node-wanted

Get your (dev)dependencies on par with the versions configured in package.json

Install

It is recommended to use wanted in your development workflow, as it is designed for teams who have to deal with dependency changes beyond their own control (a team member updates a dependency in the project package.json). Wanted can be configured to

npm install --save-dev wanted

Usage

There are various ways to work with wanted, it can be used as an indicator sending errors if any dependency is not met, automatically update the dependencies and finally a very fine grained event driven mode of operating.

A simple warning mechanism

This will throw an error mentioning all missing/outdated dependencies (if any)

var Wanted = require('wanted'),
	wanted = new Wanted();

//  no error handling is done, Wanted will throw any error
wanted.check();

If any missing/outdated dependency is encountered it will throw an Error like Update needed: <module> [, <module>], which is purely informational but stops the execution of the code in a rather harsh manner.

Making the warning system slightly more controllable

If a thrown Error does not suit your needs, you can easily prevent this by adding an event handler. It will allow you to inform a developer (or anyone else) and still continue operation or hook into any other workflow.

var Wanted = require('wanted'),
	wanted = new Wanted();

//  handle any error
wanted.on('error', function(error) {
	console.log('Dependency not up-to-date: ' + error);
});

wanted.check();

If any missing/outdated dependency is encountered it will emit and error-event with a message like Update needed: <module> [, <module>], which is purely informational.

Finegrained control

For more demanding development workflows where it is necessary to control each individual package (e.g. you need to stick to a specific version and cannot trust yourself or co-workers to leave the package.json alone), you can listen to install-events and choose to accept or reject the installation

var Wanted = require('wanted'),
	wanted = new Wanted();

wanted.on('install', function(module) {
	console.log(module);

	//  prevent any installation/upgrade of the blame package outside the ~1.0.3 range (>= 1.0.3 && < 1.1.0)
	//  (even though we do update this module for a reason ;-) )
	if (module.name === 'blame' && module.version !== '~1.0.3') {
		console.error('We have pinned the installation of blame to be >= 1.0.3 and < 1.1.0 for some reason');
		module.reject();
	}
	//  silently accept anything else
	else {
		module.accept();
	}
});

wanted.check();

API

check([object options])

Start the dependency checks, the options object is entirely optional and contains the following (overrulable) settings:

• path (default: the current working directory) - the path to check the package.json and installed modules
• scope (default: 'devDependencies') - the scope within the package.json (e.g. dependencies, devDependencies, optionalDependencies). As of version 1.2.0 scope may be either a string with the scope name, or an array strings
• autoAccept (default: false) - whether or not to update dependencies automatically (this setting has no effect if an install-handler is in place)

require(mixed module [, bool version]) (Added in 1.3.0, version option added in 1.3.1)

Require a module, which is installed if needed. If the version argument is true(-ish), it will also check whether or not the version installed matches the version configured in package.json. In case there is no configuration the version to compare against will always be 'latest'.

require(string module [, bool version])

Acting in a very similar way npm install does, if there is a (dev|optional)dependency from which the version can be obtained Wanted will do so, and default to latest otherwise.

var Wanted = require('wanted'),
	wanted = new Wanted(),
	myModule = wanted.require('my-module');

require(object module [, bool version])

If more control is needed, you can specify the version you expect by providing a configuration object in which a (semver) version can be specified, if a version is specified it will act as if the version argument contained true and the installed version (if-any) will be compared to the required version.

var Wanted = require('wanted'),
	wanted = new Wanted(),
	myModule = wanted.require({
		name: 'my-module',
		version: '1.0.0'
	});

In this example the installed version is up- or downgraded to match the specified version. NOTE This has the potential to wreck havoc in your project as wanted will do as you say regardless of other dependencies, the module which will be up-/downgraded will be the one in your node_modules folder.

on(string event, function handler)

Register an event handler (refer to the events section for all events and their handler arguments)

off([string event [, function handler]])

Remove a single, all for a specific event or simply all event handlers

events

error (handler arguments: string message)

The error-handler is called whenever an error is encountered.

current (handler arguments: object module)

The current-handler is called for each module which is on par with the specified (semver) version, the object module contains the following properties:

• name: the module name
• version: the (semver) version specified in the package.json
• installed: string x.x.x, indicating the installed version
• state: the state in which the module is according to Wanted (for the current-event, the value is always 'current')

install (handler arguments: object module)

The install-handler is called for each module which is not 'current', hence it needs installment or updating, the object module contains the following properties:

• name: the module name
• version: the (semver) version specified in the package.json
• installed: null if not installed, string x.x.x otherwise, indicating the installed version
• state: the state in which the module is according to Wanted (for the install-event, the value is one of: 'install' or 'update')
• accept: function to call in order to accept the install/update of the module
• reject: function to call in order to reject the install/update of the module
• scope: (Added in 1.2.0) the dependency scope for the module (e.g. 'dependencies', 'devDependencies')

NOTE If an install-handler is available, it must invoke either accept or reject as Wanted will not continue operation before one of those methods is invoked.

complete (handler arguments: object module)

The complete-handler is called whener an (auto)accepted module update/install is completed, the object module contains the following properties:

• name: the module name
• version: the (semver) version specified in the package.json
• installed: null if not installed, string x.x.x otherwise, indicating the installed version
• state: the state in which the module is according to Wanted (for the current-event, the value is always 'current')

ready (handler arguments: array modules)

The ready-handler is called when Wanted is done checking/updating/installing the dependencies

Errors

All errors are either thrown (ending the execution) or emitted. Error emission is only done if there are actual error-handlers available. Possible errors are:

• No package.json - there is no package.json file (e.g. not a node project) in the (specified) path, once per check
• Scope not found: <scope> - the (specified) scope does not exist in the package.json, once per check
• Update needed: <module> [, <module>] - one or more modules need to be updated (obviously never thrown if autoAccept is true or modules are programatically accepted), once per check
• Invalid module name: <name> - the module name does not conform to the npm module name convention (no attempt to install it is made), once per module
• Failed to install: <name> - the module could not be installed (e.g. it was not found on npmjs.org), once per module

License

GPLv2 © Konfirm