjectRows with winston). Here's a sample:

  var cliff = require('../lib/cliff');

  var objs = [], obj = {
    name: "bazz",
    address: "1234 Nowhere Dr.",
  };

  for (var i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
    objs.push({
      name: obj.name,
      address: obj.address,
      id: Math.random().toString()
    });
  }

  cliff.putObjectRows('data', objs, ['id', 'name', 'address']);

Colors Parameter

The colors parameter is an array that colors the first row. It uses the colors.js. You can use any of those.

  var cliff = require('../lib/cliff');

  var rows = [
    ['Name',        'Flavor',              'Dessert'],
    ['Alice'.grey,  'cherry'.cyan,         'yogurt'.yellow],
    ['Bob'.magenta, 'carmel'.rainbow,      'apples'.white],
    ['Joe'.italic,  'chocolate'.underline, 'cake'.inverse],
    ['Nick'.bold,   'vanilla',             'ice cream']
  ];

  cliff.putRows('data', rows, ['red', 'blue', 'green']);

The resulting output on the command-line would be:

Inspecting Objects

cliff.inspect(obj)

The inspect method is a lightweight wrapper to a pre-configured eyes inspector. If you wish to change the coloring of objects that are logged using cliff you only need to override cliff.inspect with a new eyes inspector. Here is how to use it:

  var cliff = require('../lib/cliff');

  console.log(cliff.inspect({
    literal: "bazz",
    arr: [
      "one",
      2,
    ],
    obj: {
      host: "localhost",
      port: 5984,
      auth: {
        username: "admin",
        password: "password"
      }
    }
  }));

cliff.putObject(obj, [rewriters, padding])

The putObject method is a simple helper function for prefixing and styling inspected object output from eyes. Here's a quick sample:

var cliff = require('cliff');

cliff.putObject({
  literal: "bazz",
  arr: [
    "one",
    2,
  ],
  obj: {
    host: "localhost",
    port: 5984,
    auth: {
      username: "admin",
      password: "password"
    }
  }
});

The resulting output on the command-line would be:

Run Tests

All of the cliff tests are written in vows, and cover all of the use cases described above.

  npm test

Motivation

Cliff is the swiss army knife of CLI formatting tools. It is based on highly flexible and powerful libraries:

• winston: A multi-transport async logging library for node.js
• eyes: A customizable value inspector for node.js
• colors: Get colors in your node.js console like what

Author: Charlie Robbins