fs-tree-diff
FSTree provides the means to calculate a patch (set of operations) between one file system tree and another.
The possible operations are:
unlink
– remove the specified filermdir
– remove the specified foldermkdir
– create the specified foldercreate
– create the specified filechange
– update the specified file to reflect changes
The operations chosen aim to minimize the amount of IO required to apply a given patch. For example, a naive rm -rf
of a directory tree is actually quite costly, as child directories must be recursively traversed, entries stated.. etc, all to figure out what first must be deleted. Since we patch from tree to tree, discovering new files is both wasteful and un-needed.
The operations will also be provided in a correct order, allowing us to safely replay operations without having to first confirm the FS is as we expect. For example, unlink
s for files will occur before a rmdir
of those files' parent dir. Although the ordering will be safe, a specific order is not guaranteed.
A simple example:
const FSTree = require('fs-tree-diff');
const current = FSTree.fromPaths([
'a.js'
]);
const next = FSTree.fromPaths([
'b.js'
]);
current.calculatePatch(next) === [
['unlink', 'a.js', entryA],
['create', 'b.js', entryB]
];
A slightly more complicated example:
const FSTree = require('fs-tree-diff');
const current = FSTree.fromPaths([
'a.js',
'b/',
'b/f.js'
]);
const next = FSTree.fromPaths([
'b.js',
'b/',
'b/c/',
'b/c/d.js',
'b/e.js'
]);
current.calculatePatch(next) === [
['unlink', 'a.js', entryA],
['create', 'b.js', entryB],
['mkdir', 'b/c', entryBC],
['create', 'b/c/d.js', entryBCD],
['create', 'b/e.js', entryBE]
['unlink', 'b/f.js', entryBF],
]
Now, the above examples do not demonstrate change
operations. This is because when providing only paths, we do not have sufficient information to check if one entry is merely different from another with the same relativePath.
For this, FSTree supports more complex input structure. To demonstrate, we will use the walk-sync module, which provides higher fidelity input, allowing FSTree to also detect changes. (See also the documentation for walkSync.entries.)
const walkSync = require('walk-sync');
// path/to/root/foo.js
// path/to/root/bar.js
const current = new FSTree({
entries: walkSync.entries('path/to/root')
});
writeFileSync('path/to/root/foo.js', 'new content');
writeFileSync('path/to/root/baz.js', 'new file');
const next = new FSTree({
entries: walkSync.entries('path/to/root')
});
current.calculatePatch(next) === [
['change', 'foo.js', entryFoo], // mtime + size changed, so this input is stale and needs updating.
['create', 'baz.js', entryBaz] // new file, so we should create it
/* bar stays the same and is left inert*/
];
The entry objects provided depend on the operation. For rmdir
and unlink
operations, the current entry is provided. For mkdir
, change
and create
operations the new entry is provided.
API
The public API is:
-
FSTree.fromPaths
initialize a tree from an array of string paths. -
FSTree.fromEntries
initialize a tree from an array ofEntry
objects. Each entry must have the following properties (but may have more):relativePath
mode
size
mtime
-
FSTree.applyPatch(inputDir, outputDir, patch, delegate)
applies the given patch from the input directory to the output directory. You can optionally provide a delegate object to handle individual types of patch operations. -
FSTree.prototype.calculatePatch(newTree, isEqual)
calculate a patch againstnewTree
. Optionally specify a customisEqual
(see Change Calculation). -
FSTree.prototype.calculateAndApplyPatch(newTree, inputDir, outputDir, delegate)
does acalculatePatch
followed byapplyPatch
. -
FSTree.prototype.addEntries(entries, options)
adds entries to an existing tree. Options are the same as forFSTree.fromEntries
. Entries added with the same path will overwrite any existing entries. -
FSTree.prototype.addPaths(paths, options)
adds paths to an existing tree. Options are the same as forFSTree.fromPaths
. If entries already exist for any of the paths added, those entries will be updated. -
Entry.fromStat(relativePath, stat)
creates anEntry
from a given path andfs.Stats
object. It can then be used withfromEntries
oraddEntries
.
The trees returned from fromPaths
and fromEntries
are relative to some base directory. calculatePatch
, applyPatch
and calculateAndApplyPatch
all assume that the base directory has not changed.
Input
FSTree.fromPaths
, FSTree.fromEntries
, FSTree.prototype.addPaths
, and FSTree.prototype.addEntries
all validate their inputs. Inputs must be sorted, path-unique (i.e. two entries with the same relativePath
but different size
s would still be illegal input) and include intermediate directories.
For example, the following input is invalid
FSTree.fromPaths([
// => missing a/ and a/b/
'a/b/c.js'
]);
To have FSTree sort and expand (include intermediate directories) for you, add the option sortAndExpand
).
FStree.fromPaths([
'a/b/q/r/bar.js',
'a/b/c/d/foo.js',
], { sortAndExpand: true });
// The above is equivalent to
FSTree.fromPaths([
'a/',
'a/b/',
'a/b/c/',
'a/b/c/d/',
'a/b/c/d/foo.js',
'a/b/q/',
'a/b/q/r/',
'a/b/q/r/bar.js',
]);
Entry
FSTree.fromEntries
requires you to supply your own Entry
objects. Your entry objects must contain the following properties:
relativePath
mode
size
mtime
They must also implement the following API:
isDirectory()
true
iff this entry is a directory
FSTree.fromEntries
composes well with the output of walkSync.entries
:
const walkSync = require('walk-sync');
// path/to/root/foo.js
// path/to/root/bar.js
const current = FSTree.fromEntries(walkSync.entries('path/to/root'));
Change Calculation
When a prior entry has a relativePath
that matches that of a current entry, a change operation is included if the new entry is different from the previous entry. This is determined by calling isEqual
, the optional second argument to calculatePatch
. If no isEqual
is provided, a default isEqual
is used.
The default isEqual
treats directories as always equal and files as different if any of the following properties have changed.
mode
size
mtime
User specified isEqual
will often want to use the default isEqual
, so it is exported on FSTree
.
Example
const defaultIsEqual = FSTree.defaultIsEqual;
function isEqualCheckingMeta(a, b) {
return defaultIsEqual(a, b) && isMetaEqual(a, b);
}
function isMetaEqual(a, b) {
// ...
}
Patch Application
When you want to apply changes from one tree to another easily, you can use the FSTree.applyPatch
method. For example, given:
const patch = oldInputTree.calculatePatch(newInputTree);
const inputDir = 'src';
const outputDir = 'dist';
FSTree.applyPatch(inputDir, outputDir, patch);
It will apply the patch changes to dist
while using src
as a reference for non-destructive operations (mkdir
, create
, change
). If you want to calculate and apply a patch without any intermediate operations, you can do:
const inputDir = 'src';
const outputDir = 'dist';
oldInputTree.calculateAndApplyPatch(newInputTree, inputDir, outputDir);
You can optionally provide a delegate object to handle applying specific types of operations:
let createCount = 0;
FSTree.applyPatch(inputDir, outputDir, patch, {
create: function(inputPath, outputPath, relativePath) {
createCount++;
copy(inputPath, outputPath);
}
});
The available delegate functions are the same as the supported operations: unlink
, rmdir
, mkdir
, create
, and change
. Each delegate function receives the reference inputPath
, the outputPath
, and relativePath
of the file or directory for which to apply the operation.