Vorpal - Tour

A Vorpal.js extension for building a mature tour that walks users through your interactive CLI with ease.

Installation

npm install vorpal-tour
npm install vorpal

Getting Started

Simply use vorpal.use(tour, options) to add the tour as a Vorpal extension.

const vorpal = require('vorpal')();
const vorpalTour = require('vorpal-tour');

vorpal.use(vorpalTour, {
  command: 'tour',
  tour: function(tour) {
    // add tour steps, etc.
    return tour;
  }
});

Options

• command: The name of the Vorpal command that will invoke the tour. Defaults to tour. By running use more than once, you can invoke multiple, separate tours.

• tour: Expects a function that passes in a tour object. You then add steps and details to the tour, and return the tour object.

Building the tour

The tour object has a few basic commands to help you easily build a tour.

vorpal.use(vorpalTour, {
  command: 'tour',
  tour: function(tour) {
    // Colors the "tour guide" text. 
    tour.color('cyan');

    // Adds a step to the tour:
    // .begin spits user instructions when the step starts
    // .expect listens for an event. The function it calls 
    //   expects a `true` to be called in order for the step 
    //   to finish.
    // .reject spits text to the user when `false` is returned 
    //   on an `.expect` callback.
    // .wait waits `x` millis before completing the step
    // .end spits text to the user when the step completes.
    tour.step(1)
      .begin('Welcome to the tour! Run "foo".')
      .expect("command", function (data, cb) {
        cb(data.command === 'foo');
      })
      .reject('Uh.. Let\'s type "foo" instead..')
      .wait(500)
      .end('\nNice! Wasn\'t that command just amazing?\n');

    // A delay in millis between steps.
    tour.wait(1000);

    // Ends the tour, spits text to the user.
    tour.end('Very well done!');

    return tour;
  }
});

$ node ./myapp.js
myapp~$ tour

  ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
  |  Welcome to the tour! Run "foo".                           |
  └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

myapp$ bar

  ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
  |  Uh.. Let's type "foo" instead.                            |
  └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

myapp$ foo
bar
(... 500 millis ...)

  ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
  |  Nice! Wasn't that command just amazing?                   |
  └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

(... 1000 millis ...)

  ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
  |  Very well done!                                           |
  └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

myapp~$

Examples

• A basic, silly tour
• Wat's tour

API

tour

tour.color(chalkColor)

Sets the color of the text that guides the tour. Based on Chalk colors.

tour.color('magenta');
tour.step(1).begin('This is now magenta. Almost like unicorns.');

  ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
  |  This is now magenta. Almost like unicorns.                |
  └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

tour.prepare(function)

Runs a method just before the tour beings, in preparation for the tour. Expects a callback.

tour.prepare(function (callback) {
  vorpal.log('preparing...');
  callback();
});

tour.step(number)

Creates a new step in the tour, returning a chainable Step instance. See the step section below.

The step number does nothing for now, outside of giving you sanity. This may change.

var step = tour.step(1);
// ... now do things with the step

tour.wait(millis)

Delays a number of millis between multiple steps. The delay begins at the completion of the step.

tour.step(1); // ...

tour.wait(1000);

tour.step(2); // ...

tour.end([message])

Ends the tour, optionally printing a message for the user.

tour.step(895); // ...
tour.end('You really made it through all that? Wow. Well done.');

tour.cleanup(function)

Runs a method directly after the tour ends, in case you need to run cleanup code. Expects a callback.

tour.cleanup(function (callback) {
  mess.cleanup();
  callback();
});

step

step.begin(message)

Prints a message for the user at the start of the step.

tour.step(1).begin('To get started, touch your toes.');

  ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
  |  To get started, touch your toes.                          |
  └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

step.expect(event, function)

This is the listener that determines when the step has been completed.

Expects an event emitted from Vorpal. On each instance of the event, the function parameter is called, and expects you to return a callback passing true or false. On true, the step is considered to be fullfilled and will proceed to end.

tour.step(1)
  .begin('run "foo"')
  .expect("command", function (data, cb) {
    cb(data.command === 'foo');
  });

While standard events are supported, you can emit your own custom events from Vorpal, if needed.

Standard events:

command: returns {command: 'foo'}

keypress: returns { key, value, event }

submit: returns {}

step.reject(message)

If a step.expect is triggered and false is returned (meaning the event was not fulfilled), you can optionally print a reject message that instructs the user that they did the command incorrectly. This will print with a yellow border.

tour.step(1)
  .begin('run "foo"')
  .expect("command", function (data, cb) {
    cb(data.command === 'foo');
  })
  .reject('Okay, let\'s type "foo".');

step.wait(millis)

Once a step has been fulfilled, you can optionally wait a given amount of millis before completion.

tour.step(1)
  .begin('run "foo"')
  .expect("command", function (data, cb) {
    cb(data.command === 'foo');
  })
  .wait(1000);

step.end(message)

Once a step has been fulfilled and the any step.wait() time has passed, you can optionally add a final remark to the user before moving on to the next step, such as a comment on the last one.

tour.step(1)
  .begin('run "foo"')
  .expect("command", function (data, cb) {
    cb(data.command === 'foo');
  })
  .wait(1000)
  .end('Nice! Isn\'t that just foobar?');

Related

• Vorpal
• Awesome - Vorpal

License

MIT © David Caccavella