console-dictation

PROJECT GOALS

The goal of this project was to make a convenient way to have persistent terminal logging.

Installation

npm i console-dictation

Quick Start (CommonJS)

1. Require the package

const dictator = require('console-dictation')

2. Use package methods to start logging

dictator.system("Hello, world!")

Quick Start (ESModule)

1. Require the package

import dictator from 'console-dictator'

2. Use package methods to start logging

dictator.system("Hello, world!")

Usage

Documentation below, for examples please see examples and demos

Configuration

Paths

By default the paths where the logs are stored are as follows: System log | Error log | Miscellaneous log --- | --- | --- <CWD>/logs/sys/sys.log|<CWD>/logs/error/err.log|<CWD>/logs/misc/misc.log

You can use the config method to overwrite or create new logging paths:

const { config } = require('console-dictation')

config({ 
  paths: { <SOME_PATH_KEY>: string, ... }, 
  log_names: { <SOME_PATH_KEY>: string, ... } 
})

Where paths indicated the log folder path (excluding the file), and the log_names indicate the log filename.

Indexing

console-dictation comes with a disabled indexer out of the box. Enable indexing functionality through the config method:

const { config } = require('console-dictation')

config({ 
  indexing_config: {
    indexing: true
  }
})

Indexing has a built-in dependancy array (i.e., X makes a log whenever a log is made in Y): System log | Error log | Miscellaneous log --- | --- | --- none | [system] | [system]

You can pass a new dependancy array of callable logging methods (i.e., system, error, and misc) to replace the dependancies stored in local memory through the config method:

const { config } = require('console-dictation')

config({
  indexing_config: {
    dependencies: {
      SYS: ['misc', 'error'],
      ERR: []
    }
  }
})

Retrieving Configuration

Dictator configuration is stored in local memory. You can use the following commands to find the local configuration.

const { getPaths, getLogNames, getConfig } = require('console-dictation')

let paths = getPaths()          // { PATH_KEY: PATH, ... }

let log_names = getLogNames()   // { LOG_KEY: LOG_FILENAME, ... }

let config = getConfig()        // {PATHS: { PATH_KEY: PATH, ... }, LOG_NAMES: { LOG_KEY: LOG_FILENAME, ... }}, INDEXING_CONFIG: {indexing: boolean, dependencies: {LOG_KEY: []}}

Logs

System log | Error log | Miscellaneous log --- | --- | --- system( message: string ) | error( message: string ) | misc( message: string ) report({ type: 0, message: string }) | report({ type:1, message: string }) |report({ type:2, message: string }) |

Note: report with missing type parameter or unknown type parameter will default to a miscellaneous log.

Each log type includes an optional path parameter. This can be used to manually change log path of that specific message:

const { system } = require('console-dictation')

system( message: string, path ?: { PATH: string, LOG_NAME: string } )

Examples

Example 1: simple express logging

const dictator = require('console-dictation')
const express = require('express')

const app = express()

app.listen(3000, () => dictator.system(`connected to booking server: port ${port}`))

Example 2: utilize destructuring

const { system } = require('console-dictation')
const express = require('express')

const app = express()

app.listen(3000, () => system(`connected to booking server: port ${port}`))

Demos

This module has two demos prepared for an ESModule/MJS enviroment and a CommonJS enviromment.

ESModule

ESM demo code can be found here.

1. Clone this repo

git clone https://github.com/spiltbeans/console-dictation.git

2. CD into demo folder

cd ./demos/mjs

3. Run start script

npm start

5. Inspect logs

CommonJS

CJS demo code can be found here.

1. Clone this repo

git clone https://github.com/spiltbeans/console-dictation.git

2. CD into demo folder

cd ./demos/cjs

3. Run start script

npm start

5. Inspect logs