wat4hjs

1. What: wat4hjs is a JavaScript wrapper for native C code that allows some code to "watch" a directory for changes. Changes can include:
   1. Creation of files
   2. Modification of files
   3. Renaming of files
   4. Deletion of files
2. Why: At the time of writing this, most libraries and packages that existed did not include the functionality I was looking for. In most cases they would either be a platform abstraction layer or perhaps, not run the code natively. This package is a wrapper to a C library that is shipped as part of the package.
3. When: The first commit was featured in January of 2024, continued support expected.
4. Who: Contributors
5. How: (Insert Diagramatic representation)

Index

1. Title
2. Features
3. Supported Platforms
4. Dependencies
5. Installation
6. Usage Example
7. History
8. Other packages
9. Contributors

Features

Supported Platforms

Dependencies

Installation & Building

Using npm (JavaScript only)

npm install wat4hjs

To build the C library, adhere to the following

mkdir -p build
cd build
cmake .. 

• Please note that by default a production build will be enabled in cmake, to enable a debug build, please enable debug with the debug flag
• By default wat4hjs on npm ships with a production copy of the library for the supported platform

Usage

For users who want to to interface using JavaScript

const wat4h = require("wat4hjs")
const path = require("path")

const emitter = wat4h.init(path.normalize("/"))
wat4h.observer(emitter, wat4h.callback) // Inform the observer
wat4h.monitor(emitter) // Start monitoring

Using destructured assignments

const {init, observer, monitor, callback} = require("wat4hjs")
const path = require("path")

const emitter = wat4h.init(path.normalize("/"))
wat4h.observer(emitter, wat4h.callback) // Inform the observer
wat4h.monitor(emitter) // Start monitoring

If you want to use the C library natively

#include "consts.h"

int main()
{
    const char *defaultPath = ""; // Adjust the default path as needed
    EventEmitter *emitter = init(defaultPath);
    observer(emitter, tagDirEvent); // Inform the observer
    monitor(emitter); // Start monitoring

    return 0;
}

History

Other packages

1. Chokidar
2. libuv

Contributors