Safe File

Part of the Using JSON Schema project.

Safely managing text files requires being able to update the files in a manner that allows recovery should the update fail. This module provides support for reading and writing files normally and in a recoverable mode, allowing auto-recovery when the program restarts.

readFileSync

Read a file synchronously from a file system. Calls the readFileSync function from the fs library as part of its processing.

readFileSync (filename, [options])

filename String Name of file to read (path optional)
options Object { encoding, flag }

throws SafeFileError
returns Buffer (if encoding not specified) or String (if encoding specified)

data = readFileSync (filename)

writeFileSync

Write a file synchronously to a file system. Calls the writeFileSync function from the fs library as part of its processing.

writeFileSync (filename, data, [options])

filename String Name of file to write (path optional)
data String or Buffer Data to write to the file

options Object { encoding, mode, flag }
throws SafeFileError

writeFileSync (filename, data)

safeReadFileSync

Read a file synchronously from a file system, inspecting the file system state and performing recovery processing if needed. Calls the readFileSync function from the fs library as part of its processing.

safeReadFileSync (filename, [options])

filename String Name of file to read (path optional)
options Object { encoding, flag }

throws SafeFileError
returns Buffer (if encoding not specified) or String (if encoding specified)

data = safeReadFileSync (filename)

safeWriteFileSync

Write data to a file synchronously, using a recoverable set of steps. Should the write processing fail to complete, auto-recovery can perform the steps required to bring the file content back to a stable state. Calls the writeFileSync function from the fs library as part of its processing.

safeWriteFileSync (filename, data, [options])

filename String Name of file to write (path optional)
data String or Buffer Data to write to the file
options Object { encoding, mode, flag }

throws SafeFileError

safeWriteFileSync (filename, data)

safeGetState

Get the current state of the set of files representing the current file system contents. Returns one of,

• SAFE_NORMAL, normal state, base and backup files only present
• SAFE_RECOVERABLE, partial write condition that is automatically recoverable the next time a read, write or recover function is called
• SAFE_INTERVENE, last write failed before the data being written reached a recoverable state. Manual intervention is required if recovery of the last write is required, otherwise auto-recovery will recover to the prior stable state.

safeGetState (filename)

filename String Name of file to check (path optional)

returns Integer State value (SAFE_NORMAL, SAFE_RECOVERABLE or SAFE_INTERVENE) or a file error (INVALID_NAME, DOES_NOT_EXIST or IS_NOT_A_FILE)

state = safeGetState (filename)

safeRecover

Initiate the auto-recovery process. This follows the same steps as safeReadFileSync follows, but can be called independently.

safeRecover (filename)

filename String Name of file to recover (path optional)

throws SafeFileError

safeRecover (file)

SafeFileError

SafeFileError (code, message)

code Integer Error code (from list below) message String Text message associated with code

SafeFileError contains three properties (name, code, and message).

• name is the object name (SafeFileError), and is intended to be overridden if derived from.
• code is the error code
• message is a readable explanation message for the error

Constants for the error codes are defined in the class prototype,

• NO_ERROR
• INVALID_NAME
• DOES_NOT_EXIST
• IS_NOT_A_FILE
• READ_ERROR
• WRITE_ERROR
• SAFE_NORMAL
• SAFE_RECOVERABLE
• SAFE_INTERVENE

Installation

The program can be installed using npm, with the command,

npm install ujs-safefile

License

MIT